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

Chapter 33

He waited until he had closed the door of the apartment behind him before slinking against the wall in a full on panic, not really believing what he had done.

He had set Hudayfah's house on fire.

No, he had set a bomb off in Hudayfah's house, causing a fire.

When Jamaal had told him to do it, he had just stared at the man in utter shock and terror. He had managed to ask why he had to be the one to do it, and Jamaal's answer had been that he had been of no use so far and at least he would be good for something. He then had been dismissed from the room before he could protest any further.

He had debated greatly whether or not he should do it, but eventually his fear of Jamaal had outweighed his devotion to Hudayfah, and he had caused the explosion. It was a tricky thing, seeing as the house was filled with people, but they had all been busy with their own things, so nobody had noticed him when he slipped it into the upstairs hall closet. He had tried to make sure that no one would be around when he did it, but unfortunately Emma getting injured was a casualty he hadn't been able to avoid nor anticipate, and he just hoped she was going to be okay.

They had all spent the night at the Plaza the night before, and he had been the one to volunteer to assess the damage done on the house as he still hadn't had a proper freak out about what he had done, and needed a moment alone.

The downstairs was pretty much intact, just a few things had fallen from the cupboards in the kitchen, and were broken on the floor. The television had fallen as well in the living room, and one of the tables was overturned, but other than that, it wasn't too bad. The upstairs however was a different story, and he winced as he came to the top of the staircase. The first room he came across was Hudayfah and Jenna's, and it was practically in shambles. Three of their posts had fallen off of their bedframe, their mattress and bedspread was burned to a crisp, the rug under the bed was unrecognizable, and all of the pictures they had hanging on the walls, were now on the floor. Even the wallpaper was all burned up.

He glanced in the bathroom and the sitting room, wincing as he saw the television melted, before approaching the closets. Jenna had begged him to see if her wedding dresses were still okay, and he had felt a pang of guilt at that. He had passed her wedding bouquet on the way in, and it was all burned, nothing left but a strand of darkened white ribbon.

Once he finally figured out which closet was hers, he went to the back wall as she had instructed, and let out a sigh of relief to find the two dresses still standing. There were a few burns on one of them, but other than that, they were okay.  The rest of her clothes seemed to be fine as well aside from smelling like sulfur. He slung her dresses over his arm, before stepping back into the hallway, making his way towards Hudayfah's office, letting out a gasp as he stepped into the doorway.

"Well, look who we have here! I've got to say, you really did a number on this place!"

It took him a full minute before he found his voice.

"What are you doing here!?"

Jamaal shrugged from where he was sitting at Hudayfah's desk, closing one of the drawers with his foot.

"Just wanted to take a look around." His gaze fell on Jenna's dresses, and he rose an eyebrow. "Very pretty, but I don't think it's your size bro."

"Did you want something?"

"Now," Jamaal said getting up from his seat, "is that any way to talk to me? I'm going to feel unwelcome."

"It's not that," he said a bit nervously, "it's just Hud or Rami or someone could come by."