Page 30 of Shâhzâdeh

“Is zhat an invitation?”

My hand went to my hair and I toyed nervously with one of the strands. “I’m kidding.”

“Perhaps. And only for now. But do zhe have an agreement?”

“I’m not sure how I can say no. My client will be very happy to hear about the closing costs.”

A grin dawned on his face as he stood up and re-buttoned his jacket. “Good. I’ll wire it into your account—”

I stood up along with him but I had to question what he meant. “How do you have my account information?”

Xerxes stared as though he found my underestimating him amusing.

“Ziba, you stick around long enough and you will find zhere is no stone I will leave unturned wiz learning everyzing zhere is to know about what I desire.”

XERXES

I’D LEFT VANYA’S office as calmly as possible before I went into a rage in the car. I wasn’t having a tantrum, maybe slightly, but I was pissed that there were people that would be so bold as to harass a woman as she was simply doing her job. I knew perfectly well that men were despicable creatures. My father made me all too aware of the shit we had to fight against and call out when we saw it. I was proud to be a man, but those who walked around with a dick sullying my sex deserved to be put down.

And apparently I had a whole host of them to handle in the Queen City before Vanya and I could move forward.

“Vhat is zhe problem,Shâhzâdeh?”

Shoaib was glancing back at me through the rearview mirror. I could only shake my head and attempt to get my emotions in check before I responded.

“I’m not angry. Frustrated is zhe emotion.”

“But I zhought she agreed for you to be her client. Vas zhat not zhe goal of zhe meeting?” He maneuvered through the streets with ease despite not having lived here before. As head of my security for my family, his job was to ensure he knew the ins and outs of wherever we traveled. He’d been thoroughly prepared for his job for years before he took over. He was nearing forty-two and hadn’t lost a step in all this time.

Quentin, the guard that I hired to assist me in the states spoke up then. “Sho, if you saw this girl, you would understand. You remember the red-haired girl from when we had handled ole boy last summer, right?”

Sho continued to maneuver through the streets as he nodded. “Yes. She has zhe flaming hair. I remember she is beautiful but I zhought we were being meticulous.”

“Xerx ain’t got that kind of patience, bruh. His heart is involved. First time his pretty boy ass has had to work for a damn thing his whole life. That’s why he’s geeking the way he is.” These two talked about me like two uncles who had no problem telling my business and offering their advice.

I cracked a smile hating how fucking accurate Quentin’s words were. I didn’t mind the effort that it took to woo Vanya. I welcomed the challenge. It was the feeling in my gut that I might fail that gnawed at me incessantly.

“I do not mind zhe work. It is when I feel as zhough I have to get more blood on my hands to fix zhe problem zhat I become aggravated.”

They shared a look between the two of them and I already knew what they were thinking.

“Xerx, since when did blood become a problem?” Quentin didn’t look back over his shoulder since he was on point. He kept his eyes on our surroundings to look for potential threats.

“Since I’m supposed to show her that I’m not all blood and guts, that when. The advice was to show her the soft side, not to come out with a gun in one hand ascimitarin the other putting bullets in heads before I chop them off.”

“I mean, but the visual is nice.” I could almost hear the yearning in Sho’s voice like he was eager to see this play out.

“Shoaib, zhere truly might be somezing wrong wiz you.”

“From a purely artistic perspective. Zhe fluidity of skill it vould take to shoot and zhen cut vould be impressive. I need to practice zhis now vith a few ballistic heads.” He was nodding as he made plans to actually practice this during his next training and I didn’t bother to act surprised. This is the reason he was as good at his job as he was.

Quentin laughed at the banter between the two of us, since we were more like brothers than employee and employer.

“Definitely been hanging around y’all for too long. My ass is now trying to figure out how this shit would work, too. But boss, who we need to handle? If she doesn’t want you to be all bloody, what do you think you have us for?”

“It’s too personal for him. He vants the satisfaction of knowing he was the one to kill what harmed hissayyida. Much like you and your brezren, respect is a big zhing. He vould not feel as zhough he had done right by her if we were the ones to take care of zhe problem.” Shoaib was back to gossiping like an auntie again.

“Really hate feeling like I’m not earning my money, Shoa. Xerx, do you need me to stand outside of her office?”

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