Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
“Good evening, Ms. Koba.” Nikka’s voice woke Saskia from a deep slumber. She sat up as Nikka placed a box on the end of the bed. “Dinner is in half an hour. I’ll return to take you when you’re ready.”
“Th-thank you,” Saskia croaked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Noticing a glass of water on the bedside table, she snatched it up and drank thirstily.
The door closed behind Nikka and Saskia reached for the package she had placed on the bed. It was an outfit, not one from her suitcase, though it could have been it was so similar in style to what she regularly wore.
A laugh bubbled up her throat as she realized she was holding a pair of high-quality jeans and a T-shirt with cartoon TV characters, Rick and Morty, on it. “Radik, you stalker,” she murmured. “Points for paying attention, I guess.” Pushing off the bed, she looked around for a washroom.
The bathtub-pool was open to the rest of the room, but given Nikka’s tendency toward walking in without knocking, Saskia hoped the toilet was more private.
She quickly discovered another nearly invisible door in the wallpaper that opened to a washroom with a sink, toilet and shower.
“Oh yes,” she breathed, turning the knobs on the shower to hot.
She smiled, noting brand new bottles of her special curly-hair shampoo and conditioner as well as her preferred brand of body wash.
After a quick shower, she felt more human, more able to face the trials ahead. Namely, convincing Radik that he needed to end this game and send her home before her family figured out where she went and who took her.
She dressed in the jeans and T-shirt provided. Both fit perfectly, of course. Radik was a man of details.
She arranged her hair as best she could, digging through her toiletry kit for hairpins to tame the mass of wild curls. It was an impossible task; one she was convinced would continue until the day she died. Or all her hair fell out.
What she would have done for Leeza’s gorgeous mane of long, smooth chestnut hair over this crazy mess.
A longing for her sister punched her in her chest and she forgot everything except the cell phone Nikka gave her. Rushing to the bedside table, she snatched it up, quickly scrolling to Leeza’s number.
She hit the dial button and pressed it to her ear, but nothing happened. She checked the battery, but it was fully charged. “Why won’t you work?”
A knock sounded at her door and seconds later, Nikka entered.
“So, you can knock,” Saskia muttered, then louder. “Why can’t I make calls with my phone?”
Nikka stood politely next to the door, her gaze on the wall behind Saskia. “You can make calls to people inside this compound. It’s time for dinner, if you would like to follow me.”
Saskia tossed her phone on the bed. “Fucking useless.” Her temper rose as she followed Nikka down the hallway, stewing over her phone. Why give it to her if it didn’t work?
They descended to the first floor where she noted a kitchen and dining room earlier when Radik was showing her around, but instead Nikka took her past the dining room and out a set of doors which were standing open.
Saskia’s annoyance was forgotten as she stepped outside, taking in the garden of lush vegetation glittering with strands of lights.
She followed a tiled mosaic path through the greenery, punctuated by splashes of colourful flowers, until she found a table and chairs.
Past the table stood her host, Radik, wearing a suit that was clearly designed for his massive frame.
His muscles stretched the seams, but the fabric held, showing him off to perfection.
Saskia couldn’t help but grin at the juxtaposition in their outfits.
He allowed her the comfort of jeans and a T-shirt but subjected himself to the confines of a suit, probably to impress her.
“How am I supposed to be mad at you?” She skirted the table to join him where he stood at the edge of the garden.
Radik watched her approach, his dark eyes moving down her body. “Anger is the last thing I want you to feel for me.”
Saskia gazed out past the garden patio to the edge of the compound and beyond to the Congolese jungle valley.
It looked like a living carpet of green as the sun set behind the mountains, bathing the area in red, pink and orange.
It was spectacular and she couldn’t truly say she was sorry to be here for this moment.
He didn’t need to know that though. “Yet you brought me here against my will.” She turned narrowed eyes on him.
“You refuse to let me go and you gave me a phone that doesn’t work. ”
“It works,” he countered. “You can contact anyone inside the compound, but you cannot make or accept calls beyond these walls.”
Saskia’s eyes traced the large concrete walls he spoke of. They were vast, taller even than the Koba estate. Easily the ugliest part of Radik’s compound.
“Why give me a phone at all if I can’t use it?” she asked, glaring at him.
“It works,” he insisted, an edge of steel in his voice. “You can use it to call me, Nikka or any other member of this compound. This security measure applies to everyone here.”
“How do you make calls out?” she demanded. “I assume the head honcho must be able to contact the outside world somehow.”
“We have satellite phones for when an outside call must be made, but for the most part, we try to maintain our self-sufficiency. It’s safer that way.”
“Safer for you or the people who live here?”
“Both,” he said easily. “Now come eat.”
When she turned around, she was surprised to discover a feast had been laid out while they were talking. “You have some amazing staff,” she told him as he pulled her chair out, pushing her in as she sat.
“I have some good friends,” he said, sitting across from her.
She studied him for a moment before saying, “You said it yourself when we were driving in, you’re the master of Marifiya, yet you’re uncomfortable with hierarchy among your people. What gives? Most men I know are happy to place themselves above others.”
He picked up a bun from the breadbasket and tore it in half. “I’m aware of the quality of men you’ve had contact with. Mafia and government. Men who vie for power.”
“Don’t forget the university,” she muttered, watching with fascination as he bit into the bread, his teeth flashing in the encroaching darkness. “Different pond, same fish.”
His eyes narrowed. “I am aware of the professor you had an argument with. I believe you corrected an inaccuracy in his dissertation, which led to his accusing you of plagiarism.”
She gasped, her hands freezing in the process of buttering her bun. “It was you!” The pieces of a two-year old puzzle fell into place.
In her last year of university, one of her professors had begun a vendetta against her when she’d dared to correct his work.
She’d had to defend her essay from his plagiarism claim, escalating the case to the dean of the university when it began to look like she would be expelled.
Then the day before a decision was to be made, the professor became the victim of a hit and run accident.
He hadn’t died, but he wouldn’t be teaching again any time soon.
At the time, she believed her cousin had arranged the “accident”.
Jozef hadn’t denied it, but now she understood why he looked confused when she accused him.
He hadn’t known about any of it until she told him and by then, the issue had been resolved by someone else. By Radik.
“I don’t know if I should be mad at you or thank you.”
Instead of addressing her comment, he handed her a plate of rice. “Try the moambe chicken with the jasmine rice. It’s delicious.”
Saskia followed the change in subject. “The food looks amazing.”
“Nonna takes care of my household. She was a chef before coming to us and is highly trained in cuisines from around the world. She’s a gem and I’m grateful to have her here.”
“How did she come to be here?”
He looked thoughtful, setting down his fork as he spoke.
“Nonna and Nikka were displaced from their home a few years ago. Civil war tore apart the city where they lived, killing Nikka’s parents, and Nonna thought it best to get her out before they too became casualties.
They lived in a refugee camp for several months before I met them while dropping off supplies.
Nonna was camp cook at the time and when she found out I needed a chef of my own, she pitched herself and added Nikka to the deal as my live-in housekeeper.
They’re happy here, but I know they want to return home one day.
At the moment, it’s still too dangerous for them. ”
A stab of sympathy took away some of the jealousy Saskia felt over Nikka. It sounded like she’d been through a lot. “Why do I get the sense every person here has a story?”
“Every person on the planet has a story,” Radik countered. “The people inside these walls are no different.”
“Mmmm, but the stories of the people residing here are probably more interesting than most.”
“Sadly, many of our stories are the same. War, corruption, displacement.” Radik took her hand where it was resting on the table and caressed the back of it. “Yours is the only story I’m interested in.”
She was caught in his spell, held captive, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too. How was she supposed to fight this feeling and go back to living her life?
She licked her lips, saying, “My story took an interesting turn over the past few days.” She straightened in her seat, becoming more serious as she recalled just how interesting her life had become. “I need to find out what happened to Aurelia and why.”
Radik leaned back in his chair. “I have people looking into it.”
She shook her head. “I was there, I want to be part of the investigation. I need to talk to the police, tell them what happened.”
“That’s not going to happen.” His voice was flat, final.
Saskia had been around the mafia block enough to read between the lines.
“You bribed the police to keep you updated on the investigation.” He inclined his head.
It was an easy guess. It’s what Jozef would have done.
“I don’t care if you insinuate yourself.
In fact, probably better that you do as I’m guessing you have more resources than the Pretoria police department.
But Radik, I need to be in on the investigation.
I need to know what happened. She was my friend. ”
“You will be the first to know when they contact me.”
She was used to dealing with overprotective relatives, so she softened, using her best manipulation tactics.
“Look, Muhammed, I’m not going to turn into Nancy Drew and get myself in trouble.
I have a healthy respect for my own life.
I just want to see what Aurelia was working on, talk to Branislav, see if he has any idea what could have happened.
He’s far more likely to talk to me than to you.
You’ll need my help if you want to get anywhere with the Prime Minister’s office.
” When he didn’t say anything, she thought maybe she’d won the point and decided to push her agenda further.
“I should also get hold of Jozef, calm him down before he sends the entire Guard Dog security team to come looking for me. Believe me, you don’t want that. ”
Radik stood, his chair scraping against the patio tiles. He moved with surprising grace as he circled the table, kneeling next to her and turning her chair so she was facing him. He was so tall, even kneeling, his head was above hers. His massive body blotted out everything behind him.
Her heart pounded as he took her hand in his. “Six years, two months, fifteen days.” She knew instantly what he meant. The first time they met face-to-face. “That moment changed the course of my life, Saskia. You changed the course of my life. I stopped living for war and started living for you.”
Tears rushed to her eyes and she nodded. She knew it. He’d spent years expressing himself through gifts and notes. Through his emissary, his sister, Ayaan.
He continued, “I haven’t brought you here to solve a murder mystery or get back at your cousin.
I brought you here to see if you can love me the way I love you.
I brought you here to become my wife.” He paused, letting his words sink in.
“You are the most precious thing in my life. The thing here most worth protecting.” He pressed his fist to his chest over his heart.
“It’s not in me to allow you a part in something as dangerous as murder.
Nor will you any longer be affiliated with your mafia family.
They’re too dangerous. They led me to your doorstep where my intention was to terrorize you, perhaps even kill you.
I changed my mind, but others might not.
From now on, you will stay here, with me, protected and loved. ”