Authors: Paige Cameron
Jack glanced at Sahale. “Do I have an appointment at that time?”
Sahale pulled out a small datebook and looked inside. “No, Sir.”
“Then I’ll see you at eleven o’clock.” He strode off with Ellen, leaving Garraloga staring after them.
Once inside the limo, Ellen gave a deep sigh. Jack pulled her close.
“What happened to you two on the dance floor? I’d have given anything to hear the conversation,” Jack said.
She told him and Sahale what Brian had told her, and her response. She also added how wonderful it felt to be free to speak her mind.
“I love what you did.” Sahale gave her a hug. “He was about to burst into flames when he came to the table.”
“But,” Jack added, “you’ve made a dangerous enemy.”
“I know.” A touch of fear crept across her skin. “I’m also aware you and Sahale, with the rest of your men, will bring him and his father down. I won’t have to worry about them ever again.”
Ellen leaned her head back against the seat. “I’m free, finally, thanks to you two.” She pretended to not see the worried glance exchanged between Sahale and Jack.
Chapter Fifteen
Jack had dressed in a brown suit, prepared to leave for his appointment with the Garralogas. Sahale in his usual black would be with him as his bodyguard.
“Don’t go out of this penthouse,” Jack told Ellen for at least the third time. “I don’t want you going anywhere without Sahale or me as an escort, understand?”
“I should. You’ve told me enough times.” Ellen frowned at him.
“We won’t be long.”
“There’s plenty to oversee here, with the party starting at seven. The hotel is doing all the work, but I’m going to watch them.”
“Good,” Jack and Sahale said in unison.
“Go, you two are making me nervous.”
“That’s not what you said last night,” Sahale whispered in her ear.
She blushed. “Get out of here.”
As soon as the door shut, Sahale’s face changed. “You think we might have problems coming in this meeting?”
“I don’t know. Expect the unexpected.”
“Will do.”
The limo was waiting at the curb. Sahale opened Jack’s door in the back and he got in the front. Soon they were moving through heavy traffic going across town. At precisely five minutes to eleven, they got out at a tall office building.
A doorman greeted them. Inside, soft music played. Orchids and roses arranged in large vases around the opulent foyer scented the air. A long mahogany desk was manned by two beautiful women dressed in rich, burgundy-colored uniforms.
“Mr. Linear?” the blonde asked.
“Yes.”
“Come with me.” She led them to the elevators and put in a code. They moved up quickly. The doors opened to a large foyer with plush, dark blue carpet and walls covered in a lighter blue wallpaper with a feathery design. A secretary, dressed in the same burgundy uniform, sat behind a curved desk.
“This is Mr. Linear and his—” She glanced at Sahale.
“My assistant, Paul,” Jack finished for her.
The secretary glanced at her watch. “You are prompt. Mr. Garraloga will be with you in a moment. Please be seated.” She indicated the white chairs arranged against the wall.
Jack knew a test when he saw one. He looked at his watch. “I believe in promptness also. Since he’s not ready to see me, he can call me and make another appointment. I’m a busy man.” He started toward the elevator, where the first woman waited to go down.
“Wait.” The secretary stood. “I’m sure Mr. Garraloga will see you right now. Let me call him.” She picked up the phone. “Mr. Linear is here, Sir. Yes, I explained, but he has other business and is leaving. Yes, right away.”
“He is hanging up his phone and will be right out.”
She’d barely finished her sentence when Garraloga opened his door. “Linear, come in. A slight misunderstanding. I told her”—he glared at his secretary—“to interrupt me the minute you arrived.” He waved Jack and Sahale inside his office.
Brian stood by a chair, a smile pasted on his face. One whole wall behind him was made of glass and overlooked the city. Jack smiled to see how the desk was situated so anyone facing Garraloga caught the glare from the sunlight, immediately putting them at a disadvantage. Jack looked around the room. In one corner, there were four chairs arranged around a table.
“Let’s sit over here,” Jack said, and led the way. He sat in the chair facing a bookcase, not the windows. Sahale took the chair beside him. Looking stunned for a second, both of the other men moved, but not quickly enough. Their chairs faced the view, not quite as glaring, but still distracting.
“This is much more pleasant. Don’t you think?” Jack asked.
Garraloga frowned. “I prefer to do business at my desk.” He still stood.
Jack gazed directly at him. The old man tried to intimidate him with his glare. When it didn’t work, he and his son reluctantly sat.
His secretary served coffee and left the room. Garraloga studied Jack and Sahale. “You two always go places together?”
“He’s my bodyguard.”
“You hardly need him here for this meeting. He wasn’t with you yesterday at the meeting with Brian.”
“I failed to mention he’s also an assistant of sorts. He stays.”
“No problem.” Garraloga shrugged. “I wanted us to meet at this time to get a few details straight before we give the final agreement to let you join our select group. We have a good deal of influence in what happens in this town and beyond.”
“I know.”
“Good. There are expectations of the members and their wives.”
Jack didn’t say anything. He made his expression as blank as possible, although inside he was seething.
“Our group is a club of wealthy men with fine tastes. We expect our women to be adoring, which your wife certainly is, and not to speak unless asked to by one of us. We also share everything.”
A heavy silence filled the room. Jack looked from father to son and saw the lust in their eyes. He smelled their sexual hunger. The warrior in him stirred. Years of practice had taught him to control his change, but for the first time he wasn’t sure he’d be successful. At his side, he smelled Sahale’s anger and his senses picked up his struggle.
“Everything meaning?” Jack snapped the words.
“Meaning we share our wives from time to time. At first, my son and I train them in obedience and teach them some new tricks. I’m sure Crystal will be most receptive, and even more alluring to you when she returns after spending this weekend with us.”
Jack’s head blew off. At least he felt like it must have. He jumped out of his chair. Fear flashed in both the men’s eyes. Jack grabbed Garraloga and Sahale held his son against his chair. Jack slammed the older man against the wall.
“I may share my money, maybe even my golf clubs or my car, but I never share my wife.” He tightened his hand around Garraloga’s throat. “If you so much as look at my wife too long or touch her other than to shake her hand, I will cut out your heart.” He held the man up on his tiptoes, his nose right in his face. “Do you understand?” He nodded toward Brian. “And that goes for your weak, impotent son, too.”
Garraloga’s face got redder. He gasped for breath as Jack strangled him. At the last minute, Jack let him go, straightened Garraloga’s tie, and walked back to his chair. “Be seated. Now we’ll talk about how much you want my millions.”
The old man staggered to his chair. Brian’s face was an angry, bright red. But he didn’t say a word. Sahale sat back down.
“What the hell? I could call the police right this minute and have you arrested for battery, at the least.”
“Go ahead. I’ll explain about the offer you made, and about your club. You can try to deny you made such an offer, but your enemies will gloat and encourage others to believe me.”
“You are a clever man. I misjudged you. You’re right. I am still interested in your money. No woman is worth missing out on, did you say millions?”
“Tell me what I’m investing in. Afterwards, we’ll discuss amounts. I’m sure you’ve checked me out by now, or you wouldn’t have suggested we meet.”
Garraloga flushed. “I have. They missed the part about your savage side. By all reports you appeared to be quite refined. My mistake.”
“A big one,” Jack said and smiled.
“Dad, I don’t trust them. Get them out of here.”
His father swung his gaze onto Brian. “If you are uncomfortable, leave. I’m doing business.”
Brian glared at his father. He hesitated, and then sat back in his chair.
“We use money to get what we want, votes on our issues, jobs for our partners, and in the background we sell items overseas that are in hot demand.”
“Such as?”
Jack needed to hear the words. The hidden device buried under his skin picked up the slightest sound and sent it to where Mitch and his men waited.
Garraloga stopped talking and studied Jack and Sahale. “Why do you need to know?”
“I never invest blindly. It’s a deal breaker.”
“How much goes into my account today?”
“For a start, two million.”
Brian made a noise, like a small gasp. His father frowned at him.
“This is not to go out of this room. Understand? My men will find you and destroy both you and your lovely wife.”
Jack smiled. “I doubt it, but go ahead and think you can. I don’t intend to tell anyone. I’ll be in as deep as you. That’s how you control the others, right?”
“As I said, you are a smart man and can be valuable to the organization. I have men in high places to cover our backs.”
“How high?”
“Close to the President.”
“That’s high indeed.”
Apparently the huge amount of money involved convinced Garraloga it was worth the risk to answer Jack’s question. “We sell guns to foreign countries. Any further information can wait until your money is in my account.”
His warrior persona barely contained, Jack stood to leave. If he stayed a minute longer, he’d physically destroy both men. He and Sahale could finish them in a minute.
“I’m headed to the bank,” Jack explained as he went to the door. “See you tonight.”
Jack, with Sahale following, strode briskly to the elevator. The secretary punched a button and the doors slid open.
“Push the button for the lobby. You’ll go straight down,” she said.
They didn’t speak or look to the left or right on their way out. The limo pulled to the curb and they jumped in.
Pain lanced through Jack’s muscles as he sat and the car took off. “Damn, damn, damn.”
Sahale groaned from the front seat. “At least you got to almost strangle him.”
Their driver, one of the warriors, drove straight out of town to a large home situated in the middle of ten acres. They got out and went inside.
Mitch met them. He led them downstairs to a gym. “Get changed and work out. We’ll talk afterwards.”
Sahale made a quick call to Ellen to tell her they’d be late. In short order, they both came back to the gym area and began to pound on the punching bags. They danced around the bags, swore, and pounded. Mitch watched from the sidelines.