29. The Heirs

Adrian Maliekhe stepped out of the black range rover when the door was held open by his bodyguard and closest friend whom they had served together with in the army. Lee bowed respectfully following the rules within the dragon family spoiling the bow with a cocky smile. Adrian stretched and very slowly buttoned his designer black suit and looked around taking in his surroundings and turned to walk into the building. The dragon tattoo on his neck spreading across his shoulder down his back was visible announcing he was the heir to the dragon family to all and sundry. He touched his neck where part of the tattoo was, not used to it being visible due to his numerous identities. He always hid it behind a ton of makeup. But now he touched it knowing it can be seen, a cruel smile appeared on his lips. It felt good to be back. He walked into the house and the guards and people around literally trembled with fear in his presence. He walked with the confidence of a man who had too much power and had confidence in the power he possessed. Controlling the army, the police force and any other military force within the country was one thing but to be the only one with an actual scientific base that holds an actual weapon of mass destruction that only rumours abounds and the superpowers in the global system didn't even suspect because they thought a developing country could never attain such a weapon was terrifying. Let's not forget that the rumours that the heir to the dragon family was considered insane and plagued with random rages which was true. He was just adept at hiding it from the rest of the world and whoever saw him in one of his rages and was not part of his close circle died early. Just like he was adept at hiding his true nature he was also extremely adept at hiding his weapons designed in his bases, the tests of such weapons happened in countries that were war torn, where only two countries or three become suspects. To put it simply they were too cunning and that is how the dragon family managed to maintain its power.

The doors to the meeting room glided open and Adrian walked in followed closely by Lee. The three people in the room stood immediately he walked in and they waited as he moved to the seat at the head of the table. Adrian sat on the seat Lee pulled out for him and he stepped into the shadows behind the said seat. Immediately Adrian sat down all the other gentlemen in the room sat down and turned to look at him a smile on their faces waiting for him to lead. Yes, they might fear him but they had grown up together and they felt like family more than friends. They were the heirs to the four crime families in Kenya. They had gone to the same primary school, secondary school and university and somehow through it all they had bonded because they had been raised in very different environments than the other kids. All the other kids had known were rainbows and unicorns while all they had known was responsibility, crime and death to be handed down. They chose people they thought would be loyal to them and avoided those they thought would be a liability. No they never saw friends instead they saw followers throughout all their lives. The only people they could consider friends were each other because they were at the same level. But somehow Adrian rose a level above all of them. They didn't know if it was his intelligence, cruelty or his craziness that rose him above them all but all they knew was they fucking feared him and the power that surrounded him like a cloak. Adrian looked at them in the eye a grin on his face and he said, "I have found the heir to the Phoenix family."

"I always thought it would be Lucy, no surprise there. There was no way Angela was going to leave her family in the hands of her uncle," Juma the heir to the Jaguar family assumed. The others agreed knowing the feud that existed within the family. Adrian looked at the dark-skinned man with his hair cut close to the scalp and smiled. At twenty-eight Juma looked like a large muscled oversized bear with kind eyes that any girl would wish to cuddle. But the reality of it was Juma was kind of trigger happy, he would rather shoot and ask questions later than have regrets. He was no cuddly bear.

"It is not Lucy," Adrian said softly leaning on the table. "Her name is Shirleen Mokeira and she is Angela's stepdaughter."

"The title of heir cannot be passed on to an unknown. It must remain in the family," Musila, heir to the Tiger family stated and the others agreed. He was light brown in complexion with his hair tied back in dread locs. His body was lean and muscled without an ounce of fat. Any person who came across him would first request his diet plan before getting into a conversation with him.

"That is the reason I called this meeting," Adrian smiled coldly. "You may disagree with Angela's plan but you will accept Shirleen as the fifth heir or you will have a problem with me." Adrian turned to look at Leshinka, the heir from the lion family who for some unknown reason looked happy all the fucking time. He needed to know what drugs that guy is always on. Even with him looking like he was high all the time for some unknown reason the guy always managed to make the most relevant points and questions. He had been the reason most of the altercations and problems within the crime families and the laws have been solved peacefully. Let us not forget that he was a genius when it came to technology. As predicted the guy asked "Why?"

"Do you know how hard I have tried to find a woman who will tolerate my…," before he could finish he was interrupted.

"Your tempter and violent tendencies," Leshinka replied pleasantly.

Adrian looked at him as if he was ready to throttle him but instead smiled. Somehow, he was used to Leshinka's theatrics, "Yes all of that. I have always wanted someone strong enough to be able to stand by my side and I have chosen the Phoenix's heir. She is the only one capable of standing by my side as my equal."

"You want us to support her," Juma said nonchalantly.

"Yes," Adrian replied simply, "But not automatically. She will join the Queen's blade this year as a contestant to showcase her ability to rule a crime family. As an heir to a crime family she will have to wear a mask during the tournament to protect her identity. We all have reputations she needs to make her own. After you see how she does in the tournament then you can complain."

"I agree with it. Our decision will depend on how she does at the tournament," Leshinka replied. "This will be interesting the last family to enter their daughter in the tournament from Kenya was ten years ago. A pity the daughter not only died in the tournament but the family collapsed. They were a minor crime family, the law had caught up to them and they needed a way out and the only way out was to enlist a daughter in the queen's blade." Leshinka turned to look at him a smile automatically appearing on his lips and Adrian just knew whatever was going to come out of his friend's mouth would compel him to put a bullet through the man's shoulder. "So, Lizzy was not the one for you, huh?"

Adrian restrained from shooting the man, "Are you trying to annoy me on purpose or do you really want to know what it feels like to get your jaw wired shut and eating through a tube for the next eight weeks?"

Leshinka raised his arms up in surrender, "That came out wrong. I just wanted to know if you are still looking for her killer?"

Adrian breathed in softly and for the first time he realised he no longer felt hurt or unable to breathe at the sound of Liz's name or her death. He felt angry and empty for losing a good friend but no longer the crippling pain. "A part of me had known that I couldn't bring her into the life we lived. Our world is dangerous with death looming at every corner. Our world is cruel and unforgiving while she was the opposite of what our world represented. She was kind, innocent, trusting and pure."

"What of this Shirleen?" Juma asked him reaching for his glass of whiskey. "The fact that you are sending her off to the queen's blade you must think she is strong."

Adrian grinned, "My Shirleen is kind, perceptive and cares about the people around her but she is strong and the life she has lived till now has taught her how to be strong and how to make the hard choices. She will be loyal to you if you remain loyal to her and she will chop your head the moment you betray her. She is quite a contradiction."

"Your Shirleen, huh?" Musila said grinning and the others laughed. "I for one I am looking forward to see this heir who has managed to tame the dragon."

"Here, here," Leshinka and Juma concurred together.