The Duke's Runaway Princess (Love By Accident) (17 page)

His heart softened at the memory of their first time together. There was no way she could have known what they would be together because she’d never been with another man. She was too tender, too trusting, he thought. And something was very, very wrong.

“Try calling her cell phone, okay? Give me a call when you find out anything. If you hear from her, tell her to call me immediately.”

“Where are you going?” Suzanne called out to him since he’d already rushed out of her apartment and was halfway down the stairs.

“I’m going to make some calls. I have people at the airport. They can tell me if she’s gone through customs yet or if she’s still in the country.”

Suzanne rushed down the stairs, standing in the middle of the sidewalk in her blue, fluffy robe and bare feet but she didn’t care who saw her if Zarah was in trouble. “What if she hasn’t left the country?”

“Then I get my security team to find out where she is,” he said with absolute determination a moment before he ducked into his powerful car and drove away, tires peeling along the pavement as the car hurried to obey the commands of its anxious driver.

Six hours later, Derrick was furious with himself as well as with Zarah. She should have trusted him enough to tell him what was going on. If she had, they could have avoided this whole nightmarish day. He’d contacted his friends in the UK Border Agency and found out that Zarah had probably left the country several hours ago. They said that one plane with the Tasain royal seal had arrived last night and had already logged a flight plan for today in order to return to Tasain. It had left four hours ago but they didn’t have a passenger log. Normally, even foreign dignitaries were required to go through the proper channels, although those checks were streamlined for them and public areas eliminated. But in this case, he could only make an educated guess that Zarah had been on the plane due to the timeline of her disappearance and the plane’s takeoff.

So here he was, sitting in his own private jet and flying across Europe in order to get her back. From her brother, no less!

Derrick was furious at the situation and his fingers kept touching the ring in his pocket, knowing what he should be doing right now instead of flying around the world to retrieve the woman he loved. He was on the phone now with anyone who could get him an audience with Zarah’s brother. Once he got that meeting, he had no idea what he was going to do, but he’d figure it out once he knew that Zarah was safe and unharmed.

He ran a hand through his hair with frustration as his mind went through all the different torture methods this brother might have used on Zarah to bend her to his will. He gritted his teeth and swore that if he’d harmed a hair on her head, he’d rain down so much trouble on the brother and Tasain he’d never see the end of it!

His plane finally landed and as soon as he’d touched ground, he received a phone call from Joe who told him that he had a meeting set up with the sheik the following morning. How Joe had made that happen, Derrick had no idea, nor did he care. Joe owed him several times over for favors done in the past.

By the time Derrick was walking into the palace the next morning, he was ready to spit nails. He needed to see Zarah and make sure she was okay before he did anything so he had to remain calm and in control. Losing his temper wouldn’t get him anywhere.

Zarah moped along the hallway, her mood so depressed she couldn’t even think. She’d begged to see Rashid, to explain to him what had happened, and try once again to justify why she’d run away. If only she could tell him about Derrick, she knew he’d understand. But Rashid was being obstinate and wouldn’t let her make any phone calls, wouldn’t let her talk to Sidra because he knew she’d see Zarah’s side of the issue.

It was all too much! Not to mention the two new body guards who were following her everywhere.

She just had to get in to see him, to explain and make him understand how much she loved Derrick. Surely he could understand since he loved Sidra so much. Good grief, he’d basically kidnapped Sidra to get her here after he’d lost track of her all those years ago.

There was movement down the hallway and Zarah looked up. Several of the palace guards were waiting in the hallway outside Rashid’s offices. That wasn’t normal, she thought and hurried down the hallway herself. Something wasn’t right, she told herself.

And then she saw him! How could Derrick be walking into the palace as if nothing were wrong?

“Derrick!” she called out, just to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her or if he really was here.

When the tall, handsome man stopped and spun around, she knew that he was real. He cut through the guards and with that movement, Zarah ran down the hallway towards him. When she was only feet away, she threw herself into his arms, completely ignoring her body guards’ calls for her to stop. In fact, the louder they called to her, the faster she ran, afraid they would stop her before she could touch him and make sure he was real.

“Zarah!” he called out, his arms closing around her as she hurtled through the air towards him. He didn’t even mind the impact of her soft body as he held her close, his hands running through her hair and down her body to ensure that she was okay and wasn’t hurt. “What happened? Why did you leave? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me what was going on!” he growled a moment before his mouth closed over hers, not giving her a chance to answer any of his questions.

Zarah didn’t mind. She just wanted to hold him and know that he was actually here. She loved his strong arms that wrapped around her and pulled her off her feet while he kissed her, proving that he was controlled by the same emotions that she was feeling.

When he pulled away, he set her back down on her feet, looking at her with anxious eyes. “Are you okay?”

She grinned up at him, still so surprised that he was here. “Yes. I’m fine.”

“When I heard that you’d been taken back to Tasain, I went a bit crazy,” he groaned and pulled her back against his chest, messing up her hair once again in his frenzied need to make sure she was whole and unhurt. “Don’t ever do that to me again!” he commanded.

“I agree, baby sister,” a deep voice said from behind him.

Derrick spun around, keeping Zarah behind him and every muscle in his body tensing in anticipation of a fight. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded of the tall, black haired man with an arrogance that just irritated Derrick further.

Zarah could already see where this was heading and it wasn’t good. “Derrick, this is my brother, Rashid.”

Derrick turned his head to see if she was teasing him or not. When he saw the truth in her eyes, he turned back to the man who was still standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern expression on his face. “You’re the man who had the gall to kidnap your own sister?” he demanded. Derrick’s voice was calm. Too calm.

Rashid stepped forward, fully prepared to defend his actions. “I’m the brother who brought her back to the safety of her home,” he corrected.

“Semantics,” was all Derrick said before he pulled back with his right arm and smashed his fist into the smug man’s face.

Suddenly, there was a rush of movement but Derrick maintained Zarah behind his back while his body guards closed ranks around him. The other man lifted his hand quickly, halting the guards who immediately drew their weapons and were about to pounce on the stranger who had dared to assault their ruler.

“Stop!” Rashid called out as added incentive for his guards to not interfere. He looked back at the younger man standing in front of him, noting that this stranger was keeping his youngest sister behind his back despite her attempts to get around the large man. “You love her,” Rashid stated as he looked directly at the man. He was tall enough, which was strange in itself. But he was also impressed that the younger man had dared to hit him. And all because he was defending his sister.

“Come with me,” Rashid said, his voice ringing with authority.

Derrick shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere with you. And Zarah is coming with me.”

Rashid turned slowly and looked at the man who dared not only to assault him but defy him? Unheard of. He surveyed the man in front of him thoroughly, noting the belligerence and arrogance that was so like himself. Looking slightly behind the man he could see his baby sister trying desperately to get around him as if she could protect him somehow. “You will marry her?”

Derrick didn’t have time for this kind of stupidity. “As soon as I get her the hell out of here,” he replied. He suddenly spun around, putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out the ring he’d been keeping for the past three days. “Here!” he said, shoving the ring on her finger, then turning around to continue glaring at Zarah’s brother.

Rashid noticed the large diamond that his baby sister was now about to cry about. Why women would cry about something so silly was beyond him, but he knew that they were tears of happiness and not sadness. This stranger obviously made his sister happy. So Rashid assumed he should consent to the marriage. “You’ll marry her here in the palace where her family can witness the ceremony.”

Derrick wasn’t about to stay here a moment longer than was necessary to retrieve Zarah. “I’ll marry her back in England and you can travel there if you want. But we’re getting out of here. I won’t let her be around a man who would dare to kidnap a woman, but I won’t deny her the right to have her family at her wedding.”

Zarah had been staring at the beautiful engagement ring for a long time, awed by its beauty. But hearing the way her brother and Derrick were arguing about her suddenly broke through her haze of happiness. “Excuse me?” she called out, her anger rising with the way they were discussing her future as if she had no say in anything. “Would anyone like to consult me about this decision?”

“No!” both men said, Derrick barely turning around and Rashid continued to glare at Derrick.

“Excuse me, but I refuse to be left out of this discussion!” she said, pushing Derrick’s arm away from her as she came around to face him.

Derrick was having none of that. “Zarah, if you had taken the time to tell me what was going on, if you’d trusted me enough after everything else, we could have avoided the past twenty-four hours!”

Zarah grimaced at that statement because he had a point. “Okay, you’re right. I should have told you what was going on and I’m sorry. But please don’t be mad at my brother.” She turned to glare at Rashid. “I’m mad enough as it is. Regardless, he is my brother and he
thought
he was doing the right thing. He’s just a jerk who doesn’t know how to let go of control.”

“Now wait just a minute!” her brother tried to interject.

“Rashid?” a new voice broke into the conversation.

Everyone, including the guards, turned to watch a lovely woman with a tiny baby in her arms walk towards the group. “Zarah?” she asked as she noticed her sister-in-law amongst the taller men. “You’re back? When did you fly in? Why didn’t you immediately come to say hello? We’ve both been so worried about you!” she placed the tiny pink bundle in Rashid’s arms and hurried over to Zarah, both women embracing excitedly. “Oh my! It’s so good to see you! Rashid has been going crazy not knowing where you were but I tried to get him to calm down.” Sidra looked around at the tense expressions on many of the guards. “Obviously, I failed in that endeavor,” she laughed softly.

Derrick kept his eyes on Rashid, correctly assuming that he was the biggest threat. He glanced only once at the lovely woman who was approaching the group but as she spoke, he quickly grasped that this woman was Rashid’s wife. As the woman placed the baby in his arms, the whole demeanor of the man changed. Gone was the arrogance and in its place was a reverence for both woman and child.

“Sidra, I have this under control…” Rashid tried to say as he protected his infant child with his arms.

She looked around and shook her head, linking her arms with Zarah’s. “It doesn’t appear to be under control.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her husband’s guilty expression. “Rashid, what did you do?”

Zarah laughed at her brother’s stunned expression, knowing he was trapped and couldn’t talk his way out of this one. “He kidnapped me and brought me back yesterday morning. The reason I haven’t come to say hello to you is because he’s restricted me to certain areas of the palace and your suite isn’t one of them.”

Sidra’s mouth dropped open with shock and horror at that explanation. She turned back to her husband, hands on her hips and glared at him. “Please tell me you didn’t really do that!”

Rashid stepped forward, shaking his head in an effort to appease her. “Now honey, it isn’t as bad as you think…”

Zarah wasn’t going to let him get away with anything. “He had me bound hands and feet, even a gag in my mouth so I couldn’t even talk to the men who carried me into the plane,” Zarah announced, then realized that she might have brought Sidra more on her side, but now Derrick was livid.

“You did that to my fiancée?” he demanded, stepping forward and trying very hard to get Zarah safely out of his path so he could pummel her brother more thoroughly.

Rashid wasn’t sure who he should appease first. His instinct was to soothe his wife, but Zarah’s new man was the most imminent threat. Zarah might not be a bad one either since she was sowing the seeds of his banishment from Sidra’s bedroom quickly, a situation he refused to let happen.

Deciding that his wife was more important than anything at the moment, he turned to face her, soothing Tiala by gently rocking her in his arms. “It isn’t like that.”

“What was it like?” Sidra demanded. “She’s your sister and fully capable of making her own decisions. We discussed this over and over while she was away.” She turned to Derrick, looking him up and down and smiling. “Besides, I know about the men you were trying to set her up with and it looks like she’s done a much better job than you did in selecting a man.”

Zarah smothered her laughter at Sidra’s assessment, but completely agreed with her. Rashid, on the other hand, was not amused. “Now wait a minute, Sidra. Those men were perfectly acceptable. They had the right pedigree and could protect my sister properly. Unlike some others…” he said, looking behind his wife at Zarah’s choice.