JON WAS STUNNED for a moment after what Poppy said before he dashed to the kitchen to get a cup of water. When he got to the dining, Poppy had gone limp on the floor, her head was cradled on Jeff's thighs. "I think she's dying!" Jeff panicked. "Oh, God! Oh, God!" Rick yelled. "Put the water in her mouth." Jon looked at his father, who looked on like nothing was happening. Vincent sat calmly too, quietly sipping on his coffee. Maureen, who was being accused of poisoning, folded her arms at the door.Jon knelt beside Jeff and opened Poppy's mouth, tilting the cup a bit so water flowed out. Just as the water touched her lips, she gasped and leapt from Jeff's thighs. "Ah!" Rick bolted from the room. She giggled. "That was good, wasn't it?" Maureen made the sign of the cross – touching her forehead, then right and left shoulder – herself before she left the room with a slight frown on her face. Jeff and Jon, who were still kneeling on the floor, lost at what just happened as Popp
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
MAXIM STOOD AND paced around the small room nervously, his hair stood in disarray from constant ruffling with his fingers. His uncle Igor stood, resting on the wall, smoking his cigar and blowing it in circles. "That's it." Maxim said, "I'm done here. I'm out." "Out?" Igor asked, "What do you mean by out?" "Exactly how it sounds uncle." Maxim replied, heading for the door, "I'm out of here." "Wait wait," Igor dropped his cigar and stubbed it out with the toe of his shoe. "You're not a quitter!" "I'm not quitting anything. I never agreed to this." Maxim snapped. "True. That's fair enough." Igor said he put his hand in his pocket, "But then, what is your next plan, eh?" "I don't know." Maxim shrugged, "I might go to Houston to see Dad. He must have heard the news…" "And what do you think he will tell you?" Igor cut Maxim short, "Eh? Go on, answer me." Maxim looked down and refused to meet his uncle's eyes. "He will tell you that such is how the billionaire business world is,"
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
"BUT WHAT IS IN Delaware, eh?" Igor asked, following Maxim to the Lincoln parked behind the mansion. "Jonathan Stone," Maxim said, slamming the trunk shut and heading to the driver's door. "What? How do you know that?" Igor asked. Maxim held the driver's door, half opened and turned to look at his uncle, "I have my sources." He said, before folding himself into the car and closing the door. "You should be going with a driver," Igor muttered. "Driving is therapeutic, uncle," Maxim said, stepping harder on the gas to rev the engine up.Igor sighed, "But don't be a stranger, eh?" Igor called over the roar of the car engine, "Be sure to visit sometime, eh?" "I will," Maxim called back as he reversed and turned to face the gate, as the small Latino gate man ran to open the gate. Maxim chuckled as he nosed his way past the door and screeched off in the car, "I will visit more often, Uncle Igor." "And put some ice cubes on your face," Igor called after the already-gone car. He sighed
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
"I HAVE NEVER done so, sir." Oliver said, "You might run at a loss." "Well, Rick is going with you," Jon said. "I am?" Rick asked. Jon nodded, "But not to worry. Today, we are just going to look around. See the person we need to talk to, that's all. But we need to portray a powerful appearance." Oliver took a deep breath to calm himself. "Chill dude," Rick said, giving Oliver a playful jab, "They can't kill us." "You think?" Oliver asked. "Just be calm," Jon said, "Drop us off here." He said to the driver, "We will walk the rest of the way." The driver pulled to a stop in the street and they got out, "Circle around the block, we won't be long…" Jon said as he got out. "Come on, boys." He said, buttoning up his jacket. "We should have taken the car all the way into the bay," Rick said, looking around at the hostile stares coming from everyone around. They stood out like a sore thumb. "Why take the car all the way there?" Jon replied, "My aim is for us to be inconspicuous and
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