More Than Strangers (12 page)

Her chin met her chest as she tried to look at her torso. She couldn’t see clearly, but she felt liquid ooze between her fingers. Jason’s words cut off her thoughts. “Don’t panic. The faster your heart rate, the more blood you’ll lose. Try not to breathe shallowly. Press down as hard as you can. Follow my directions and you’ll be fine.”

She filled her lungs and did as she was told. He turned her so that she was lying on her side with the wound elevated. She felt his fingers digging into her back. It hurt like hell. She must be bleeding there too.

Leather-soled shoes entered her line of vision. A red nylon bag followed. She heard the sound of parting plastic and tearing cloth. The lower half of her T-shirt was ripped off.

A stray piece of gauze fell by her face. Something was shoved inside the wound on her back. She bit down to muffle her cries, but the torture continued. When it stopped, she felt tape seal over her skin.

Jason turned her onto her back. She deduced they were about to repeat the same process on her stomach. Their gazes met. She was trying to be a trouper, but the pain was getting to be too much. The edges of her vision blurred, bleeding inward until it was impossible to focus.

“Don’t fight it. I’ll keep you safe. When you open your eyes again, I’ll be here.”

His reassurance made her relax. She hadn’t known she was keeping a death grip on consciousness until she let it go. The world glazed over before going dark. His words were the last thing she remembered.

* * * *

“What do you mean I can’t see her?” Jason hissed through clenched teeth. He looked down to find his hands in fists. His legs were spread in a combative stance. He took a deep breath. This doctor was just the messenger, and he wasn’t doing himself any favors.

Dark, kind eyes met his. The young woman’s returning smile was sympathetic but firm. “You are not a family member, Mr. Reynolds. Ms. O’Hara’s father insisted—”

“I don’t care.” With great difficulty, he kept his voice just above a whisper. “I brought her here. You met me before you took her into surgery.” He flexed his hands before closing them again. “You came out midway to tell me she’s going to be fine.”

The doctor patted his arm. “You don’t need to worry. The surgery went very well.”

A weight lifted off his chest, allowing anger to push to the forefront. “But you won’t let me go into her room.”

She shook her head. “Ms. O’Hara is not conscious. It will be many hours before she is. Until then, she can’t make her wishes known. Her father just arrived, and he insists you stay outside. All hospitals, even ones in Dubai, respect the wishes of the patient’s next of kin. I strongly suggest you go home and get some sleep.”

It was the last thing he wanted to do. “When she wakes up, she’ll expect to see me. I promised her I’d be there when she opens her eyes. It’s my right—”

“Unfortunately, boyfriends don’t have legal rights.” The doctor’s tone held a hint of disapproval. Beneath the glitz and glamour, this was still a conservative Muslim country.

“I’m not her boyfriend. We’re—”

She lifted a dark brow. He wasn’t helping his case.

The truth hit him. The word boyfriend didn’t come close to describing what he was. Their relationship wasn’t something either of them would choose to end. How he felt about Nulli would never change. She had risked her life to keep him safe, and he would return the favor without hesitation.

In this moment, he would give anything to be by her side.

“Is there a problem, Dr. Aziz?”

Jason looked past the white-coated lady to meet hauntingly familiar dark blue eyes. Even without the red hair and beard, he would have recognized the barrel-chested man. The textile mogul may be reclusive, but his picture had made it to the cover of
Forbes
a number of times throughout the decades. He had a wide nose, thick mouth, square jaw, and very much resembled a bulldog. Nulli clearly got her looks from her mother’s side of the family.

The surgeon shifted her feet. “Not at all, Mr. O’Hara. Mr. Reynolds was just leaving.”

“The hell I am.” These were extreme circumstances. He didn’t have a choice but to be difficult. The doctor rolled her eyes and walked away. She was a smart woman.

David O’Hara responded to Jason’s glare with a deep, throaty chuckle. “I’m surprised you didn’t take the excuse to leave.”

Jason crossed his arms. His silence was a question.

In a thick Irish brogue, Nulli’s father explained. “Zahra tells me you’re the security consultant who got my daughter out of a very dangerous situation. You have my sincerest thanks, and I plan on expressing my gratitude in a monetary fashion as well. Your work is done, boy. You’re free to go.”

Jason felt his jaw clench. “I have a right to see her.”

“Do you now?” The man’s hands lifted to rest on his hips. “What kind of right might that be? She’s never mentioned your name. When did you first meet?”

“Six months ago. We’re very well acquainted,” Jason bit out.

David O’Hara rubbed his beard. “I see. Unfortunately, I don’t know you from Adam. Considering recent events, I’m of a mind to be suspicious. Get some rest, and change your clothes. When she wakes up, I’ll ask if she wants to see you.”

Jason crossed his arms. “If you speak with Zahra, she can—”

“Nothing she’s told me warrants you hovering by my daughter’s bedside,” the man snapped.

Jason’s molars ground together. “I saved her life.”

“Which is what you were paid to do,” the man countered. “Tom Allen was paid by the Public Health Partnership to do the same. From what I’ve been told, he discovered Nulli’s connection to me and tried to kidnap her for ransom. You can understand why I no longer view men in your field of work in a positive light.”

“I’m the one who made sure Tom paid for his lapse of judgment,” Jason reminded the man. He didn’t fear reprisal. As far as the local government was concerned, a few thugs and a foreigner went missing in Karachi. Such things didn’t even warrant a headline in the local newspaper.

David O’Hara crossed his arms. He had a mulish look on his face. It reminded Jason of his daughter. “I don’t give a horse’s arse. Now get.”

The man was being ridiculous. But since the only option was putting Nulli’s father in a choke hold, Jason’s choices were limited. “I promised her I’d be there when she woke up.”

David O’Hara lifted his bushy red eyebrows. “Then it’s a promise you’ll break.” Before Jason could open his mouth to argue, he was facing the back of the man’s head.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jason asked as he climbed into Dan’s two-seater Audi R8.

It didn’t take his friend long to floor the accelerator. The man factored speeding tickets into his annual budget. It was lucky Dan was born with deep pockets. “Zahra called and said you might need a ride—or an intervention. I was looking forward to witnessing a fistfight between you and the textile tycoon.”

Jason grunted. He had come too close to losing his temper for the comment to be funny.

Dan rocketed onto the six-lane highway. A speeding camera’s flash went off. “A call came into the office while you were solicitously hovering by the operating room. Safe Harbor won the Department of Defense contract in Nimroz Province. You’re going to Afghanistan for a year.”

Jason frowned. “Doesn’t that start…?”

Dan nodded. “Tomorrow. The U.S. government loves to procrastinate. It’s probably why Emirates has twice-daily Dubai-Kabul flights.”

“Fuck.” The back of Jason’s head hit scorching leather. Air-conditioning was no match for the desert sun.

“That’s not the reaction I was expecting. This is our big break. The contract is worth three million dollars in pure profits. It’ll let us put our expansion plans in motion without bringing in a third partner.”

His friend was right. This was the moment Jason had been waiting for. Now, it was the last thing he wanted. Spending a year playing referee in a civil war had somehow turned from an adventure to his worst nightmare. This contract would clear the path for more dealings with the DOD. If he played his cards right, Safe Harbor would turn from a midsize security consultancy to a multimillion dollar war machine. It was what he had always wanted.

“I can’t go.”

Dan made a sharp left onto the overpass leading to the Palm Jumeirah. “I’d offer to take your place, but you don’t administrate worth for shit. You’re one hell of an operative, a magician at making deals, and a genius mastermind. But you know jack about accounts, portfolios, and payroll. Give me some time to get things sorted, and we’ll swap places.”

Jason shook his head. “I’m not leaving Dubai for at least a few months. I have things I need to sort out. After that, I’ll go for short stints but not yearlong assignments.”

“I thought you said you two weren’t serious.” Dan tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.

“I lied.” To himself as well as others.

“You’re giving up an opportunity of a lifetime for a girl you barely know.” His friend’s voice was incredulous.

Tired but resolute, Jason closed his eyes. “That about sums it up.” But he knew Nulli, and she knew him. The progression of their relationship hadn’t been conventional, but the outcome was the same. The messages they passed to each other were more revealing than months of dating. The two nights they spent together affected him more than countless meaningless flings.

He had decided. He just didn’t know if she felt the same.

To his surprise, Dan laughed. “Damn. I shouldn’t have taken that bet. You just made Zahra a thousand dirhams richer.”

Jason’s lids abruptly lifted. The bright sun was an energizing but painful jolt. He turned and glared at his business partner. “You’d better explain that statement.”

“There’s a folder under your seat. I like to be prepared. Take a look.”

Jason frowned and complied. When he figured out what the thick document was, he remarked, “I thought we decided to table this.”

Dan sounded resigned. “We agreed it didn’t need to be done until one of us decided to make a change. You falling off the deep end more than qualifies.”

* * * *

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Brennan Caruthers asked as Jason and Dan stepped into her penthouse. She clearly hadn’t been expecting them. The socialite who graced Dubai’s tabloids on a daily basis was always impeccably dressed. The woman leading them to her living room bar wore faded jeans and an oversize T-shirt. Her golden hair was tied into a messy ponytail, and her aristocratic face was devoid of makeup. Without five-inch stilettos, her petite build was glaringly apparent.

Jason wasn’t fooled. It might look as if he could snap her in half, but she was as tough as nails. He had done his homework, and her background was impressive. Her financial portfolio was even better.

“How’s Nulli?” he couldn’t help but ask.

She handed over the glasses. Cognac for Dan and single malt scotch for him. He saw Dan’s mouth quirk into a brief grin. His partner was impressed. “She’s doing fine. Why didn’t you go see her for yourself?”

Dan hid his smirk behind the amber liquid. Jason saw it anyway. “Because her father is an interfering jackass.”

Brennan laughed and shook her head. “You’ve got that right. She’ll be awake in a few hours. I’ll let her know you came by.”

“That’s not why I’m here.” He placed his leather briefcase on the bar counter.

Raising her eyebrows, his host hoisted herself onto one of the high stools. Dan followed her lead. Her tone shifted from personal to professional. “I don’t like doing business at home. I do have an office, though no one ever uses it.”

Jason took out the thick folder and handed it to her. “Meeting you there would pose a conflict of interest.”

She frowned as she hefted over the heavy sheaf of papers. “You arrived in the country last night. Zahra told me you spent half of today at the hospital. When did you have time to get something like this together?”

Dan was the one who answered. “It’s been in the works for over a year. We decided on you a few months ago. We just hadn’t gotten around to pulling the trigger.”

Brennan turned the cover over and glanced at the first page. A second later, she looked up. “This is a partnership agreement. My father isn’t interested—”

“We don’t want your father. We want you.”

For the first time in their acquaintance, he managed to make the blonde speechless. He didn’t come this far without knowing when to press an advantage. “We know you have a law degree from Harvard and a master’s in finance from Wharton. We also know you were an analyst at Langley. After you left the agency, you specialized in contract law. Your biggest client was a defense contractor. If you had stayed in D.C. for another five years, you would have made partner at one of the most prestigious law firms in the country.”

Brennan’s emerald eyes narrowed. Without the makeup and jewels, she appeared far from menacing. “That was years ago.”

Dan shook his head before chiming in. “It might seem like forever, but you’ve only been in Dubai for a year and a half. Since then, your father’s company doubled its profits. The inconsistencies in his financials disappeared. The firm is now debt free and prospering. From a logistical standpoint, it’s one of the best run businesses in the region. None of this was the case before you came.”

She tapped the granite counter with her manicured nails. “My father’s company has always been on solid footing.”

“And you’ve made it better.” Jason had done enough research to be certain. He wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case. “The persona you’ve projected is convenient, especially considering the men you have to deal with on a daily basis. But I was curious enough to do some digging, and I like what I found. Dan agrees with me.”

The smile she sent him was worthy of the media-dubbed ice princess. “Even if what you said wasn’t rubbish, it doesn’t tell me why I would want to play in the same sandbox as you.”

Jason’s gaze was assessing. He couldn’t always read her, and he liked that. “You’re bored out of your mind. It took you less than a year to put your dad’s company in order. You haven’t spent more than a day a week there in the past six months. You don’t want to play second fiddle in a thriving company that’s now on autopilot, and you’re too nice to push your father out. He’s not going to retire for at least another two decades, but he’s somehow tied you to this country. We’re giving you a lifeline.”