Alex Drakos: For My Lover

by Mallory Monroe

  It had to come from him!

  But he arrived too late. Jordan was upstairs, in the penthouse, playing a video game despite the fact that Alex still had him on punishment. But Oz wasn’t attentive to a teenager the way Kari and Alex were. It was an easy get.

  But then his cell phone rang, a cell phone he got a friend to loan him until he was able to retrieve his own. It was Matty.

  “Did you hear it?” he asked Jordan.

  “Did I hear what?” Jordan asked, still handling the controls. Still playing his game.

  “Did you hear about your mother?”

  Jordan stopped when his mother was mentioned. “Hear what about her?”

  “She’s been shot, Jordie. The news says she’s been shot!”

  Jordan dropped his controls. “Quit lying like that!”

  “I’m not lying! It’s on the news!”

  Jordan dropped the phone and ran into the den, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV. It seemed to be on every channel.

  “The wife of billionaire venture capitalist Alexander Drakos has been shot on the outskirts of Washington, DC. after she and her husband had dinner with the president at the White House.”

  The door to the penthouse flew open and Oz swept inside. Jordan, hearing the entrance, ran out into the hall.

  “Jordan?” Oz was yelling. “Jordie!”

  When they saw each other, Jordan, already in tears, ran to his step-uncle. Oz realized he had failed. Jordan already knew.

  “Somebody shot Ma, Uncle Oz. Somebody shot Ma!”

  “I know, Jordie. We’ll get to her.”

  “I need to call her! Maybe it’s not true. Maybe she . . .” Jordan didn’t know what to say or think. Oz saw his distress, and pulled him into his arms. “We’ll get to her. My brother is with her. She’ll be fine. I promise you that. She’ll be fine.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  She was out of surgery, but she wasn’t out of the woods. The next seventy-two hours, according to her surgeons, would be critical.

  Alex was devastated when he arrived at the hospital with Kari, but he wasn’t so thrown that he couldn’t personally phone the best doctors in DC and get them to agree to provide around-the-clock, in her suite care to his wife as she recovered.

  Alex was a billionaire. He was able to pay them whatever price they commanded. They came.

  Now they were in the private hospital suite preparing to work around-the-clock. Doctors for hire, and Alex hired the best.

  The surgeon, whom Alex also had on call, walked into the suite. Alex was standing beside the bed, staring at Kari and all of her drips and tubes, as she slept. She had only briefly regained consciousness after surgery, but had fallen back asleep.

  “It’s normal,” the surgeon said as he stood beside Alex. “She will be in and out for the next seventy-two hours. After that, then we’ll see.” He had an Eastern European accent and was said to be one of the top surgeons in the country. Alex was glad he was readily available.

  “Why was the surgery so fast?” Alex asked him. “In an hour, it was done. But her recovery, not so fast.”

  “The position of the bullets was ideal,” the surgeon replied. “And there were no organs affected. She’s a very lucky person.”

  “She’s blessed,” Alex said.

  The surgeon looked at him. He was supposed to be the billionaire playboy, yet he was behaving as if this woman meant the very world to him. “She’s a fighter, I’m sure,” he said.

  Alex looked at her. “What’s her true prognosis?” he asked the surgeon.

  The surgeon looked at Kari. “Not great,” he said, “but good.”

  Alex hated to hear that it wasn’t great, but given how Kari looked in that car after she had been shot, he’d take good. He just wanted her to be okay.

  Ten minutes after the surgeon left, the door to the hospital suite opened again, but this time Jordan, Oz, and Lee hurried in.

  Jordan ran all the way up to his mother’s bed, and Alex immediately stood behind him, his hands on Jordan’s small shoulders. Tears were already in Jordie’s eyes.

  He turned and looked over his shoulder at Alex. “Is she alright?” he asked him. “There’s so many tubes!”

  “She’s alright,” Alex said.

  Alex had told Jordan nearly twenty times over the phone, while Jordan and Oz were flying to DC, that Kari was going to be alright. But he still wasn’t convinced. Especially now that he was seeing her for himself. Alex squeezed his shoulders.

  While Lee guarded the door, Oz stood beside Alex, staring at Kari too. “She’s brave,” he said. All of those tubes threw him too. “She’ll pull through.”

  Alex nodded.

  While Jordan continued to stare at his mother, Alex motioned for Oz to follow him outside.

  They both made their way out into the hallway. Two police officers were guarding the door, and four were at either end of the hall. Alex and Oz walked midway and stopped. Alex leaned against the wall, and had one leg bent and his shoe against the wall. He ran his hand through his hair.

  “You look like shit,” Oz said, “but I understand why.”

  “You told her to come?” Alex asked. Her, Oz knew, was Lee McCrae.

  Oz nodded. “Yes, I told her to come too. And proof of just how the news has devastated me, I didn’t even try to hit on her the entire flight.”

  “Don’t,” Alex warned. “Keep it professional. I don’t want to lose a good security chief because of your foolishness.”

  “Don’t worry,” Oz said. “She doesn’t like my ass anyway.”

  But Kari was on Alex’s mind. “It scared the shit out of me,” he admitted. Oz was the only person on earth he would ever admit that to.

  Oz squeezed his shoulder. “I understand, brother. It would have freaked me out too.”

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Alex said. “We took care of Paddy. The threat was supposed to be over. How the hell did this happen?”

  Oz nodded. “I was thinking the same thing on the flight over. Everything pointed to Paddy Jupe. He was the one.”

  “Then what the fuck is this?” Alex asked. “It was orchestrated. It was planned. It was a professional hit.”

  “But who by?” Oz asked. “Did you recognize anybody?”

  Alex shook his head. “No one,” he said.

  But they both had to clam up when Oz motioned toward the end of the hall. To Alex’s surprise, Franklin Maurice, a senior advisor to the President of the United States, was cleared by the police on guard and was heading their way.

  “He looks familiar,” Oz said.

  “He works in the White House,” said Alex.

  “Alex, hello,” Franklin said as he extended his hand. “Bad luck, my friend.”

  Alex shook his hand. “Thanks for dropping by.” Franklin looked at Oz. “This is my brother, Odysseus.”

  “Hi,” Franklin said, and he and Oz shook too. Then Franklin looked at Alex. “How is she?”

  Alex shook his head. “Not out of the woods yet. But out of surgery. The next three days are critical.”

  “I’ll certainly keep her in my thoughts and prayers.”

  “Thank you, Franklin.”

  “But my mission, I’m afraid, is two-fold.”

  Oz didn’t like the sound of the I’m afraid part of his statement. Did that mean Alex didn’t get the ambassadorship? Oz was pulling for him. Greece needed a man like his brother.

  “The president has decided to go in a different direction,” Franklin said.

  “Damn,” Oz said. He couldn’t help it.

  At that moment in time, Alex didn’t give a fuck. He’d mourn that loss later. Right now, he was one-hundred percent focused on Karena. “Okay,” he said.

  “The President also wanted me to personally let you know that it was a very close call. But in the end, he felt he needed to go with somebody else. But he thanks you for your interest.”

  It wasn’t lost on Alex that Franklin spoke as if Alex campaigned for the job, when he had
done no such thing. But that was Washington for you. All for self all the time.

  “In any event, I won’t hold you. Tell your wife I said hello as soon as she recovers. Which I’m certain she will,” he added, they said their goodbyes, and Franklin Maurice left.

  Oz shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t vote for that president anyway,” he said.

  “You aren’t a citizen,” Alex said. “You can’t vote.”

  “If I could, I wouldn’t,” Oz said.

  But Alex was still too uneasy to even make jokes with Oz. He headed back into Kari’s room.

  The next seventy-two hours, the danger zone, were the hardest of Alex’s life. Kari was in and out of consciousness, and never really quite there, as the doctors and nurses remained around the clock monitoring her. It was costing Alex a fortune, but he’d give away every dollar to his name just to have Kari back with him.

  Because she wasn’t back yet.

  And they all sat around her bed: Alex and Jordan. Oz. Lee was on the door still. Even when she could have gone to the hotel to rest, she remained at the hospital too. That action spoke volumes to Alex.

  Faye, Benny, and Lucinda had flown up from Florida, too, as soon as they got the news. They dropped everything in their own lives and remained by Kari’s side during the danger zone. But they were those kinds of friends. Alex expected nothing less.

  It was a quiet, scary time. It was a vigil that felt like a death. Because Alex was dying inside. He was seated closest to the bed, his legs crossed, his body seemingly contorted in the seat as he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Kari. Even Jordan could see that his stepfather was in a bad way.

  That was why Jordan went and sat on the arm of Alex’s chair. Alex, glad to have the contact, placed his arm around Jordan’s waist and Jordan leaned against him.

  “She’ll be okay, Dad,” he said to him. “She has to.”

  Alex pulled him closer. He attempted to smile, but he couldn’t pull it off. He was supposed to be comforting Jordan, not the other way around. But it was exactly the other way around.

  But even after seventy-two hours came and went, and everybody stayed, there was still no sign of improvement. Kari was still in-and-out of consciousness. Kari was still there, but not quite there. Alex was still a mess.

  Until finally, at the eighty-fifth hour, the “fever” broke. It was early morning. Alex was seated at Kari’s bedside, his arms flapped over the bed rail that had been pulled up into the up position, and his head slumped down. His eyes were closed. Oz, Faye, Benny, and Lucinda had taken Jordan downstairs for breakfast, and Lee remained on the door outside of the room as Kari’s personal guard. Alex was alone with Kari.

  And then, suddenly, she opened her eyes. When she saw Alex sitting there, with his head slumped down, she frowned. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

  Alex thought he was hearing things when he heard her voice, because it was a strong voice, and he looked up. When he saw how clear her eyes suddenly were, and how present she suddenly was, and how she actually smiled that magnificent smile at him, he knew it was no hallucination. Kari was back!

  He jumped from his chair and leaned toward her. She opened her IV-compromised arms, and he gladly went into them. And they hugged and cried. And cried some more. Alex couldn’t believe how much herself she truly was.

  He called Oz on his cell phone, as soon as Kari asked about Jordan, and Jordan and the entire crew ran all the way back up to Kari’s hospital room so fast, Alex figured they had to have been already on their way.

  And they all hugged and cried too.

  Kari was back.

  And they all were grateful.

  But Alex got busy. The doctors examined her. They ran more tests. And as soon as they gave the all-clear, Alex didn’t delay. Not for a second. He had her, complete with a full escort of motorcycles and SUVs and the ambulance itself to take her there, driven to his mansion in New York’s Hudson Valley, where the rest of her convalescence would take place.

  Kari was back. That was all that mattered.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  “Looking like a doll baby,” Faye said, and they all laughed.

  Alex had Kari propped up on so many pillows in his big bed that they couldn’t help but laugh. And Kari was enjoying it too. No more IVs, no more tubes. She was happy to be home. Even if it was Alex’s home in New York, and not the penthouse in Florida.

  “Not yet,” Alex had said. But she wondered even then if he would try to keep her where she was.

  But for the present time, she was enjoying right where she was. Jordan was on the bed with her, leaned against the headboard right beside her. He hadn’t left her side.

  “What are you, Jordan?” Lucinda even asked him. “Her protector?”

  “She was out of my sight for ten minutes,” he said, playing along, “and you see what happened!” And they all laughed at that too.

  Kari and Alex both were pleasantly surprised when Kari’s friends didn’t immediately hop Alex’s plane, as he had offered, and hightailed it back to their own lives in Florida. But they wanted to make sure she was truly okay. They had to see her out of that hospital and in her own element to know for certain.

  “There’s no doubt about it, Kare,” Benny said. “You have returned.”

  Kari smiled. “Thanks, Benny. I feel so much better. Not a hundred percent, but better.”

  “If you need to thank anybody,” Faye said, “you need to thank Alex. That man went to the mat for you, girl.”

  “Didn’t he, though?” Lucinda said. “I was impressed.”

  “I wasn’t,” Benny said. “I knew he’d come through for Kari. Even Stevie Wonder could see how he felt about her.”

  “Stevie Wonder,” Oz said, laughing. “That’s a good one. So original, too,” he added, and everybody laughed at that too.

  Alex sat back and enjoyed the fun. A television was on. Music was playing in the background. And his formally quiet master bedroom was transformed into a loud, boisterous, happy club room. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “But we do need to hit the road,” Benny said. “I have my law practice. Faye has her real estate office. And Lou has her diner to get back to. So we will wish you adieu, my dear,” he said, and gave Kari a kiss.

  Everybody looked at Benny when he kissed Kari. It was no secret how he felt about her. Some even believed he was just waiting in the wings for Alex to mess up. Then he’d swoop in and have Kari for himself. Especially since his marriage to Faye appeared to be itching closer and closer to divorce court.

  But they all also knew that he was an honorable man. He was not going to dishonor Kari, himself, Faye, or even Alex by doing anything stupid. Alex respected that.

  “Come see me when I’m back at the hotel,” he said to Benny. “I need somebody to run my legal team in Florida. Somebody I can trust. You may be that guy.”

  It had been hinted for a long time that Benny would work in some capacity for Alex. But it never really went anywhere. Not formally anyway. This time, it still might not go anywhere. But Benny was willing to try it.

  “Thanks, I will,” he said, they all said their goodbyes, and then Jordan walked Faye, Lou, and Benny downstairs to the waiting SUV.

  Alex pulled out his cell phone and checked a text message he had just received. Kari looked at Oz. “Where’s Lee?” she asked him.

  “She went back to Florida last night.”

  “I wanted to thank her,” Kari said. “I heard she wouldn’t leave the hospital, and guarded my room the entire time.”

  “She did,” Oz said. “She’s a really fine woman.”

  Kari and Alex both looked at Oz.

  “It’s not that serious, guys,” he said, and they laughed.

  “Look,” Kari said and Alex and Oz looked at her, and then looked where she was looking: at the television. It was breaking news, with the caption, President Selects Ambassador. Since Alex already knew it wasn’t him, he looked back at his cell phone messages.

  �
��The president just announced that he will select Greek socialite Marilyn Carrio to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Greece. As you may know, New Yorker Alexander Drakos was in the running as well, but a string of bad publicity, culminating in his wife getting shot and his driver killed, turned out to be too much for him to overcome.”

  But Alex looked up. “What did she just say?” he asked.

  “She said the president has appointed his ambassador,” Kari said. “And unfortunately, it’s not you.”

  “But who did she say he selected?”

  Kari didn’t remember.

  “Some lady, why?” Oz asked.

  And the anchorwoman had moved on.

  “Why is that important?” Oz asked again as Alex grabbed the television’s remote and pressed rewind. When he got to the announcement, he stopped.

  “ . . . . that he will select Greek socialite Marilyn Carrio to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Greece.”

  Alex looked stunned.

  “What, babe?” Kari asked him.

  “I know her,” Alex said.

  “So what?” asked Oz.

  “Who is she?” asked Kari.

  “The Prime Minister’s girlfriend.”

  “Prime Minister Galanis?” Oz asked. “The Prime Minister of Greece?”

  Alex nodded his head. “Yes,” he said.

  “But that’s insane! How can she be impartial concerning that corrupt government over there, if her boyfriend is running it? They’ll be able to collect all of that U.S. aid and pocket it with impunity. It was as if the president just gave them the keys to the U.S. treasury.”

  “Wouldn’t that be illegal?” Kari asked.

  No one knew the answer.

  “But how do you know that’s his girlfriend?” Oz asked.

  “Because I know.”

  “But how do you know, Alex?”

  “Because she used to be my girlfriend,” Alex said. “I dumped her, and Galanis picked her up. She became his mistress. That’s how I know.”

  “But you’re saying more than that,” Kari said, staring at Alex. “Do you think the prime minister had something to do with it?” Kari remembered that Alex’s daughter had been friendly with Galanis’s son-in-law, or somebody like that, at one time.