The Red Sea Diving Resort Lovers

Chapter 8

I walked back to Ari, taking his hand as we started to board the plane. "Your bag has the money." He whispered as we sat in our seats, his hand never leaving mine. "Why? The Madibo is waiting for you." I whispered, laying my head down on his shoulder, our fake wedding rings shining in the light. "No he's waiting for one of us." Ari whispered, pressing his lips to the top of my head before laying his cheek on the crown of my head. "The Sudanese government is less likely to take you for questioning than us, because they want woman off the street early." Ari explained softly, squeezing my hand as I nodded against his cheek. "What you told Sammy at his clinic, was it true?" Ari asked softly, playing with my fingers. "What part?" I asked, looking up at him through hooded eyes. "About you taking the beatings, instead of us." He whispered, as my mind went numb when the flashback started to play in my head.

I sat in an office, my right wrist handcuffed to the desk as the men all spoke Arabic around me. My body was already cut up from the travel across the desert. "Take them to the gallows, they're human smugglers." One of the men spoke in English, my head snapping up from where I was sitting. "Wait!" I yelled, seeing all the soldiers look at me, their guns drawn as I raised my left hand, showing I wasn't trying to start a fight. "Please don't take them to the gallows, we aren't smugglars." I whispered, seeing them lower the guns. "We don't give women rights around here!" One of the men seethed, stepping towards me as I looked up at them. "I know what will hurt more than killing them, just please, don't take them to the gallows." I explained, watching them group together, chatting amongst themselves before they turned back to me. "Up."

"It's really not that big of a deal." I shrugged, closing my eyes trying to relax on the flight. "It is that big of a deal, you could've died cupcake. I would've never forgiven myself." He mumbled, while I squeezed his hand. "But I didn't Guy. I'm safe, as are you." I smiled, tilting my head to look at him while he leaned down pressing a soft kiss to my lips. "Don't do any crazy shit like that again, do you understand me." He mumbled against my lips. "I won't." I whispered, pressing my forehead to his gently, feeling hand on the back of my head, lips pecking my nose. "Maya and I need you." He whispered, pressing his lips to my forehead before settling back in his seat. "Yeah, of course." I whispered, settling back into the crook of his neck while we approached our destination.

"350k in there, keep it protected with your life." Ari whispered as I nodded, throwing the bag over my shoulder, standing in the line to have our passports checked. I looked over my left shoulder, nodding to Rachel before stepping up to the glass, handing my passport to the men, watching the stamp collide with the paper and walking through. "Mrs. Thomas?" A voice said from behind me, causing me to freeze as I saw Jake be taken by authorities. "Walton right?" I asked, stepping up to him and shaking his hand, my stomach dropping. "I'm surprised to see you back so soon. Another dig sight?" He asked, tilting his head as I saw Rachel walk past us, her eyes flickering to mine. "Yeah, I really have to go though, it was great seeing you." I smiled, waving towards him before I nodded at our driver, stepping up by Rachel before we continued to walk. "What do we do?" She asked, looking over her shoulder. "Get in the car." I whispered, opening up my door.

"We can't leave him." She argued back quietly, before I took a deep breath. "Guy and Liam will take care of it, get in the fucking car." I snapped as she nodded, climbing into the backseat with me. "Guy's got him." I whispered, seeing the four of them watching our car pull off in the rearview. "So I guess we're sealing the deal." Rachel whispered as I nodded, taking a deep breath. "I guess so." I whispered, leaning back in the seat as she took my hand. "We're already breaking Ethan's number one rule." Rachel sighed looking at me as I nodded. "What he doesn't know won't kill him."

"Are you sure that you should've sent them to go talk to him?" Max asked, turning towards the group while they all waited for another car. "No, probably not. Rachel gets nervous when questioned too far." Ari mumbled, looking down at his hands. "Addi has it covered, she's been doing this for years." Sammy spoke, causing everyone to look on in shock. "You're for her going on a death mission?" Jake asked, flinching when Ari threw his hand towards them. "She's not going on a death mission, Sammy's right, Addi's done this for a long time, she's one of the top assassins of the Mossad, she can handle her own." Ari agreed, stepping up when one of the cars stopped for them, all the men filing in.

Rachel and I sat in Madibo's office, both of us silent as he looked at us. "The president is very happy with the idea of boosting Sudans tourism, he was very pleased to hear of an American couple coming in and starting it, although I was expecting a man with you, not another woman." Madibo spoke as I sent a small smile. "This is Angela, she's going to help me in the position of General Manager, Guy usually is with me, but he's waiting for our business partners to arrive." I smiled as Madibo nodded, sending me a small smile as gunshots went off. After 3 more rounds fired, Rachel stood up, heading towards the window. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Madibo said, causing her to freeze, looking at him. "Why?" She asked, stepping back over to her chair. "The president has a lot of enemies, now he has a few less."

"So the price is 500." Madibo smiled, looking at me as I shook my head. "We agreed on the phone with 250." I stated, seeing him cross his arms, his eyes never leaving mine, Rachel glancing over nervously. "The price has always been 500, Mrs. Thomas." Madibo smirked, while I grabbed the envelope out of the bag, setting it down. "The best I can offer is 350." I stated, grabbing another wad of cash out, setting it on top of the manila folder. "We can write it down as 250, and you can keep the rest and do something for the people of Sudan." I smiled, clasping my hands together and placing them on my lap as Madibo smiled, reaching for the money while a laugh. "You may not speak Arabic Mrs. Thomas, but you do speak the local language." He smiled, placing the money in his drawer and handing us each of a shot. "To the Red Sea Diving Resort!" He cheered as we cheered with him, downing the shot and taking the paperwork. "Thank you." I smiled, grabbing my bag and walking out.

"How'd you know that the money not written down would work?" Rachel asked as I smiled at the guards when we passed. "It's Africa, the whole continent is in financial ruin, any money helps." I whispered, stepping outside to be greeted by the group of our men. "Cupcake, how'd it go?" Ari asked, crossing the street to get to me quickly. "All good, paperworks all in order, and it cost 100k more." I shrugged, placing a kiss on his lips before walking towards the orange jeep, helping to load everyone in. "Alright, let's start this hotel!" Ari cheered, climbing into the drivers seat as I climbed into the passenger seat, taking his hand. "The Red Sea Diving Resort!" Everyone cheered as Ari took off into the desert.