King of Slaves (Jenna's Story) (The Slave Series Book 5) (21 page)

“Do you remember us taking that picture?” she asked.

“No, it was a long time ago.”

“Yes, and sitting on your lap only lasted thirty seconds before you shooed me out of your sight.”

“You make it sound like I was a bad father,” he said. “I may not have been very involved but I’m here now, and I want you to listen to me. You are going home with us.”

“What makes you think that I need you to run my life now?”

“Jenna…” His tone was condescending, as if he was speaking to a child.

“Go or stay as you please, Dad, I’m going to check up on my team.” She moved to the door.

“I want to stay,” Alex said behind her, and Jenna knew her sister was talking to their father. “We only just arrived.”

“All right. We’ll stay for the night, but tomorrow I’m getting us on a plane out of here, and Jenna…” he called out to her.

“What?”

“You better come to your senses and realize that I’m right. This place is dangerous and there’s no shame in leaving with us.”

She didn’t answer him but closed the door behind her, wanting… no, desperately
needing
… to get some distance from her father.

It was almost five o’clock and her team would be ending their workday soon, but she never made it to her office. She was stopped by Coun Meme, who came huffing and puffing toward her as if he had sprinted all the way through the palace to get to her. “Ms. Davis… ah, Ms. Davis.”

Jenna slowed down and came to a halt in front of him. “Yes, Coun Meme, what can I do for you?”

To say he looked upset would be an understatement. His hair was sweaty and she got the thought that he had been tearing at it, from the way it stood out in all directions.

“Zurry tell what happen and I run to you,” he said out of breath.

“I can see that.”

“No go home.” He shook his head vehemently. “You must stay and built.”

Jenna didn’t know whether to be amused about the unnecessary panic she picked up from the chubby man or annoyed that yet another male was trying to tell her what to do.
Just wait until Kioni hears I might leave
. Her quick mind got a sudden idea and she crossed her arms.

“Do you expect me to stay when your people have not only harassed me, but now also my father?”

Coun Meme was dry washing his hands and he moved his legs around nervously.

She raised an eyebrow theatrically. “I don’t see how you could make me stay at this point.”

“The king talk to you,” Meme exclaimed and waved her along. “Come, Ms. Davis.”

She followed and prepared herself for another round of negotiations; this time she knew exactly what she wanted.

CHAPTER 18

Round Two

Kioni

“Tell me this is a bad joke.”

“No, I’m afraid she really is leaving. She has no choice –her father gave her a direct order. I heard it myself.”

“Ferfucksake!!”

Kioni had been in his private chamber when Zurry found him. After the boxing with Zurry and the confrontation with Jenna, he had showered and tried to make sense of it all. It was impossible for him to be rational around his American houseguest. She made him say and do stupid things all the time.

His mother had come by to remind him for the tenth time that he needed to make a decision about Ms. Tahita Molpino. He had promised her an answer by the end of the day.

Now Zurry told him Jenna was leaving the country, and they all knew the ramifications of that. God damn it, he needed her to stay and help rebuild his country or the US would pull the aid package off the table.

“What do we do?” Zurry asked grimly.

“Change her father’s mind,” Kioni said.

“Yes, but how?”

“By making him understand why Jenna has to stay here, and assuring him that no harm will come to his daughter. I’ll talk with him myself,” Kioni said.

Zurry nodded. “But even if he would allow it, do you think we could make Jenna
want
to stay? She seemed very distraught about the whole thing.”

Kioni leaned his head back and looked up into the ceiling.
I don’t need this shit… what if Jenna is pregnant and she leaves… I can’t let her leave if she’s carrying my child.

“Listen, Zurry, I might need you to get hold of the doctor.”

“Why? Are you sick?”

Kioni shot him an irritated glance. “No, of course not.” He considered not telling Zurry, but the man was his best friend and could be trusted.

“I want to make sure Jenna isn’t pregnant before I allow her to leave.”

“Pregnant?” Zurry almost whispered.

“Yeah… I came inside her and she hasn’t gotten her period yet.”

“When was this?”

“Thirteen days ago.”

“Shit!” Zurry sat down and then quickly got up again. “What the hell were you thinking, Kop?”

Only Zurry and a few other close friends ever called Kioni “Kop,” which was short for Kopilus.

“Clearly I wasn’t thinking,” Kioni muttered and raised his voice. “Will you stop pacing the floor? You’re making me dizzy.”

Zurry stopped and faced him. “I don’t know what it will take to make Jenna stay… but you better find a way to do it.”

“I know,” Kioni growled. “Get Meme, and tell him to bring her to my office. Now!”

Zurry turned on his heel. “I’m on it!”

Jenna looked like an Amazon warrior when she stepped into his office. There was an expression of focused determination on her pretty face.

Kioni stood up and gestured to his couch, hoping to make this conversation informal and personal.

“Thank you for coming, won’t you take a seat?”

Jenna sat down and turned her full attention on him. They were alone, and his heart was hammering with the knowledge that the outcome of this conversation would either make or break both him and his country.

“I wanted to offer my apologies about what happened to your father.”

Jenna jerked her head back. “Wow, did you just apologize?”

His lips thinned as if he had tasted a lemon. He didn’t appreciate her mocking him.

“Yes.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Zurry told me you are leaving. Please tell me it isn’t so.”

Jenna crossed her arms. “Although I appreciate your heartfelt apology, I really don’t see I have much of a choice.”

“No, I understand that it’s out of your hands; Zurry told me how your father gave you a direct order. But I’m going to talk to him and try to convince him to let you stay. I was just hoping you would help me do that.”

Jenna took a minute before she answered.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t think I can convince him to let you stay, unless you want to yourself.”

She narrowed her eyes and he got the feeling he had offended her greatly, but she didn’t speak.

“Jenna, how can I convince you to stay?”

She looked away with a closed-off expression. “I don’t think you can.”

“Tell me what you want, I’ll do anything.” He hated how pleading he sounded.

She looked back at him and tilted her head. “Anything?”

He swallowed hard.

“So if I asked you
not
to marry Ms. Polominski, you wouldn’t?”

His eyes widened as he got a sudden epiphany. Hope sparked in him. This could be it – the solution he hadn’t been able to find himself. If Jenna demanded him to marry her instead of Ms. Molpino, it would save him from a loveless marriage and make it possible for him to marry Jenna, the woman he respected and desired most in the world. There was no way his council could object with this much money on the line.

A genuine smile spread on his lips. “Jenna, I’ll marry you if that is what you demand of me.”

Surprise showed on her face. “Don’t be stupid, Kioni.”

Okay, that was a fucking slap in my face.

“I already told you I don’t want to be queen of anything, so unless you’re willing to abdicate and come live with me in Chicago, you and I are never getting married.”

“Abdicate… what are you talking about?”

“Forget it… it’s not important. I just mentioned your marriage to test how eager you are to make me stay.”

Kioni was confused. “So you’re not asking me to choose you over Miss Molpino?”

“No.”

Disappointment hit him hard.

“If you want to convince my dad to let me stay, you’ll have to make a big compromise.”

“What?”

“He loves classical music, and you could make him feel really special by allowing Kalen to give a concert in his honor.”

Kioni moved back. “I already told you my brother isn’t some circus attraction. He won’t play concerts.”

Jenna moved a bit closer. “It’ll only be an intimate concert in the music room for my team, my family, and whomever you want to invite. Not more than twenty-five or thirty people.”

“But what if Kalen doesn’t want to?”

“He’ll love it. Trust me.”

“And you think that will make your father allow you to stay.”

“If you give him an official apology and tell him how much it means to you, then I think we can convince him together.”

“Don’t think I don’t know this is about you getting your way. You wanted Kalen to do a concert and now you’re using your dad as an excuse.”

She grinned and stretched out her hand. “Absolutely.”

Kioni took her hand and tugged her closer. “And here I was hoping you would demand that I marry you.”

For a moment they sat quietly, starring into each other’s eyes. “If you don’t want to marry little Miss Polski, then don’t. No one can force you.”

“I need an heir,” he whispered and his eyes fell to her abdomen.

There it was again. That electrical buzz between them, the strong sexual pull, that seemed to have an almost hypnotizing effect on both of them.

“I know,” Jenna said in a whisper and slowly lifted her hand to slide through his hair, caressing him gently. “But even if I could sacrifice my freedom to be your wife, I would never make you truly happy. I’m not that woman you described in the elevator. I’m not a virgin. I’m not a teenager, I’m not of royal blood, and I would never worship you or let you boss me around.”

Kioni swallowed hard, just barely holding back from kissing her. “I’m not asking you to worship me. But could you love me?”

Sadness flashed in her eyes. “I’m not going to deny that I’m attracted to you. But love is a big word, and we don’t know each other very well.”

He touched her face gently and played with a strand of her blond hair between his fingers. 

“Most of the time I’m angry with you, you know?” she said.

“But not all the time.”

“No. Not all the time.”

“I think I’m in love with you.” His admission surprised him as much as her.

She pulled at his hair and brought his head closer until they sat with their foreheads leaning against each other. Kioni closed his eyes and took in the scent of Jenna. It was seductive and made him think of forbidden lust.

“Don’t say that,” she whispered.

“Why not?”

She pulled away from him and shook her head. “We always fight, and you told me you could never love someone like me.”

He grabbed her hands. “I was wrong and I’m sorry. You are so much more than just beauty and charm, Jenna. Some days I wish I’d never met you so I could marry for convenience like I’m supposed to, but after experiencing the passion I feel for you, I don’t know if I can anymore.”

Jenna pulled her hands from his grasp. “Kioni. You and I… it’s complicated and it would never work.”

“Why not?”

“We are too different. We wouldn’t agree on anything. I don’t ever want to give up working, and you would want me to. If I stayed here and we had a daughter, you would expect to decide who she marries – and I believe in women’s right to choose for themselves. I want to raise my children to be strong and independent no matter their gender, and how would I do that in a culture like this?”

Kioni looked frustrated and rubbed his face. “So we have challenges. But you could help me modernize Spirima. As my queen you could be a role model and promote women’s rights.”
What the hell am I saying?… Jenna would inspire a bloody revolution and the palace would be overrun by angry husbands.

“I’m not saying it will be easy or that you can change the country overnight… but in time, Jenna, you and I could make this country glorious.”

Jenna was thinking. He could see her busy mind working and her eyes studying him with curiosity.

“You are really serious about this, aren’t you?”

He nodded. The more they talked about it, the more certain he became. Jenna might be the opposite of what he had been looking for in a wife, but she spoke to something deeper than just his logic. She stirred his soul and had him dreaming of impossible things like children conceived in love.

“I need you to stay, Jenna. Please.”

She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Let’s do the concert and then we’ll talk about it. We have to convince my father first, remember.”

She pulled away but he grabbed her hand and held her close. “If you’re pregnant with our child, you’ll marry me.”

She blinked a few times. “Let’s hope not. I don’t imagine a royal wedding is a small thing, and it will take time to arrange. Your people will do the math and know you married me because you knocked me up. I don’t want that. And I don’t want people to believe I forced you either.”

“But it would make it easier for me to convince the council that I should marry you.”

Jenna stood up and gently tugged her arm back from his hold. “
If
I ever marry, it will be to a man who is proud to be my husband and not just because he needs an excuse to get out of an arranged marriage.”

Kioni groaned but Jenna just started moving toward the door. “It’s almost six p.m. We’ll do the concert at eight in the music room. Get the staff to put up extra chairs and make sure Kalen is there. I’ll get my team to come as well as my father and Alex, and you’ll spread the word too.”

Kioni took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“Don’t forget to make an introduction and tell my father the concert is in his honor. He’s a sucker for that sort of thing.”

“A soccer?”

“No, it’s ‘sucker.’ It’s a saying in English and just means he loves that sort of attention.”

“Are you sure this will change his mind about ordering you home?”

“It’s our best shot.” Jenna winked and there was mischief in her eyes.  “I’ll see you in a few hours.”