The next morning, Kari woke up in a state of panic.  The last thing she remembered from last night was when she fell asleep in Alex’s arms.  She remembered having a very good, serene night’s sleep.  But she had no idea if Jordan made it home last night, or if he walked in on them naked, asleep, and in bed together.

Her bedroom door was wide open.  She could see that.  And she knew Alex had undressed her downstairs last night, and he left her clothes where they fell.  Did Jordan come home and see her discarded clothes?  Did he see them?

She turned over, to see what Alex thought, but to her shock he wasn’t even in bed still.  That didn’t help her anxiety at all!  Did something happen with Jordan and he decided to go and handle it himself?  Did he leave last night?

She got out of bed quickly.  Another shocker: she wasn’t naked as her last memory from last night had recalled.  She was wearing her nightgown.  Had she awakened and put it on herself?  Or did Alex do that?

As soon as she hurried out of the room, she began to get answers to her questions.  Firstly, the guest bed across the hall was unmade, as if it had been slept in.  Secondly, she heard the sound of male voices in her kitchen.  And they weren’t distressful sounds.  But, she dared to hope, jovial sounds!

She hurried up the hall, and across the living room to the center island.  To her great relief, Alex, fully dressed in one of those expensive suits he left at her house, was standing behind the island sipping coffee.  Jordan, fully dressed in khakis and a blue polo shirt, was sitting at the island eating cereal.  They were talking, not about some issue from last night, but about basketball!  Kari was happy.

“He’s good,” Alex said, “and he has a mean three-pointer.  But I wouldn’t put him in the elite category.”

“But you have to, Mr. Drakos,” Jordan responded.  “Westbrook is averaging a triple-double nearly every game this season.  He’s on fire since Durant left!  If he isn’t elite, I don’t know who is.”

As Kari approached the two men, she began looking for her discarded shorts, her slippers, and, she was embarrassed to admit, her panties!  But when she didn’t see them, she realized what undoubtedly had happened: Alex woke up last night, hopefully before Jordan made it home, and removed her clothes from the kitchen.  He also put that nightgown on her, and he spent the rest of the night in the guest bed.  That would be so like Alex that Kari assumed it was exactly what had happened.  She relaxed completely for the first time that morning.

“Good morning,” she said as she entered the kitchen.

Jordan and Alex both smiled when they saw Kari.

“Hey, babe,” Alex said.

“Hey, Ma,” Jordan said.  “You look like the weather witch.”

As Alex laughed, Kari only then realized that her hair was all over her head and she undoubtedly looked worse than the weather witch!

“But we love you anyway,” Alex said jovially, and was immediately surprised he had said it.  He was not the kind of man, ever, to toss out that four-letter word so easily.  But he’d never met a woman like Kari before, or a great kid like Jordan.  He wasn’t taking it back.

Kari appreciated his shout-out, and she understood what it took for him to say it, but she smiled, waved, and headed right back down the hall.  Love or no love, she was going to shower, dress, and pull herself together before she made any return appearances.

 

Alex decided he and Kari should go to breakfast together before he made his way to the construction site and she made her way to her office, so they piled into his Mercedes-Maybach with Alex as driver.

Jordan was over-the-moon as he sat in the middle of the backseat.  Although he was belted in, he was leaned forward the entire time, running his mouth.  It wasn’t his first time in Mr. Drakos’ Maybach, but it was the first time that Mr. Drakos, along with his mother, was driving him to school.  He felt on top of the world.  And kept running his mouth!

Until some girl he liked sent him a text.  He leaned back in his seat, forgot about the grownups, and focused all of his attention on responding to her.

Kari smiled and shook her head.  “That’s my boy,” she said, and Alex laughed.  “Now maybe we’ll get some peace.”

“That boy can talk, can’t he?” Alex asked.

Kari laughed.  “Yes, he can.  Yes, he can!”  Then she looked at Alex.  It was the first time she had a chance to discuss last night.  “You remember what I wore last night?” she asked him.  She needed to be sure he was the one who put her clothes away.

“That was taken care of,” Alex said as he drove, and then glanced at her.  She smiled.  It was confirmed!

“And your guest bed was very comfortable” he added, if she still had doubts.  “I was almost asleep when Jordan made it home.”

Kari exhaled, leaned back, and relaxed.  Alex had been his father’s fixer back in the day.  He knew how to handle things.  Kari needed to remember that.

But Alex had already moved on.  “You and Jordan have a fresh security team,” he told her.

Kari looked at him.  “Fresh?  You mean as in new?”

Alex smiled.  “Yes.”

“Why would I need a new team?  What happened to the old team?”

“They dropped the ball, Kari.  That’s what happened to them.  They should have known who Courtney Tyson was.”

“But how could they have known who she was, when I didn’t even know?”

“The names of every woman I’ve ever been with were placed in a database.  Whenever they encountered any unknown woman around you, talking to you, following you, whatever, they were directed to take a quick photo and run that photo through the database.  They would have gotten a hit if they had done their jobs.  They would have been able to intervene before it had gotten out of hand, out of serious hand,” he added, glancing again at Kari, “if they had done their jobs.”

Kari understood what he meant, and then nodded her head.  She wasn’t about to argue with a man who was looking out for her best interest.  “Who’s in charge now?” she asked him.

“Jimmy Hines.”

Kari looked at Alex.  “Jimmy Hines?  The chief investigator for your entire corporation?  You’re putting him in charge of my little security detail?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that a significant stepdown for him?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t like that at all, Alex.”

“I’m sure I don’t care,” Alex responded.  “He’s the best I have.  I’m putting the best with you and Jordan.  He’s running the show from this end.”

Kari’s heart swelled with love for Alex, and she stared at him until he looked at her once again.  “Thanks,” she said, heartfelt.

Alex reached over, took her hand, and squeezed it.  Anything for my woman, he wanted to say.  But he wasn’t anywhere near that sentimental yet.  He let his hand-squeeze speak for him.

Then his cell phone rang.  It was on Bluetooth, connected to the car.  When Matt Scribner’s name and number came up on the car’s screen, he pressed the button.  “Matt, hey,” he said.  “What’s up?”

“We’ve got trouble, Alex.  Big trouble.”

Kari looked at Alex.  What now, she wondered?

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“We just got word from City Hall that the mayor is pulling all permits.”

Alex frowned.  “Pulling permits?  What the fuck for?”

“They’re claiming there was voter fraud at the polls and that’s why the referendum passed.”

Kari looked at Alex.  Jordan even looked up from texting on his cell phone too.

Matt continued: “They’re claiming unreported, hidden ballots were discovered in some trash can somewhere that had ‘no’ votes three times our margin of victory.”

“Bullshit,” Alex said.

“You know it and I know it!  But Lonnie Wilder’s acting as if it’s a natural fact.  We are not allowed to so much as crank up equipment on site.  He’s shutting us down, Boss.” 

Alex let out a harsh exhale.  “Keep the men onsite,” he ordered.  “I’ll take care of it.”

Kari, and now Jordan too, were staring at Alex.  “Can Mayor Wilder pull a stunt like that?” Kari asked him after Alex ended the call.

“Yes,” Alex said as he turned into Jordan’s school.  “Can he get away with a stunt like that?”  Alex asked, and then answered his own question: “Hell no,” he said.

 

When they dropped Jordan off at Arapaho Middle School, Jordan got out of Alex’s car inwardly smiling.  All eyes were on him, and he loved it!  He had even text the girl he liked and told her Alex Drakos was driving him to school, and she was hanging around to see too.  Jordan was a smart kid.  He knew all of this attention was as fleeting as wind, but he wanted to milk it this time.  Not for himself as much as for his mother.  They were doubting Alex really wanted her.  She wasn’t good enough to them.  But what man would boldly show off a woman he really didn’t want?  Since Jordan wouldn’t dream of doing it, he figured no man would do it.  He got out of that car as slow as molasses oozing out of a jar, and he milked it.

But after he got out, and as Alex and Kari drove away, they had Mayor Lonnie Wilder and his out of nowhere scheme on their mind.  They headed straight for City Hall.