Royally Kidnapped by the Prince novel Chapter 54

THAYER

“What’s next?” Lud asked.

My gaze flew up to Lucas when he cleared his throat. 

“We’re not entirely honest with you. You can’t blame us for protecting our daughter, you know. And we made a promise to Kennedy that we won’t tell anyone when someone’s asks where she is.”

My chest expanded with hope. “Where is she?”

“You can tell her that Lud is very resourceful. Even if she hides in Mexico’s Naica Mine, I will still find her.” Lud managed to lighten up the situation.

“How can we find her?” Ash came and joined us in the lounge.

“I emailed her two days ago, and she called me using a local number there. She said she’s with a guy named Talal.”

“Who the —” I cleared my throat. “Who is Talal?”

“Name’s sounds like Arabic. Middle Eastern,” Ash surmised.

“Yeah. That’s correct. Talal guy is an instructor.”

I chuckled. A small smile spread on my lips. “I know where to find Kennedy. I told her once that we should go skydiving. She said she’s not an adrenaline junkie like me. That explains what she wrote in the note about conquering her fear.”

“It’s easy to find Talal. There’s only one famous skydiving destination in the Middle East," Ash summed. 

"Dubai,” Ash and Lud even chorused.

“Can you call the number, please?” I asked Laura.

“You won’t talk,” Ash said to me. “Or you’re gonna ruin the plan.”

I shrugged. “Fine by me.”

“Good. Now let me find Talal on social media.” Lud opened an app on his phone. 

Ash turned the laptop on and connected Laura’s phone to it. 

Laura dialed the number on her phone. It rang. 

My heart pounded. 

“Mom?”

I gasped. 

Lud groaned beside me. 

“Hey, honey,” Lucas started. “When are you gonna come home?”

“Dad, I told you two days ago. I’m still working on something.”

“Like doing that thing. It’s dangerous, Ken. Your mom and I could barely get some sleep.”

“Jeez, it’s completely safe. I promise. And it’s actually thrilling.” Her voice was lively. She seemed excited. “And I’m not doing it alone. I already told you. Talal is good at what he does.”

I groaned. Blood rushed to my head. 

Lud shot me a murderous glare.

“So, you’re not coming home anytime soon?”

“Mom.”

I shut my eyes closed. God, I missed her voice.

“I know, honey.”

Ash signal his hand to talk some more so that he could trace the call if she was still in Dubai.”

“About the ring, honey. I still—”

“Mom, you have to send it to him or give it to Alessia.” 

I rose to my feet, blowing a frustrated breath. 

“I think it’s better if you two should talk and give it to him, Kennedy. You need closure.”

“Mom, I’m not ready to face him.” I felt the sudden change in her tone. She was still hurt. It was painfully obvious, but on the brighter side, she still had feelings for me. I locked my jaw hard and fought the urge not to speak and call her by her name.

Ash gave us thumbs up.

“I just want you to be happy, and you won’t be able to do that until you get closure. And the only way to do that is to talk to him.”

“That asshole— sorry for my language. But that asshole hurt me, and he clearly doesn’t care about me. So let him go to hell. I swear if I see him, I’m gonna knee him is his balls—”

“Ken—” I fought with Lud. He was able to cover my mouth with his hand before I could speak and snatch the phone. Kennedy’s parents yelped in surprise. Ash managed to lock my arms behind my back. I huffed in frustration.

“You’re gonna see her, and that’s a promise,” Ash whispered. But you have to act like a grown-up, for God’s sake. Did you understand me? Nod so that I can let go of your arms.”

“Fine.” I twisted my arms to get loose. “Damn you.” 

“Mom? Dad, are you still there? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Yes, honey. I’m here.” She grinned sheepishly. “Your dad. This silly. You know. I’m—I’m ticklish.” 

Ash and Lud held their laughs even Lucas had joined them.

“Ew. Gross. I have to go now. I’ll call you soon. Love you both.”

When the line cut off, Ash closed the laptop. “She’s still in Dubai.”

“How do you like a three-day trip in a Cruise?”

“Are you serious? We’d been planning it for two years now,” Lucas answered.

“Great. Get ready. Call her friends as well.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll make up to your daughter. I promise to make her happy for the rest of my life. I’ll see you in the jet.”

***

We arrived in Dubai. The weather was humid than in New York. 

I barely got a nap out of excitement. Ash managed to connive with Talal to change course and bribe him with a free cruise trip. Apparently, he and Kennedy became good friends. 

I still had an argument with Ash and Lud regarding the plans. Since Kennedy cursed the hell out of them when they first took her, they came up with another plan. Ignoring my ideas, they said that mine was too dangerous. Yet, here I was, just roofied my woman and waited for her to wake up. 

She was a lightweight. It quickly kicked in, and I was expecting her to get up soon. 

“Boss, we’re ten thousand feet high,” Talal informed me. “So far, so good.”

“Like we agreed. You will jump and follow us.”

“Got it.” He gave me thumbs up.

It was about time. Kennedy stirred, froze for a while. She must have been trying to remember what happened before she passed out. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. 

She just called her friend and thought Talal was still her partner. Again, she was going to hate me for doing this. But this could be a whole lot of fucking fun.

“Sorry, darling.” She froze again. She must have recognized my voice right away. “Talal is preoccupied at this moment.”