Chapter Five
Melody
“So, what can I expect?” I don’t know whether I mean with the job or with where we’re going in general. I’ve visited Canada twice and the UK once, but that’s been the most of my experience outside the United States. On top of that, planes make me nervous. Even though this is a nice one, more comfortable than anything I’ve ever been on as it’s a private plane, it’s still a large flying machine that could crash into the ocean never to be seen again.
And my nervousness is close to showing. I don’t know if alone with Mikel and the crew is the place for that.
“We’re headed to Pietermaritzburg specifically. That’s where I call home, but we’re obviously going to be in rough areas when we start breaking ground. It’s like any big city though a little slower than here in the States. The architecture reminds me a lot of London.”
I’m grateful for Mikel’s answer, it seems he’s more open to talking this morning.
We take off, and I’m quiet as I breathe through the sensations, avoiding his gaze. Once we’ve evened out on our path, a long one to be sure, Mikel orders a drink even though it’s morning. I suppose it makes sense, though. Maybe he’s nervous on this long flight too, or simply wants to be able to sleep. If I want to catch him at his best, it should be now.
I bit my lip before launching another question. “How safe is it, being involved in this? I mean, will we ever come in contact with these dangerous warlords?”
“I certainly hope not, though I can’t promise anything.” His answer is short, and I try a few more, his answer shorter and more exasperated each time.
I think I’m bothering him, but really, I’m just trying to hold myself together.
Somewhere in the middle of our shallow conversation he has ordered me a drink, and then another, trying to help me relax. He must be able to tell underneath all this is a nervous woman who hates flying more than she remembered.
Except the alcohol isn’t working. it’s keying me up, making me want to throw up or cry, or both.
“C’mon, not everything is work. It’s a long flight, and you need to relax.” he pats the spot next to him invitingly, and I bite my lip. “I’m not a hard ass.” He winks at me when he says it, but I ignore that part and go over there, not knowing what else to do. I know for a fact there are far too many hours left in this flight to weather this issue alone.
“Sorry,” I say as I sit down and he wraps his arm around me. Though he doesn’t make any more moves. It’s just for comfort. “I didn’t know the drinks would make it worse, but I’m just so nervous.”
“I can tell. It’s alright. I don’t particularly like flying, but I’ve done it many times. Plus, this is a nice plane, and the weather is supposed to be clear.”
His reassurances and warmth make my body relax just a little more. Maybe it’s that or the fuzziness sinking in from the drinks.
He looks down at me, and I’m reminded again how handsome he is in a non-traditional way. I don’t know what comes over me in this state, so close together, but I thank him in a whisper and then I turn my face up so my lips touch his, liking the way his beard feels against my skin.
It’s a different sensation than I’m used to, but it’s another comfort he’s given me somehow.
I don’t know why, but I let him deepen the kiss, and I do nothing when his hand starts to rub at my hip sensually.
Eventually, with no real reason to stop since we’re basically alone, I let my hand explore the soft tufts of his long salt and pepper hair, a mix of silk and cotton candy.
A moan escapes my throat at some point, and before I know it, my jeans are unbuttoned, my legs relaxed as his hand plunges to find my sensitive spot.
If he meant to distract me from my anxiousness over flying, he more than did the job as he had me shivering and shaking more than once, nibbling on his lip as I came all over his fingers.
After that, I fell asleep, a dreamless rest that I needed, only to regret every bit of it, feeling more than awkward the moment we touched down and made our way off the plane and then to his estate in silence.
I need to let him down easy. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy what he did, and he was kind to me. I don’t want to offend him but this is work. I can’t mix the two.
Finally, I work myself up for the talk as we walk into the home where we will both be staying and working.
“Look, Mikel, I think we need to be clear about what happened. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but I was a little inebriated and very vulnerable. I don’t blame you, and you’re such a good man from what I can tell.”
He puts his hand up to stop me. “Sweetheart, I’m a grown ass man, and I can take rejection.”
Chapter Six
Mikel
“Sir, you are back,” is how Amo greets me at the gate, buzzing us in. Seeing Melody, he goes to her and takes her bags from her, ever the gentleman. It isn’t his job, but I wouldn’t dare tell him not to be this kind man.
It’s one of the reasons I hired him.
“How have things been?” I ask him as he comes back after making sure Melody gets inside, settled in by the maid surely, and helps me with a few more bags.
“I would love to tell you all is well, but I received an urgent call from Arjana just over an hour ago. There has been a raid.”
I frown. Arjana is my diamond supervisor; the one who’s out there making sure the diamonds come out in the right hands and stay that way. Considering the danger of such a business. Both from authorities and others wanting to move in on what we’ve found. My men are good at what they do. Good at finding the right places, listening to rumors, and even taking over a territory from someone else by force if needed.
After all, both my means and the Clans’ depend upon it in this work. However, nothing is perfect. Though, it’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with a raid.
My first instinct is to go inside and get on the phone immediately, getting ahold of Arjana, but I know that could get us all in more trouble. He will call me back at the right time, when it’s safe and suspicions are off of him and myself.
Instead, I go about unpacking my bag and making sure that Melody has her bags unpacked. I know she had a hard time on the flight and has much more to unpack than me.
Plus, jet lag to deal with.
I knock on the door to her room, one I had called the maid to have set up with a small office area, some yellow and blue walls and sheets, comforter. I had wanted it to feel somewhat homey.
And luckily, my estate was big enough that she would have her own bathroom, not sharing one with me.
“Thanks for having me. I’m honestly exhausted and feeling out of place. It’s going to take getting used to.”
I nod. “Of course it will. But you’ll find things mostly the same other than having to share a home with me and having a maid to help you with cleaning and other tasks you might need. She’s good about having coffee ready in the morning.”
We both smile at that, and I feel strange trying to make conversation with this woman that will now be living and working with me. Especially considering she’s incredibly beautiful and sexy, and I got a bit of a taste of her on the plane on the way here; one I will likely not get to have again.
“Let’s not get started on work until tomorrow afternoon. Take the rest of the day to get feeling more like yourself. If you need anything, let myself, or Adah know.” I refer to my maid, though she’s part-time. She has grown kids, one of which just had a baby, she likes to be able to see. I’m not one to keep people from their lives just to serve me. Even if my money could pay for such a thing.
I go to the door, but then turn around to say one more thing. “If you start to get more comfortable in the area and would like your own place, we can arrange that. I don’t expect you to live with an old man like me forever.”
I meant for it to be funny, but instead it came out bitterly.
I go to my own room and lie down, finding myself drifting off to sleep, more tuckered o
ut than I’d thought.
When I wake up, it’s to the sound of a knock on the door.
My hair a little tousled, I quickly pull it up into a ponytail to get it out of the way and run out of the room. When I find Arjana in my living room, Amo trying to calm him down and explain to him that there’s a lady in the house now, my heart rate picks up. This isn’t a typical visit, and I know the news must be bad for him to come all the way here within 24 hours of a raid.
I immediately pull the stressed diamond supervisor into my office, telling him to have a seat before I go to grab him a cup of coffee, then think better of it, going for a scotch instead.
We might both need it.
When I get back into the room, I shut the door and sit down, offering a glass to both of us. “Give it to me.”
“There was a huge government raid on us. The worst I can remember. Some of the men didn’t make it out. I got out as many as I could, but I thought it was more important for me and the assets to run and get out of dodge. But we need to deal with this. I don’t know what impact this is going to have.”
“Fuck.”
I take a moment to cool off, stroking my beard as I think of how to handle this. The show must go on, but we’re going to have to do major damage control.
“The men that made it out, they all have a week off. Tell them to go home to their families, shut their mouths, and pretend like nothing’s happened. They don’t know each other. They don’t work together. You know the drill and what’s at stake.”
Arjana nods. “I will make preparations for a new location in a few days, scout it out.”
Now that we are both calm, the wheels are turning. “I’ll need to move money around. I can’t let anything be traced. New accounts, small amounts. I can handle this. Hopefully, it won’t even matter, that it won’t come to that, but just in case.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Arjana answers.
I let Amo walk Arjana out and immediately get on the phone, though what I’m doing is interrupted by the beautiful blonde who now is only feet away from me 24 hours a day.
“Is everything alright?” she asks, furrowing her brows at me. I doubt she heard what Arjana and I were speaking about, not even the type to listen in on people. I shouldn’t have left the door open while I dealt with the financials.
I smile, putting on my best act, made even harder by the fact that as I look at her, I notice how she’s in a pair of tight jeans, and an even tighter shirt that shows off her cleavage and curves in a way that makes me spring to life in my pants. This is so not the time.
I nearly choke on my own words. “Just getting all the accounts ready for the charity. It’s a lot of hoops to jump through.” I shrug.
I put my cell down and open the drawer to my desk, pulling out two brochures I had gotten specifically for this charity, hoping I wouldn’t need them to walk me through some of the issues the young females have in the area. But knowing if Mariana said I had to, then that’s what I would find a way to do.
“These are for you. This is the major part I need you to handle, though I’d love for you to be a part of the entire process.”
She takes them from me, my hand feeling like it’s been burned where she touched it. My mind keeps flashing back to our time on the plane. I’m sure I’ll be over it in a few days. I mean, I did proclaim myself a grown ass man. And that I am.
Doesn’t mean I don’t notice how appealing she is. She makes my mouth water like a great steak.
I sit down in my chair to hide under my desk that I’m hard as I ask her, “Can you make anything good out of that?”
She looks them both over. “Yes, though I can see why you might have felt uncomfortable. I can certainly work up some lectures and lessons about this for the girls. Just let me know what else you need from me.”
“Will do.”
As she walks away, I watch her ass and the way it sways as long as possible before deflating the tension in my body.
I don’t know how I’m going to keep all these secrets from her about who I really am and what I do, but I know I have to. She’s too good to be caught up in all of this, which is my biggest motivator to not get in too deep with her even if she makes a move on me again someday.
Chapter Seven
Melody
After the drama of the last two days, I’m glad to finally have an assignment. I’m in my element as I pull up in a cab to a building I’m supposed to be analyzing for use.
Mikel had lined up a facility that is already setup like a school, an abandoned one with a few desks and a structure perfect for a few classrooms. He thinks it will be more efficient and allow us to get kids out and to safety sooner.
I appreciate the fact that both Mikel and Mariana trust me with such a large task. However, I can already tell as I look around the outside of the building as well as how the neighborhood looks, run down and suspicious even in broad daylight, I can already say I’ll have some bad news to tell them.
I humor Mikel by going inside, though my eyes keep darting around, my ears attuned to every sound as if someone might come out of a dark corner at me any moment.
And the truth is, they could.
Just like any other city, this one has its bad spots, and this is one of them. It’s not going to be safe, especially for children we’re saving from warlords and possibly other lives involving abuse and criminals.
I get back in the cab, knowing this is not the one, but I have plenty of ideas if he’s willing to listen.
Despite the fact that I haven’t been out of the country much, my field of work has put me into contact with many people as well as many programs and charities. Leaving me with connections that could benefit us in this situation.
When I get back in the cab I call Mikel, not wanting to wait to give him the news, especially since we are wanting to hit the ground running with Hopeful Futures.
He answers, that chill tone making me think he’s relaxing somewhere and smoking another cigar. He gives this laid back feel every time I hear him and am around him, and it’s both attractive and yet grating. He never seems to be in a hurry to work no matter how important it is.
It’s going to take some adjusting, just like everything else about this new job.
“This place isn’t going to work,” I tell him, not wanting to beat around the bush.
“That was fast. Are you sure?” he asks.
I roll my eyes. “Unless you want part of their education to be getting shot up and duck and cover...” I trail off, knowing immediately I sound like a bitch. In truth, I’m still worked up from the flight as well as just plain exhausted from jet lag, trying to catch up with the time change.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound bitchy.”
“No, no, this is why I have you here. Do you have any suggestions? I know we need to get this up and running soon.”
“Yes, actually,” I begin. “In my previous work I’ve had to form many contacts for various reasons. I know some who can give local men work, rather than corporations, and I bet they could build something new pretty fast. We can find a new spot where they can build it, in a safe area.”
There’s silence for a moment, which makes me worry he doesn’t like my idea or he might be angry, but then he says, “Thank you. That’s an amazing idea. Why don’t you go ahead and set that up. Whatever you need to do. I’m so glad Mariana found you.”
When I hang up, getting close to the house, though I don’t know if he’s home right now, I worry about my ability to stay away from Mikel. He’s such a good man, no matter how I try to make him seem not worth it in my head. How the hell am I going to keep this professional?
Chapter Eight
Mikel
Four kids sat in the room, the one that was entirely finished. There was a lot of noise coming from the workers that were finishing the other half of the building; one that would have seven rooms in total. Nothing special, not if you lived in the States anyway, but for these kids, it was the nicest thing they’d ever seen.
/> Five days is how long Melody has been working with this small group, our first children. The first ones we were able to save from lives of horror; three females and one male, younger than I liked to think about considering I had him rescued from one of the warlords.
There was no confrontation with warlord himself. Luckily, the boy was still in training. He hadn’t been sent out to war yet and indoctrinated, though I know we’ll eventually have to deal with those.
One of the girls had been trafficked, and the two others were homeless and poor, their mother recently passed.
I know that they aren’t the normal children we would save, but even Mariana agreed that we needed to start somewhere, and had we not snatched those two up, they would have been in a bad situation in a few months.
I’ve been around, making sure that these men Melody’s contact hired were doing their job and were on time. We can’t get too many kids until construction is entirely done. They’re actually ahead, and now all I can do is stand outside the classroom and watch Melody with the kids. Listening to what she tells them and seeing how she finds a way to make each one of them feel special and secure.
With all the adversity they have faced, I have no idea how they could even smile, but Melody pulls it out of them somehow.
Watching her in action makes my heart melt, but underneath all this work to help others and my calm exterior, I’m just a bitter old man. Even if someone were to take away the job I do, and any other illegal thing I’ve ever done, I still have a past that leaves me broken.
And I think I’m just too old now to recover from it.
Like it was yesterday, the thought shocks me into a memory I put away, not for safe keeping, but in hopes it would just fade.
“This is not the life for a little girl, Mikel. What did you expect me to do?”
Flawed (The Clans Book 12) Page 3
