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Queen of Lahaina
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QUEEN OF LAHAINA
BOOK 1 OF THE QUEENS OF THE CASTLE SERIES
NALEIGHNA KAI
KAREN D. BRADLEY
MACRO PUBLISHING GROUP
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living, dead, or somewhere in between is entirely coincidental.
Queen of Lahaina by Naleighna Kai and Karen D. Bradley Copyright ©2021
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ISBN: [eBook] 9781952871245
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Macro Publishing Group
1507 E. 53rd Street, #858
Chicago, IL 60615
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever or by any means including electronic, mechanical or photocopying, or stored in a retrieval system without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For permission, contact Naleighna Kai at [email protected] or at www.naleighnakai.com
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Covered designed by: J.L. Woodson for www.woodsoncreativestudio.com
Interior Designed by: Lissa Woodson of www.woodsoncreativestudio.com
Editors: Janice M. Allen, J. L. Campbell, Lisa Dodson
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Beta Readers:
Christine Pauls [email protected]
D. J. Mitchell [email protected]
Ellen Kiley Goeckler
Marie L McKenzie
Vanessa Howard
Brynn Weimer
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Naleighna Kai
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Special thanks goes out to: The Creator from whom all Blessings and opportunities flow, Sesvalah, my son, J. L. Woodson (for the awesome cover designs for the Pleasure Series), Sesvalah, Janice M. Allen, Debra J. Mitchell, Royce Slade Morton, Bunny Ervin, J. L. Campbell, Kelly Peterson, Janine A. Ingram, Ehryck F. Gilmore, Lisa Dodson, Vanessa Howard, Marie L. McKenzie, Brynn Weimer, the Kings of the Castle Ambassadors, Members of Naleighna Kai’s Literary Cafe, the members of NK Tribe Called Success, the members of Namakir Tribe and Nakaeri Tribe, and to you, my dear readers . . . thank you all for your support.
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Karen D. Bradley
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To my family, friends, tribe and core group of readers, thanks for your encouragement and love through the ups and downs of my writing journey.
Thanks to Janice Allen and J.L Campbell for your editing skill used to strengthen and improve the novel.
To Ellen Kiley Goeckler, Brynn Weimer, Christine Pauls, Vanessa Howard, Marie McKenzie, and Debra Mitchell, I appreciate your time and assistance. Your comments, corrections and questions were essential to putting the final touches to the story.
A special thanks to J. L. Woodson for doing what you do best.
Finally, thank you to everyone who purchases a book. Know that your support is appreciated.
Dedication
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Naleighna Kai:
Jean Woodson,
Eric Harold Spears,
LaKecia Janise Woodson,
Mildred E. Williams,
Anthony Johnson,
L. A. Banks,
Octavia Butler,
Tanishia Pearson Jones,
Emmanuel McDavid, and
Priscilla Jackson.
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Karen D. Bradley:
To Debra Mitchell, my portion of the book would not have happened without your kindness and your love of gadgets.
To those going through the storms of life, remember to be like a palm tree. You may bend and sway under the pressure but once you overcome, you’ll return to standing tall under the rays of sunshine.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
Queens of the Castle Series
Kings of the Castle
Knights of the Castle
King of Durabia
Knight of South Holland
Transition of Power
Open Door Marriage
Loving Me for Me
The Days of Pleasure Series
About Naleighna Kai
About Karen D. Bradley
CHAPTER ONE
“Dr. Jamison to O.R. 8 stat. Dr. Jamison to O.R. 8 stat,” a man’s voice blared over the intercom.
“And showtime,” Lani called over her shoulder to Sandra, one of the veteran prenatal nurses, as she sprinted in the designated direction. Thoughts of checking on the newborns who came into the world last night would have to wait.
The silver doors to the scrub zone of the operating room hit the walls with a thud as Lani rushed to wash her hands, arms, glove up, and slip on a mask and gown. She scanned the area.
Where is everyone?
In a flash, someone shot past her, bursting out of the room so violently that the doors slammed against the walls and vibrated the entire area.
Lani swept into the operating room and froze. No nurses clamored with instruments while prepping a patient. No other doctors barked orders. The silence was unnatural.
“What the hell?” she whispered, then lowered her gaze. “Oh, God!” Lani rushed to the cloth-covered table and shuddered with disbelief. A tiny form in pink lay there, blood dripping at a fast clip from those delicate wrists. With a gasp, Lani smacked the alarm on the wall to put the entire hospital and security on high alert. She rushed back to the baby and worked feverishly to stem the flow of blood from its injuries.
In seconds, the crash doors burst open. Sandra and a newer nurse, Jennifer, jumped into the fray.
“Quick,” Lani commanded. “Get me sutures and number four silk. We have to stop this bleeding. Call downstairs and have them get some blood up here, pronto.”
Sandra was on it, the worry lines in her forehead more pronounced.
“I need vitals. Now,” Lani demanded. “Check her pressure. Bring over that oxygen mask. I don’t like her color.”
Jennifer rushed to comply with the rapid-fire instructions, selecting a mask specifically for newborns. Behind them, thundering footsteps echoed in the operating room.
“Someone tried to kill this child,” Lani exclaimed to a big bear of a man who almost filled the doorway. “Alert security to get the police and seal off the pediatric wing to everyone except approved personnel.”
The man barreled out of the room.
“Come on, little one,” Lani soothed. “Stay with us.” Her head snapped toward Sandra. “Vitals?”
“Blood pressure is faint. The heart is fightin
g like hell to keep pumping.” She carefully massaged the small chest. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Lani replied as she worked in tandem with Sandra. She injected the numbing agent into the skin near the open wound. “Start an IV so we can begin the transfusion. We have to get her hydrated. I don’t know how long she was in here before I arrived.”
“BP’s rising,” Jennifer offered, an unmistakable thread of hope in her voice. “Come on, baby girl.”
Sandra stroked the child’s tiny head. “Her color’s improving. She’s a fighter.”
Lani glanced up, whispering, “Yes, she is,” then returned to suturing. “But no innocent baby should have to fight this hard when they just got here.”
CHAPTER TWO
Jordan Spears perched on the edge of her bed and tried to tamp down on his anger. “Why didn’t you tell me you were dying?”
“Would it have made any difference?” Carla whispered. “You always were an absolute gentleman. The perfect companion. You’ve been the best thing that’s happened to me. My family believes you were only with me for my money. And I’m going to let them hold on to that lie. They’re going to be pissed that I left every dime of it to the grands. Every. Single. Dime.” She looked up at him, putting a tighter grip on his hands. “But I’ve made you the executor of the estate. You’ll see it through. I know you will.”
Remembering the dour faces of her children who were holding camp in the waiting room, he was certain there would be a fight on his hands. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
“Not at all. Just wanted someone objective enough to make sure they knew exactly how to guide my grands into being better human beings. I failed them. Their father failed them, so I need to focus on three things—education. Living skills. No codependency. That’s what I want for them. Your center will be a big part of it.” Her gaze locked in him. “Will you do that for me, please?”
“How did you know about—”
“Your life is not as private as you think. Jordan Everett Spears. Your center is an amazing place. I love what you’re doing for those children and don’t understand why you have that um … other career.”
“It’s not for the money.”
“I get that,” she countered with a smile, then gave him a wink. “So, how about one more tumble for old times’ sake?”
Jordan’s eyebrows winged upward. “Woman, you are not going to have me land in prison because you checked out of here in the middle of an orgasm.”
She outright laughed. “I need you to promise me one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I need you to live a little more,” she said, and her tone held more concern than it should.
“I like my life just fine.”
“Your life is boring and predictable, Jordan. You’re so afraid of living you don’t do anything outside of your comfort zone. Your meals. Your job. Your women. The same ones for ten years. You like your life orderly, styled a certain way. You have OCD.”
“I do not have—”
“Sweetheart, I know what it looks like. I tested you out on that score.”
His head snapped up as he glared at her.
“I would purposely shift things a little, just to see what you’d do,” she said, seeming to ignore the fact that he was angered that she would do such a thing. “You’d put the vase, the photos, everything back in their original place each and every time.”
Jordan drew his hand back, weighing her words and observations. “I compartmentalize things in my mind. It started in my youth when I was in a coma. Then, everything in my world was controlled by everyone else. So yes, I’m organized and kind of like my life that way.”
“Coma?” She shifted a little in the bed. “What happened?”
“I don’t think we should talk about it right now. Let’s focus on happier things, all right?”
“Well, if you wanted to make me happy, break me up out of this joint and take me to see the sunset at Lake Michigan.”
Jordan rushed towards the door.
“Jordan,” she yelled. “Wait. I was only—”
He sprinted down the hall, made it to the nurse’s station and asked the tall brunette behind the counter, “Please, get the doctor here as soon as you can.”
Several nurses jumped up from their places when he said that.
“No,” he said. “Nothing’s wrong. I just need his approval to take her to the beach. She’d like to see the sunset one last time.”
Two of the nurses gave each other pointed looks while the brunette said, “Call him,” to her co-workers before turning back to face Jordan. “I want to warn you that he’s not going to allow you to do that. The things we’d have to put in place to make that happen cannot be coordinated in such a short amount of time. I mean, in the time she has left...”
Jordan thought that over, feeling a sense of helplessness, but with it, a plan formed until one thought hit him square on. “Then we bring the beach to her.”
Several nurses gathered around and the head nurse in charge said, “What do you mean?”
Jordan fumbled in his wallet and said, “One of you, please head off to Walmart and buy the largest smart television they have.”
“My shift’s about to end,” the blonde said, snatching up his credit card. “I’ll do it, but I still don’t see how that’s going to work.”
“Just bring it. I’ll work something else on my end,” he countered while dialing his brother who didn’t answer.
He ended up calling back three more times before Zach finally picked up. “I need you to do me a huge favor, man.”
“Bro, I’m in the middle of the biggest client meeting ever. I only picked up because you never call back to back like this. So it must be an emergency.”
“It is,” he said. “To me.”
He quickly filled Zach in then said, “I need you to take your iPad to The Point, just past 69th Street that overlooks the lake and the city’s skyline. You’re the closest to it.”
“I’m on it, brother.”
A sense of relief filled Jordan as he heard Zach tell the people on his end, “I’ll have to reschedule this presentation for another time …”
“So what can we do?” Another nurse said, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned, taking in the solemn expression.
“Can you get an engineer up here so we can mount the television along one wall? And a tech guy in here so that my brother can stream the image in from where he is to here?”
“Got it.” She rushed off down the hall.
“Your brother’s only going to be able to stream for so long, then his battery will die.”
“Damn.” Jordan hadn’t thought of that.
“You could have him live stream for as long as he can,” one of the nurses said. “Then either upload the video to play in a loop or make a television screensaver.”
“Great idea,” the doctor said as three more people standing nearby nodded.
“No, I don’t want to cheat her of the experience,” Jordan said, scanning the nurses. “If anyone has a portable power source they’d let me borrow, let me know.”
The doctor pulled one from his white coat, dropped it on the counter and slid it over. “They let me know what’s going on. I called the admin for approval to bring that television up here. They’re clearing it with security and the loading dock.”
“Here, I have one,” a transport aide said, handing it to Jordan. A few others surrendered theirs as well.
“Thank you,” Jordan said, scanning the faces of the medical team. “Thank you all so much.”
CHAPTER THREE
Twenty minutes later, Lani and the two nurses had the baby stabilized and out of danger. While Miracle—as Lani fondly called the unnamed infant—was being transported to the neonatal intensive care unit under armed security, members of the Chicago Police Department stood outside the operating room.
Lani stepped forward at the same time as a burly man with a cynical expression.
“I’m Detective Coleman,” said the dour man draped in a wet trench coat. “I understand you were the one who found the baby.”
She shook the detective’s extended hand. “The moment I arrived on the premises; I received a page over the intercom to report to an emergency in O.R. 8.”
The detective inched away, scribbled on a pad, and gestured for her to come with him. The security team and the other officer stayed behind. With a piercing gaze, Coleman took in the layout of the infant wing adjacent to the floor’s operating rooms, then stepped into the doctor’s lounge to take a seat. Lani joined him, perching on the arm of a chair a few feet away.
“Did you see anything out of the ordinary or anyone unusual?” he asked.
“Someone ran past me as I entered the operating room. When I made it inside, the baby was there alone and bleeding out …” Lani paused to get her quavering voice in check. The adrenaline had worn off and reality set in that the little one could have died.
Coleman stopped writing and looked up from his notes. “You didn't think that was odd?”