Page 28 of Marcellus: House of Drakos

Savannah glanced at Marcellus as he stared at Natalia.

It wasn’t lost on her that he had two children by Natalia, and only one by the rest of those women.

Why did he favor her, she wondered, as she watched his reaction to her.

She also noticed, unlike his reaction to the others, he didn’t correct her the same way he did Niko’s mother.

He just stared at her. And what was with the Marci nickname?

She didn’t hear any of the other ladies use it.

Was that her special name for him? And he allowed it?

Savannah knew she had no claims on him. None whatsoever.

But she also knew how deeply she felt for him and, she assumed, he felt for her.

But she had a motto: Time would tell the truth.

“Whether she knows what she’s talking about or not,” said Olivier, “we’ve been considering the possibility of sabotage with our planes since the first series of malfunctions. Fifteen crashes in a matter of months? How could we not consider it?”

Marcellus nodded. “Right,” he said.

“What about those people he was close to a merger deal with?” asked Kalayna as she got up from her window seat and walked around to the sofa. She sat beside her father. “Maybe they have something to do with it.”

“We contacted them already,” said Scottie. “They’re a European subsidiary of Bakkus, which is a major fabrics company. They’re one-hundred-percent legit. They aren’t involved in any kidnapping of our brother.”

Then Scottie’s phone rang. When he looked at the Caller ID, he put it on Speaker and answered quickly. “What you got for me?” It was one of his detail chiefs.

“We’ve got Boris Escabatti, boss.”

Everybody looked anxiously at Scottie. Scottie smiled. “Now we’re talking,” he said. “Where did you find his ass?”

“At that hookah bar on Saudie Street.”

Scottie frowned. “How did you know to check there? I didn’t authorize that.”

“But your father did,” the detail chief responded.

Savannah was shocked. When she made that suggestion, everybody dismissed it. Because Marcellus didn’t respond at all, she assumed he had dismissed it too.

Scottie looked at his father. He couldn’t believe it. He waited for an explanation.

“I take what Savannah has to say seriously,” was all Marcellus would say about it. Which, to all of them, said a ton.

Savannah wanted to smile, but she knew it would upset those jealous baby mamas. But she smiled anyway. Marcellus was checking every box for her.

But Scottie got back to work. “How many men are on surveillance over there?” he asked his detail chief.

“Two cars. We’re in deep cover. They shouldn’t detect us.”

“And it’s a positive ID?” asked Scottie.

“We saw Escabatti drive up and go inside just before I called you. It’s a positive ID.”

“If he moves, one car moves with him. The other remain there. I’m on my way,” Scottie said, and ended the call.

Marcellus stood up. “I’m going too.”

But every one of his children got up objecting:

“Pop, no,” said Olivier.

“Daddy, no way,” said Kalayna.

“It’s too dangerous, Dad,” said Freddy.

And Natalia, being Natalia, had to get in her two cents as well. “That’s absurd,” she said.

It wasn’t lost on Savannah that Natalia was the only one of the baby mamas to object. It made her wonder if that sister was going to be an impediment to any kind of relationship she and Marcellus might try to pull together.

But it didn’t matter. None of them had the authority to stop him from doing whatever the hell he wanted to do. “Fredrick, you’re in charge. Anybody disobeys your orders, you let me know.” Marcellus glanced at Natalia when he said that.

Then he looked at Scottie. “How are we going to get inside that bar?”

“Uniforms,” Scottie responded. “We’ll be making a delivery. I’m sure they have deliveries there. We need uniforms and ballcaps to disguise our identity.”

“There’s plenty in the servants’ quarters,” said Marcellus.

“I’m on it,” said Freddy, as he hurried downstairs.

“Is this place open for business this time of morning?” Marcellus asked Savannah.

“Not until late afternoon. But deliveries are usually made before they open. Not this early. I don’t think any of the employees show up there before noon. But those kidnappers might not know that.”

“At least no employees will be there. The less people moving around the better.”

Then Savannah stood up. “I know the layout, Marcellus. I think I should go too.”

But Marcellus was already shaking his head. “Nope.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Pop,” said Scottie. “If we get in there, we’ve got to know where to go. I’ve never been in any hookah bar. Have you?”

“There’s no way in hell she’s going anywhere near that place,” Marcellus said firmly. Nobody in that room may have cared about her safety, but he did. “She stays put.”

Scottie didn’t understand his father’s devotion to that lady, especially since he’d never treated any other lady as anything but a satisfier of his wants and needs. But he obviously felt a lot more for this Savannah person.

But that wasn’t his business. Scottie was a man whose life was his work and he had work to do. He was not going to rest until his brother was back home safe and sound. “What do we need to look for?” he asked Savannah.

Savannah was disappointed that Marcellus wouldn’t let her go with him, but she wasn’t about to let that interfere with the goal: to get Niko out of there.

If he was there at all. “They have deliveries there all the time. If you’re going in to make a delivery, then you’ll go around back and knock on the door.

Once you get inside, there’s a long hall to your right that leads to a broom closet.

And when you open the door that’s what it looks like.

You’ll see brooms. But there’s a button on the left side of the back wall inside that closet.

Press it. There’s a big room back there.

If they have Niko holed up in that bar, that’s where they’ll have him. ”

“But how would the kidnappers know about this room?” asked Scottie.

“If he’s there, they know. It’s no secret. People are in and out of that room all the time handling private business of whatever type. And it’s right near the restrooms. If they did any kind of research before they chose that place, they would have known about that room.”

Marcellus nodded. Then he looked at his baby mamas. “Mistreat her,” he said to each one of them, “and it’ll be the same as if you’re mistreating me. And you will pay if you mistreat me.”

Savannah could tell that none of the ladies liked his decree, but none of them objected to it either.

“Go to my weapons cabinet,” Marcellus said to Scottie, “and get whatever we need. And then let’s get the hell out of here.”

Scottie didn’t argue with that. He hurried out of that room so fast that he was running in the end. Savannah’s impression of Scottie? A hard-driving man who cared nothing for clothes or outward appearances, who didn’t coddle people, who was uncompromising. But oddly caring too.

Then Marcellus looked at Savannah. He could see that she was genuinely worried about him.

Not about his pocketbook and how his death could affect her bottom line like most in that room might have been.

But she was worried about him. It touched him so completely that he couldn’t help himself.

In front of every single one of his baby mamas, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips with a lingering kiss.

Then he looked into her eyes and smiled.

Which was a feat for a stern man like him. And then he left.

Savannah felt dazed, but not confused. Because she felt true love in his kiss.

Every single one of those baby mamas stared daggers at her and felt something too. But love had nothing to do with it.