10:03pm

Dare's POV

For some reason Dare was very calm as he followed the Secret Service officers to the Presidential Residence. At that point, he was not sure what was going on, but if he was being arrested because of the hostile encounter they had earlier, then he was very happy that President João is still salty over it. He didn't even care if the man locks him up or shoots him in the head right now he was just glad he made him mad.

His only fear and biggest worry at that point was Sofi, when he spoke to Gowon earlier they were already planning on how to fly her out ASAP but Gowon advised him to just finish the trip with her so they don't raise eyebrows. He said he did not think President João would be stupid enough to try anything with them because, the Man is struggling to launder the Country's image after all the atrocities his father committed.

The country is still ranked very low for tourism despite the fact that it is a very beautiful country and the man is struggling to move them up the list because he wants to develop the tourism industry so they can leverage on that when oil is phased out eventually.

"Tourism is President João's biggest bet and lowest hanging fruit for diversifying their economy so he cares about the country's image a lot. If word gets out that, he HIMSELF is out here arresting or harassing visitors then he can kiss that dream goodbye," Gowon said earlier.

So anyway sha, Gowon advised Dare not to panic but he still made plans for them to quickly fly out in case things go south by moving the jet to a Private Hangar.

One of the IOCs that Gowon's Company provides security services for in Nigeria also operates in Ankete so he has enough men on ground, he has links with a private military network (lol, nice term for mercenaries) close by in Senegal, he even has contacts within the Terra de pérola military. They were ready to reciprocate any madness from João.

In the car the Head of the Secret service team asked him to switch off his phone and hand it over to him, he took his wrist watch too and asked if he had any other gadget on him.

They drove through the final gate without any security checks, when they came here in the morning the security screening was over the top but this time they just breezed in without even stopping.

They took him to a different section of the Presidential Palace, this part of the palace looked less formal, but there were more armed guards with bigger guns.

They entered a room on the last floor of one of the buildings and he saw the man, sitting on a couch watching football, there were two other armed guards standing by in the room and there were two girls sitting beside him. Then Dare noticed that the Man was smoking a huge cigar so he halted his steps.

"Mr. Madaki! Come in,take a sit, I won't bite you," President João said.

"Can you put that out please" Dare pointed to his Cigar and everyone in the room stopped what they were doing.

The guards in the room cocked their guns and pointed it at him. They were offended on behalf of their boss. lol he actually said it impulsively without even thinking twice about it. The smoke that was coming out of the cigar scared him much more than the guns the guards were carrying because at least the guns will kill him faster.

At first, the President was shocked too but he just smiled, placed the cigar down carefully on an ash tray then handed it to one of the girls and signaled them to leave the room.

"Leave us," He announced and everyone left including the guards.

Sofi

5 minutes had passed when Sofi decided to call Gowon again, there was so much going through her mind, she couldn't stay still, she couldn't wait for an hour to act. She dialed Gowon's number again and it kept ringing with no answer.

Why isn't he answering She bit her lips then she remembered it is probably 11pm in Nigeria.

Maybe he is sleeping. God!

She was about to impatiently cut the call and maybe try reaching him through another person, when the phone was finally answered.

"Hello" It was a Woman's voice.

"Gowon?" Sofi said, desperately. Gowon has a very deep voice that was definitely not him. Did she dial a wrong number?

No answer.

"Please can I speak to Gowon?" She added.

"He is not available" it was Yinka's voice..... as in Yinka Bakare.

Okay wtf!

"Can you put him on the phone please? This is an emergency!" Sofi barked at her then she heard footsteps.

"It's Sofi" She heard Yinka say.

"You answered my business phone?...You're crazy!" She heard Gowon whisper-scream to Yinka and heard more doors opening and slamming.

Okay those two are definitely hooking up, but she didn't even have the time to even process that tea in that moment.

"Hello Sofi, sorry I was praying, what's up?" Gowon said.

"Some armed soldiers came here and they took Dare away" She broke down again because saying it out loud made her more aware that it really happened.

"Why?" Gowon asked calmly.

"They said the president wants to see him" She sobbed.

"When was that?" Gowon asked, there was a little panic in his voice but he was trying to hide it. This made her heart break more. See! Even Gowon knows that this is bad she is not being irrational.

"About 10 minutes a..."

"Where are you right now?" He cut her off.

"I am in his Chalet" She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was in his room, she didn't care about people finding out about them anymore, this is a matter of life and death, she has to give Gowon the full details.

"Is he with his phone?" She heard him typing on a keypad.

"Yes, I think so" She didn't even check if he had his phone with him she was in so much shock, she IS still in shock.

He was silent for about 5 seconds, but she could still hear keypads so she waited.

"Here is what I need you to do Sofi, listen attentively. Go to your maps on your phone, go to the menu then share your location with me right now."

She did it quickly.

"Good, do not lose your phone no matter what. someone is coming to get you in 10 minutes, I'm going to text you a password ask them what the password is before you open the door, if the password is wrong do not open the door, do not open the door for room service or the cleaning staff just....."

"Gowon?" She stopped him.

"Yes?"

"I can't leave him here," She said, her voice heavy as fresh hot tears filed up her eyes.

He sighed first, she could sense the frustration in his sigh, Gowon is a very serious person, he is a no-nonsense person, it is very very strange that he is even hanging with Yinka of all people and she is playing with his phone. They are a clear-cut case of opposites attract lol.

"Sofi, listen this could potentially escalate into a very ugly situation, you have to cooperate with me," He said seriously, normally that would have reset her brain small but it didn't work, she was not ready to leave Dare here. Lai lai

"They arrested him...." She broke down again "He is alone, I can't leave him"

He was silent for about 5 seconds then he sighed heavily and said "Okay. I'll call you back"

Better! He should send the people he is sending to her to go and get Dare instead.

Dare's POV

"Sorry about the Cigar, I have a medical condition." Dare said to João as took the couch to his right.

"I figured" João shrugged.

Dare still couldn't decipher his emotion at that point, plus the guy looks normal on the surface but he has this weird darkness in his eyes that tells you he is unstable.

"So Mr. Madaki.....Dare, can I call you Dare?" He said with that cold smile on his face.

"It's Dare" Dare corrected him surprising himself.

"Sorry about that, Dare..Nigerian names are very confusing," He laughed dryly. "Anyway Thanks for coming!" he said as if Dare had a choice then continued.

"So earlier I was offended, I'm not even gonna lie about it, you are one rude man!" He grinned.

A server came to served Dare Whiskey, interrupting the Man for some few seconds with some questions in Portuguese, before he continued.

"And I was like, who the fuck is this guy?"

"And then my annoyance sort of evolved into genuine curiosity, I really wanted to know if this Mr. Madaki is really a mad man or just some dude with balls of steel"  He laughed "So I asked my Chief Security Officer to look you up"

He smiled, sipped more of his champagne, and fell silent.

"So....which one am i?" Dare asked him with a confident smile.

"Both...Actually" The man put down his glass "you've got some audacity and to be honest you are mental"

Dare laughed at that. 

"But you see I like mad people, but most importantly, I respect black excellence"

Dare raised his eyebrows.

"Don't act all humble... I heard no one has broken the record you set since you left Redrock, that's king behavior right there" 

Dare did not say anything, it is so strange that someone like him finds his CV impressive. Lol.

"Also we have a lot in common you know" The man said as he topped up his glass.

Dare dead ass raised his brows when he said that. Like 'you and who?'

"Don't believe me? I will give you three"

"One we were...we are are both legends in our fields"

He gave him an epistle of how he was a top software engineer with one of the big tech Companies, before he moved back to save his country from the hands of his father. When he started talking about his Country though, he was very passionate.

Interesting.

"Two, we share the same taste in women" He winked but Dare frowned he didn't react to that one.

"Calm down, It's cool I know she's your woman now. I didn't know that before, I'm sorry for hitting on her like that. I totally get why you were blocking my shots now hahahaha" he laughed dryly again.

Seriously how old is this guy? lol, is this high school? so childish! Dare thought but he still smiled because that is actually funny.

"I would have done worse if it were my Woman" João added. He was getting very drunk at that point.

"Go ahead" He pointed at Dare's drink "I know you're a whiskey guy"

Dare looked at the Drink for the first time, it was a rare 30 year old Dalmore whiskey.

"It's not poisoned...I promise," He whispered and they both laughed.

"Don't worry, I am not my father," He said a little bit frustrated.

Eyaaa....Dare felt bad for him small in that moment, he is probably used to being prejudiced against. He is actually a nice guy......But he should stop harassing women!

Dare picked up the glass and took a sip.

"you know... I actually prefer shooting people....in the head" João added and Dare almost choked on the drink. "Poisoning people is pure cowardice, I am not a pussy" He continued.

What freaked Dare out the most about what he just said is the fact that he said it casually as if that was a totally normal thing to do. Dare immediately took back the small empathy he was feeling for him. 

He saw that Dare was looking at him stragely so he quickly said "Haha just kidding, I don't shoot people" he flashed his innocent smile but Dare was not convinced.

Then he got serious and said he actually invited Dare to discuss other business matters. He said he wanted to attract foreign investors for his tourism projects, he is planning to build an artificial resort island in two years, and he wanted Dare to broker the financing with foreign investors.

"I don't even have my own firm..yet" Dare said to him honestly.

"Let me be your first client then?" João said.

He is really serious.

Dare smiled gently.

"I know you have plans to move back home permanently, there is so much business we could do together Dare" He said.

"I'll think about it" Dare finally said. He has never thought much about what he is going to do when he leaves Chief Bakare's Company, He did have plans of setting up a Venture Capital Fund to invest in some startups, but he has never thought about a major financing deal like this.

"Take your time, I plan to break the ground, or In this case 'pour some sand' in 2 years" João said to him.

He went on to talk about the artificial Island, said it is a very important project to him because the resort will create up to 10,000 jobs, He got passionate again and talked about how the only thing his country has is oil. "We don't even have lands for agriculture, our ancestors were fishermen before the Portuguese came, and before we discovered Oil"

They talked more for hours about other serious stuff before Dare stood up to leave. As he walked him off he even offered him babes for the night to 'cool down' because it looked like him and his girl (Sofi) were having issues and Dare declined politely. Lol.

"No thank you, I am good" Dare said firmly despite the fact that he was almost drunk to stupor. He had finished more than half of that expensive whiskey it was very strong.

"I know, I'm just kidding," João laughed and tapped his back "I just wanted to check..... you know to see how serious your relationship is" he added with a smirk and Dare looked at him in disbelief again.

How did this guy become a President again! he is such a clown!

Then Dare remembered he said he was going to give him 3 things they have in common.

"What is the 3rd thing we have in common, you only mentioned two?" Dare said as the secret service men opened the car door for him.

"Daddy issues...." João answered weakly.

*****

Sofi's POV

 3:30am

The man Gowon sent to pick her up was still waiting in the hotel parking lot in his car, since she refused to go with him to the hangar.

She was sitting on the couch clutching her phone when she heard the door opening from outside, her heart started beating again, Is it Dare? Did the soldiers come back for her too? Did Gowon ask the guy to force her to leave? She stood up impulsively and moved closer to the door, praying to see Dare walk through, he is the only one with a key.

"Sofi? why are you still here?" He squinted as he walked into the living area.

She stood there, paralyzed by the relief, staring at him like he was some ghost, he looked, tired and drunk but he was fine, he was okay. 

He smiled then flung his arms wide open and she ran into them.

"You are a coconut head" He said into her hair as he hugged her tight and she buried her face in his chest.

She didn't even answer that, she was just glad her man was back in one piece.

A/N: I'll drop another update tomorrow.

My weekend was very busy so i couldn't update on time, so sorry guys. This has not been edited.

I had to elaborate on two new characters here (Gowon and João) this slowed things down because the next book is about Yinka Bakare and Gowon so i had to work on timelines again. 

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