Chapter 689: Happy

Ian felt a migraine growing as he surveyed yet another company who had pulled away from the Lee group to do business with a smaller entity that was either paying more or charging less. His stress was tripled when he received notice that an entire year of company earnings had been stolen from his father by pirates. The man had insisted on taking the money across country lines to protect the Lee Group, which was losing its prestige, and Ian agreed because he was engrossed in trying to figure out who the woman at Mills' wedding came with.

Ian's short break was interrupted by Mills and Drax, who had 'concluded' their investigation on Sani and returned a few hours before showing up in his office.

"What did you find?"

"Absolutely nothing," Drax admitted. "The place is being run by seven men and women. Their leader claims to have been voted into power."

"Whose funding them?" Ian asked, confused that Drax had given up so easily.

"The woman's name is Shani Hunter. She's a hitman who's wanted in seven countries."

"Her aim?"

"She says she's sick, and she wanted to do some good before she dies." Ian raised a brow at Drax, who he felt was not giving him complete information and he knew it had something to do with Mills who was staring daggers at her husband.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking between the couple accusingly.

"Mills doesn't want us to kill her."

"You don't understand President Lee," Mills said excitedly. "It isn't a slum anymore." The woman slid a tablet toward him, revealing hidden camera footage she had captured.

Ian stared at the device, and while it should not have, it immediately filled him with thoughts of Mina, who was idealistic enough to try to heal a nation by taking care of their poor, but the amount of money required to make that dream a reality was extreme, and while he knew the woman was good at making money, she wouldn't have been able to make millions without sparking some sort of interest from outside groups.

"Find out what you can about this Shani woman," Ian ordered. "Make sure she has no possible connection to Mina."

"Ian," Drax said. "Mina is-"

"I know what I saw!" Ian shouted in interuption. He was tired of people telling him that Mina was dead, especially since he had proof she was alive.

----

Shani was smart, so she understood that armed figures from another country showing up was an indication that she was being watched, and the fact that they did not arrest her for her many crimes told her that they were not acting in a governmental capacity.

Instead of calling to give an update, she sent a letter to Mina via Huck, who had chosen to stay in the slums and function as a sort of ambassador. He had taken an interest in one of the women from the area, and unlike what other men may have done, he accepted her daughter as his own. Point being, Huck found happiness in the slums, so it was in his best interest to get the letter to its recipient without being caught or seen; a task the man took seriously because he had somehow gotten the letter to Ami through Ivy, who was still in Bal.

Mina poured over the contents of the address and for the first time in her life, she wanted to curse. Drax and Mills were the last two people she needed sniffing around the area, and although they had taken Shani at her word, a little digging would reveal that the woman was lying.

Reaching out to her contact within Sani, Mina arranged for a personal meeting between herself and the current president. She did not like the man, but she knew what drove him. So, she made sure to use keywords when recording a message for him. She was not surprised when the man agreed to meet the next day, but instead of going to him, she convinced him that it would be better for his political image if he made a trip to the slums.

So far, things were going as planned, and when the man concluded his visit, he climbed into the car with the red flag instead of his own. Mina could not understand how he had not already been assassinated, but she got her answer when the man spoke.

"There is a bomb attached to my body. It will go off as soon as my heart stops." Mina smirked, and extended her hand to the man who had just given her a good tip for future use.

"I'm not here to hurt you. As you could see, I am an ally of yours. Everyone will now think it was you who improved the slums, and it will help you get re-elected."

"Did you call me here to talk politics, because your message said you wanted to meet about money." In that moment, Mina was reminded of why she disliked the man she was speaking to, and the tiny hint of guilt she felt toward him melted away.

"What if I told you that I could turn your money into untraceable gold?"

"Now you have my attention."

----

Mina was in a good mood as she cleaned Nael's suite, so she sang loudly as she mopped the floors to a shine. The President of Sani was an idiot, and he had actually purchased the gold bars from her, at a slightly lesser value, but nonetheless, she had more money than she had ever dreamed of, and while Leal celebrated his cut with Ivy, Nael stayed behind with her. He had been drinking a top tier liquor heavily and was so drunk that he sometimes joined her in song.

Nael had been behaving oddly, but not in a bad way and Mina could only guess that it was because he was not wasting so much of his energy trying to figure out how he was going to make money, nor was he worried about what his father could do to him. She had not asked, but Mina knew the brothers had already killed the old man because they went silent for some time after they spontaneously 'visited' him.

"You're really happy about this," Nael said while pouring himself another drink.

"I am," Mina admitted. I've met my goal, and after you get rid of this ship, I will have fulfilled my promise to you." Nael frowned as Ami spoke. She had not said it, but he knew she would be leaving them shortly, and with Leal spending a lot of time in Bal, he knew he would be on his own.

"What are your plans?" he asked, hoping to know how much time he had left with the woman, but she did not give him a straight answer, and he found himself pulling her into his chest in fear. "Ami, I know that because of me, things between us started off terribly, but can you please give me a chance to prove that I'm a better man?"

Mina's heart thumped in her chest. It had been a long time since she had last been with a man, and her body was craving affection, but she was not sure she wanted that with Nael. She had thought about marrying Huck, but the man fell so head over heels with Piper, the woman who had maimed her attacker, that he was practically glued to her side. There was an eight-year age gap between the couple, but Huck claimed that it gave them more time to have more children. She pulled away from Nael, but he pressed a kiss onto her lips that she found herself reciprocating.

Before Mina could really control herself, she was already laying on the man's bed, caressing his bare back as he worked to pull off her jeans. Mina clutched at his hands, bringing them back up, but the man was not deterred. He kept kissing her up and down her neck, taking her breast in his hand and squeezing it, which elicited a moan from her.

"Your lips are so soft," he whispered into her ear, and just like that, the spark Mina had fizzled without a fire.

"Nael, wait. I'm not ready."

"I can make you ready," The man replied, and Mina chuckled a bit before lightly slapping his toned arm.

"I'm not ready here," she corrected, resting her hand over her heart, and to her surprise, the man leaned his forehead against hers in surrender.

"How long do you need?"

"I don't know, but you've been drinking, we should talk about this when you're sober." Nael stole another deep kiss from Ami before he rolled off her body and allowed the woman to get up. Before she could walk away, he grabbed her arm again, pulling her in for yet another kiss.

"In the morning?" He said as a question, and Mina nodded at him. She left his room, understanding the significance of him taking her into his bed, something she had never seen him do with another woman, but she was still uncertain.

When Nael had commented about her lips being soft, images of President Lee flashed in Mina's mind, and while she hated the man for turning her into a monster, his memory still had the ability to sway her emotions. She sometimes found herself looking up personal information about the man, and each time it appeared he was happy without her, she took it as a challenge to further destroy his company, but those nights were almost always spent in tears.

Confused, Mina removed her clothing and stared at her body in the mirror. She had not let herself become idle, so underneath the layers of padding she wore, her figure was pretty much the same as it had been. The only difference was that she was leaner since she technically carried a weight around with her daily. She slipped into her robe, and went to shower, suddenly feeling the grime of the floors she had been scrubbing all over her skin.

As the water soaked through her hair, Mina started to wonder if Willow's words about getting over a person had any truth to them. When the woman was still torn over Oric, she claimed that the best way to get over someone was to get under another, and seeing that it had worked for President Lee, she wondered if it could also work for her as well.

Mina exited the shower room and peeked into Nael's room, where she could see him lying face up on his bed. He probably was not the best person to try falling in love with, but neither was she. Worst case scenario, they would sleep with one another, feel nothing from it, and move on as friends, but there was also the issue with her scars to contend with.

While they were kissing, Mina noticed how Nael kept turning her face to avoid looking at the scars, but she was not entirely sure that he was doing it intentionally. So, pushing aside her worry, she went into her room and began to prepare. She did not have anything sexy to wear, so she settled on plain underwear, then removed her scars and contacts before allowing her overgrown locks to drape over her shoulders.

With a deep breath, Mina pulled open the door to her room, and stepped out, only to find Nael moving vigorously on top of another woman. She smirked at the scene, unable to stop the small sound that came from the floor as she turned to go back into her room.

Mina was unaware, but as she walked away, Nael turned to confirm the light footsteps he heard were not those of an intruder, and caught a glimpse of her figure, but under the haze of drunkenness, he shrugged it off, and turned back to the woman he called to help take his mind off Ami.