LAILAH #2
Hina gave Jay a sad smile but didn’t say anything before returning to her story.
“It was just after Christmas that I heard about you, Lailah. Jalen told me he wasn’t going to make it home because you needed him.
” The guilt I felt hearing that made me frown.
When she saw my expression she reached a hand out to me, clasping my hand in hers, giving it a squeeze before pulling back.
“No, please, don’t feel bad. I was so happy he found someone to love enough to drop everything to save her.
It’s something I’ve never gotten the chance to have.
Word spread through the family of what happened at the Christmas Eve party and the whole mess of the serum getting taken from the labs.
I was surprised that Makoto hadn’t come back to question what I knew or what my family might know. ”
“Forgive me, but why would he come to you about that?” I asked, not understanding the connection.
Her eyes flicked to Jay, a little surprised.
“That would be because my family runs the largest port in Japan, controlling all the import and export of goods. If anyone was smuggling things, we would hear about it through our connections. It’s one of the reasons I was selected to be Makoto’s bride, along with the money I inherited when my father passed away twenty years ago. ”
“So why did Makoto work with Pride, instead of with your family, since you own it?” Hudson asked. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to have things like the serum smuggled with a company you have control over?”
“I suppose it would if he had any control over it,” Hina answered.
“My father made sure in his will that it was left to me and me alone. He hated how Makoto treated me after we were married, completely changing into a different person. My father would have supported me in leaving Makoto, and by leaving the company to me, he insured I could do so whenever I wanted and be fully supported. You see, I’d just graduated from college with an MBA in the hopes of working alongside my father.
Once I was married, Makoto forbade me from doing so, which led my father to blackball him from many companies he partnered with.
This forced Makoto to find suppliers elsewhere in the world, and most of them were not reputable. ”
Parker leaned back in his seat and let out a whistle, expressing how we were all feeling.
“Okay, so that clears up that question, but why did he kidnap you?” Brayden pressed. “If he couldn’t use the ports and Jay was already bonded, then why curse you?”
“He wanted me to sign over the company to him. The longer I refused, the stronger the curse would be and eventually kill me. But I knew what he was up to so I refused to help in any way,” Hina explained.
“While he had been gone for that month, he’d made a deal with the devil and they promised that Jay would have an important part in their new world, along with him.
All the power the angels led him to believe he would have could be his if he was their man on the ground helping them.
If he was going to get the serum distributed how they needed it to be, having access to my company would change everything. ”
“What a bastard!” Cami fumed, kicking at one of the empty chairs next to her, sending it shooting across the room to bounce off the glass window.
“Easy on the furniture, it’s hell to get replacements,” Blessing remarked as she entered the room with two laptops in her arms. “I’ve got computers for you. I made sure they were our most updated and secure but you might want to do a check on it before doing anything too illegal.”
Another man followed on her heels with a box that he set on the table. It contained a printer and other supplies we would need. He glanced around the room at us but when he saw me, he paused and broke into a wide smile.
“Well, they didn’t tell me there was a babe who came in with the Elemental Warriors. Are you their mascot or something, because you’re all I would need to be cheered on,” he said, making me almost want to gag at how cheesy that line was.
All the guys tensed and I could feel the murderous thoughts they had toward this man. Cami, on the other hand, burst into a fit of laughter, almost sliding out of her chair onto the floor. “Bro, you better run before you have five men with magical powers coming after you for hitting on their wife.”
The man looked from me to the guys and back again, his face losing all its color. “Their wife... she’s married to all of them?”
“Yeah, took me a minute to wrap my head around it too,” I teased. “Guess it’s a perk of being Synergy. I get all the sexy magic men to myself.”
Apparently, I’d pushed the man too far, and he fainted upon hearing I was Synergy.
Blessing let out an irritated groan and grabbed the guy by his shirt, tossed him in the chair Cami kicked, and rolled him out of the room.
She returned quickly with another box. This one was full of water bottles and snacks.
“I’m sorry about Chad. Clearly, he didn’t get the memo on who was going to be here today,” Beth apologized.
“I’ll make sure he steers clear, although I don’t think that will be a problem after that interaction—idiot.
Anything else you guys need, just send me an IM.
The program is on both computers and it’s secure. ”
“Thank you, Blessing,” I said with a smile.