Chapter 39
“Why the hell is he here?” Khal demanded, appreciating Tasha’s soft, pink blouse. It made her cheeks look extra smooth and beautiful. Hell, everything made his wife look lovely.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Perhaps because you didn’t allow me to reject his invitation last week. Nathan doesn’t take being ignored well.”
He reached out, taking her hand and drawing his wife onto his lap. “What do you want me to do?”
“Meet with him,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling the spot right behind his ear. She knew that he loved it when she did that and, sure enough, Khal grumbled softly, his arms tightening around her waist.
“Khal, I was…,” Joran started to say, but froze just a few steps inside his brother’s office. “Again?” he asked, rolling his eyes.
“Get out,” Khal snapped at his brother, keeping Tasha on his lap when she tried to pull away from him.
He started to sigh and turn around, but Khal called out, “Wait!”
“What?” Joran grumbled, but he turned and looked back at them, smothering a chuckle when he noticed his sister-in-law trying to get away from his brother. She was cute when she tried to look professional while also dodging her husband’s hands.
“Nathan King has arrived in Lativa,” Khal announced.
“Why?”
“There’s more that you need to know,” Khal said, reluctantly releasing his wife and standing up. “We should get Raj in here as well.”
“And Marianna,” Tasha interjected. When both brothers scowled at her, she sighed, shaking her head. “I know that she’s not a man and the three of you think that women should be patted on the head and taken care of so that we never know about the bad stuff that life often brings up, but Marianna is smart.” She looked at both brothers. “Have you read her ideas? She’s brilliant. The changes she’s suggested would alleviate a lot of current stressors to the health care system.”
“I read them last night,” Khal replied, nodding as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Still, she doesn’t need to be bothered by this issue.”
“Why not?” she demanded, crossing her arms and glaring up at her husband. “Why should Joran and Raj know about my problem with Nathan, but Marianna should be kept out of the dirty issues?”
“Because…” Khal started, then sighed. “Because I’m a sexist pig and want to keep her safe.” His tone implied that he knew that he was wrong, but didn’t care.
Tasha’s expression softened. She moved closer, pressing her hands against his chest. “She’s safer if she knows the whole story and can defend herself,” Tasha argued. “Besides, women are smart and add a different perspective.”
“She has a point,” a new voice called out as Raj stepped into Khal’s office with Marianna by his side.
“Who has a point?” Marianna asked, still a bit tentative about walking into her big brother’s office. She looked around, trying to understand the situation.
Tasha filled her in. “My previous employer was an unethical jerk who did several illegal activities. I have video evidence of him discussing those illegal activities with several people, including one guy I suspect is some sort of assassin or ‘fixer’.” She ignored the grunts from the brothers, focusing on Marianna. “When I confronted him about the evidence, he beat me badly, then left me for dead. But someone found me and called an ambulance. When Nathan discovered that I was in the hospital, he convinced the press that I was his fiancée.”
“Why would he want to marry you?” Marianna asked.
“So I can’t testify against him in court.” She looked up at her husband, who looked grim. Khal wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. “I escaped from the hospital and ran. While blindly trying to get away from Nathan, I accidentally interjected myself into a room at a hotel, unaware that the room was where interviews for a role as assistant to Khal were being handled.”
Marianna’s features shifted from horrified to amused. “Are you telling me that you accidentally got a job here in Lativa?”
“Exactly,” Tasha replied.
“And fell in love with my brother!” She clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s such a brilliant story! It should be in a romance novel.”
“I’d take out the part where she was beaten nearly to death,” Raj added grimly.
Marianna grimaced. “Yeah, that part isn’t so great. But the rest is amazing!”
Tasha smiled, tightening her hands over Khal’s where they rested against her stomach. “I think it ended pretty well.” His thumb stroked her stomach as Tasha continued. “However, Nathan now knows where I am, but he doesn’t know that I’m already married. He’s been waiting in a hotel room here in the capital for the past week, asking for a meeting with Khal.” She glanced up at him over her shoulder, then turned to the others. “I’m pretty sure that he’s still trying to find me so that he can take me back and beat me until I destroy the evidence against him.”
“Isn’t this an election year for him?” Joran asked.
“It is,” Tasha confirmed.
“So, why not just release the video to the press?”
Tasha looked over her shoulder at Khal. “What do you think? Should I do that?”
He shrugged. “It’s up to you. If you think it will get the man off your trail, then do it. If the candidate who would replace King would be more vile, then leave him in power.”
Tasha turned in Khal’s arms, then gripped his hands. “The thing is, I believed in Nathan when I first started working for him. In fact, getting an internship with Senator King was a major coup. When I was then hired onto his staff, I felt like I was going to change the world through Nathan’s ability to offer productive legislation.” She bit her lip and turned, snuggling up against Khal’s side and gripping his waist around his back. “I thought he was good. I didn’t know he was so evil. So, I don’t trust my ability to judge another person. Nathan’s public activities show a man who truly cares about doing his best for his voters. Behind the scenes, he takes bribes from companies, destroys reputations simply because they might speak out against him, and also manipulates, coerces, and a whole lot worse.”
Joran stepped forward. “I think I can help with looking into the other candidate’s background. My military contacts,” he glanced at Khal, “plus our security team can do a deep dive into the woman’s background.”
Raj lifted his hand. “I can also speak with my contacts in the financial industry. I’ll know if the candidate is taking bribes from corporations.”
“Are they bribes?” Marianna asked, confused. “I thought they were just campaign donations.” She looked around at her brothers, her gaze finally coming to rest on Tasha. “Aren’t campaign donations legal?”
Tasha didn’t laugh at the question. She knew that Marianna was young and unaware of the hypocrisy in the political world. She was the young idealist that Tasha had been only a few years ago.
“Yes, campaign donations are legal. But when a corporation donates millions of dollars to a politician’s reelection campaign, they expect something in return. And usually, that’s in the form of legislation that benefits their company.”
“That’s good though, right?” Marianna looked around again. “I mean, if the company thrives, then they can hire more employees. Voters need jobs. It seems like a win for everyone.”
“That’s in an ideal world. But often, companies want rules changed so that they can eliminate their competition. And Nathan was extremely good at finding rules that corporations needed eliminated so that they didn’t have to…say stop dumping chemicals into a river, or maybe convince an agency to look the other way when a company wanted to do something to smother competition. It happens all the time.”
Marianna’s mouth thinned into a grim line. “That’s wrong!”
Joran flung an arm over her shoulder. “It’s a common practice. I’ve often been offered bribes in the hope that I would influence Khal.”
“Happens to me as well,” Raj replied, lifting his hand before shoving both back into his pockets.
“What do you do?” Marianna asked, glaring up at her brothers.
Raj shrugged. “Depends on how blatant they are. If it’s just a casual suggestion, then I ignore them. If they are more obvious, then I crush them out of business.” His eyes were hard now. There was a glimmer of anger in the dark depths.
Marianna shivered at the look. “You’re a scary man, aren’t you?”
Raj grinned, but there was no amusement behind his smile. “All the time.”
She grinned right back at him, obviously impressed. Then Joran whispered, “He’s a puppy compared to me.”
Marianna laughed, shaking her head. “I’m sure you’re both ferocious.”