CHAPTER 21The sound of a V8 engine roared in the night. The tire splashed a small puddle of water. "Oi, Hugo. Open the fucking gate, eh?" Igor yelled at his gateman. The small Latino man hurried out of a small shack near the gate and pushed open the gate in a fidgety manner."Why do you still keep that man?" Maxim asked as the car sped through the gate. "He is so incompetent." Maxim turned Igor gave a hearty laugh, "Hugo? He is indispensable." Maxim snorted in reply but did not say anything. The car rumbled in a throaty growl as it sped down a dark thin road. "Where are you taking me?" Maxim asked, looking as they sped past small depleted buildings on each side of the road. "A surprise, Synok," Igor said, calling Maxim a childhood pet name. "Don't call me that." Maxim snapped, "I'm not 5 years old any more. I'm not a child." "Ah, but you'll always be a child to me… Synok" Igor laughed aloud. "Ha-ha. Very funny, uncle." Maxim said sarcastically. He placed his elbow on the wi

JON LOOKED OUT of the window of his office. He could not believe it. It felt like he was on top of the world. It looked like he was on top of the world. The company's building topped every skyscraper around them and Jon's office took the whole of the top floor. "You like it?" His father asked. He turned to see Stefan walking with two glasses of whiskey in his hand. Jon collected the glass and turned to look out of the full glass window. "It's breathtaking." "Yeah." Stefan brought the glass to his lips and took a drink. "There's the bay area, there." He gestured to the left side. "You can see parts of the water if you look over the skyline." "Yeah, I see it." Jon nodded and then turned to look at his father, who was seating on a plush cushion, "So what does the family do?" He asked, walking back to seat on the CEO's chair. Stefan chuckled at Jon's confidence and said, "A lot of things, but what you'll be heading in this tower is our Real Estate and property development in this a

JONATHAN STONE'S CARD just declined. He almost had a panic attack caused by past trauma. He never thought he'd ever hear that sound again in his life. The shop attendant gave him a weird look. Jon collected the card, cleaned it on his trouser and handed it back, "Try it again." She swiped the card through the machine again, it beeped an alarm and flashed red again. "It is declining, sir." The sales girl said, sarcastically. "I can see that!" Jon snapped. "Maybe… you don't have enough money in the account." She said. "Careful how you speak to him," Rick intoned. "Well, he should be sure he has enough money before going on a shopping spree…" She snapped back. Jon was quiet. He was confused. "Sir, I don't mind, I can drop the clothes," Oliver said in a small voice. "No," Jon said."No." The sales girl said simultaneously, "We have a no-return policy." "What?" Rick asked, "According to your 'policy', it only applies when the product has stayed for 24 hours with the customer. W

Mr Edgar was a thick, barrel-chested man elderly man, who looked like he wrestled or was a boxer in his younger days. He still had residue of the body muscles. He had sand-coloured hair, which he kept medium length. And yes, he was something like a bay keeper. He oversaw all the activities that went on in the bay - from the tourists visiting and fishing to the illegal sides too. So he wasn't too surprised to see a rich-looking man enter what he called his office these days. Nothing happened on this bay without Edgar knowing about it. "Mr Edgar?" Jon asked, bending his head to enter the small one-roomed office. The office was a small building that stood alone at the edge of the bay. Just where it linked to the other part of town. It was whitewashed from the sun heating down on it and water from high tides washing against it. "Yes?" Mr Edgar said in a gruff voice. "I'm Jonathan," Jon said, extending his hand. Edgar looked at the hand in front of him and snorted, "Stone?" Jon was t

MAXIM ENTERED THE car that was waiting for him at the airport as soon as he landed in New Jersey. While he might seem like a lone ranger, no serious family. But in truth, Maxim Ivanov had a very wide stretch of influence, mostly because of his Russian ties. The Russians see mother to child relationship as stronger than anything, that is one reason they call the country, motherland, and so each of them from Maxim's mother's side would protect him with their lives. They would do anything to make him get an upper hand in the foreign land. He entered the car and pulled out of the airport parking lot, carefully nosing his way into the I-95 highway, "Call Antonio." He said to nobody. "Calling Antonio…" A robotic voice answered and a dialing tone filled the air. There was no answer till the dial tone ended. "Call Antonio again." He said. "Calling Antonio again…" A dialling tone filled the air again. "Hey hey, Maxim…" A cheery voice picked up the phone and said from the other side. "H