Chapter 15
COLIN
When everyone finally left, I stayed exactly where I was.
Basel had asked me to, of course, but I also had a feeling that if I’d tried to stand up right now, it would’ve triggered a cardiac event.
Brunch had not at all been what I was expecting, and after everything I’d been told only minutes before Ashanti and Deja had arrived, I still hadn’t had any time to catch up.
The private dining room emptied unnervingly fast once Basel dismissed them all.
Alex was the first to leave, Khaled following close behind.
Isaac flashed me an apologetic grin but got the hell out before he somehow got sucked into this too, and Deja lingered in the doorway for a second, looking as suspicious as I felt, but Ashanti soon tugged her away.
The door swung shut behind them, leaving only Basel and me in the room. Fucking fantastic. How the hell did I get myself into this?
When I’d asked Alex to help me find a wife, I had not, for one second, envisioned ending up in a situation anywhere near as intense as this one. I’d been there when he and Jane had gone through this. On the outside, sure, but I’d still been a witness.
The same was true for all his brothers. When Charlotte and Trent had happened, Zach had already been my friend for a long time, but we hadn’t been in such regular contact. After that, however, Alex and Jane, Nate and Kate, Will and Eliza, Jesse and Jacque, and Theo and Raquel…
I’d been there.
I’d thought that meant I knew what I was asking when I’d gone to him, but this was… Fuck. I don’t even have a word for it.
Basel didn’t say anything at first, glancing at the door like he was waiting for something instead. A few minutes later, a waiter returned carrying two bottles of beer and a pair of glasses. The labels on the beer were unfamiliar to me, though.
What the hell is that?
Somehow, it felt like even the drink he’d chosen had been specifically selected to fuck with my brain, but the waiter set them down between us nonetheless and left. I almost asked him to stay or at the very least, to bring me a normal beer, but I didn’t say a word.
Once he was gone, Basel picked up one of the bottles and turned the label toward me. “This is from Egypt.”
He stood and poured a glass, then put it down right in front of me.
The golden liquid shimmered in the sunlight streaming in through the windows, catching it in a way that made it look absurdly appealing.
I wanted it desperately, but I was pretty sure that reaching for it as fast as I almost did would make me look weak. Or scared. Maybe both.
Basel sat back down after pouring his own glass, but then instead of talking, he just stared at me for a very long time without saying a single word. I was starting to think this was a tactic of his, staring until a person became acutely aware of their own existence. Annoying.
Eventually, when I considered downing the whole beer just to have something to do other than stare back at him, he sighed. “Colin, are you familiar with the bible story of Jacob and Rachel?”
Both of my eyebrows arched. There were many directions I’d thought this conversation might go in, but the Bible had not been on my list. “I can’t say that I’m particularly familiar with that one, unfortunately.”
Basel smiled. “It’s one of my favorite stories. Should I tell it to you?”
“I have no opinion on that.”
His smile widened a little bit, real amusement lighting his eyes now. “It’s relevant. I promise.”
“Then please,” I said. “Go ahead.”
“Jacob met Rachel and fell in love with her immediately,” Basel said. “He wanted to marry her, so he went to her father.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Traditionally, that is how it goes, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but in this case, her father’s agreement came on the condition that Jacob had to work for him for seven years.”
“Seven years?” I repeated incredulously. “That’s a pretty long interview process.”
To my surprise, Basel chuckled, but it wasn’t any more reassuring than a tiny life raft in a storm out on the open ocean while the ship was already going down. Basically, it held possibility, but the chances of getting out alive were still slim.
“It was certainly quite the commitment, but Jacob agreed, and for seven long years, he worked for her father, but when that time was over, Rachel’s father gave Jacob the wrong daughter.”
“Yikes, he really should have labeled those daughters.”
Basel laughed. “No, it wasn’t on accident.”
I frowned. “So then?”
“Jacob loved Rachel so much that he worked for another seven years.”
Fourteen years for one woman. Holy fuck. Forget buying flowers once a year on an anniversary. That was some real commitment.
“It sounds like he was a very dedicated man.”
“He was.” Basel’s features softened. “Love is rarely practical, Colin. Jacob understood that.”
And this was his favorite story?
I had a feeling it wouldn’t go down so well if I came right out and asked him that, so I kept it to myself instead. Starting an argument wasn’t my goal here today, and since he’d said this story was relevant, I’d much rather him get to the point anyway.
“Deja likes you,” he said, the look in his eyes still surprisingly soft and understanding.
I nearly fell out of my chair, disbelief smacking into me like an out of control speedboat, but before I could pinch myself to make sure this was real, he spoke again.
“There’s a light in her eyes around you that I haven’t seen before.” His gaze drifted briefly toward the windows. “She’s my oldest daughter. My lily. I know her. “I’ve waited a long time for a man worth his weight in gold for her. I believe that man is you.”
Oh, fuck. I want that beer.
This was, hands-down, the strangest, most unexpected conversation I’d ever been part of in my entire life—and my father had been arrested for fraud and taken our entire family down with him.
“That’s kind of you to say, sir,” I told him.
Basel’s gaze stayed on me, as calm and even as if he was discussing the weather. “You have the makings of a family man. You have the ability to not only provide, but secure your lineage with success and comfort. Those things are very important to me.”
As I looked back at him, I wondered what made him think so highly of me. “Thank you, sir, but with all due respect, you don’t know me. I could’ve been lying to you last night about my financial situation or?—”
“You weren’t lying,” he cut in. “I might not know you very well, but I do understand you, Colin. For example, I know you’re doing everything in your power not to be like your father.”
That old defensive feeling roared inside me and I clamped down on it. He went on, either not noticing or not fazed by my reaction. His gaze seemed completely faraway, like he’d mentally drifted back to Egypt and forgotten his body in his chair.
“I realize it might seem hard to imagine right now, but I was young once too. Much too young for the pressures placed on me by my family. I spent my twenties building back a business others let fail.” He finally refocused on me. “I see a bit of myself in you.”
My throat went bone dry. “Thank you, sir. That’s a real honor.”
“No, the real honor is that I have chosen you for her,” he said. “I want the merger of our companies to move forward, secured by your marriage, but I have one condition.”
I almost let my eyes slam shut, but everything about this conversation felt like a test and I knew I could fail with so much as one wrong move, so I kept looking at him. Even if my heart was pounding in my throat at this point, my mind reeling, and a large part of me convinced I was hallucinating.
“What’s the condition?”
“You have to earn her,” he said simply. “Like Jacob earned Rachel.”
Well, that’s just ridiculous.
I swallowed hard, knowing that my next words would determine the course of my life going forward.
I didn’t mind hard work. I never had. In fact, working hard was what kept me sane, but at the same time, Basel wanted this.
Khaled and Alex had come to me, not the other way around, which begged the question of why he was suddenly tacking conditions onto a deal that’d been stitched together long before I’d even known it was a possibility.
And yet, despite all that, the decision that formed in my mind defied all sense of reason and logic. “How am I supposed to do that?”
Basel smiled, motioning toward my beer. “Drink, son. All will be revealed in good time. For now, let us enjoy your very first Egyptian beer. Together.”