Chapter 398: Apologies and New Starts

I don’t have anything else to do if that is what you mean.

Since we hadn’t gotten all the HVAC equipment checked out and didn’t have the water on yet, Irene guided me outside to a covered dining area.

She took me over toward a group of people off to the side enough that they wouldn’t get heard easily but could be seen by whoever happened to be watching them. I picked out the man and three women bodyguards. The others had their backs to me as I approached.

“David,” Irene started saying in her family’s language. “Please allow me to introduce you to my sisters. You already know Corwin’s mother. The other is the baby of the family, Karwin. When our brother and sister arrive in that sub-basement, we felt it was imperative to speak with you personally.”

The guy Karwin called my butler had been spot on when he said that no one would recognize her dressed how she was when we were here yesterday.

Karwin now wore a formal dress bordering on the edge of being something she would wear to meet with a king or queen. Using the place in my head, I saw that she had multiple layers of material before getting to tights, a camisole, tank-top, bra, biking shorts, and panties. My implant pinged me. When I let it connect to the place in my head, it showed me that some sort of advanced fibers that, when woven together in a specific way, made a form of body armor. It wouldn’t stop armor-piercing or high-power rifle bullets but did for handguns and smaller caliber rifles. Her hair was a style that kept most of it up around the top of her head. She only had it down a few inches below her shoulders. They changed her eye color with contacts, and they had done a lot of specialized make-up on her as well.

“David,” she began softly in her family’s language. “I wish I were not here meeting you this way. As the head of my family, my sisters felt that it was my responsibility to speak with you about the recent discoveries regarding my older sister and brother’s mentally depraved hobbies. We believed my older brother deceased as no one has admitted seeing him in nearly eighteen years. We had no indications that my eldest sister had been somehow aiding in keeping him hidden as she helped him continue his depraved mutilations and maiming of people throughout the world. We believe my eldest sister specifically made sure you got that property to bide her time until she could get my brother here to ensure the police found him in the act. When I arrived at your home, you were so kind to me as a scared little girl sent to pay you what we owed to Darren before his death. No matter how you look at it, you are now part of my family, a man who has given me great-nieces and great-nephews. This matter is such a disgrace upon my family name.”

After hugging her, I said, “Your older sister surprised you all, Karwin. Everyone believed that the horrendous time in your family history ended eighteen years ago. I don’t know that any of this is true, but I’ve heard that the elite families all have people in their families that do evil shit to people because they can, that it is their job, or both. They were doing this long before you were born. If I looked, I’m pretty sure that I would find I own more properties that the families have offloaded on me that likewise have unspeakable pasts. You had no way of knowing what your older sister sent you here with last fall. Even if you did know, what could you have done about it then? You were scared shitless. Did you even know what you gave me on that flash drive?”

“I hadn’t considered it, now that you ask me,” Karwin said. “I am glad that we were able to have this discussion. I know that you aren’t interested in these families. We have a lunch meeting with another young head of a family and her grandmother on the other side of your town. Would you like to join us? The young woman, who said her name is Becky, asked my sister if we could contact you to join us. I’m finding that most of those, like myself, who had to take over the family business as teenagers appear to like coming to your town to meet.”

In the language the families used to speak together to do business, Corwin’s mom said, “Becky’s grandmother and I were friends during our annual vacations. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see her for a short time to get re-acquainted. Since Darren stirred things up, the changes are allowing some of us to go out into the world where it was a death sentence to do in the past.”

I told them that I needed to go upstairs to check on things and answer any questions the people working up there may have. I knew where to find the restaurant, and I would meet them over there. Irene was going to stay here to work on getting the restaurant running.

Upstairs I found that the crew was all humans, which surprised me a bit. I expected to see a mass of androids. The people up here were very coordinated and efficient. They already had the wiring and pipes removed. They began running new wires as fast as they could get conduit run and outlet and switch boxes nailed into place. Others began replacing the old water pipes with Pex. Some went down through the old PVC pipe to get to the new water meters for each apartment. New electrical panels went in for each apartment where they hadn’t been in the past. The crews were busting their ass with the wiring.

“David,” the foreman said. “When money is not a bottleneck, we can get things done much faster and correctly. The crew who did the demolition work last night knew their stuff. We came in to find everything torn down to the studs and subfloor. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn that this is a new construction waiting on the electricians, plumbers, and sheetrock guys. All that will make this take close to a week with the inspections and drywall work. Some things can’t be rushed if you want to do them right.”

I made some decisions regarding things like Formica, marble, granite, or polished concrete countertops. Did I want carpet, vinyl, tile, or hardwood floors?

Angela said she would work with the contractor to get the apartments to the level expected by the prospective renters. I needed to get to my lunch appointment.

“Your attire is acceptable for the place where you are meeting your friends, but just barely. I hadn’t anticipated this when I helped you dress this morning,” Angela explained. “Then again, I doubt that they would stop you from entering wearing only a wet pair of loud board shorts. Everyone will know who you are when you walk in or find out in short order. I’m positive that the owner of the establishment knows that you could buy it outright, in cash, anytime you wished.”

I smiled when I told her, “I’ve dined there with an ambassador and his family. I don’t need another place with skeletons in the basement, closets, or anywhere else. That place gives off a vibe that says not to go asking questions you don’t want answered.”

I can’t wait to see how I am received here today compared to when I was a skinny, short-dicked fourteen-year-old.

I made sure that the Camry sounded like it was running rough and burning oil to have some fun. When I rolled up, the valets looked shocked that I would even come near here.

I put a twenty in the guy’s hand with my keys and said, “Please try to scratch the paint and bang into something. It will only be an improvement.”

One of the other guys gave me the claim ticket part before giving the rest of the ticket to the guy driving it off.

I walked in casually and walked up to where a man working here stood, waiting to seat people with reservations.

“We are not holding any interviews today, sir. If you wish to sell us something, please go around to the rear of the restaurant,” he told me in a flat, emotionless tone.

Not much better than the condescending tone I am used to from places like this.

A man in a tuxedo rushed past the man at the stand and said, “Mr. Jones. I’m glad to see that your other business didn’t delay you very long. Your party told me that you might be arriving to join them if you could complete other obligations promptly. Please allow me to show you to their table.”

“I’m glad I didn’t come over here to interview for a job today. That would have sucked. Oh well, I guess I will go enjoy the company of some stunning young ladies instead,” I told the snot at the stand as I passed.

I found Corwin’s mom and Becky’s grandmother chatting away in the Elder’s common language at the table. Karwin and Becky were talking politely in English as they seemed to be sizing each other up.

Becky must have just had to change and primp in the car from school. How funny is it that both girls are happier in discount-store shorts and t-shirts?

Karwin did look comfortable in her elegant dress, while Becky looked miserable.

“I don’t care if I am the head of one of the families now. I hate squeezing myself into something designed to make me look like a fancy-dressed whore just because people expect me to look this way. How can you stand it?” Becky quietly asked Karwin.

Karwin told Becky, as I took the seat placed for me between them, “It is very well made specifically for you by the best dressmakers in the world. Until recently, I got denied clothing made to such exacting specifications with the most exotic fabrics. Except for swimming, I always clothed fully.”

“We look about the same size,” Becky told Karwin. “You can have them all if they fit. I hate them.”

“She most certainly cannot,” Becky’s grandmother said sternly. “I will not have my granddaughter dressed in substandard garments now that she is representing our entire family.”

Karwin quickly intervened when she asked Becky, “Have you met David in person yet?”

“Our paths have crossed enough times for me to have a four-year-old daughter, three-year-old triplets, and two-year-old twins.” Becky joked. “I’ve known him most of our lives, but as you know, some things aren’t how we would wish. He didn’t even know about any of the times we had sex. Long story and not mine to tell.”

I became the focus of Karwin’s questioning when she asked me, “How many women have gotten pregnant with your children? Why didn’t you even know you had sex with Becky at least three times?”

“Hey, now. Becky is the one that said we had sex, not me, and that I didn’t even know about it. Corwin has had my babies two years in a row. I mean, seriously, I don’t know how many girls and women have gotten pregnant with my sperm. I wish they would get it right from the source in the usual way so I can finally get laid,” I replied in a way that ensured those listening in to the conversation could overhear. “Maybe I could convince Becky to come back to my house to let me see what sex with her is like. It seems I’m a bit overdue getting her pregnant again.”

Becky’s grandmother said, “You are the one always running off. If you want to sleep with Becky, you only have to come over. You do remember that we live next door, right?”

It seems that Becky was more shocked than Karwin.

“Karwin, your sister, and I have been friends for a very long time. I’m only three years older than her. My parents had me married before I had an excuse I could use to justify asking for a bra. She married later than most. She and I have remained close as we worked to keep our two families from ever becoming rivals in any business interests. Corwin, Becky, and you shared a crib when you were babies. Your sister had you brought to my home when you were very still small, during those times when your oldest sister and brother were entertaining. You were five when your father made it clear that if they did anything to you that they would wish he was as gentle as your older brother. He was not going to tolerate them getting within fifty feet of you. Life caused us to lose touch with each other.”

Corwin’s mom said, in Karwin’s family language, “She has kept an eye on you as if you were her child, Karwin. Once she knew that you were with David, she knew you were safe. Are you still so young that you believe you could vanish without a trace until you decide to re-appear? Neither my friend nor I know the origin of David’s guardian angels, only that they have kept a very close eye on all those thrust into becoming the head of their families when still teenagers. Do you think you or I could have arrived here so quickly without being transported using aircraft that cannot possibly exist? There is something special about him that none I have asked can explain.”

“I’m sitting right here, you know,” I said back in the same language. “Natural linguist, Remember? When you find out whatever it is, can you let me know? I’m a nobody, and yet the three most powerful girls in the world chose me to be their boy toy, or at least get sperm out of me.”

Becky surprised them when she said, in Karwin’s native language, “Grandmother, you had forgotten that my brain was like a sponge when I was little. I remember hearing you talking this language a lot when I was little. It didn’t take much to start figuring out the words once I listened. I don’t know about all the girls outside of town, but David has always been special to me. Even when he didn’t notice himself doing it, he held me when I cried or hurt myself on the playground. Our first daughter resulted from one of those times that I felt that I wanted something more intimate than a hug. I’m not the only girl around here that got pregnant with his child or children.”

Becky said to Karwin, “I didn’t know that it was you with David yesterday. You looked so damn cute! I wish I looked that good in only shorts and a t-shirt. My tits will never be that firm and perky again.”

She was interrupted when our salads arrived. Karwin had reached down to rub on my dick only to find that it was down the pant leg beside Becky. My implant pinged me that since I was as hard as I could get this way, it was time to take a stroll to the restroom.

I did need to take a piss.

I ignored all the eyes following me as I went toward the bathroom. Soon I had company in the bathroom trying to look casual.

One guy was trying too hard when he asked, “So how’s it hanging?”

“Limply for now. Do you know how hard it is to have scorchingly hot girls sitting on either side of you with bodies like the two who invited me to lunch today? It isn’t like I’ve got a chance to get into either of their panties. Girls like that don’t give up their cherry except to their husband on her wedding night. I’m not about to be getting married anytime soon. I can’t get shit for a job until I finally turn eighteen,” I complained as I washed and then dried my hands.