SHE WAS EXACTLY how Jon remembered her to be. Beautiful and elegant. But as Jon remembered her looks, that was the same way he remembered the embarrassment she had caused him in front of Maxim. So he put on an aloof air as he looked at her and said, "Ms Bishop, I presume?" She scoffed and sat down on a stool beside Jon and ordered a dry martini from the bartender. "Can we just put off the act?" She said into her drink. "What are you talking about?" Jon asked. "It's not a coincidence that a food delivery boy saves my ass when I was drunk and then turns out to be the son of one of the most powerful men in the world, and then he outbids my fiancé in a total humiliating manner. What is going on here, Jonathan Stone?" Jon scoffed, "I absolutely have no idea of what you are talking about." He finished his drink, "If you're looking for someone with whom you can spin conspiracy theories, then I suggest you find another person. I'm done here." He stood up with Paxton and started to walk

JON WAS THE first one to come down that morning. His mind was not at rest as he woke up. It was something like a premonition. He knew something out of the ordinary was about to happen. He rolled over and glanced at the digital clock with its numbers glowing in the darkness. 4.53 am. It was already to late to go back to sleep. He sighed and sat up. He could not go back to sleep so he might as well prepare for work. He went to the bathroom to wash up and shave. Even after a cold shower, he still felt sleepy and dizzy. He pulled a t-shirt over his head and hopped into jogger pants before going downstairs. He had read somewhere that jogging clears the mind so that was what he was about to do. He went into a side closet where different shoes that he had not worn before were arranged. He looked at the arrangments of the shoes, air Jordans, Nike shoes, Gucci and other designers that he did not even recognize. But those were not what he was looking for, he picked a comfy-looking shoe tha

A COOL SMILE hung around the sides of Maxim's lips as Edgar swung the shotgun from Antonio to him. He knew with the gun that Edgar held, accurate targeting was not needed, just face the gun in the general direction and fire, it would spray lead across a wide angle and annihilate not him and Antonio, and most of the wooden shack behind him. But he did not panic, he knew Edgar would not shoot. "Ivanov," He said, raising his hand, "Maxim Ivanov." Edgar grunted, "Oh I know you, sir." He faced Antonio with the shotgun, "Now, You!" Maxim dropped his hands and smiled, if Edgar pressed the trigger, he would still be affected. "I'm Antonio. Antonio Orsatti," Antonio said quickly. "Huh?" Edgar took a step forward. "Hey. I'm an Orsatti, you fucker," Antonio said, shuffling backwards. "I'm the youngest son in the Orsatti family." Edgar wiggled his bushy eyebrows and snorted. But he lowered the gun, "So you're the weakling son I've been hearing about," He snorted, "I never thought I would

Godfather Orsatti had seen it all. It was no small deal to be the Cartel of New Jersey. Growing up as the child of an illegal immigrant, Vittorio Orsatti had seen it all there is to see. From being bullied, to being beaten, to almost being raped. His father had worked as a small fisherman, barely getting enough fish to eat, not to talk of selling to get money. So Vittorio had gone out into the streets. He started by being a ratboy - these were young boys that stayed on the streets, gathering information for their boss - and then he got promoted from that and became a runner for the Cartel of the City at the time. He was a small lad that knew how to sneak past police even when he carried a huge amount of drugs. That went on from when he was 12 to when he was 15 years old – 3 years of hardship and crime. But at 15, he had not gone over to the other side. He had not killed anybody. That changed a few weeks before his 16th birthday. He was out moving 1kg of meth ice through the ghetto

JON BOLTED OUT of his office. He was vaguely aware that Lucas followed him. Oliver and Rick looked at him with wide, alarmed eyes as he bounded past, closely followed by Lucas. They stood still for half a second before running after Jon. Jon entered the elevator with Lucas slipping in at the last moment. "What are you doing?" Jon asked Lucas as the elevator went down. Lucas didn't answer. The elevator was moving too slowly for Jon's face-paced mind. He nervously tapped his foot, as if that would speed it up. As soon as it touched ground at the underground garage and the door started sliding open, Jon jumped out and into the BMW, not waiting for Luke, his driver, who was nowhere to be found. He started the engine and started speeding away when Lucas jumped in beside him too into the passenger seat. Jon looked at his stepbrother who shrugged and said, "What?" He laughed, "I'm just here to offer support and comfort. I'm sure you need it." He reached behind him to pull down his seat