Page 51 of Lau Ahi
“You think?”
I’d gravely underestimated the surprise my sister would have at my words. Which was ridiculous, since I was still walkingaround in a state of shock. Maybe shock was too light a word. Sasha was the first person I’d uttered those words to outside of my father. I mean we were once the same egg that split so it felt only natural that I shared everything with her before anyone else.
Definitely should’ve expected this reaction.
“I’m getting married.”
“Yes, I heard that. And again, YOU’RE WHAT?!”
I looked around the room still feeling the man who’d walked through this apartment only hours before. “I’m getting married.”
“To whom? For what?!”
“For the same reason that anyone else would get married.”
“Oh, that’s a cartload of bollocks if I’ve ever heard it. People get married for two reasons: love and power. That’s it. In our world, it’s normally money and or power. You don’t crave power and you’ve got plenty of money with or without dad so tell me what is going on.”
“It’s a complex situation,Sash.” She hated the way people would shorten her name so I did it purposefully to irritate her the way she was irritating me.
“Un-complex itAsh.”
“That’s not a word, Sasha.”
“You and your big brain are going to make me call in everyone we actually like to have this conversation. Do Mum and Dad know?”
I cringed at the way she’d brought up that woman, like I would have shared news like this with that lady for any other reason besides being forced to.
“I need you to be so for real right now, Sasha. Abo is informed. He knows the man.”
“Who is this person? Some old miser that Dad is trying to woo for business?” Her protective instincts were on high alertbut I wasn’t about to have her cursing out our father without cause.
“Come on, you know abo isn’t like that.”
“Not normally, but I’m trying to understand what has happened.”
Well, abo would have to be the one to tell her the truth because I wasn’t stepping in the middle of this. Trying to tell my sister anything like this would be the litmus test on whether I could pull off the deception with anyone else. I needed to tell her about him because he was clearly moving in. I thought I would have time, a few months or so, before I needed to alert anyone. I could think of a good excuse or incorporate him into my life slowly. But his arrival today was proof that I was wrong.
“I need you to talk to me as though I’m in primary school.” I knew she was at the end of her rope by how tight her voice got.
“You know that being married is the thing that people do.”
“You can’t even complete the lie!” The shrieking was back again and I pulled the phone from my ear.
“What lie?”
“When they love each other.Because it’s not something that you do. I’m probably the only person you love in this world besides Dad. And of course, Tee and Nev. And sometimes WJ.”
“No idea what he’s been on lately but I know for sure that I’m not giving him a reason to be madder at me than he is. The last thing I need is for her to have yet another reason to harass me.”
Adding more family members into this mess wasn’t what I needed but my father seemed oblivious to the trouble within his empire.
“She will be alright because in the scheme of all this she’s the least important person. But I’m still trying to hear about your latest role of being a sacrificial lamb. As always.”
I sucked my teeth at her words because she made me sound like a victim. Which she knew I abhorred. “You make me sound like a bloody martyr.”
“Maybe, but you haven’t denied it either. Get to nattering.”
So I told her what I knew of the situation that could be discussed openly. I was unsure what type of business he was involved with besides shipping but it had to be something. The men who were in power in our government weren’t going to be convinced with diplomacy. That meant that what he was doing was very illegal and I wasn’t worried about it.
