"Hello." His voice was hoarse.
"Mr. Lee Chang." The smooth, clipped voice of Hamad's lawyer was on the line.
Zack straightened up and looked at the time. It was only seven o'clock. They had one day left to choose the firm. Hamad must be back.
The lawyer confirmed it with his next statement.
"Prince Hamad will see you and your colleagues in the boardroom at eight. We once again apologize for his three-day absence. We have, however, done our due diligence while he was away and have made our recommendations. See you at eight."
He hung up the phone and Zack turned over in the bed and stared at the ceiling. This was it, the decision day.
He had been so busy with Lola he had lost focus on why he was here in the first place. Amoy was right; this had turned out to be a vacation. A very good one, and very different from what he had thought it would have been.
He got up and ran his fingers through his hair. This was the last day. Tomorrow he would go home. Lola had not said when hers would end. Lola had not told him anything much.
Like where she lived or where she would be. He didn't even have her number or email address, and that made him somewhat uneasy. He could not remember feeling so close to a woman before. And it had just been four days--five, if you counted today. He felt with a certainty that she was going to be special.
He would discuss it with her later; they had agreed to meet for breakfast at the buffet--a meeting which he couldn’t make if he was going to be in the boardroom. He wished now that she was not so mysterious about her room number or her phone number. He could just call her and cancel. Instead he would have to leave her hanging.
He got dressed hurriedly. It was the first time he was putting on a suit since the interview day. It felt like he was putting back on his business skin. Back to the real world and his purpose for being here.
He grabbed his briefcase. All of the arguments and the points he had thought of before coming to Jannah were somewhat hazy now. He had spent his days with a fiery hazel-eyed minx who laughed at him, laughed with him, shared the same tastes as he did and loved adventure. Perfect. It was as if she was made for him.
He left the room and waited for the elevator to the lobby. He was quite surprised to see Martin Gold with his bags in the elevator when it stopped on his floor.
"Lee Chang," Martin greeted him grimly.
"Gold." Zack nodded. "Where are you off to? Not coming to the meeting at eight?"
Martin looked at him balefully. "Apparently my wife story was uncovered. I just got the boot."
"I knew it was fake," Zack grinned.
Martin grimaced. "It was just to make me look better. Everybody does this kind of thing. They acted like it was a capital crime, punishable by hanging!"
Zack shook his head. "Dishonesty. Subterfuge…not a good character trait in someone who is going to handle your business, I would think."
Martin snorted. "Whatever. I was playing the game. I wish they had decided this like five days ago. I wasted my time here for nothing."
"Come on." Zack grinned. "It was a nice vacation."
Martin snorted. "It would've been if I had wanted it. I had to be working long distance on a case I should be closer to home with. I've barely slept. This place was a waste on me, except for the room service. I am glad to be going back."
The elevator opened. "Cheers!" Martin nodded to him and wheeled his bag out toward the front desk.
Zack headed to the conference room and was met by one other lawyer, Jacobson from Dominica. They were early. It seemed as if Hamad's lawyers had whittled it down to the two of them.
He nodded to the other guy. He knew their firm pretty well. It was a large firm with multiple branches and had offices in different countries. Was this going to be an either-or scenario? What would Hamad's final choice be based on?
At precisely eight, Hamad walked in, with his lawyers trooping behind him like a procession. They were all in their traditional gear.
"I apologize for my absence, gentlemen. There was a pressing emergency in Greece."
Hamad said as soon as his men were seated, "My lawyers recommended that your two firms are a perfect fit for this side of the Caribbean, Chang and Dubois, Jamaica, Jacobson, Dominica.
“You are both invited to lunch at my residence today, a working lunch, if you please; I have a few things to iron out with you before my projects get under way. Thank you."
He left as swiftly as he had entered.
His head lawyer, Taheer Al Nagi, addressed them after that. Zack couldn't resist a smile.
Success! His law firm would be pleased.
After lunch he would find Lola and they could celebrate.
****
Lunch. Hamad's residence. The head housekeeper, Mona, had carried the news to Lola that morning.
She had barely opened her eyes after being brought to the house which Ajmal had informed her was hers. She was banned from the hotel, Master's orders.
Ridiculous over-the-top decorations, Lola had thought in the early morning when a very bright-eyed Mona had shown her to her room.
Apparently Mona knew about the switch with her and Terri because she didn't seem surprised when Lola had looked around as if everything was new to her. Neither did she hesitate to explain where everything was.
She had a maid, a personal maid named Tamara, who showed her around the closet. It was all so over the top and frustrating.
Mona had delivered the lunch news with a perfectly straight and emotionless face.
Now here she was, in her gilded cage, getting ready for lunch with her almost husband. Life couldn't be any worse.
A car picked her up at precisely twelve. A grim Ajmal met her at the door and escorted her through the tastefully decorated house into what looked like a study.
A woman was already sitting in there in a loose white pantsuit and a matching hijab.
"My name is Paravina," she said when Ajmal closed the door. "You must be the real Lola?"
Lola exhaled. "Yes, I am. Terri said that you'd help me."
"I am not sure what I can do." Paravina cupped her cheek while examining Lola. "You two really do have a striking resemblance, don't you?"
"I have in hazel contacts," Lola mumbled.
Paravina looked at Lola. "Yes, but the shape of the eyes, the mouth, the nose…"
She chuckled. "I am not sure that Hamad will see any humor in this. He hates to be hoodwinked."
Lola swallowed.
"But I will try to make him see sense without much damage to you," Paravina continued when she saw the look of fear that crossed Lola's face.
"There is really no need to fear Hamad, child. His reputation is more fearsome than he is. He is a man who is prone to irrational passion, as is evidenced by you being here."
The door opened and Hamad walked in.
Lola looked at him. He looked even older than she thought and he had deep bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept in years.
He sat in his chair heavily and then closed his eyes tightly and opened them. "Lola Montega. You have given me a spirited chase around the world and sent an imposter to replace you. Have a seat. You really are untamable and wild."
He gestured to a seat beside Paravina. "Have a seat."
Lola sat down with trembling legs. "I am not sorry!"
"If I had the patience I would break you like one of my Arabian horses." Hamad slapped his hand on the desk. Lola jumped in consternation. "But alas, my patience has been depleted where you are concerned."
This man was really not a person to mess with.
Paravina, however, found him to be quite funny. She laughed lightly when Hamad looked like he was frothing at the mouth. "She reminds me of Faya."
"No daughter of mine would be so willful." Hamad clasped his hand under his chin.
"She is just like her," Paravina said. "Look at her; she is young and she wants her freedom. You cannot fault her for that."
Hamad grunted. "She is disobedient."
&nb
sp; "That's right. You do not want a disobedient wife."
"Hmmph." Hamad rubbed his eyes. "I cannot countenance these childish antics. She needs to be punished."
"She is just being her age," Paravina hissed. "Remember if you will, I was just the same when I met you. And you liked it; the only difference was that you were young enough to deal with me. You are a grandfather now, and you promised me, Hamad Al Jerza, that you would never marry again. I take your promises seriously. You are one of the most honorable men I know and you have changed."
Hamad's eyes clouded over. "Paravina..."
Silence reigned in the room while Lola looked between the two combatants. It would not serve her well to say a thing. It was obvious that Hamad was torn. He folded his arms and swung toward the window, looking out.
Paravina looked at her; Lola returned the stare.
"If I make this contract void, her family will be shamed," Hamad said tiredly after a long pause.
"Then announce that you are going through an illness and you cannot take on a third wife. People will understand. It will allow her family to save face and you to be sympathetic in all of this."
"They will pity me," Hamad said harshly.
"Nobody pities Prince Hamad al Jerza," Paravina declared grandly. "You are a man beyond that emotion. People envy you, not pity you."
It was a blatant stroke to Hamad's ego and he seemed to be sopping it up like a sponge.
He sighed grandly and then folded his arms. "I should not allow a woman to speak to me this way."
"And you should never have allowed your inflated ego to think that you can manage a third very disobedient wife" was Paravina's rejoinder.
Lola looked at Hamad in consternation. She expected him to lash out at Paravina and order her to be taken to the dungeon or something or be chained outside in the sun, but he just laughed.
"I have lunch with my Caribbean lawyers, now. They should be arriving. You should stay here at the mansion for the rest of your stay."
Paravina nodded and then gave him a soft, misty smile. "I will."
"As for you," Hamad turned to look at Lola sternly, "I will speak to your stepfather; he will be compensated for this breach in contract. But I can't let you get away so freely, Madam.
You made a fool out of me. You will spend all of Ramadan at the house. You will reflect on your deceitful ways; you will have no contact with the outside world. That will be your punishment."
Lola gasped. Ramadan was thirty days! It was going to be like prison but at least he was letting her out of the contract!
She had to be grateful for that. Thank you, God, she whispered silently.
He picked up the phone and called Ajmal.
They waited in silence while Ajmal came into the room.
Hamad declared, "We have two witnesses. Is this what you want, Lola Montega?"
“Oh yes.” Lola nodded.
"I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you. Inshallah."
Lola nodded after every declaration.
The deed was done.
She was free.
*****
Ajmal escorted her through the study doors and they walked through the long corridor and into the foyer, where a group of men were standing around. They had just arrived, it seemed.
She looked them over and smiled brightly. She would soon be free to wear her own clothes. Go back to Lover’s Leap and explain all to Reuben. Thirty days was her sentence. She had to figure out how to contact him in the interim, though. It shouldn't be hard.
She didn't notice that one of the men frowned in mid-conversation and then followed her with his gaze.
"Lola." When he spoke, she stopped and smiled. He was very handsome, in a clean-cut kind of way.
"Yes."
"Uh... er..." he walked toward her and stopped when Ajmal came between them.
"This is Lola Montega third wife of Prince Hamad Al Jerza."
Not anymore! Lola wanted to shout. I am free.
"But..." the guy was the same height as Ajmal. He had slight Asian features and was really good-looking.
He looked over at her and frowned as if willing her to say otherwise. And she would have but not now. She couldn't declare her status now.
It might shame Hamad and she had no intention of upsetting the blessing that she had just been offered.
The guy seemed to regain his composure and he smiled grimly. "I am sorry. A mistake."
Ajmal nodded and then she followed behind him to the car.
She was free!
Well, almost.
She felt like singing one of Reuben's gospel songs at the top of her voice.
Chapter Nineteen
"Welcome back, Zachary!" Amoy breezed into his office and slapped some files on his desk. It was still early; most of the staff weren't in yet.
"Thanks." Zack winced. He had his office blinds only semi-opened. His office was half dark. Luckily he did not have any meetings planned.
"How was your vacation?" Amoy asked blithely, sitting across from him as if she was gearing up for a blow-by-blow account. "And don't argue that it wasn't a vacation. You only spent two days being vetted by the prince and then you came back this weekend and holed yourself up at your house. I wouldn't have known that you were back if your office door wasn't opened this morning. You haven't even come to get your cat."
"It was good. Can you drop off Morph later?" Zack murmured. He just wanted Amoy out of his office. He wanted to be alone for a while; his composure was taking a long time to come back.
He wasn't a fanciful guy. Hell, he was a cold-blooded, logical thinker and then Lola Montega walked into his life. He had found out her surname quite by accident when one of the lawyers had said it.
Lola, the third wife of the prince, who had blatantly and wantonly allowed him to fall in love with her…almost made love to her. For three days he had been a fool. Building pies in the sky, having dreams about them being together.
Now, here he was with egg on his face. He was the idiot who had dated the prince's wife.
This knowledge would stay with him forever. He would tell no one.
His one week in Jannah had been just a blip on his system. It would be erased from his memory eventually. It might take a little longer to be erased from his heart, though.
"Stop scowling at me." Amoy broke into his thoughts. "I am not in the mood to chit-chat either. I just want to say the Scarletts are once more your clients and Daddy is assigning me to the prince's team."
Zack dredged up a half-smile that barely stretched his lips.
Amoy got up. "Do me a favor, will you, and don't go on any more vacations. You are a sourpuss when you come back."
"Have mercy on me, Amoy. I will be in fine fighting spirit soon."
Amoy paused. "I took your advice and offered to volunteer at Grandma Baker's church, which is also Yuri and Marla's church, by the way."
"And will be mine," Zack muttered. "I have been meaning to start going regularly."
And after this latest lapse in his judgment he would be throwing himself on God's mercy. He felt like such a fool. He would have been a bigger fool if he had gone all the way with her in that cabin.
"Anyway," Amoy rolled her eyes, "I am the newest reading teacher for adults. Today is my first day and Granny made sure that I got the 'A' class."
A wide smile crept over Zack's face. "You do know that the 'A' class is the worst class, don't you? These are the very basic adults."
"No." Amoy frowned. "She wouldn't do that. I am not a trained teacher or anything."
"Yes, she would," Zack murmured. "You need to get to know your grandmother better. She is going to test your mettle to see if you run and hide from this challenge."
"This family is twisted and warped," Amoy snarled. "Seriously warped. Fathers punish adult daughters because they got a divorce and grandmothers test their mettle by assigning them the worst adult literary class. Crazy."
Zack laughed. "It's not that bad."
He sat up straighter
and changed the subject, "I am going to use a new detective to find the remaining Scarletts. This is dragging on for too long. Yuri mentioned that Ricardo Mills knew where everyone was; maybe I should give him a call, find out who his detective was."
Amoy nodded. "Why not?"
She left the room and left his door slightly ajar. Zack could hear the excited buzz throughout the office because of the new account.
But as Amoy had pointed out, he just could not dredge up an ounce of joy for it. He had fallen for Hamad's wife. He had kissed her.
How could she have lied to him like that? How could she have stirred his emotions so deeply and in such a short space of time? He had even panicked when he thought that he would not see her again. Like a giant-sized idiot, he had worn his heart on his sleeve for three days.
He picked up the phone to call Ricardo Mills; it would be something to get his mind off his disastrous blunder with Lola.
The manager at Villa Ingles, Janet Long, told him that Mr. Mills was unavailable for the foreseeable future because of a health condition. She asked if he would he like to leave a message.
"No," Zack muttered, "I just want to know if he had a detective. He told someone that he knew the whereabouts of someone who is particularly hard to find."
Janet Long paused. "Well, I know that he used John Sauce a lot. He is based in Kingston, though. Maybe you can check him there."
She gave him the number and Zack called it as soon as he hung up.
John was in the middle of a sinus attack. He periodically sneezed and blew his nose through the conversation.
He finally agreed to meet with Zack in two hours. Zack hung up the phone. One thing put to bed.
He got up; maybe he should get out of the office. Before he could make a move, his father stopped at the door.
His dad was still young looking, despite being in his late sixties. He was tall and broad, a trait he picked up from his mother's side, the black side of his family. But he had distinct Asian features that he picked up from his father's side.
"You opted out of the team for the prince's accounts. We really could use your expertise," his father snapped "I want to know why."
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