Making Scandal (The Essien Trilogy, #2)

by Kiru Taye

  He stepped around and opened the door for her. She was stunned to find a super motorbike among the assortment of vehicles on display.

  "So who rides the bike in your family?"

  "Who else but the family rebel?" Mark said with a smile.

  "You mean Tony?" She’d heard Mark refer to his brother as the rebel previously.

  "Of course. He nearly gave my mum a heart attack the first time he bought one. But she got used to the fact that he isn’t going to give it up."

  "A guy after my heart."

  Mark frowned. "Don’t tell me you are into motorbikes, too?"

  "No way. I’m still getting used to the ride of your sport cars. That’s fast enough for me. No, I was referring to his rebellion. I know what it feels like to do something against your parents’ wishes."

  "Well, then the two of you will get on like a house on fire."

  They found the rest of the family in the back garden. Felix and Tony were playing table tennis while Ebony and Mark’s parents watched and cheered on from the shade of the gazebo. Felix put his bat down on the table and hugged his brother.

  "Good to see you, Faith" he said. "How is your mother doing?"

  "Much better now that she’s seeing a specialist, thanks to Mark."

  "It’s the least I can do," Mark said and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  Ebony embraced her while Mark hugged his parents and exchanged pleasantries.

  "Mum, Dad, you remember Faith, don’t you?"

  "Yes," his dad said.

  "Isn’t she Ebony’s friend?" his mum asked.

  "Yes, that’s correct."

  "It’s good to see you again, Faith."

  "Welcome."

  "Thank you." Faith curtsied.

  Mark stood next to her and held her hand. "I wanted to bring her here today and formally introduce her to you. We have some news for you. Faith is the woman I’m going to marry, and we are expecting our first child."

  "Is that so?" his mother said.

  "Well done, son," his father said. "Faith, come and sit down. You are welcome to our family."

  His brothers and Ebony hugged both of them and congratulated them, the men thumping Mark’s back. They thanked them and settled into their seats next to each other.

  "So Faith, tell us about your family. Where are your parents? What do they do?" Mark’s mother asked.

  Faith’s face heated up. She’d been expecting those questions but still felt uncomfortable about answering them. Her family hung in a different league from the Essiens.

  "My parents live in Benin City. My father is a mechanic, and my mother is teacher."

  The older Essien woman stood up abruptly. "Excuse me. Mark, I need to talk to you now." She walked off towards the house.

  Mark patted Faith’s hand. "I won’t be long," he said and followed after his mother.

  Ebony smiled encouragingly at her and Faith swallowed and returned her smile.

  "So, how are you parents doing?" Chief Essien asked.

  "Not so good. We found out ten days ago that my mother has cancer."

  "I’m so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do? Where is she being treated?"

  "She’s already receiving the best care possible thanks to Mark. He arranged to fly her from Benin City to Lagos. She is in the cancer clinic and the oncologist has diagnosed it as leukaemia, although they are yet to determine the particular subtype to they can start treating it immediately."

  Sadness washed over Faith. She only came here because her mother had convinced her to live her life.

  "Don’t wake up one day and find out that you haven’t lived all because you are waiting for the outcome of one plan or the other."

  "What about you, Mum? I just can’t pretend that you are not in here and very sick."

  "My daughter, what will be will be. If God decides this is my time to go and join Him, then I have no quarrel about it. I have lived my life as best as I could. It is now your turn."

  Tears misted her eyes. "Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom."

  "Do you need me to show you?" Ebony asked.

  "No. I remember where it is."

  In the house, she was heading down the hallway when she recognised Mark’s voice and froze on the spot.

  "I love Faith and I want to marry her."

  "No! Can’t you see she is just a cheap gold digger? A nobody. Her parents are nobodies. She is just trying to trap you with that pregnancy. We can take care of it. Pay her a large amount of money to make her go away."

  "Mother, I won’t have you talk about her like that. In fact, this conversation is over right now."

  Faith didn’t have time to move from her spot. The next thing she knew, Mark stood in the hallway staring at her with shock on his face.

  But his shock certainly couldn’t match hers. His loud, frustrated groan suddenly unfroze her body. Faith ran into the downstairs bathroom and shut the door. Silent tears ran down her face but she ignored them, just like she ignored the banging on the door and Mark’s insistence for her to open up.

  Mark had never been so livid in his life. He couldn’t believe his mother had said those vile things about his fiancée. The worst was that Faith had seemingly heard it all. No amount of knocking on the door had made her open the bathroom after she ran into it.

  "What is going on?" his father asked.

  Mark swivelled. "Mother doesn’t like my choice of wife and said some really unpleasant things, and Faith heard them. Now, she’s locked herself into the bathroom and refuses to open the door," he growled and paced.

  "Are you sure you heard your mother right?"

  "I’m absolutely certain. I believe she used ‘cheap gold digger’ and ‘a nobody’ as descriptions of Faith. This is not right, Dad."

  "But I was saying the truth," Mrs. Essien said. "The girl is only trying to trap him by getting pregnant."

  "If she’s a gold digger, then so are you, Mother. At least, she didn’t get pregnant for a married man!" Mark’s voice was so cold as opposed to the rage boiling inside him.

  Everyone around him froze and he heard hisses as people sucked in air sharply. He caught Felix’s gaze. His older brother’s expression was the ‘what the fuck are you doing?’ look.

  "What did you just say to me?" his mother said.

  "Apologise to your mother," his father ordered.

  "All I said was the truth. Mother was no better than Faith before she married you. In fact, Faith is in a much better position. She’s going to be the next MD of City Investment firm. She doesn’t need my money. But I need her. And if she refuses to marry me because of what just happened, I swear I will never forgive Mum."

  "I will marry you," a soft voice said behind him.

  Mark turned around so fast, his head spun. Faith stood just outside the door to the bathroom. He went to her and gave her a tight hug.

  "Sweetheart, I’m so sorry about what you heard. I’m so sorry it upset you. I promise you we don’t have to come back to this house until everyone here accepts you."

  She pulled back and looked up at his face. "This is your family home, Mark. You can’t just ban yourself from coming here."

  "Don’t you get it? You are the most important person to me. You are going to be my wife, the mother of my child. Anybody who doesn’t accept you rejects me. And I reject them in return."

  "It hasn’t come to that, son."

  "I mean it, Mum. If you can’t accept Faith, then be ready to wave goodbye to me."

  His mother’s skin paled and her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

  "Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you felt so strongly about her. I just thought she was one of your fun-time girls."

  Mark put his arms around Faith’s shoulders. "She’s the real deal, Mum. Are you going to welcome her in as your daughter-in-law?"

  "I just have one question for Faith. Do you love my son?"

  Faith glanced up at him and then back at his mother.

  "I love Mark very much. He has restored m
y faith in men and shown me that life is for the living. If he lets me, I want to spend the rest of my life paying him back for the wonderful gift of love that he has given me."

  "In that case, you are welcome into the Essien family, Faith. Forgive my previous harsh words."

  "There’s nothing to forgive, Mrs. Essien. You were only trying to protect your son."

  "You have to call me Mum. I hope you will look upon me as such."

  "Of course, Mum."

  "Come on people, dinner awaits."

  Giving Faith another tight squeeze, Mark breathed a sigh of relief as they headed into the dining room.

  Chapter Eighteen

  "Mr. Petersen is here now," the receptionist announced through the intercom sitting on the boardroom table.

  "Send him in," Faith replied and pressed the button to switch it off.

  Her shoulders lifted as she heaved a sigh and muttered under her breath, "The game is on."

  The boardroom door opened and Kris Petersen walked in dressed in one of his trademark flamboyant suits. This time, a navy one with gold embroidery.

  "Good afternoon, Mr. Petersen," she greeted, extending her hand for a shake.

  The man ignored her hand and shoved a newspaper at her, instead. "What is this I read about you and Mark Essien—"

  His eyes widened as he caught sight of the man standing by the windows overlooking the city.

  "Essien!"

  "Petersen," Mark replied. "I can’t say it’s good to see you, but what you read is quite correct this time. Ms. Brown and I are soon to be married."

  Petersen’s glare shifted from Mark to Faith. He scanned her body.

  "And yes, we are expecting a baby together." Mark strode across the room and stood beside her. She stood tensely and her hand trembled. He reached for it. With a gentle squeeze, he held onto her and gave her a smile.

  He worried about her. She hadn’t been sleeping very well as she continued to fret over her sick mother despite the fact that the woman was doing better at the Cancer Clinic in Lagos than she’d been a few weeks ago in Benin City.

  She had wanted to meet Petersen alone. But Mark had insisted on being here. He knew how mean and dirty the man could get, and there was no way he was going to leave her alone with him.

  Faith looked up at him and gave him a small, still tense smile.

  "Mr. Petersen, please sit down and I’ll explain," she said and gave the man an encouraging smile.

  Petersen settled in one of the chairs on the opposite end of the table. "I don’t want him here. This is a confidential business meeting."

  "That’s not going to happen," Mark replied as he sat in the chair next to Faith and stretched his legs out.

  "I have a contract with Miss Brown and it doesn’t involve you, Essien." The way the man said Essien made it sound like a dirty word.

  "Wrong again—"

  Faith covered Mark’s hand on the table with hers, stilling his words.

  "What Mark is trying to say is that I’m going to back out of our deal. I am cancelling the contract."

  "Why?" The man looked flabbergasted.

  "Mark made me a better deal."

  "Whatever deal he made you, I’ll double the offer."

  Faith’s eyes widened but she remained outwardly calm. "I’m afraid you misunderstand me. Mark’s offer is not only financial. He is offering me something no other man can give me."

  Petersen frowned. "What’s that?"

  "Himself."

  Petersen’s face turned red and he looked ready to explode. "But you forget that you cannot pull out of the deal for another eighteen months. Or you lose everything."

  "Mr. Petersen, I was hoping I could appeal to your humanity considering the extenuating circumstances. I’m dealing with the stress of my mother who is critically ill in hospital and, added to the hormonal influence of my first pregnancy, I’ve decided that taking on the demanding role of MD at this time will not be good for City Investment nor for your investment. The merger with Apex Financials will provide City with sure-handed security for the near future while I adjust to the unexpected changes around me. As you are a shareholding member of the Apex Holdings board, I thought you would appreciate this decision."

  "No," Petersen replied. "If you wanted my understanding, you should have come to me first instead of getting in bed with the Essiens. If you want to walk away from the deal, you do it at your own loss. I retain City."

  "Aren’t you jumping the gun, Petersen?" Mark asked. "City is not yours to retain."

  "What nonsense. I signed a contract with Miss Brown and Mr. Okolo accepted her proposal."

  "That may be so. But Mr. Okolo never signed a contract with you nor with Miss Brown. And according to the papers in my possession—" Mark pulled out a sheaf of papers from his brown leather briefcase, "—he signed on the dotted line to the original offer I made him."

  "Miss Brown, tell me this isn’t so." Petersen pushed back his chair and stood.

  "Mark is telling the truth. The merger has been agreed to by Mr. Okolo and contracts exchanged."

  "You haven’t heard the last of this. You will be hearing from my lawyers."

  "Before you run off and start litigations’ proceedings, you should also consider what EFCC will do about your insider trading activities."

  Petersen’s eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening me, Essien?"

  "You can take it as you wish." Mark stood and braced his hands on the table as he eyeballed the man. "But I warn you, if you do anything that upsets the wellbeing of my wife-to-be, I will make it my mission to make your life a misery. You got away with threatening Ebony; you won’t do the same with Faith. If you want a fight, pick on me."

  The man glared from Mark to Faith and back again. Then he huffed and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The walls shook.

  Mark walked to the door and locked it. He turned around and found Faith with her head in her hands. His chest tightened. If someone had told him over a year ago when he’d first met Faith that he would be madly in love with her and would do just about anything simply to make her happy, he would have laughed out loud.

  But here he stood. Ready to take on the world for her. He’d already challenged his mother and won. He’d taken on Petersen and remained ready for anyone else who would seek to hurt her. If he could wave a wand and make her mother’s illness disappear, he would. As it was, he was already paying for the best medical care that Nigeria could provide.

  He strode back to where she sat, wrapped his arms around her torso, and lifted her to sit on the table.

  "That went well," she said as she looked up at him with a small smile on her face. But she couldn’t hide the tiredness on her features.

  He gathered her closer and tucked her head under his chin. "Don’t worry about Petersen. His bark is harsher than his bite. He is smart enough to know that I’m a fierce opponent to cross. Unfortunately for him, I don’t have Felix’s sentimentality. I will ruin Petersen if he does anything against you. And I won’t lose any sleep over it."

  Faith leaned her head back. "I’m glad I’m no longer on your wrong side. Now I see why none of the other investors wanted to go against you. I was really surprised when Petersen volunteered to fund me. I suspected something wasn’t right, but I was more interested in getting the funding and beating you. I’m sorry."

  "Hey, don’t be. You did what you thought was right. You couldn’t have known that Petersen had an ulterior motive."

  "But why does he seem to have a grudge against the Essiens? What did you all do to him?"

  "Honestly, I don’t know what the man’s problem is. I only really started taking notice of him when he raised the notion of replacing Felix as head of Apex Private Bank at a board meeting. Afterwards, Ebony’s ex-fiancé confessed that Petersen had used him to get information about Felix and Ebony and used it to try to blackmail them. The man just seems to have it in for the Essiens. But we are up for it. We’ve beaten him before. We will keep on beating him."

&nb
sp; "Some people are just weird."

  "Tell me about it. But enough about Petersen. I’m more interested in turning you into an Essien."

  He leaned down and captured her lips in a soul-searing kiss. He poured all his love into it, wanting her to know he would always be there for her. His body had other needs, though, the urge to drive into her warm flesh riding his veins. He broke the kiss, remembering where he was. Faith always wanted to keep things professional in the office and there were people beyond the walls and door. He needed to respect her boundaries.

  "Love me," she said in a low voice that threatened to floor him.

  "I love you, sweetheart. Always," he replied, meeting her gaze and nearly getting lost in her brown eyes.

  "I know, Mark. I love you, too." Her gaze struck him as intense, conveying more than her words. "But I want you to make love to me."

  "Here? Now?"

  "Yes. My mother accused me of being too afraid. Of not living. And her illness has made me reassess my life. If something happened to me, I want to go knowing that I lived my life to the fullest. That I didn’t let fear or rules overshadow me."

  "Nothing is going to happen to you. I won’t let it. We are going to have a long life together." His grip on her arms tightened.

  "I know. And I want to live a full and long life with you. But I also want to be spontaneous, to borrow a leaf from your book every now and then. Right now, I want you to give me one of those things no other man can give me. You. Will you give me what I want?"

  Her smile looked so coquettish, all of Mark’s arguments disappeared. If she wanted him here and now, no way he was going to say no.

  "Yes," he replied, and brushed his lips against hers.

  Epilogue

  Faith couldn’t believe the spectacle. The Essiens had descended on Benin City. Her family compound had come alive. Music blasted from speakers as a live band played hi-life. Colourful Tarpaulin canopies on metal stilts protected the visitors seated beneath from the harsh afternoon sunshine.

  Faith swung her hips to the music as she danced, her soul filled with joy. Her hair had been styled in an updo and decorated with an intricate beaded tiara. Chunky, coral bead necklaces weighed down her neck. Her body had been swathed in a burgundy lace and organza wrapper that looked like a sleeveless gown to the untrained eye. Over her head sat a cream lace veil designed so that the groom didn’t not see her until he had paid the dues.