Vikkas coughed into his hands, trying not to laugh outright. Nayan was one to talk about self-interest, when that was all the man seemed to embrace.
“And if you comply with this request and assert your right to have The Castle holdings all under your control, we will restore your surname to Maharaj. Instead of that Anglo-French one, you now bear that is distant from your true culture.”
Vikkas stood from behind the glass desk and moved until he was a few inches from Nayan, then perched on the edge. “Khalil took the basic tenets of a peaceful religion—gender equality, racial equality, service to humanity—and put them in a secular format for any and everyone to appreciate. That is something that transcends pure religion. That is humane.”
Nayan glared and parted his lips to speak, but Vikkas held up a hand to silence him.
“He was on a spiritual journey in making sure that people who have been the most overlooked by society had a chance to build something of value. That is what makes him a great man.”
Nayan’s laughter echoed. “Great man? Spiritual man?” He slapped a hand to his knee. “Ha! Not so much. Human desires ruled him just like the rest of us.” Nayan stood so he was at his full height that was still two feet shorter than Vikkas. “Why do you think he was so vested in having those particular men involved in his life? It is not a coincidence. He took that humanitarian aspect to an entirely different level.” Nayan looked to Tehan whose silent disapproval was almost tangible. “Do you want to tell him or shall I?”
Tehan crossed one leg over the other. “One of those little bastards is Khalil’s son.”
He was silent for a moment to let Vikkas absorb that tidbit of information. The other two men exchanged a glance over the half-moon console table between them.
“This man has more claim to The Castle than you ever had. Keep that in mind.”
The four men sauntered to the door, but it was Nayan who looked over his shoulder and said, “When you are ready to listen to reason, I will be here. In the meantime, do not let those men sign the papers. You will regret it.”
CHAPTER 34
Shaz winced and squeezed his eyes shut, absorbing verbal blow after blow.
Camilla poured sharp words into his ears without taking a breath. Her powdery scent invaded his nostrils from where she stood staring at him across the desk. The baby-blue dress that hugged her curves made it hard for him to concentrate. Today, she’d put her hair up, exposing her slender neck. The thought of burying his face there set a fire between his legs, and he shifted to ease his discomfort.
He massaged his nape and let his gaze settle on Dro, who was pretending to scroll through his phone while waiting so they could discuss Camilla’s case.
They’d returned from an early morning meeting and Camilla had been waiting for him across from Elise’s desk, cool as you please, flipping through a magazine. Fire had flashed from her eyes at the sight of him and the same heat seared him now.
Shaz knew better than to interrupt her tirade. He understood her anxieties better than she’d ever know, but he couldn’t tell her. Given the mood she was in, she’d blast off his head and send it rolling from Ocho Rios all the way to Montego Bay. Her next words made him sit up straight.
“There’s all this hype about you, from everybody around here.” She gestured with a sweep of her hand. “Aunt Mabel seems to think the sun shines out of your ass, but it feels more like an urban myth than reality.”
Dro smirked, shoulders heaving in an effort not to laugh, but kept his gaze on the screen.
“I’m not discounting what you do, really, I’m not, but I’m yet to see—”
Her words hit him in the gut. The past two days emergencies with his other clients and the business with The Castle ate up a big chunk of his time, but her predicament was partly why Dro was sitting in his office trying not to bust a gut. Shaz had put him to work and now planned to pick his brain to get more insight on how they could expedite her application for an extension on her time in the country.
Although his profession was crisis management, Dro could definitely put Shaz in touch with the right people. That’s how far he was prepared to go for her, but she was hearing none of that. Shaz kept his tone even because he didn’t want her to think for a minute he was at the same level of annoyance as she.
“Has it occurred to you that my other clients’ affairs are just as important as yours?”
Camilla finally took a breath and blanched at his words. “I’m not saying they aren’t, but—”
“And that even though we haven’t seen each other in a couple of days.” His gaze shot to Dro, who was still occupied with his phone but had sat up a bit straighter. “I’m trying to find an avenue to resolve your situation?”
“I don’t …” She paused, as if considering his words, then shot a pointed look at Dro, who smartly avoided the heat of her gaze.
“You obviously don’t know me, but trust, if I haven’t said anything it’s because I have nothing to report.” He let that sink in as she huffed and clamped down on her next words. “Even so, my silence doesn’t mean I’m not working.”
His voice must have given away his irritation because Dro cocked one eyebrow and tipped his head toward him.
Shaz angled the seat sideways to avoid his former classmate’s stare and focused on the potted silver queen across the room.
“Okay, so maybe I’m being a little unfair,” she confessed.
One side of his mouth tilted in a smile. “Maybe?”
Camilla let out her breath in an audible sigh. “Okay, maybe a lot.”
“So, here’s the situation. This is a colleague of mine.” He gestured to a half-smiling Dro. “Who I’m about to brainstorm with to come up with some solutions to your problem.”
She gave Dro a once-over, frowned, but said, “Sounds good. When will you have an update for me?”
Shaz spared a glance for Dro, whose unwavering gaze was now fixed on him. “I don’t know …” He made her wait for a few more seconds before adding. “Maybe by tomorrow.”
“You’re not nice,” she protested, disturbing Shaz with that melodious lilt to her words.
With a lift of one eyebrow, Shaz said, “Well, when you treat me this way …”
He hid a grin when Dro frowned, then raised his gaze to the ceiling.
“Camilla, let us do our jobs. We’ll talk later.”
She stormed from the room, throwing him a glare as she pulled the door shut. Twice in one week for her to be so angry with him was not a good sign. He closed his eyes for a second and inhaled the arousing scent he’d come to associate with Camilla.
While clearing his throat unnecessarily, Shaz tried to maintain a serious expression despite Dro’s amusement.
Dro grinned, then asked, “So you call me over here to sort out your issues, and you’re making love to the woman with your eyes?”
“Sorry, man.” Shaz stifled a smile and forced his mind back to business. “Despite how that looks or sounds, we haven’t gone there as yet.”
Dro laid his cell on the desk and pulled the lapels of his black jacket together. “What are you waiting for?”
“Her issues are much more important than our attraction to each other. After we get her business sorted out, it’ll be time enough for personal stuff.”
“Agreed, so here’s what I found out.” Dro smoothed a hand over his hair. “The boyfriend, or should I say the ex, is aware of what’s happening. Apparently, he had a hand in the proposed adoption.”
“You’re saying he’s involved in this?”
Dro nodded. “The Bennett’s lawyer had the paperwork drawn up and are ready to proceed with adopting the little girl.”
Shaz slumped in the executive chair. “How do you even think about giving up the child you fathered for adoption in a situation like this?”
Dro let his gaze drift to the document on the desk, and Shaz knew he wasn’t telling him everything. “Did you know they had a falling out?”
Shrugging, Shaz said, “We
ll, they’re not together anymore, so—”
“I mean, since that.” He passed a hand over his mouth. Then, he sighed. “This guy is something else. Let’s just say money changed hands between him and Darryl Bennett.”
Shaz jack-knifed out of the chair. “You mean he sold his daughter?”
“Basically.” Dro closed his eyes, then added, “And I’ve found out about other irregularities with people in similar plights as Camilla.”
Pacing the floor with both hands in his pockets, Shaz asked, “You’re telling me we have children being taken from their parents by these rich assholes simply because they can?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Is there a way we can stop them?” Shaz paused in his efforts to wear a path on the tiles, then leaned in, supporting his weight with both hands on the desk, glaring at Dro.
“You can be intimidating as hell. You know that?” Dro taunted.
“Yeah, yeah.” Waving that aside, Shaz continued, “Well?”
Dro’s dimples made an appearance when he smiled. “There’s a way to do anything you want to do in this life. It’s just a matter of making the right connections.” He sat forward. “As we both know, there’s a wrong way and a right way to do everything. I have a friend who’s high up in social services who can put some pressure on the lawyer involved in this arrangement.”
Shaz frowned and reclaimed his seat, keeping a laser focus on Dro. “Sounds good. We need to make that contact like yesterday.”
“Agreed.” Dro slid the cell off the desk and speed-dialed a number. After a moment, he left a message and dropped the phone in the pocket of his jacket. “No answer, but she’ll get back to me. She’s the real deal.”
Glancing at the file on his desk, Shaz scanned the top document again. “In following through for Camilla, I did see some disturbing patterns. They seemed harmless. Maybe because I expect people associated with Khalil and The Castle to be of a certain caliber. If we’re both noticing this stuff, then it’s another item we have to put on the agenda for our next meeting.”
“Khalil was right. They turned the place upside down in his absence,” Dro said, pulling the dark slashes of his brows together. “It’s like the entire place is crawling with corruption.”
“Outside of the good we see being done by a few of the organizations on the property, of course.”
Nodding, Dro added, “And even then, it makes you wonder if they are hiding something.”
“The thing is, it’s easy to get away with some things. For example, Camilla’s situation is far from unique. This same thing has happened in the past and still continues today.” His attention strayed to the manila folder again. “Far more frequently than I care to think about.”
Dro leaned forward in his seat. “Are you saying—”
The office phone buzzed, and Shaz hit the handsfree button. “Yes, Elise.”
“There’s someone here to see you.” She lowered her voice to a near whisper. “He doesn’t have an appointment but insists on seeing you.”
“Did he say what it was about?” Shaz went to the coat stand and shrugged into his jacket, which he knew made him look as formidable as his fellow King sitting across the room.
“Yes, he said it has to do with an adoption.”
Shaz’s gaze shot to Dro, who sat forward and raised one eyebrow.
As Shaz smoothed the gray material over his chest, he asked, “What’s his name?”
“Darryl Bennett.”
CHAPTER 35
“This is not about you, Dwayne,” Khalil said. “It’s not even about The Kings. It’s about what you and the kings together can do for others.” Khalil poured ice water into a Styrofoam cup on his hospital tray, then offered it to Dwayne.
Dwayne leaned forward in his chair, accepting it and taking a few sips. “But I know what I can do for others. I do it every day, and that is liberating, motivating, and activating the minds of young people so that they’ll be able to make a difference in the world.” He returned the half-empty cup to the tray. “Why do I have to become part of this to do something as simple as that?”
A quiet laugh escaped from Khalil’s mouth. “Liberate, motivate, and activate. You’re rhyming almost as much as Dr. Jesse Jackson and Dr. Seuss.” His smile was replaced by a reflective glance at Dwayne, who had laughed at the older man’s observations. “You always had the heart of a poet, and that’s what set you apart from the others.” Khalil placed a hand on Dwayne’s more massive one. “I do know the importance of what you do. But humor me for just a minute, will you?”
Dwayne nodded as a nurse slid into the room.
“Everything all right in here?” she asked with a warm smile.
“Yes, thank you, Christine.”
She swept out of the room after adjusting the curtains to let more sunlight in. Dwayne took in the surroundings. “If I didn’t see the rails on that bed and all the equipment, I’d swear this was the Marriott.”
“Trust me, the food is good here, but not that good.”
“Sort of like the cafeteria food at Macro,” Dwayne teased.
“Heeeeey,” Khalil protested. “I chose that menu myself.”
“And that’s my point,” he shot back, and they shared a laugh.
“The Kings of the Castle …” Khalil mused. “Why do you think they—men who started out in life the same way as you did—call themselves Kings?”
“I don’t know,” Dwayne replied, standing and moving closer to the window as he reflected on the eight powerful men who had shown up at his house and filled it with their presence. His family couldn’t stop talking about them and how wonderful they were in their approach for plans involving The Castle and Dwayne’s part in all of it.
“I don’t think it’s because they want to rule over everybody else,” Dwayne admitted, pressing a hand to the cool glass. “Maybe they’re making a statement that every person should behave like and expect to be treated like royalty. That’s not what I aspire to.”
Khalid was silent so long that Dwayne didn’t think he would speak again. Finally, Dwayne looked in his direction and then the conversation resumed with Khalil saying, “We boast about America being a democracy, but you’d better believe that in this day and age, our country is overflowing with men who claim they are kings.” He smiled. “And I don’t mean The Kings of the Castle.”
Dwayne reclaimed his seat, then sat forward in his chair. “I see where you’re coming from. Everyone readily identifies a king as the person who has the right to rule over a people and land. Sometimes that right is passed down through a bloodline. But often, that right comes by one man killing off another and taking his place at the top of the totem pole. That happens on the streets all the time. And it happens in politics and business. That’s why it isn’t for me. Like I told the others, I’m going to stay in my lane before I end up on the shoulder or in a ditch.”
“Okay, so if I follow that line of thinking you had about your brothers earlier,” Khalil hedged. “Tell me the most important characteristics of royalty or a king in your eyes.”
Dwayne pursed his lips and looked upward before saying, “For starters, a king needs to be meek, meaning that he is strong, but he knows when to use his strength and when to harness it for the greater good.”
“Agreed. Keep going.”
“And he needs to be grounded.” Dwayne thought about his own life, the issues that had shadowed his twin and the family secrets that had nearly destroyed them. “Life’s challenges might sometimes knock him to his knees, but he won’t lay there and play the victim. He’ll push himself to regain focus on what he was put on this earth to accomplish, and that will propel him to keep moving forward in spite of what life throws at him.”
“Well put. More?”
Dwayne scooped up the cup and polished off the rest of the water. He mulled over what he’d already said, then added, “The best kinds of kings are the ones who aren’t afraid to help those under them to become the best they can be.”
Khalil n
odded.
“And it goes without saying that any good king protects his subjects.”
Khalil nodded again, and it almost seemed as if a smile played about the corners of his lips. As though the conversation was going exactly the way he had planned. “Go on.”
“Having principles and integrity is important. He needs to have a sound moral compass because he sets the tone for the kingdom. The rules and guidelines he puts in place should provide structure and order that benefits the people. He shouldn’t yoke the people with regulations that only satisfy his selfish wants and needs.”
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