“So?” Oxley asked, looking eagerly at his wife. “Are we there yet?”
He watched her repeat the process. “It’s good, but it’s not ready.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, disappointed. The minute the wine had touched his tongue, he had known the wine wasn’t ready. “Pierre has his work cut out for him.”
“You think he’s the right man for the job?” Adaliya asked.
Oxley cocked his head, sensing a hesitation from his wife. “Why do you ask?”
She smelled her wine again, then swirled it once more around her glass. “I’m not sure, Roy. There’s something about him. A vibe.”
“He has a stellar résumé,” Oxley said. “He worked at some of the best restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco.”
“I know,” retorted Adaliya. “I’m well aware of his credentials.”
“And,” Oxley continued, smiling at her, “he knows how to run a winery. We need this to work.”
His wife sighed, which was never a good sign.
“Listen, I know what you’re saying, honey,” he said, trying to make amends. “I have my doubts about him too. I’ll put a team on him for a few weeks, okay? Until we’re sure he’s legit. How does that sound?”
“We’re so close. We’re so damn close,” she reminded him. “I want us to cover all angles. That’s all.”
“I know,” he said, thinking about all the major social development projects they would be in a position to financially support once they received the funds from Le Groupe Avanti.
Adaliya had already recruited local innovative millennial entrepreneurs to lead hard-impacts programs in underserved settlements in and around Cape Town. Despite the relatively small amount of money Oxley had poured into the projects thus far, the equivalent of US$5 million, Adaliya had seen some meaningful changes. It didn’t take much to empower the families living in the settlements. They just needed a fair shot and the tools to succeed.
He and Adaliya were the future of South Africa. Their five children needed them to succeed. The South African people needed them to succeed.
“This is bigger than us, my love,” Adaliya said.
Oxley nodded, and they clinked their glasses.
Adaliya sipped the wine and cringed. “Oh God, I was really hoping this would be much better.”
Oxley chuckled and took her glass and threw its contents into the sink. He did the same with his. He grabbed two beers from the fridge.
She smiled at him. “What’s our next move?”
“I’m gonna call Krantz and ask him to do one more thing for me while he’s in the States. And . . .” He took a deep breath.
“What is it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I want you and the kids to move back to London,” he said.
Adaliya made a face. Clearly she wasn’t thrilled with the idea.
“Please, do it for the kids,” Oxley pleaded. “Out of an abundance of caution, of course.”
“You think Hammond will strike back? At us?”
Oxley took a swig from his beer. “Unlikely,” he said, deciding not to share his true feelings with her.
“But you still want us to leave our home,” she said, a certain sadness creeping into her voice. “I know you, Roy Oxley,” she continued. “You wouldn’t ask if you didn’t feel threatened.”
She was right, of course. Hammond had successfully run countless black operations at JSOC. He had mastered the art of operating in the shadows. CONQUEST was the perfect example. Oxley couldn’t predict exactly how Hammond would come for him.
“It will be much easier to protect you and the kids in London, Adaliya. And, more importantly, Hammond wouldn’t dare run an op against us on British soil. That would be madness.”
That seemed to convince her. Her legal mind was now at work, probably calculating the odds of an American covert operation in London and coming to the conclusion that they were nil.
Oxley gently grabbed his wife’s forearm. She seemed to hesitate for a moment but walked into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in silence.
“Okay, I’ll go to London,” she said after a while. “For the kids.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked into her eyes reassuringly and said, “Thank you. I’ll join you guys as soon as I can.”
She shook her head. “Finish what you’ve started, Roy,” she said, her voice hard and cold. “Do whatever you must. Then, come back to us.”