“And why would Jake help you?” Clara asked.
“Because I’m paying him a lot of money,” Ivan said. “Jake’s the sort of guy you can trust to turn against the hand that feeds him for the right price. And I’m paying him handsomely, right Jake?”
Clara raised an eyebrow. “Conflict of interest in your clients, Jake? I suppose you’re still being paid by Mr. Langdon at the same time?”
Jake smirked. “I’ll never pass up a business opportunity, ma’am. It’s a family trait of mine.”
“Speaking of families,” Clara said to Ivan. “It’s Adam’s wedding tomorrow – and there’s a family gathering this evening – so make sure you leave Texas today for New York. My flight leaves in an hour, so I’ll see you there. Don’t you dare miss this, Ivan. I know you want Samira’s passport back, but Adam will never forgive you if you miss his wedding.”
“Don’t worry, Clara, we’ll be there. But don’t say anything to Mom or Dad about Quin or Samira, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll let you do your own explaining.”
“Thanks. But first, we need to head back to the ranch and pay Langdon a visit. We need to get Samira’s passport back, and then we’ll be totally free of him – and whatever it is he’s up to.”
Chapter Fifteen
Back at the ranch, Ivan went with Samira to grab her things. Her bedroom was stunning – it was huge, and contained an iron-framed bed, fitted closets, and a bay window overlooking the beautiful green fields. There was an attached bathroom, a massive TV, and an expensive sound system. Everything she needed was available here. But she wasn’t free.
Ivan sat with Quin on the lavish window seat and watched as she grabbed a small black suitcase and started to throw in her clothes and belongings.
“Nice room,” he said. “I can see why you wanted to stay here. But you deserve better than hiding out as an illegal immigrant and being used for shady drugs deals.”
“I know. But he’s been good to me.” She closed the suitcase and zipped it up. “I’ll come with you to his office now, okay. I want the chance to say goodbye. To thank him. Apologize for running off like this.”
“Alright, I guess that won’t do any harm.”
“And Lola will want to say goodbye to Quin.”
Ivan nuzzled his son’s neck, making him laugh. “She’s going to be his nanny in New York. Isn’t she, little guy?”
Quin giggled. Samira lifted her case off the bed. “Really?”
“I hope so. We’ll need to talk to her about it, but we’ll do that at a later date. Right now, we’ve got to get back for Adam or he’ll kill me.”
“Okay. I’m ready. Do you need to get your things?”
“I don’t have anything at this ranch apart from you two.”
She smiled affectionately. “Alright. Let’s go.”
She took Quin from his arms and kissed them both, then Ivan picked up her suitcase and they made their way to Langdon’s office.
Ivan didn’t bother to knock on the heavy oak door, but burst straight in to find Langdon sitting behind his expensive desk, opposite Jake. Hopefully this new brother wasn’t currently in the process of asking for a pay-rise to triple-cross him.
The office was finely decorated with wooden paneling and expensive furniture – Langdon clearly lived well here. There were two plain black suitcases leaning against his desk, similar to the one Samira had dropped off near the border the other day. Presumably other people were involved in the drop-offs too. This needed to stop... But right now there were more pressing matters.
Langdon was an oily-looking guy. Not unattractive, but smarmy and shallow – wealthy from the toil of others. But at the moment he looked pissed.
“You must be Langdon?” Ivan growled.
Langdon stared at Ivan in shock as if someone had pressed the pause button in mid-sentence. Ivan dropped Samira’s suitcase to the floor, then leaned over the desk. “I’m eloping with your so-called wife.”
Langdon swiped a glance at Samira. “Oh yeah, and who the fuck are you?”
“I’m her husband.”
Langdon clambered to his feet and glared at Samira. She held Quin tightly with both arms, protecting him. “Samira… what the fuck’s he talking about?”