Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [69]
“Jamal, are you sure that she disappeared of her own free will and there was no foul play involved?” Rasheed asked with concern in his voice.
“Yes, Monty, I am sure. Right after she outsmarted her bodyguard and got away from him, she did take time to call Fatimah, my stepmother, to let her know she was safe but needed time to herself. She indicated a need to ‘have fun’ and would deal with the consequences later.”
Rasheed took a deep breath. How dare Johari Nefretiri Yasir, the woman that he had been destined to marry since her birth twenty-four years ago—a marriage that had been arranged by their grandfathers to bring about an allegiance between their two countries—deliberately disappear here in the United States so she could delay her marriage to him and just for the frivolous reason of having fun?
For the past two years Johari had been attending Harvard University and now that she had graduated a week ago, she was to return to her native land of Tahran to begin planning for their wedding, which was to take place at the end of the year. Although they were to marry, he and his fiancée had never met. Such a thing was not unusual in their countries. In his opinion, meeting the day of the wedding would have been soon enough.
“Rasheed? Are you still there?”
His mind had been drifting and he forced himself to focus. “Yes, Jamal.”
“I want to assure you that she will be found.”
Rasheed knew Jamal’s words to be true. Johari would eventually be found. But when? Based on Jamal’s sister’s behavior, Rasheed had sufficient grounds to call off the wedding. It was unlikely that many people would begrudge his decision to sever all ties between them. Considering everything, both families would understand and support such a move on his part since Johari’s actions and conduct were not befitting the woman who would sit by his side as the future queen of Mowaiti.
“Monty, my family and I will understand if you decided to—”
“No, Jamal. I am committed to marrying your sister. Our grandfathers deemed it would be so and it will be,” he quickly cut in to say.
“Are you certain?”
Was he certain? Rasheed breathed in deeply once again, knowing this was his way to bow gracefully out of the arranged marriage if he chose to take it. After all, he was thirty-nine years old and the thought of having to deal with a twenty-four-year-old whose idea of having fun was roaming around the United States unprotected, unsupervised and unchaperoned was a bit daunting and something he really wasn’t looking forward to. But his father, King Amin Valdemon, was ready for the heir apparent to take his place of leadership and preferably with a queen.
Since puberty Rasheed had enjoyed his choice of women, regardless of race, culture, ethnicity and nationality. And he took pride in the number of mistresses he’d accumulated over the years. They were women schooled in the art of pleasing a man, which made him a little apprehensive about acquiring a bride who lacked the skills and aptitudes he’d grown accustomed to. It was a good thing that in his country retaining his mistresses was acceptable even with a wife.
“Monty?”
His attention was once again drawn back to his conversation with Jamal. “Yes, Jamal. I’m certain that when this is over I will marry your sister.” He paused for a moment and then said, “However, there is one stipulation.”
“And what is that?”
“I want you to agree to allow me to use my own resources to locate her and once I have, I want you to let me handle things my way…and without any interference from anyone.”
There was a long pause and then, “All right, Monty, considering the circumstances, I will grant you what you’ve asked, and will advise my father and stepmother of such.”
Rasheed was only vaguely aware of hanging up the phone and moving across the room to retrieve his cell phone out of his jacket. He was well aware of how much Jamal cared for his youngest sister and for him to agree with Rasheed’s stipulation