Captured Hearts Book 1 in the Heart Series - Wattys 2015 Winner

Chapter 42

Hudayfah shifted onto his knees, wincing slightly as the rope rubbed against his chafed wrists. He had been working on getting his hands free for the past two days, and he was...almost...there...

He gave a slight groan as the rope dug deeper into his flesh. He should just give up, for all he knew he was just making the rope tighter. After a few mores seconds, he slumped against the wall in defeat.

He just didn't have the energy for this. He was going on five days without any food, and barely any water. Not to mention he had been in this position with his arms tied since he had arrived. It had been a killer trying to figure out how he was supposed to pray without having access to any water for Wudu, or being able to actually move.

But he just did the best he could.

As a wave of dizziness hit him, he closed his eyes, not wanting to experience the nauseating lightheadedness again. And of course, with his eyes closed, Jenna's face filled his mind. She had been all he could think about, and it physically hurt not to be near her. He woke up multiple times in the night reaching for her, and when he realized that she wasn't there, it was an indescribable feeling of heartache.

Being left alone for four days, except for the times when Jamaal came to bother him, had given him a lot of time to reflect, and for some reason he hadn't been able to stop thinking about how this had all began. It seemed like a lifetime ago, though it really wasn't that long ago...

"Muhsin did what!?" Rami exclaimed in disbelief, and Hudayfah nodded.

"Yeah. The idiot."

"Who does that?! I mean his own sister!" Farris added with a shake of his head.

"Alright, what are we going to do about it? Any suggestions would be helpful." Hudayfah said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, and the other men around the table remained silent.

"So we are certain that it's her that Jamaal wants? And not any of the other sisters?" Ramzy asked, and Hudayfah nodded.

"Yes. Jenna was the one that Muhsin put on the line, and now not only is she in danger, but so is the rest of the family."

"He's the biggest idiot I've ever met." Rami muttered under his breath, before he leaned forward. "Okay, so if we get her out of the house, we could keep her out of danger, and the others would be safe wouldn't they?"

"That sounds logical." Jafar said, and Hudayfah run a hand over his beard thoughtfully.

"So what? We get her out of the house, and what do we do with her?"

"Put her up in one of your houses?" Ali suggested.

"And then what? We can't leave her alone, but it's not like we could spend the night with her or anything." Abdullah said.

"Well what do we do?" Jafar asked.

They spent the rest of the night throwing out ideas, trying to find a solution, but mostly arguing. After they had gotten through their fifth pizza, Rami threw down his crust, and crossed his arms over his chest.   

"Maybe one of us should just marry her." He said with a laugh, and there was a profound silence at the table, before Farris sat forward.

"That's actually not a bad idea!"

"What!? Come on man I was joking!" Rami exclaimed, and Farris shook his head.

 "No it makes perfect sense! She gets married, she leaves the house, she can be with one of us without it being you know Haram, and she would be safe!"