I ran to my room and started packing some clothes in a backpack. I hurried as my mind boiled with thoughts about Jared, the girls and Samir. Oh my! How would things be? Jared was out of danger. The only thing that made me sad was I had to get away from him, to leave him without saying goodbye. However, the girls and Samir would be at great risk, because my fiancé already knew the president of the company where I worked owned the harem. He’d soon find out that Sara was still in Morocco. She’d be in more trouble than any of us.

How about now? What would happen to us? What would happen to Jared and me?

I exchanged my dress for jeans and a t-shirt and put on a sweatshirt. I looked at all the beach clothes on the bed and felt like crying. I was too pretentious in believing all my dreams would come true. What had happened was just brief respite from the reality that inevitably now followed.

Returning to the living room, I gave my uncle my cellphone number and left the apartment carrying my backpack, with the hood of my sweatshirt over my head. I got a cab and went to the bus station. There, I bought a ticket to Detroit. It was the next bus to leave, but not for three hours. I’d have to wait.

I hadn’t eaten dinner, but I knew I couldn’t eat anything when I was so distressed. I wandered around the station, which was so big one could get lost in it. I looked for the boarding area for my bus and, when I found it, I sat on a concrete bench with other people waiting to take the trip.

I tried to keep my mind off the frightening thoughts of imminent danger. I grabbed my cellphone from the backpack and read Jared’s response to my message.

I liked the G-string bikini, but you are allowed to wear it only for me, in private.

I smiled, even though I felt like crying. I was certain I’d never see Jared again. He’d be dead before I could return to Seattle.

I felt my soul breaking. My heart was so torn apart to imagine he’d die before we had a chance to see each other again.

I didn’t answer his message. If we had to be apart, it was better not to make a clean break. It would be less painful. I decided to check other things on my cellphone and look for something to do to ease the sadness I felt. I found the Kindle app already installed with the Kindle Unlimited subscription purchased. I just needed to choose a book from among the millions of options and read. Jared really knew me. There was no better present than a nearly infinite library I could take anywhere.

I went to the English literature session, but there were so many books it was difficult to choose. I went through incredible authors, like Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, Sidney Sheldon, and many others I admired. I was downloading “Wuthering Heights”, when the phone started ringing and startled me.

It was Jared. I recognized the number from which he had sent me several messages. I thought about not answering it because I didn’t know what to say. However, my desire to hear his voice was stronger.

“Hello,” I took the call.

“Where are you? I told you to wait for me and I’d be here at nine. It’s nine ten, I’m in your apartment and you’re not here,” he said.

What could I say now? If I told the truth, he’d try to interfere, and that would endanger everyone, including us.

“I’m locked in my room with a terrible headache. I don’t want to go out today.” It was the worst lie ever, but the only I one could come up with on the spur of the moment.

“Don’t lie to me! I took an extra key when I rented the apartment. I’m inside.” Fuck! “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t. It’s personal. We can’t see each other anymore, it’s better this way. I’m not as strong as I thought, I can’t watch you die.” I sobbed and felt the tears filling my eyes starting to drop. I felt like a coward for saying that, but things needed to be this way. If my fiancé found me with Jared, it would be terrible for him and his brother, and there were already too many people involved in this. It was my fault.

“What about saying you loved me? Was it all a lie?”

“Of course not. I love you too much! That’s why I need to get away. I hope you understand.”

“I don’t understand anything! I’m going to pick you up.” He hung up and I wondered if the bus would arrive before he did. Of course it would, because I hadn’t told anyone I was coming to the bus station.

With a broken heart and my soul ripped apart, I tried to focus on my reading, but I couldn’t. I just thought about Jared, his beautiful voice was still very vivid in my ears. I closed my eyes and could see his perfect face in my mind. Those were memories I would always have with me. I wouldn’t forget him even if I lived a hundred years.

The minutes dragged by while I waited. I didn’t have any idea of how long I had been there, still closing my eyes and thinking about Jared. Then, I felt a strong hand grab my arm, scaring me so much I almost screamed.

It was Jared, and his face was twisted in rage. I could see the fury in his eyes, but he still made my heart skip a beat whenever he approached me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He raged, while pulling me up by the arm. His tone and his abrupt movement drew people’s attention.

“How did you find me so fast?” I asked in surprise.

“There’s a tracker in your cellphone.”

Of course there was. I don’t know how I hadn’t deduced that.

“I need to leave town. It’s for my safety and yours.” I said, pulling my arm away abruptly.

“You’re not going anywhere without telling me what’s going on.”

“I’ll go where I please. You don’t own me!” I answered in the same tone and more people stared at us.

“What a hellish personality you’ve got!”

“Just because I don’t wag my tail when you say so?”

He looked at me in silence for a moment and then laughed. His face was too beautiful, too loving, filled with light. His eyes were bright, and that hypnotized me in a way that I couldn’t look away from him.

“Tell me what’s happening.” He was calmer, caressing my face with his fingertips. It was like he knew he could bribe me with that smile and gentle touch. “We’re a team. We can’t hide things from the other. I opened up to you. Do the same for me, Inaya.”

Shit! He was right. I wasn’t being fair to just leave his life without explanation after he told me something he kept from everyone.

“My fiancé left Morocco a few hours ago and came to the USA. He must have found me through the documents I used to begin work in your Company, and considering the Prime minister came with him, they must know I’m either with you or with the harem.”

“And you intended to run away from me just because of that?”

“How can you say ‘just because of that’? If he finds me, the best option is he will force me to marry him because I gave him my word. However, once he knows I’m no longer a virgin, I’ll be doomed.”

There where whispers around us and we realized we had an audience for our conversation.

“Let’s get out of here.” As usual, he didn’t ask me, just held me by the wrist and pulled me through the bus station to his car, which was parked outside. When we entered the car, it was pleasantly warm.

Without a word, Jared started the car and expertly drove us through the wet, gray streets of Seattle.

“I think you don’t understand the situation.” I said. “If they find me with you, they’ll be sure I arrived with the harem they gave you, and we’ll be screwed. All of us… Samir, the girls, you, me, and especially Sara, the girl who traded places with me.

“We’re in a free country. Those idiots can’t do anything here.”

“Yes, they can. According to our culture, my fiancé has a right to me. I belong to him. Your government can’t stop him from dragging me back to Morocco, that would cause a quarrel between your countries at the very least.

Jared sighed, finally realizing everything was more serious than he thought.

“We’ll think about something. It’s my harem, the minister gave it to me. He can’t do anything to Samir and the girls. That’s their law and it should be applied the same way here too. We can get Sara and her husband out of Morocco before they get caught and you can marry me. A man has no rights over another man’s wife, not even in your culture.

I digested his words and wondered if I got it right. Had he really talked about marrying me? Would he do this for me?

“Would you marry me?” I asked, with such emotion that my voice faltered.

“Of course. If it will help you.”

“I got it. To help me.” I was disappointed.

He wouldn’t marry me because he wanted me, but because he wanted to help me. What did I want? He barely knew me, and he was used to having relationships with the most sophisticated, intelligent and beautiful women. He wouldn’t fall in love with an ignorant girl like me.

Jared observed me for a moment and parked on the curb. He slid closer to me, held my chin and made me face him.

“Not just to help you, but because you’re important for me. I don’t know if this is love, Inaya, but I never felt for any other woman the way I feel for you. My only certainty in this moment is that I don’t want to lose you. I want to be with you twenty-four hours a day, for whatever time I have left.”

It wasn’t exactly the “I love you” I expected from him, but it was enough. I felt really special and dear to this man. At the same time, my heart was heavy with the certainty we didn’t have time to live and long enjoy what we felt for each other.

“Jared…” I mumbled. With teary eyes, I searched for his lips with mine. He kissed me in the hungry way he used to and it left me breathless. The desire coursed intensely though my veins, making me burn.

“We have to get married as soon as possible, Inaya,” he said, interrupting the kiss. His voice was hoarse, breathless, and deliciously sexy. “If the Prime minister is here, he’ll soon look for me to clarify the story. I can delay the meeting, but not avoid it. Until then, we must be married and Sara and her husband need to leave Morocco for a safe place. Is there someone you can trust in Morocco to communicate with them and arrange for them to take the first flight to the US?

“Yes, my uncle Jamal. He’s very influential there. He can find her and warn her, but I don’t know if they can afford a trip like that. They live in the countryside, in a farm where they raise goats. They don’t speak English and I don’t know if they can live here.”

“That won’t be a problem. I’ll buy the tickets and whatever they need, but they must hurry. The prime minister won’t wait for long. Until then, we need to find a place where they can’t find us. The girls and Samir are also safe. I’m the only one who can give their address to the minister.

I was profoundly touched. I embraced him strongly.

“Thanks, Jared. You really are wonderful.”

“I’d do anything for you, Inaya.”

“From now on, I’ll do anything for you too. Whatever is in my power, my life is yours.”

He pushed me back and stared at me wickedly and a sexy expression filled his eyes.

“I could make you sign a document declaring that.”

I understood what he meant and I just smiled. He was a pervert! Even in these moments, all he could think about was sex.

“You’re a pervert, Jared Harrington!” I said irreverently.

“I know, and you’re making it worse. Now, let’s get out of here and make arrangements for everything.”

“Where can we find a priest and a church on such short notice?”

“Leave it to me. Just call your uncle and tell him to make the arrangements for the girl and her husband to come to the US. Ask him for his bank account information too.”

I did as he said, using the cellphone he gave me to talk to uncle Jamal, who agreed to help Sara and her husband get the first flight they could to Seattle. While we talked, Jared also made some phone calls on his hands-free Bluetooth while driving.

It continued to drizzle as darkness fell and the temperature dropped, leaving the city almost deserted. It made me uneasy, leaving me with an enormous wish for a warm bed, forget about my problems, and just close my eyes and fall asleep. I really wished all this hadn’t happened and we could go to Caribe to enjoy the balmy weather.

We went straight to the heliport at the headquarters of Harrington Company where a pilot waited for us near the helicopter.

“Where are we going?” I asked, the cold hitting me hard as I left the car.

“To Vashon Island. We’ll be safe there.”

We flew over the ocean to a nearby Island. Half an hour later, we approached the heliport of a big house, whose façade reminded me of a medieval castle. It was possible to see a lit maze of perfectly manicured plants, but aside from the light coming from the residence, everything was dark.

“What is this place?” I asked, surprised.

“It’s one of my houses. Don’t worry about anything, it’s safe. No one will find us here.”

“How many houses do you have?” I asked, even more surprised.

“I’m not sure. Fifteen, maybe twenty.”

As we left the helicopter and approached the majestic residence, the pilot increased the speed of the helicopter’s rotors and lifted off. I felt like my connection to the outside world was gone.

“Where will he go?” I was curious.

“He’ll bring the judge and the witnesses. We’ll get married here.”

“Where did you find a judge at this time?”

“I’ve got friends, who’ve got friends…”

I had heard him talking to his secretary on the phone while driving from the bus station to the heliport and deduced that she’d be one of the witnesses. I didn’t want to know who the other would be. The only thing I could think about at that instant was what Jeffrey’s reaction would be once he knew about this. This kind of thing couldn’t be hidden for long.

I felt like I was in a dream when we got inside the house. The ceilings were very high with gigantic chandeliers suspended from them. The home was furnished in colonial style, with rooms so big that our steps echoed. The walls were painted an elegant golden color, and the furniture was in the Provence style. Although the home and furnished looked old, they were well maintained, clean and organized.

As soon as Jared turned up the thermostat and the heat came on, the pervasive cold vanished. With just a click from a remote control, he ignited the gas flames in a fireplace on the big wall and I moved closer to it.

“I don’t come here very often. I have a housekeeper, but she just comes in the mornings. I’ll check to see if we have something in the fridge,” he said

I quickly followed him to the kitchen. I was so hungry and I refused to wait for him to burn another omelet.