Stephen and Robert sat in his car as they watched Angel part outside the cafe where she and Gabrielle Ong were meeting.
“Relax.” Robert chuckled. “Angel can perfectly deal with someone like Gabrielle Ong.”
“Test, test, checking if this thing works.” Angel’s voice came through the laptop’s speaker.
They had placed a wireless microphone and camera on her so that they could listen in on the conversation.
“We can hear you fine, Angel.” Robert told his cousin as she entered the restaurant.
“Reservation under Gabrielle Ong.” Angel said as she looked around the restaurant.
“Is your family aware of Angel’s secret?” Stephen asked as he and Robert arrived back in his office at Philip Tower.Robert chuckled and shook his head.“She doesn’t have an obligation to inform them. The only one that knows is me.” Robert explained to his friend.“Stephen, Robert.” Andrew greeted as he entered the office with his laptop.Despite everything that was happening with his personal life, Stephen still had to do a lot of work when it came to Cho Industries.Without a vice president filtering all the products before reaching him, he needed to do double the work his grandfather was doing
“Hola, quién eres?” (Hello, who is this?) Asked the man at the other end of the line. His voice was rough and mature, showing his age.“Hola, Don Villanueva, this is John of the Essen Mafia.” John said as he introduced himself.The man on the other end of the line was not able to hide his shock as he gasped and cursed.“Puta!” Antonio Villanueva cursed. “How did you get this number?” He asked in a thick accent.“Don Villanueva, it is not good for you to underestimate the Essen Mafia.” John laughed, mocking the man at the other end of the call.Stephen could see how nervous
With everything in place, Stephen sat across Angel as if he were on a date with her. He knew that there were spies watching them, he was well aware that Gabrielle Ong and her grandfather would want Angel to keep her side of the bargain. “You seem distracted.” Angel said as a waiter arrived with their meal. She was playing her part quite well as it truly did seem like they were on a romantic night out. “Just work.” Stephen answered. He knew that even the waiter was a spy sent to listen in on their conversation when they could. “Can we talk about something more serious?” Angel asked as she reached out and placed a hand on Stephen’s. She gently caressed it and noted that the waiter was keeping a close watch over their body language. “What is more serious than work, Angel?” Stephen asked, the tone of his voice was kinder than when he spoke to Gabrielle, but there was no love in it. “I want to talk about us.” Angel said as she watched the waiter, she gave him a look as if to send
“Who is this lovely lady with you, Mr. Sy?” Miguel asked as he tried to get a better look at Angel. At the moment she looked like a timid young woman hiding behind Stephen, but in truth she was fighting Stephen to let her go.“Oh this is my friend, Angel.” Stephen introduced. “Friend? Really just friends?” Manuel chuckled as he observed the pair. “Based on how protective you are of her, it’s more than just friendship.”“I didn’t know you had another brother, Miguel, Manuel.” Stephen said as he tried to change the topic. He didn’t want either of them to dwell on Angel. They might not be dating, but Angel was still Robert’s cousin, he had to protect her.“Don’t change the topic. So what happened to that girl that was always with you, Veronica, Victoria, ah Vanessa. That’s it Vanessa, what happened to her?” Manuel asked as he kept trying to get a better look at Angel.For a moment Stephen considered saying he had broken up with Vanessa. It would keep their attention away from Vanessa
I'm sorry it's taken me a while to get back. I know many of you have been anxiously waiting, some have even gone to my social media to send DMs. Please know I've recieved them and I'm sorry if I wasn't able to reply. Aside from being busy with work (yes, I'm not a full time author, I only do this part time) and with the holidays I had to work on other novels as well. I'm back and I promise to do my best to make up for lost time and chapters. Hopefully I'll be able to publish much much more this month and on the succeeding months. Thank you all for still being around, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
“They must fear the Essen Mafia that badly.” Robert said as he crossed his arms on his chest.Stephen had asked all of his friends to come over so that they could brainstorm how to give Jacob over to his brothers without being too obvious about it.Then there was still the matter of having to take down the entire group from its core.“Do we have everything ready yet?” Stephen asked John who chose to stand rather than sit. “The setup is almost done, boss. It should be ready soon.” John confirmed as Stephen looked at the drink in his hand. “Jacob needs to be made aware that his brothers are in the city.” Edward said as he gave his opinion on the situation.“But how?” Andrew asked as everyone remained silent, pondering what could be done.“Does Gabrielle know about Jacob’s family?” Stephen asked John.His right hand man in the Essen Mafia was in charge of monitoring the bug they planted on Gabrielle. “She seems aware.” John said as he took out his laptop and quickly searched the note
“The Villanueva brothers seem to have come over for other reasons as well.” John told Stephen. “They have been asking around about the Essen Mafia.”“I’m not surprised.” Stephen said with a shrug. “Their father will want to know who the head really is. Why don’t you meet up with them and remind them how powerful our reach is.” John nodded and spoke into the phone, giving commands. The next day Stephen sat in his car, watching as John entered the restaurant where he was supposed to meet up with Manuel and Miguel.Stephen asked John to take with him several bodyguards.He was worried that the Villanueva brothers would try something bad to get a reaction from the head of the Essen Mafia.“We’re in, boss.” One of the bodyguards said, reporting to Stephen. “Keep your mic on, I want to hear what they discuss with John.” Stephen ordered. “Senor John!” Stephen heard Miguel greet. “We were surprised by your call, how did you find out our phone numbers?” “We have our ways, Mr. Villanueva.”
“Stephen Cho!” Gabrielle’s grandfather greeted Stephen as he was escorted by a butler to the main dining area of the mansion. “It’s been years since the head of the Cho family has opened the doors of this majestic home to others.”Stephen nodded as he resisted the urge to be rude to the elder man. He wanted so badly to tell him that he would not be welcomed again. But Stephen needed to keep a close watch on him. He needed to know everything they were planning.“My grandfather had been coping with my grandmother’s death.” Stephen said calmly. “I hope you understand my family’s hesitation in letting others in.”Gabrielle’s grandfather nodded as he smiled at Stephen. “Well, we are honored to be invited to the inaugural party.” Gabrielle’s grandfather was beaming with pride thinking that this was the biggest social event and they had been included.“But Stephen, isn’t this the second party here?” Vanessa asked as she showed up next to Stephen with Claudette, Stephen’s mother, in tow.“N