Page 57 of Marcellus: House of Drakos
But Alex was frowning. “They put who in the palace suite? What are you talking about?”
“Oh wow. You don’t know? Wow. This is even more egregious than I thought.”
Alex had had it. “Odysseus!”
“Okay already!” Oz settled down. “I just arrived back in town. As soon as I enter the lobby of this fine hotel, the GM greets me, welcomes me back home, and escorts me to our private elevators that will take me to my apartment so that I can get some much-needed rest. I’m thinking he’s just being nice and considerate. But before I get on the elevator, he pulls me aside. He said he was about to bring this up to you, but he handed it to me instead.” He pulled out an envelope.
“Wait a minute,” Kari said as she got up from Alex, walked over to Oz, and snatched it out of his hand. “This is a Special Guest envelope with an emblem seal on it. Which means only the recipient is to unseal it. Alex’s name is on this envelope, not yours, Oz. And you broke the seal?”
“Of course I broke the seal. It was handed to me.”
“For you to hand to Alex! Don’t play dumb with me.”
“Be that as it may,” said Oz, “it’s done now.”
Alex shook his head as he continued to review his file. “Typical Oz.”
“And when I read it, I assumed you already knew. I thought he was giving me a heads up when he handed it to me.”
“You know better than that, Oz,” Kari said. “You know the protocol. We’ve had Presidents here. Kings stay here. And the notification is always sealed and always with Alex’s name on it. Even I’m not supposed to break that seal.”
“Just look what it says, Kari. Forget protocol. Look at what it says.”
Kari opened the envelope. When she saw who the special guest was, she was floored too. She looked at Alex.
“What?” Alex asked her.
“Marcellus is here.”
Was he one of those A-list international pop stars he had no clue existed, and who went by one name only like Beyonce or Celine or Whitney? “Who’s Marcellus?”
“Oh for crying out loud!” Oz bellowed.
But Alex was genuinely dumbfounded. “Well excuse me, Oz, for not knowing the name of some pop star.”
Both Kari and Oz looked at Alex. “Pop star?” asked an exasperated Oz. “What pop star? We’re talking about Marcellus Drakos, Alex. Our so-called brother? He’s here!”
When Alex heard that name he placed the file in his hand back on the stack of files. It was such a shock to his system that he sat there immobile for several seconds. Then he stood up and walked behind his desk to his huge window. He looked out, but he didn’t see a thing.
“What is that vermin doing in our hotel?” Oz asked. “When I confronted the GM about it, he said they didn’t know he was coming. So they had no choice but to put him in the palace suite. Can you believe it? They gave him the palace suite. They gave him the best suite in this hotel that even some presidents don’t qualify to stay in. But they put that roach in it? I said like hell!”
“Oh Oz get real,” said Kari. “That’s Marcellus Drakos. The man owns Drakos Aeronautics. Where else were they going to put him?”
“In the basement?” Then Oz shook his head. “Drakos Aeronautics. We ought to sue him for using our good name on that shitty-ass company anyway. A company that’s killing their passengers left and right!”
Kari looked at her brother-in-law. “You’re hopeless.”
But Alex continued to take his own counsel as the two of them continued their bickering. And then, as if he’d made up his mind, he began heading for the exit.
“Are you going to kick him out of your hotel or will I?” Oz asked him. “Or, knowing you, are you going to welcome him with open arms?”
Alex didn’t know what he was going to do. But he knew he was headed to the palace suite. Because one thing he knew for sure: Marcellus Drakos didn’t check into his hotel for the hell of it. No way. No how.
Kari and Oz hurried behind him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The bodyguard stood at the double doors of the palace suite as Alex, Kari, and Oz got off the private elevator and made their way to the entrance.
