Kian stretched his legs in front of him. “I’m just glad that the water, power, and sewage systems don’t need upgrading. I designed them with future expansions in mind.”
Kalugal chuckled. “Making grand plans seems to run in the family.”
“Why? What are you planning?”
His cousin kept claiming that he was only a businessman, and that he was only interested in making money and acquiring promising startups that would make him even more money in the future.
But Kian doubted that.
He was willing to bet that Kalugal had some ambitious long-term plans he was working on. Otherwise, why the secrecy? Keeping his business private had been the major obstacle to the unification, and Kalugal had agreed to move into the village only after that was solved.
“I found a great deal on a private jet, and I wanted to check with you if I can house it in your hangar.”
“How big is it? And why do you need it? I offered you free use of the clan’s jet for your trips to and from the Bay Area.”
“You did, and it was very generous of you, but you know me. I like doing things in style.”
Kian grimaced. “Indeed. Did you buy it already?”
“Not yet. First, I wanted to check with you about the availability of space in the hangar. I would also need to borrow one of your pilots until one of mine learns to fly it.”
“What model is it?”
“It’s a Gulfstream GIVDP. It can seat thirteen passengers and two crew members. It’s nearly brand new, and I can get it for the bargain price of five million dollars. It’s beautifully outfitted, so I don’t even need to make any modifications.”
“Why do you need a jet that big? The bigger they are, the costlier the maintenance. The smallest jet would suffice for your trips to the Bay Area and back.”
“I’m aware of that, and it was the third thing I wanted to ask you. Can your people maintain it for me? I’ll pay for it of course.”
“No problem, but why such a big bird? I mean other than your need to have better toys than mine.”
Kalugal chuckled. “That’s not it at all. I want to fly all of us to Scotland in style.”
“That’s entirely unnecessary. We can use the clan’s larger jet for that.”
The snob probably thought that it wasn’t fancy enough for his taste.
“At some point, I also want to take Jacki around the world. The cabin of the GIVSP is large, and it can be easily divided into two sections, a sitting area and a bedroom.”
It seemed like his cousin had made up his mind about buying the jet.
“I’ll check with Charlie if it can fit inside the hangar and if he’s willing to be your pilot for now. When you take Jacki around the world, though, you will need to have your own crew.”
“Are you sure you can’t sell Charlie to me? I’ll pay handsomely for a good pilot.”
“I would give him to you for free, but after a couple of days, you would be begging me to take him back. He has a nasty attitude.”
They were both teasing. Well, Kian was. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Kalugal.
During their negotiations over the past month, he’d discovered that his cousin had a dry sense of humor but was surprisingly easy to work with. Most of the details had been worked out already, and other than the clan membership, only a few minor issues remained. Kalugal had already purchased a fancy office building in the city, and now he was even getting his own jet.
“I see. Then keep him. But I need the answer about the hangar ASAP. The seller is waiting for my call.”
“I’ll check and get back to you.”
“Much appreciated, cousin.”
3
Sari
Sari walked into her office. “We need to prepare eight guest rooms.” She held up her phone. “Kian just gave me the final count.”
The number of arriving guests had kept changing over the past six weeks, mainly because of Kalugal’s indecision about who he was bringing with him. In the end, he’d decided to entrust his and Jacki’s security to Sari’s hands and to only bring his second-in-command with him. Naturally, that meant Edna as well, but since she and Rufsur had been instrumental in making the unification happen, their participation in the ceremony was not up for debate.
Her assistant nodded. “I prepared seven, and that’s all we have. There are no more vacant rooms other than the two in the towers. Who is the poor sod you are going to stick in one of those? Can you imagine climbing all those stairs several times a day?”
“It’s a good exercise. But I was under the impression that we have more available rooms.”
“Nope.” Her assistant shook her head. “That’s all we have.”
Miranda was in charge of housing, and unless they were running out of space and needed to add another wing to the castle, her assistant didn’t bother her with details of who got which room and how many were still available.
Sari started pacing. “Six of the rooms need to be large enough to accommodate couples, one needs to be a fancy suite for my mother, and one regular room for Alena.” She grimaced. “Alena will either get the tower or share a room with Annani.”
“Stop stressing. Annani and Alena are going to stay in the same suite they stayed in last time. Alena was perfectly fine with sleeping on the living room couch.”
“I thought that you were going to assign it to Kian and Syssi.”
“I would have done that if your mother wasn’t coming, but since she is, Kian and Syssi will have to make do with a regular room that is only a bit larger than the others. And since it’s Kalugal and Jacki’s honeymoon, they are getting the princess suite that we prepared for Nathalie and Andrew. The others will have to be happy with smaller rooms.”
Sari sat down on one of Miranda’s guest chairs. “Good call on both. My brother and his wife are not expecting luxury. Kalugal, though, that’s another story. After he heard that we live in a castle, he expects to see a palace.”
Miranda chuckled. “He’s going to be disappointed. It’s just a drafty old castle that got upgraded with plumbing and electricity.”
“We did the best we could with the existing structure. The only way to get it really modernized is to tear it down and build a new one.”
Miranda sighed. “That would be nice. Every time I turn on the faucet in my bathroom, it sounds like bagpipes are playing, and then I have to wait ten minutes or more for the hot water to arrive.”
Sari nodded. The plumbing needed more work, but bringing professionals to the castle was difficult. The nearest town was more than an hour's drive away, and they had to thrall the contractors.
“When I was in the village for Kalugal’s wedding, Kian offered me to move everyone there. I was tempted for about a second and a half.”
“Why not?” Miranda’s eyes lit up with excitement. “In today's world, there is no need to have two centers. Everything can be done over the internet. Even meetings don’t have to be face to face.” She smiled. “And I would love to meet some of these immortal bachelors you keep telling me about. It’s not fair that only Kian’s people are getting them.”