"What DO YOU mean by you could not do it?" Vittorio snarled. Marshall turned nonchalantly and looked out the window. "I mean it exactly as I said it. I couldn't do it. There was a, uh, complication.""What does that even mean?" Vittorio asked angrily, "Have the years made you soft, Crouch?" He reverted back to the name that Marshall used years ago."Age hasn't made me soft," Marshall retorted, "But I know when to stop and not push my luck."Vittorio sighed and lifted a thin wrist to rub his eyes. "What type of complication happened? Your gun jammed?"Marshall gave a slight chuckle and shook his head, saying, "No. It was not something as dramatic as that.""What was it, then?" Vittorio asked."Well," Marshall stroked his chin, "The old guy showed up."Vittorio seemed to struggle to process the information. He raised his watery eyes to focus on Marshall before asking, "Stefan Stone showed up at their mansion?"Marshall nodded. "And you had a clear-cut chance to wipe out the whole fami

JON HAD A smile plastered his face as the men from the trade centre scrutinized him with their looks. He was barely listening to what they were saying, and when he let Lucas answer the majority of the question, he suddenly had a weird feeling. It was like the air was charged with a subtle current of electricity; the tiny hairs on the nape of his neck stood on end.He suddenly felt like he was being watched—well, he was being watched by the fat men asking him about mundane things, but it was different from that.He looked around lazily."What do you think, Jonathan, eh?" One of the men asked, patting Jon's arm.He opened his mouth to talk, but before a word came out, a sudden red splotch splattered across his father's jacket.The bullet tore through Stefan before they heard the suppressed sound of the gun."Oh, shit!" Jon yelled. He leapt to his father's side, who held him from falling.There were screams as people jostled and ran away from the scene. "Lucas, call 911!" Jon yelled. "A

"HAS Maxim TOLD you anything like this?" Jon asked. Nicole shook her head and said, "It's just an assumption. Something you should not rule out completely."Jon nodded and said, "Thank you." He said, "For everything.""It's alright," She replied, holding his hand. "And you have my condolences."Jon nodded. "The airlines are doing pretty well," He said.Nicole shook her head and said, "No talking business today. And certainly not here." She gave him a small smile and walked away.Jon stood, watching her departing figure. He felt a presence beside him, so he turned to see Rick."I didn't know you would make it in time.""I wouldn't miss it for anything," Rick said sadly. "I was going to invite him to the official opening of my store next week."Jon sighed. "I am sure he would be proud of you.""He would be even prouder of you," Rick said.They exchanged a smile. Jon turned just in time to see Lucas hurry a person into a side room. He did not have enough time to see who it was.He ponder

MR CARTER released a heavy breath that nobody had noticed he was holding. He had been the reader of many wills and he knew what wealth and greed did to a seemingly happy family. He knew what mothers had said to their daughters and what fathers had said to sons when they felt cheated in a will. So it was an involuntary action of him, holding his breath when reading the conclusions of any will and this was by far one of the wealthiest wills he had ever read in his 20 years being a lawyer. He must admit, when Mr Stone came to him a few months ago, saying that he wanted to make some adjustments to the will, Carter was surprised. At that moment, the will seemed perfect. There was just enough money for everyone and it was well shared, but Stefan had said he wanted to include the friends of his son. Carter had thought that it was not a good idea. But now, seated opposite the whole bunch and seeing the way none of them had any glint of hate or envy in their faces, Carter agreed with the dea

JON WOKE UP feeling like the past two days had been a dream. But he looked at the foot of his and saw the crimped suit that he had worn at the funeral yesterday. He sighed, swallowing back the lump he suddenly felt at the base of his throat. He rolled out of bed and sat, hanging his head between his hands. He had not known just how his real father, Stefan had grown on him. The stranger that had picked him and his friends up from a gunfight had suddenly become someone that he could lean on. He sighed and stood up, drank a cup of water on his bed stand before heading to the bathroom to prepare his bath. He had only finished brushing his teeth when he heard the sound of a car pulling up downstairs then he remembered that Vincent and Jeffrey were heading back to New York that morning and he had something to ask Vincent. He had originally forgotten about it but since the talk with his friends the previous night, it had come back to bug him. He washed his face and rushed down the stairs,