ANTONIO SPOTTED AND recognized them from the moment they got in too, almost at the same time as Maxim. He turned to look at Maxim, who nodded and gave a wry smile. He turned his gaze to the two men whom he believed to be behind the murders in his family, he gave them a long stare before walking in the opposite direction. Maxim dropped his glass of champagne and replaced it with sparking water before walking forward to the two brothers. Jon had felt uneasy from the moment that they stopped in front of the Iron wrought gate and stepped out of their limousine. He rubbed his hands together and turned to Lucas, who had insisted on coming with him, and said, "This doesn't feel good," Lucas folded himself out of the limo and smiled at the mansion before them. He reached into his breast pocket and retrieved dark sunshades. He flicked it over his face and said, "Things that are worth it, hardly ever feel good. Come on." He walked abruptly towards the mansion."What does that even mean?" Jon
"ATTENTION EVERYONE," ANTONIO said, hitting his glass cup gently with a steel fork. He climbed a few stairs, a few heads followed his movements and gradually, the noise quietened down. Giovanni started to go forward to stop his son from doing whatever it was that the boy was doing, but before he took a step, he felt a hand on his arm to stop him. He turned and saw that it was Jon."Let's hear what he has to say," Jon said. Giovanni gave Antonio a hard look and mumbled something inaudible to himself, but he nodded and stood back. "Attention… Attention…" Antonio kept saying, trying to make everyone in the room listen to him. While all heads and eyes in the hall looked at Antonio, Jon was more focused on the inconspicuous Russian who stood on the floor, holding a glass of champagne lazily with a smug smile on his face. Lucas came up beside Jon and said, "You're seeing this too, right?" Jon nodded slightly, his eyes not leaving Maxim. "Maxim Ivanov is behind all this." Lucas nodded
"What the fuck?" Lucas snarled, "What do you mean under arrest? Do you know who this man is?" He asked. Sergeant Baker rested his hand on the roof of the limo and leaned down to stare at them through the slightly opened window. "I know exactly who he is, sir. Matter of fact, I know who both of you are, and for that reason, it's a house arrest." "That doesn't make things any better," Lucas flared up. Jon smiled wryly and said, "It does, Lucas. It does make things better. Just calm down or the both of us will end up arrested," He patted Lucas's hand. Lucas took a deep breath to calm himself down. Jon turned and stared at the policeman cooly, "Sergeant Baker you said?" The police officer nodded his head once. "On what grounds do you have to place me under arrest," Jon asked. The Sergeant opened his mouth to talk but Jon stilled him with a raised hand and said, "And it had better be a fucking good reason, or else, I'll make sure I put you and your buddies out of jobs for the rest of
JON SAT ON his bed, moping. The past two days had passed in a blur and his days had been monotonous. He was still under arrest. House arrest, he scoffed at his reflection in the mirror. The house had been unnaturally quiet since that incident, everyone was walking on eggshells around him, which only further passed him off. He raised his arm to take a good look at the device that sat on the edge of his wrist. It looked just like a next-generation smartwatch, just gently blinking a tiny green light at the top corner of the screen. He turned it in different ways, trying to see the lock even though he knew that there was no point. He could not remove it as the device could be only unlocked with the keycard of a police officer.He sighed as he stood up and went to the bathroom, hoping and wishing for the hundredth time that water would make it malfunction, but no. "Fucking waterproof," He snarled and then chuckled. He did not want to leave the house, he just wanted the device gone from
"I NEVER GOT to tell you," Maxim said, pouring a gold-colored drink into two glass cups, "You did well. Your speech was moving." Antonio scoffed, "I don't think the guests saw it like that," he took a cup from Maxim and drank deeply. "Not even my father saw it moving enough to speak to me." "Your old man hasn't spoken to you since then?" Maxim asked, taking a small drink from his cup. Antonio nodded, "But I received calls from my brothers though. They heard the news." "Yeah," Maxim agreed, "News like that travels fast." Antonio dropped his now empty cup on the table and stood up, he walked to the end of the room and stared at a huge life-size canvas painting that covered the whole wall. Maxim watched him from the rim of his cup as he sipped on his drink. "This house could do with a little renovation, don't you think?" He asked. "Yeahh…" Antonio said slowly, his eyes never leaving the painting. With a sudden burst of energy, he reached up and ripped the whole canvas painting dow
"Good morning, Dad," Antonio said as he sat down with them at the open table. He was all freshened up and his hair was styled immaculately. He had gold rings on almost all of his fingers and a thick gold pendant hung around his neck. He gave Maxim and Giovanni a small nod as he took an empty seat. They sat under a tent-like structure that overlooked a grassy plain. Giovanni nodded in reply. He gazed far off into the distance, at the smooth acres of land. "Do you know just how much land space this estate occupies?" He asked abruptly. The question took Antonio by surprise. "Uh, N-no" He followed his father's gaze and looked out into the distance. Giovanni chuckled, "Neither do I," he said and poured himself a drink. "We should have servants doing this," Antonio muttered as he poured himself a drink. "Hm," Giovanni said, "I was just speaking with your business partner…""Glad to see that you both are getting along just fine," Antonio said. Maxim snorted. Giovanni smiled, "We are g
AN HOUR LATER, the soft whine of a luxury car drove into the estate. Jon was sitting in the main study, he looked out the window and saw that it was two cars. A familiar Cadillac that Vincent normally rode in, and a small fancy Pontiac. That was a lady's car. Jon sighed and stood up from the table. He walked out the door just as Vincent walked in, closely followed by Nicole. Vincent held out a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it to Jon who read it through before looking up. Vincent nodded, "Yeah. It's a document of bail. That thing is coming off." A door on the far end of the foyer opened and Rick and Paxton walked out. Rick stretched and said, "I thought I heard your voice," he walked and took Vincent's hand. "Yeah," Vincent nodded. "I stopped by earlier." "I heard," Rick said, "I came out, but it seemed like you were gone by then." Vincent nodded and said, "I didn't stay for long.""What of Jeff?" Paxton asked. "He stayed in New York," Vincent answered. "What are you doin
"I THINK HE is going to be a problem," Maxim's gruff voice said quietly into the phone. "No, I am not making things up." He snarled, "I've seen the way he looks at me. We need to take Giovanni Orsatti out of the equation." There was some mumbling from the other end of the phone and Maxim listened attentively for almost a minute. He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair before saying, "Okay. I've heard you, Uncle. I'll wait to see if he leaves town, if he does, I'll let him be. But if he doesn't… he'll have to die." He paused and listened, nodding and making sounds of affirmation. "And what of the lady, Nicole?" He asked. His face got red as he listened and slammed his fist into the wall. "What do you mean that you can't be involved with that? She double-crossed me. Messed with my head!" He heard the front door open and the light shuffling steps of Antonio. "I will call you back," he muttered and ended the call. He snapped the phone close and dipped it into his pocket