Loving the Czar (The Blakemore Files Book 6)

by Olivia Gaines

  “Forgive me Seňores. As I was saying, based on what Victorio Rentería has done with his marijuana crop, the same principal can be applied to the coca and poppy crops grown in South America. There are legitimate markets who would pay top dollar for unprocessed leaves. The Canadian and Swiss pharmaceutical markets are ripe since the warring in Asian. Much of that land is being saturated with chemicals from ISIS or whatever they are called now.”

  She took another bite of the fruit. “This week, Seňor Delgado and I were planning to discuss ways to enter these markets with raw products cutting down the cost of shipping processed products to distributors. It would also save on lives lost and the ridiculous cost of security, submarines, stealth planes and the like. It would mean a whole new way of life for the residents of Colombia putting you on the map for something more than Emeralds.”

  Ryanne looked down at the yellow fruit. She looked over at Tonda, making eye contact with him. “What am I eating? This is awful!”

  Tonda tried not to smile. “It is a quince La Doctora.”

  “And it is still terrible, even now that I know what it is,” she said as she peeled the banana.

  The man who asked the last question introduced himself, “Dr. Dobbins, I am Guillermo Gutierrez of Venezuela. We do have a great deal of trade with many countries for our produce. How much time were you planning to spend here working on this plan with Eduardo?”

  Still chewing on the mouthful of banana, “I am planning to return to the US on Saturday morning. We had allocated a week to explore the possibilities of this different future for...Las Tierras.”

  “Bullshit! All of this is bullshit and we are being snowed by this puta. She is his lover! I know who she is. I have told you who she is, they are planning to take over the organization!” Renteria yelled.

  Ryanne burst into laughter. “What am I going to do with a drug cartel? It took me three months to decide to become a consultant! I still don’t even know what I want to eat after I finish this banana!”

  Several of the men snickered. Ryanne told them, “Seňores, somethings are as simple as they appear. I am a specialist in high finance. When I was with the state department, my job was to track where each of you were spending and how you were spending your money. I know the trends, I have the data.”

  Castanza made his way towards the door. “Good enough, we will return on Thursday with the whole team to hear this concept. You two have a lot to work to do.”

  The other gentlemen rose, surrounding Renteria, forcing him towards the exit. Eduardo walked his guests outside to where the cars were waiting to return them to their respective planes. Ryanne had decided right then and there than some fajitas sounded really tasty. She made her way to the kitchen to start putting together some dinner.

  “Yum...fajitas... I hope he has something like a tortilla in that kitchen...” she said as she hummed searching the pantry for needed supplies. “I will have a nervous breakdown after I eat.”

  Chapter 14. Can I have her....?

  Eduardo and Tonda returned to the house to find Ryanne humming in the kitchen as she bent over in the fridge to collect vegetables for a meal. Her handful of bottom poked out giving the men a bird’s eye view. At another time and place Eduardo would have enjoyed admiring the view if Tonda wasn’t so busy doing the same.

  He reached over and punched the man in the arm, mouthing, “What are you looking at?”

  Tonda arched his eyebrows. “The same thing you are looking at!”

  “Well stop it,” Eduardo told him. He called to Ryanne, “Dr. Dobbins, what are you doing?”

  “Making us something to eat. Those people really know how to wear out a welcome. I thought they would never leave,” she told him as she pulled some beef from the fridge. The grill pan she placed over the burners and turned on the stove. “Do you have anything similar to tortillas here?”

  Tonda spoke up, “We have arepas...which is the equivalent.”

  “I don’t know how to make those...,” she said as she pounded the beef with a tenderizer.

  “Dr. Dobbins,” Eduardo said her name softly. “Are you alright?”

  She stopped and looked at him squarely. “No! I am not alright. I have to write a business plan for a continent of drug dealers. I have to write it in three days. More than likely, if they don’t like my plan, I will probably be killed or fed to that big monster that held the knife to my throat.”

  She moved over to the pantry. “Do you have any rice? Tonda, would you help a sister locate some rice?”

  Tonda went to the cabinet to remove the ceramic container of rice. Ryanne thanked him as she set a pot of water on to boil. Still humming as she picked up a giant knife and began to dice some peppers and papaya, Eduardo was getting concerned with her disconnected behavior.

  “Dr. Dobbins, you are upset. Maybe...”

  “Maybe what Seňor? Maybe...what?” She tried not to raise her voice to him. “This is not upset. Right now, I am rattled, but a chick is hungry and she needs to eat something before she passes the hell out. The little quince thing has my stomach tied up in knots.”

  “I understand, but you are moving at a frenetic pace. You may want to slow down some,” he said to the back of her head.

  “You know what would be really great? Some French fries...you know papas fritas! A sister could really use a French fry with some ketchup,” she told him.

  “Dr. Dobbins, please stop,” he implored.

  She exhaled slowly as she laid slivers of beef on the grill pan. “I cook when I am upset. I am also hungry. If I want to eat, I have to cook. The lady that was cooking for us cut off two of her fingers...”

  Tonda spoke up, “That was me Mi Madre.”

  Ryanne cocked her head, “Really, that little woman gave birth to a giant like you! How is she doing by the way? Did they sew her fingers back on? I packed them on ice. Is the gardener your father?”

  “She is doing well, La Doctora,” he responded smiling.

  Eduardo had seen enough. He moved into the kitchen to stand next to her. “Dr. Dobbins have you spoken with your parents since you have been here?”

  She paused for a minute, her mouth wide and the knife pointing at him. Tonda moved forward but Eduardo held up his hand.

  “You know I haven’t!” she said, shaking the knife at him with each word.

  He asked, “Have you spoken to your sister, to check on the twins?” He took the knife from her hand. “Go call your family. I will finish dinner.”

  Both she and Tonda were watching him. “You cook?”

  “Yes, I can cook,” he told them both.

  She spun around nearly three times on the floor, finally stopping when she felt dizzy. “I got some plates out yesterday, but for some reason today, I can’t remember where they are. Tonda, be a dear and locate the plates to set the table. I shall be back in a moment.”

  They listened to her hum as she made her way up the stairs. Eduardo rinsed the rice and put it in the pot then moved over to grab the tongs to turn the beef. He added spices to the pan as he tossed in the veggies lightly coating them with oil. Tonda watched with interest - this side of his boss he had never seen.

  “Seňor,” he said.

  “Yes, Tonda?”

  “I have been saving my money like you taught me. I think I have nearly fifty-thousand American, along with some bonds,” he told his boss.

  “That is great news Tonda. Are you looking to maybe go on vacation, buy a spot of land, settle down and get married?” Eduardo asked.

  “Yes, Jeffe,” he said.

  This had Eduardo’s full attention. He could not discern when the man had time to date since he was at his side almost 16 hours of the each day. “Have you found a lucky lady?”

  The big man was grinning. “Yes, I want her.” He pointed at the ceiling.

  Eduardo’s face was contorted. “Who?”

  “I mean if you don’t want her. I do. I will give you every dime I have for her,” he told his boss.

  “Tonda she is
not a spider monkey! I can’t sell her. Stop...just stop,” he told him. He looked at Tonda again.

  The man had a sappy puppy grin on his face. “...But Jeffe, she is incredible. Did you see how she took that knife off Albertossy and brought him to his knees? I was impressed that she slid between his legs and brought that knife up to his huevos.”

  Eduardo was grinning as well. “Yes, that was pretty bad ass!”

  Both men laughed. “Jeffe, you don’t find a woman like that every day. Please can I have her? I promise not to break her. I will take real good care of her.”

  “Tonda, this conversation is over,” he told his henchman.

  For Tonda is was not. Never before had he spoke against his boss or even back talked him, but he had something to say. “You are keeping her for yourself aren’t you?”

  Eduardo turned the meat over once again, not even bothering to look at Tonda as he replied, “You know this to be true. As you said, you don’t find a woman like that every day.”

  Ryanne had touched him in a way no one else ever had. She was the one person who actually saw him as he was. The idea of her understanding and taking a ruthless man like Eduardo willingly into her bed had shaken him. As much as he was in control with her last night, he knew deep inside that he was losing more of it to her every day. If she ever realizes the power she has over me, I will be a doomed man.

  It didn’t bother him much as he turned the meat over again on the grill pan. Ryanne did not seem like the type of woman to use her sex to her advantage. Dwight had called her a cold fish in bed. Each time he had been with her, he found those words to be the furthest thing from the truth. Especially after last night. He knew he had been rough, demanding, and unbridled, yet she stayed with him, giving back as well as she received.

  Damn, that shit was good. A few more nights like that I may end up working for her.

  Chapter 15. Three damned days...

  In three days Ryanne learned almost everything she needed to know about the man that was the paradox named Eduardo Delgado. He was highly educated, very astute and one hell of a business man. His penchant with numbers was mind boggling to the point she found herself petting him like a puppy because she was so turned on with him calculating large figures and big data without a calculator. Each time she called out numbers and ran the figures on the desk calculator, he would already have the number called out to her.

  “I have only seen a few men calculate large numbers in their head like that. Two of them were my professors. The other was my boss in Corpus Christie,” she told him.

  Eduardo wanted to kiss her, but Tonda was watching. In a hushed tone he asked, “So you appreciate a man who can work with a big digit?”

  “It can start as a small digit as long as it expands exponentially,” she told him as she stroked his arm again.

  “Dr. Dobbins, you are distracting me,” he told her.

  “And you have distracted the love out of me,” she said as her hand rested on his thigh. “I think we need to take a siesta,” she told him.

  His dark eyes smoldered as he looked at her. His finger moving across his lips. “I don’t nap in the middle of the day, Dr. Dobbins. We have much to accomplish with very little time,” he whispered.

  “Okay...but I may not feel it at this level later...” she told him.

  “At this level?” One eyebrow was arched as he wetted his lips with the tip of his tongue.

  She took his hand and slipped it under the table and up her skirt. His fingers made contact with the soft cotton of her undies. He could feel the dampness of her desire for him. She lifted her skirt and lowered it quickly to give him a whiff of her nectar. Eduardo’s pupils dilated.

  He said to his guard, “Tonda? Will you ride out and see if your mother is able to come this evening to prepare at least one meal for us?”

  The big man did not move. “I could call her.”

  “It will mean more if you ride down to the house, you know to check on her,” he told the big man.

  Ryanne rose and headed towards the stairs. “I need to take a break for minute. My back and neck are killing me. Please excuse me Seňor.”

  Eduardo’s eyes were back on Tonda, his voice firm. “Go check on your mother. Lock the front doors and come back in two hours.”

  Before the guard could say anything else, Eduardo was running up the stairs by twos. He found Ryanne sprawled in the center of his bed wearing nothing but a smile. He locked the bedroom door and quickly disrobed. “You are going to be the death of me.”

  “Yes, but dang it all, you will die a very happy man,” she said as she pulled him atop of her. “Tell me again how many bushels can be loaded in 2,515,226 cubic feet...”

  Sated from their lovemaking, the two lay in bed, his legs intertwined with hers, his thumb rubbing her shoulder as he stared at the wall. She wanted to know more about him and his family.

  “Eduardo, tell me about her,” she said to him.

  “Her?”

  “Yes, the mother of your children,” she asked.

  “There isn’t much to tell. We married young, she got addicted to drugs, and it did not end well,” he said flatly.

  “You left out a lot in between,” she said as she sat up in the bed. “And what do you mean it did not end well?”

  His fist were clenched as he started to speak. “We married young, you know arranged...and all. She was lovely, but sheltered.”

  Andres, his brother, was in charge of the production facilities and often traveled a great deal. On several occasions he would allow her to travel with his brother to shop and buy items for the home. “I should have known better, Andres was a fool with too much money and too little sense,” he confessed.

  “It is nice that you named your son after your brother,” she whispered.

  It started innocently enough with his brother testing small samples, but he wanted to refine the process to make it more cost efficient. “The two of them together was bad news. She was very fond of him and named our second son after his uncle. My brother was obsessed with refining the drug processing portion and was testing much of it on himself. He was soon hooked on this new batch of what he called Romeo Bleu and so was Angela. She was also carrying Micah at the time.”

  He spoke softly about the painful rehab and Micah’s tough delivery. “I do blame her for the birth defects in both children. I managed to get past that and sent her away to get clean,” he said.

  Andres had died while Angela had been away. He died in the processing plant with a grotesque look on his face from an incorrect mixing of acids and solvents to extract the coca from the leaves. “My wife fell into a fit of depression because her play pal was gone and my home was too remote for her. She hated it here which equated to her hating me and our children.”

  Eduardo’s voice was steely when he told her, “She left me for a year to take a tour of Italy. She had only been home for three months when she told me she was expecting our fourth child. Of course she wanted to name him Angel and I didn’t argue.”

  His hands wiped across his brow. “After Angel was born, Angela disappeared again for six months. She came back to me with four armed Guerrillas claiming she had been held hostage by the men with all sorts of horrible stories about their treatment of her during her captivity.” The sadness in his voice was overwhelming to Ryanne as he spoke of her entering their home to remove Yuńior and Andres as hostages for ransom.

  “I have no love for a woman who would use her sons as pawns to extort money from me to save her own hide,” he told her as the muscles in his thighs flexed. “Her own children Ryanne. To make it worse, she took the two healthy children...”

  Ryanne was at a loss for words. Would it have been any better if she had taken the unhealthy ones? It seemed as if he read her mind.

  “Angel and Micah suffer from defects because of her inability to put them before her own cravings, but to use the sons who would guarantee me a line of succession, is incomprehensible,” he spoke through clenched teeth.

&
nbsp; She wanted to know the truth, to know it all, which is what prompted her to ask, “What did you do Eduardo?”

  “What do you think I did? I told the Guerrillas they could keep her and no harm would come to any of them if they released my sons. They complied and took her back into the jungle with them. After that, we did a sweep of the Colombian jungles and I rooted out every Guerrilla camp, organization and mercenary group in my country. She, was already dead when I found her in one of the camps. What they had done to her was unkind, but such as life can be to us all. I killed them. I killed each and every one of them. I am not one to trifle with,” he said as he sat up in the bed.

  Without looking at her, he spoke in a tense voice, “Come, we have much to finish before tomorrow.”

  At the end of Wednesday, a workable and very profitable model was created for Las Tierras Verdes that could easily be applied to each of the other countries, substituting their country’s products for the coffee and coca produced on Eduardo’s lands. Ryanne was impressed that he only wanted to create one model instead of trying to decipher what would work for each group.

  In three damned days she had worked closely by his side and better understood the man she came to learn more about. He was everything a girl could want in a husband and provider. His intelligence shined as he laid out facts and figures in a business plan worthy of publication in any finance journal. It was the way he looked at her which scared her senseless. She was now more afraid than ever to stay with him and more so to leave.

  I don’t know what to do.

  Unfortunately for Ryanne, a decision was about to be made for her.

  Chapter 16. Oh Hell Naw...

  It was a fitful night for them both. Nausea had set in for Ryanne and no matter what she ate, the food would not stay down. In the middle of the night they found themselves in the kitchen with a sleepy eyed Tonda standing guard as Ryanne drank peppermint tea and Eduardo sipped on warm milk. He knew something bad was coming and she was becoming angry that he would not share the fate that was about to befall them.