Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 142: Meeting Kahlil

Alec

"My friend! It’s been so long." Kahlil engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug.

I’d forgotten he was the size of a small mountain and prone to physical affection with everyone. At least twice that I could recall, he’d faced suspension for bearhugging professors, and one of his group mates for a class project reported him for sexual harassment because he kept rewarding her hard work in a hands-on kind of way.

"It has. How are you?"

"Fine, fine. I have a pregnant wife, two fine sons, and a house in suburbia. What more could a man want?"

"Sounds like a good life, Kahlil. I’m happy for you."

"What about you? Alec? Why have I never received a wedding invitation from you?"

"Fate was slow to come my way, but soon, brother."

"Oh, you have someone now?"

"Yes. Teela recently agreed to marry me."

"Have you set a date yet?"

"Yesterday, if she would have me."

Kahlil chuckled. "You’ve always been decisive. Once you settle on a course of action, you waste no time."

"No worse than you. Three children since I last saw you five years ago."

"True, true. Well, for tonight, we are simply men enjoying good food and good drink. A toast to the women who will have us."

"Here, here," Alec said.

The bourbon was good and exactly what I needed to get through the next couple of days.

"So, tell me about Bright Future. Are you happy there?" Alec asked.

"Why? Are you here to recruit me?"

"Maybe. I mean, if you are satisfied where you are, I’m happy for you. If not, maybe I can offer you options. Lucrative options."

Kahlil’s gaze turned icy. "You know money is no object for me." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"And yet you settled for suburbia in a town hardly big enough to support a Starbucks and a movie theatre."

"My wife, Amber, wants to raise the children in a small town with good schools. She wants them to experience a normal childhood, so I took the job here."

"How is that working for the children?"

Kahlil shrugged. "Kim is the spitting image of me. He has faced his share of racist comments. He has gotten in trouble for fighting, but we are working on it—both with helping Kim understand and helping the community see us as equals."

"I’d heard racism was prominent in rural areas in this part of the country."

"So, we solve it one person at a time. Amber and I are active in the community. We smile a lot at the ignorance. Educate where we can."

"And at work?"

"They dare not say anything to my face. What about you?"

"It’s my company. I don’t tolerate disrespect of any kind to me, patients, or employees. I also live in a diverse city. People are more accepting of differences."

Kahlil grunted. "You can tell yourself that."

"All I can do is speak of my experience, Kahlil. Would it be any better for your family if you took them home?"

"My family would be better protected, but at a great cost."

"Freedom? Scrutiny?"

"That too. My father does not accept Amber. Neither will my country. She would be a second-class citizen at best. Everyone from the servants to the political powerhouses would treat her well in front of me, only to make her miserable in a million little ways behind my back. I’ve seen it happen too often to foreigners who dared marry into the royal family to ignore the truth."

"I’m sorry to hear that, Kahlil."

"My father continues to ask when I will come home. He still sends my allowance. I put it away for my children. I support my family through my hard work as it should be."

"Admirable. I do the same. I grew my company through my efforts. I keep the business completely shut off from my dad to avoid cross-contamination."

"What about your fiancée?"

"Teela is a partner in a tech company."

"Will she continue to work after you marry?"

"She insists on it. What about Amber?"

Kahlil said, "When I met her, she was a pharmaceutical sales rep. She stopped working when our first child was born. Caring for the children trumps a second income."

It was time to steer the conversation back on topic. I needed to know if Kahlil was involved with the illegal activities.

"You’re avoiding my question, Kahlil. How do you feel about Bright Future?"

Kahlil stared into his half-empty glass. "I like being an instrumental part of saving lives."

"It sounds like there is a but coming."

"But I sometimes wonder how our patients seem to rank so high on the transplant lists so often."

"What do your superiors say about it?"

"They tell me not to question good fortune, so I don’t. I keep my patients comfortable. I ensure they have the best care, and I don’t think too much about the source of our good fortune."

So he did know. Maybe not the specifics, but he knew enough to question why so many patients received medical treatments that typically are rare and require hard-to-find donations. I didn’t know whether to pity him for the impending job loss or blame him for being a part of the problem.

Either way, I hated that my friend was one of those people who turned a blind eye to crimes against others. But who was I to talk? I’d spent a lifetime trying to ignore my father’s crimes.

I finished my drink. "It’s been a long day, Kahlil. I should rest. I’ll see you for my tour tomorrow. I’m eager to see why Bright Future rates so highly with patients who can afford their personalized services."

"I look forward to it."

We shook hands, and I left for my room, where I called Teela while kicking off my shoes.

"How did it go?" Teela asked.

"He knows something. I’m not sure how much."

"Too bad. I know you would like to save Kahlil’s reputation and career, if possible, but unless you can assure me that he is innocent, I can’t justify keeping him out of the prosecution."

"Understood. I wouldn’t want you to. I’ll know more tomorrow. I hope."

"I can’t wait for this to be over," Teela said.

"Miss me that much?"

"The bed is too big without you."

I laid back on the hotel bed. Ugh, it was hard. "Mine too. I’d rather be there."

"Remember to put on the surveillance gear tomorrow. I want as many ways to keep you safe as possible."

"Tee, you’re ruining the mood here. Relax. Tell me what you’re wearing."

"Alec, no. That’s embarrassing."

"Please, Teela. There is no reason to be embarrassed. I’ve seen you naked before, remember?"

"I do recall a time or two or three when clothing was optional, but it’s different talking about it."

"I’ll tell you what I’m wearing," I offered as I unbuttoned my shirt to take it off.

"Lalala. I’m not listening to you, Alec Crest. You are an evil man who drives me crazy in person and now is determined to tease me long distance."

"Okay, Tee. I’ll stop this time, but one day, you and I will have phone sex, and it will be hot."

"I’m already hot, and we never started."

I grinned. Teela was so responsive to me. I didn’t even have to touch her to turn her on. The tightness in my pants reminded me she had the same effect on me.

I’d had lovers in the past. None of them were so well matched to me as Teela. We had similar sex drives, similar interests in bed, and similar enjoyment of creativity with our lovemaking.

Sure, Teela was less experienced than me, but that was a bonus. It meant I could initiate her into all the pleasures of the flesh in a safe, nurturing way that made it okay for her to explore her fantasies with me.

"Teela, I love you. Marry me."

"I think I already agreed to marry you."

"No, I mean, let’s set a date. I need something concrete on which I can hang my hopes and dreams. Every day that you aren’t legally mine, I worry that something will change, and I will lose you."

"I love that I’m so important to you, but Alec, married or not, something will always change in the world around us. It is up to us to pull together to survive it."

"So you aren’t setting a date?"

"I didn’t say that," Teela said. "What I said was we don’t need a wedding to belong to each other."

"Yeah, then what is the date?"

"Hm, provided you come back from Bright Future without so much as a scratch on you, how about this time next month? Do you think you can fit it into your schedule?"

"For you, my schedule is always free. Will that allow us enough time to plan a wedding?"

"As long as we keep it smallish," Teela said. "I’ll talk to Father DiMarco about officiating over the ceremony. I’m sure he will let us use the church. That’s half the battle right there, isn’t it?"

"I own a tux, so sure. We’ll have a line of food trucks outside the church for the receiption, and you can wear what you are wearing now to the ceremony."

Teela giggled. "I can’t wear what I’m wearing now to a church."