To Bed a King (12 page)

“Whose? My father’s? Unless you missed it, he’s dead. I’m the King now.”

“Without me you wouldn’t have an island to rule,” Halim snapped.

Ghazi took several steps until he stood nose to nose with Halim. “You’d better start talking.”

TO BED A KING

Carol Lynne

79

Halim glanced nervously around the room. “Not here among the mongrels. What I have to tell you is…sensitive.”

Raven reared back ready to hit Halim with his Glock, but taking pity on the older man, Ghazi raised his hand. “Wait,” he told Raven.

“Make him apologise,” Raven said with an expression of disgust.

Ghazi looked at Halim. “You heard the man.”

“I won’t,” Halim answered.

Raven’s answer was to press the Glock harder against his skull. “Try again.”

“Forgive me.” Not only was Halim’s voice without remorse but his face showed not an ounce of shame for his comment.

Ghazi almost let the entire room loose on him, but the lure of further information kept him from allowing Raven and the teenagers from Sanctuary from pummelling the dour-faced man.

“Very well.” Ghazi held out his hand. “Will you loan me your gun?” he asked Raven.

“If you think I’m leaving you alone with this snake you’re crazy,” Raven said, shaking his head.

“Are you going to let a servant speak to you like that?” Halim asked.

“No, but Raven’s my partner, not my servant.” Ghazi leant forward until he was nose to nose with Halim. “You, on the other hand, are a mere servant in my eyes. So watch your tongue, or I will have it cut from your mouth.”

The threat didn’t seem to faze Halim. “What I need to show you is at the palace.” He looked around the living room in disgust. “Not in a place like this.”

“You fucker!” Nalu yelled, lurching towards Halim.

Raven chuckled and stepped between Nalu and his intended target. He grinned at Halim. “One more word and I’ll serve your balls on a silver platter to this young man.”

As much as Ghazi enjoyed seeing Nalu finally stand up for himself, he needed to get the ugly business taken care of before the elections. “Raven, would you mind escorting our prisoner back to the palace?”

“I would love to,” Raven said, pushing Halim towards the door.

Ghazi waited until Halim was out of the house before turning to address the teenagers who had gathered during the commotion. “You have my word that Halim will suffer the full TO BED A KING

Carol Lynne

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extent of the laws he has broken. Nalu and Johara will fill you in on the changes to be made at Sanctuary.”

* * * *

“Speak,” Ghazi demanded, walking into the palace’s tropical garden.

“Alone,” Halim said.

“No,” Ghazi and Raven said at the same time. Raven glanced at Ghazi and smiled. He still couldn’t believe Ghazi had called him his partner earlier.
Partner.
Raven doubted he’d ever tire of the word.

“Do you really want your
lover
to hear Jurru’s most guarded secret?” Halim asked.

“I thought sitting on red diamonds was Jurru’s most guarded secret.” Ghazi crossed his arms. “So tell me. I can’t wait to hear how you’re going to justify your disgusting activities.”

“I’m not going to tell you. Your father is,” Halim said smugly.

“And how is that possible?” Ghazi asked.

Halim gestured to the statue of King Jaleel Zahar. “May I?”

Ghazi nodded and stepped to the side, indicating to Raven to allow Halim some space to move.

Raven narrowed his eyes. “Twitch in the wrong direction, and I’ll blow your head off.”

Halim clicked his tongue and glanced at Ghazi. “Really? You could have any gay man in the world and you chose this one?”

“I chose the right man for me and Jurru,” Ghazi snarled as his hands fisted at his sides.

Halim rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small ring of keys. He fit one of the keys into a small hole at the base of the bronze statue. Before turning the key, Halim looked over his shoulder at Ghazi. “Are you sure you want the truth?”

“I do,” Ghazi answered.

The plaque on the front of the statue sprang open, revealing a hidden compartment.

Halim reached in with a smile on his face. Raven saw the glint of steel a split second before Halim whirled around, his arm lifting in preparation to throw the dagger towards Ghazi.

A round from the Glock in Raven’s hand penetrated the centre of Halim’s forehead. It wasn’t until Halim’s vacant eyes met Raven’s that he realised he’d just killed a man. He watched Halim fall to the ground face first.

TO BED A KING

Carol Lynne

81

Raven’s hands started to shake as he continued to stare at the first person he’d ever killed.
Could I have stopped him without killing him?

“Thank you,” Ghazi said, taking the gun out of Raven’s hand.

Ghazi’s arm wrapped around his waist, drawing Raven’s attention away from the body.

“I couldn’t let him kill you,” he whispered.

“I know, and he would have.” Ghazi kissed Raven’s forehead. “You did the right thing.”

“Did I?” Raven looked deep into Ghazi’s eyes. “Why would he do that knowing I held a gun?”

Ghazi pulled Raven against his chest, shielding Raven’s view of Halim. “Men like Halim, like my father, don’t believe in giving up a fight until the enemy is dead.”

* * * *

“We should burn these two,” Ghazi said, handing two of the hidden journals to Raven.

Raven nodded. “Do you think these were what the CIA was on Jurru looking for?”

“I doubt the Director of the CIA would appreciate his taste for underage girls to become public knowledge. After my father’s death, the Director must have worried the information would pass to his sons.” Ghazi took a deep breath. “I will place a call informing him that the journals have been destroyed.”

“Do you think he’ll believe you?”

“He has little choice.” Ghazi opened his father’s personal journal once more. It was hard to believe Jurru had been on the verge of bankruptcy before Halim came up with the idea of granting wealthy men their every desire. Jaleel had tried to justify prostituting young teenagers by claiming it was the only way to save tourism once the war in the gulf started.

“Why didn’t he harvest some of the diamonds if things were so bad?” Raven asked, evidently reading Ghazi’s thoughts.

“It’s not that easy. If he were to mine the diamonds, Jurru would never again be safe from invasion. The rest of the world thinks we’re nothing but an island resort. I refuse to justify what my father did, but I have no doubt he thought he was doing what was best.”

Ghazi shook his head. “The big question is how do we provide for the future generations of Jurruans?”

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Carol Lynne

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“There has to be a way of harvesting enough of the diamonds to insure Jurru’s future without giving away the location of where they came from.”

“How? Who would do that for us?”

Raven shook his head. “I think you’re trying to make it harder than it is. Have someone you trust like…Jackie or Seb be the middle man. He can find a good broker who’ll sell the diamonds for you. The broker doesn’t have to know where they came from. Hell, if anything the mystery behind their origin will make the diamonds more appealing.”

Ghazi sighed, shutting the journal. He ran his fingers over the embossed Z on the leather cover. “Burn this as well.”

“You don’t want that,” Raven argued.

“No, but I also don’t want evidence of my father’s misguided attempts to save Jurru to get into the wrong hands someday.” Ghazi shook his head. “Better that I remember the father I was proud of.”

He thought about the diamonds Ali had put in the safety deposit box in Albuquerque.

If they found the right buyer, the diamonds already in their possession would see Jurru comfortably through the upheaval in the Middle East. “I’ll talk to Seb. See if he’s willing to find a broker for the Dragon Eyes.”

Raven took the journal from Ghazi’s hands. He set it on top of the others before climbing into Ghazi’s lap.

Ghazi welcomed the action with open arms. “I’ll be glad when this is taken care of so we can go back to a normal life.”

Raven snorted. “You’re a king. Our lives will never be normal.”

Pulling Raven in for a kiss, Ghazi stopped just short of his partner’s lips. Raven was right. Even if they were discreet with their relationship outside of Jurru, the world would soon be talking about the gay king and his lover. “You’re right. I can’t give you normal, but I can give you my heart.”

“I thought you’d already given me your heart.”

“I have. The question is will you accept it?”

“I already have.”

Ghazi ran the tip of his tongue across the seam of Raven’s lips. “Thank you. And in return, I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“Really? Because there are still those two items we’ve yet to address.”

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Ghazi chuckled. “Yes, we can have a dance for Brier and the others.”

“Not a fancy ball. I want a real high school dance for them, complete with balloons and streamers.”

“Consider it done. Now, what is the other request? You’ve yet to tell me.”

Raven ground his erection against Ghazi. “I’m saving the last one as a secret, but it’ll be a good one, I promise.”

TO BED A KING

Carol Lynne

84

Brier’s nerves were getting the better of him. He would be attending his first high school dance. What if the dances Bram showed him were old-fashioned? He chuckled, remembering his brother going on and on about what a stud he used to be in New York.

How he’d go out to the clubs every night and dance his way into the hottest guy in the place’s bed.

It didn’t get past Brier that Bram talked about that stuff when Declan wasn’t around.

Brier wondered how much of what his twin said was the truth and how much was wishful thinking.

He shook his head. It didn’t matter. Raven and King Ghazi had gone to a lot of trouble to come to Albuquerque and set up the dance. Even if Bram’s dances were outdated, they were still better than anything Brier could’ve come up with on his own.

A knock at the bedroom door alerted Brier that his date was ready for the dance. He tried once again to straighten his tie before crossing the room. Opening the door, he gasped.

Had Jackie ever looked so handsome? “Wow!”

“Wow yourself.” Jackie stepped into their bedroom dressed in dress slacks, a white shirt and a red and white high school letterman’s jacket. He held out a small plastic box.

“This is for you.”

Brier took the box. “A flower?”

“It’s a boutonniere. All kids wear ‘em to dances.”

“Did you?” Brier asked, opening the box.

Jackie reached for the red rose and started to pin it to the lapel on Brier’s new dark grey suit. “I never went to a dance in school. I knew better than to take who I wanted, so I just went out drinking with my other bachelor buddies.”

After settling the rose, Jackie leant in for a soft kiss. “But even if I had gone to the dance with who I’d wanted, he would’ve paled in comparison to my date tonight.”

Brier smiled and gestured to his silly happy-face tie. “Even if your date can’t seem to get this knot right?”

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Carol Lynne

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Jackie took the plastic box and tossed it onto the dresser. He pulled Brier against his chest and nodded. “Your tie looks fine and you look handsome as hell.”

“So do you,” Brier said, running his palms up the front of the letterman’s jacket.

Jackie glanced down and chuckled. “I can’t believe this thing still fits. I dug it out of the attic. Other than needing a good cleaning, its fine.”

Brier fingered the little symbol of the football along with a shoe with wings and a basketball. “You were good at sports, huh?”

“Yeah, pretty good.”

“Sometimes I wonder if…” Brier swallowed around the lump in his throat. Thinking about the life he could have had if only he hadn’t become stupid, always messed with his emotions. “I’m pretty fast.”

“You are.” Jackie wrapped his arms tighter around Brier and squeezed.

Burying his face against Jackie’s neck, Brier tried to get himself together. He had a good life, no, a great life. Jackie made sure each day was important just by opening his eyes in the morning.

“I love you,” Brier whispered.

“Love you, too, babe. Now we’d better get going or Raven’s going to think all his hard work isn’t appreciated.”

“I’m glad Raven and King Zahar said we could have the dance here. I liked Jurru, but that was a really long plane ride.”

Jackie chuckled and steered Brier towards the door. “Raven had to come back anyway to get his stuff from the dorm. Besides, even though I doubt he’d ever say it, I think he missed his friends and wanted to say goodbye.”

“We’ll see him again though, right?” Brier asked, grabbing the keys to his jeep off the table.

“Definitely.” Jackie kissed the side of Brier’s head. “By the way, you won’t need those. I rented us something special to take to the dance.”

“Huh? Like a limousine? I saw on TV that a lot of kids are doing that now.”

“Better than a limo.” Jackie opened the front door.

A shiny red Pontiac Trans Am sat in the driveway. “Wow. Where’d you get it?”

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“A friend loaned it to me. I had one like it in high school only mine didn’t have the T-tops and it was Royal blue.” Brier started to reach for the door handle, but Jackie stopped him. “Allow me.”

Brier grinned. “You’re really taking this seriously, aren’t you?”

Jackie blushed and shrugged his wide shoulders. “You’re not the only one who’s going to his first dance.”

* * * *

Raven handed the high school janitor a hundred dollar bill. Although the school had been happy to accept Ghazi’s generous donation in return for the gym rental, they had insisted a janitor be on the premises for insurance reasons. “So, I’ll call you when we’re finished for the evening, right?”