Zakhar

Chapter 10

Zakhar

"Who are you?" Gary directed his question at me.

La Policia brought him out and he could barely stand straight. His clothes were torn and dirty, and he smelled of piss. I took a long look at Tabitha's tormentor and wanted to rip his throat out. I'd never been feral over a woman until a few days ago. Something about her made me want to protect her with everything I got.

I held up my left-hand and pointed at my ring finger – a platinum band with a bezel styled diamond. "Tabitha's husband."

The man was tall, thin, and fairly attractive with dark chocolate skin. I could see why Tabitha was drawn to such a clown. It wasn't hard finding him, but to think he was already locked in jail had been a bonus. He deserved to be incarcerated – or worse – for what he was putting her through. With a busted lip, face all bruised and swollen, it was obvious they were giving him the welcome treatment.

Gary laughed. "Really, who are you?"

"Shouldn't you be asking, what is it I want, or how I was able to find you?"

Gary's face lost its color. "What you want?"

The prison house smelled of shit, piss, and stale sweat. I sat in the warden's chair while the prisoner stood watching me. The warden also stood aside nervously because he was afraid of the commissioner who had ordered this. There was someone from every country who could either be bought or had dirty secrets they were trying to hide. The commissioner of this province was one such man. Gary must have been wondering who I was and how I was able to be there.

Mexico prisons were not nice places. They were overcrowded, and often when a tourist, especially black ones were caught with illegal contraband, they were imprisoned indefinitely without legal counsel. The jail houses were run by criminal organizations for profit, so if you were broke, you were doomed.

"Sit," I ordered.

"I'll remain standing," he returned, my men moved closer to him, but the warden placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a warning. He sat in the nearby chair and looked at my men nervously before staring at me.

"Hand him the document," I instructed one of my men.

Gary begrudgingly snatched the document from the man handing it over. A frown appeared on his face as he read it. His eyes lifted briefly to glance in my direction before returning to the paper.

"What's in it for me?"

"Your freedom."

Shaking his head he handed back the papers to my man. "I'm not signing shit. If Tabitha wants my half, she'll have to pay top price."

I stood and walked over to him, stooping so our eyes could meet. "I'm not asking you to sign. I'm telling you," I informed him in a calm voice. "You will sign this and may walk out of here with no record of this, or don't sign it and die here … today, tomorrow or some time in the near future. You choose which bet you're willing to take."

"If I sign this, I go free?"

"Its not a guarantee, but the odds will be in your favor."

"Man, that's bullshit! I need your guarantee that I will walk."

"Why? You haven't given me a reason to ensure your safety."

"This is your doing, isn't it? You got me in jail so I would sign this?"

I smirked. "Trust me, if I had anything to do with this, you wouldn't be able to walk. You're lucky that you were only picked up by the Policia Federal instead of me."

His eyes met mine. His hand trembled, voice cracked as he whispered. "Please man, let me go. I can't take this shit no more. You know what they do to me?"

"I need you to promise never to mess with Tabitha again, never see her, message her or even be in the same state. You will stay away from her and the company."

He leaned forward, his voice pleading, "If you can get me out if here, I'll do anything."

I stood and straightened my jacket, then I beckoned over the man with the document. "Sign it."

While he signed over his half of Tabita's company, I made a deal with the warden to have him transported to the border. His cell phone and money had been confiscated. The hotel he was staying most likely already discarded of his belongings, therefor all he had were the clothes on his back. I decided that I'd be generous and offered him a change of clothes, and few a bucks to get him somewhere when he arrived in the United States.

* * *

I arrived in Baltimore in two and a half hours, and that was why I had my own jet. Not having to deal with congested airports, air traffic, mapped out aircraft routes and all the trouble that came with commercial flying. We got the customs clearance immediately and left the airport within minutes.

When I arrived at Tabitha's office, the auditors were packing up to leave. A gasp indicating her utter surprise greeted me when I walked in.

"Zakhar, what are you doing here?"

She looked delicious in her jeans and dark red blazer with a black tank. I couldn't wait to devour her red lips which were pouting at me now. I walked over, cupped her face and took what was mine.

"Zak…"

Her words were buried under my lips as our mouths joined in a harmonious kiss. I pulled her body into me, loving the weight of her breasts against my chest. Her body fitted perfectly with mine and I wanted her. I needed her. But we were in her office, so that had to wait. I ended the kiss with a peck on her lips.

"I came to take you home."

"I can't…"

"You can, the crisis has been diffused."

She drew back and looked into my eyes with confusion. "You did this? What … how? They just started packing up."

The team was leaving not taking any file with them. "Don't worry about it. You won't be audited, and you are now the sole owner of the company you started."

She looked around as the employees started refiling documents and cleaning up. Grabbing my hand she pulled me to her office. What was it about this woman that she didn't fear me?

"You better explain yourself Zak ."

"No one ever calls me that."

"Get used to it!" she retorted. "No spill, what did you do?"

"He signed over his shares to you, is all."

A stricken look appeared on her face. "Did you … er … kill him?"

"Is that what you think of me?"

"I don't know you and you seem like the kind of man that always gets what he wants."

"True. But no, he's not dead. Would you like him dead?"

"Gosh no!" her hands came up to massage her temples. "Where is he?"

"Maybe at the Mexican border."

"That's where he went for his vacation," she mumbled. "Tell me what happened."

"He was imprisoned, I got him out and now he's free to go anywhere but here."

"What do you mean?"

"He won't bother you again."