Page 49 of Marcellus: House of Drakos
Marcellus laughed. “Still my fault?” he asked them. Although both women rolled their eyes, he and Savannah laughed.
But Niko was already looking at Savannah. “Sorry I was so rude to you on the phone,” he said to her, “but my captors told me they’d kill my entire family if I didn’t act like my usual obnoxious self. I had no choice.”
“It’s no issue,” said Savannah. “I’m just so grateful you’re okay.”
“I see you caught my Saudi clue,” he said to her.
“Nobody took it seriously when I brought it up,” she said, “except your father.”
Peggy and Natalie looked at each other with acheck her outlook on their faces. But Peggy was particularly disgusted. “This isn’t about you, sweetie,” she said to her dismissively. “This is about my son. About our son,” she added in case Savannah didn’t understand the unique relationship the baby mamas had with Marcellus. She was just some side chick, as far as they were concerned.
But Savannah wasn’t thinking about them. Her entire focus was on Niko. “So I take it,” she said, “that you didn’t authorize Alberto to fire me?”
Niko frowned. “Fire you? Hefiredyou?”
Savannah nodded. “Had security escort me off of the premises too.”
Niko was astounded. “He didwhat? Where’s my phone?” he said, looking around, although his phone was long since lost when they first kidnapped him.
“Forget that right now,” said Savannah. “Get well first.”
“Then why did you bring it up,” asked Natalia, “if it’s no big deal?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t a big deal. It’s more than a big deal, it’s my livelihood. But first things first.”
Marcellus loved the way she could handle herself even in the face of equally strong and opinionated women like every one of his baby mamas. It was as if she fit right in. And he loved it.
But then Olivier ran into the bedroom. “Pop, you gotta see this!” he said with a frantic voice and Marcellus jumped up and hurried out.
But when Savannah jumped up and hurried after him, Peggy and Natalia looked at each other again. “She’s got some nerve,” Natalia said. “Like she’s his Siamese twin or something.”
“You think he could be serious about that hoe?” asked Peggy.
“She’s not a hoe, first of all,” said Niko. “She’s my secretary. My best friend if you wanna know the truth. And if it was any indication how Daddy was behaving when she left his side eight years ago, then yes, he’s definitely serious about her.”
Peggy and Natalia were shocked. “Eight years ago?” they said in unison.
“He’s known her for eight years?” asked Peggy.
“What happened eight years ago?” Natalia asked.
Niko smiled and then he laughed. “That’s my business,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
But outside was a different vibe altogether.
The horde of press outside of the security gate were mesmerized and taking every photo and live shot they could take as the events unfolded before their very eyes. Marcellus had heard the sound of aircraft in the sky when he was in the bedroom talking with Niko. It sounded like routine flyover at the time.
But when he and Savannah ran outside and onto his front lawn, and they could see two small, single-engine jets buzzing above his property with both of the planes seemingly in great distress, Marcellus was floored. “Are they ours?” he asked his sons anxiously, as all three were out there too.
“Looks like it,” said Olivier. “Gotdammit!”
“What’s happening?” asked Savannah.
“Engine failure,” said Freddy, the only true engineer in the family. “They’re in trouble.”
“Good Lord. Is there anything we can do?”
