LUKEThe ruling council dismissed them promptly and Luke stomped out of the room, already laying groundwork for the new event centre in his mind.The council’s threats were not to be taken lightly. His reputation and his grandfather’s name was at stake.Just as Luke was about to step into the elevator, he heard a voice call his name and came to a halt.“Luke.” Andrei called, coming to stand beside him, his expression mirroring genuine sympathy.“I’m so sorry about what happened in there.”Luke gave him a small, tight smile.“Nah. It’s okay. Everything is actually my fault, you know. I should’ve been at the event centre to personally oversee the operations myself.”Andrei shook his head in obvious disagreement.“You know that’s not…”“Why don’t you let the young man take responsibility for his actions and stop trying to lick his arse all the damn time.” Antoine sneered as he strolled past them on his way to the elevator.Luke’s blood boiled at the sight of his rival. It took quite a lo
Luke had been restless ever since he got off the phone with detective McGregor. He stared into space, the work on his desk completely forgotten as his brain buzzed at a mile per minute.Finally unable to concentrate, he cleared his desk and hurried out of his office and into his car through the back entrance.He wanted to avoid every possible encounter with Nina. He had no idea how to act around her after learning about the detective’s suspicions.He hated that a part of his mind seriously considered McGregor’s assumptions but he had to admit, the man had a point.Now, he was left wondering if any of his workers had actually approached Nina about a lack of paint or if she’d lied to him.However, if that assumption was not true, who then was responsible for the fire?But not for the fact that David’s family, the Humsworths, were currently in Spain for a mini vacation, they would’ve been at the top of his suspect list. But still…The Carmichaels were too posh and too snobbish to get the
Luke finally snapped out of his shock and pushed Fiona away, careful to make sure she did not fall down the slippery steps and into the pool. He visibly vibrated with anger as he bellowed at her;“What the hell do you think you’re doing, woman?!“Without waiting for an answer, he spun in the direction of the paparazzi he’d just seen, appalled at the realisation that whoever it was had made a hasty escape while he was struggling to peel Fiona off him.Enraged, he whirled in her direction once again and got in her face.“You better hope for your sake that I find that man because if any inappropriate pictures of us gets on the media, you are going to pay for it.”Fiona took a step back, purposely folding her arms underneath her breasts and lifting the globes seductively to get Luke’s attention.He didn’t even stare at her twice.“But Luke,” she whined, “it won’t be bad if a few pictures of us together leak on the internet . After all, we’re meant to be together. Everyone in London knows
Luke did not realise when his fists started flying.Within seconds, Jimmy Petersen was reduced to a bleeding, sopping mess as Luke landed hard punches repeatedly on his already bruised face.He was propelled and blinded by venomous anger. The hotel’s reception erupted in a flurry of screams and shouts as the security guards tried to pry an enraged Luke from the wounded man.“Sir, please. The police are on their way. I need you to calm down.” The manager pleaded.“No!” Luke roared and succeeded in landing one last punch before he was pulled from Jimmy, kicking and screaming.“Let go of me!” He bellowed. “Let go right now!”“I’m sorry, sir, but you have to be restrained until we’re sure you’ve calmed down.” The manager pleaded, trying to get him to see reason.Luke turned his focus on him, his eyes shooting sparks.“Order them to release me right now or the consequences will be dire. I’m not fucking joking.”The manager stumbled backwards at Luke’s dangerous expression as the security g
Luke stared at the detective for a moment, trying to place his finger on the one thing that made this situation seem so off.Then it hit him.“Antoine had posted a picture of himself at Wembley on his social media page the day of the fire, detective. How then was he at Knightsbridge at the very same time?”McGregor shrugged.“Investigations are still ongoing, sir, but all I can say is that it took a whole lot of work for my men to review all those security footage. We both know that all the CCTV cameras at the event centre were destroyed by the fire. I had to resort to checking all the surrounding footage one by one before I was able to find this one.”Luke was still not convinced.“Can I see the footage?”“Of course, sir. Right this way.”Detective McGregor led the way to the hotel’s world class restaurant and they both ordered coffee while he tried to set up his laptop. A few minutes later, the grainy CCTV footage came on and Luke watched in shocked anger as McGregor zoomed in on
The next day dawned bright and early. Luke was already seated behind his desk, flipping through his schedule of meetings for the day and the various event centre proposals submitted by his employees.So far, non of the centers appealed to him. Non of it was furnished with the necessary facilities for the conference’s exhibition.He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes and took a sip of his coffee, hoping the strong liquid will wake him up.He’d not slept a wink last night. Haunting images of the public disgrace his grandfather might suffer if the conference was not held successfully kept him awake throughout.Finally unable to deal with the murderous rage that swamped him at the thought of Jimmy Petersen and Anotoine, he gave up trying to sleep by three in the morning and spent the remaining early hours in home gym, beating the hell out of the punching bag.Now, he sat down jittery with anticipation as he awaited Detective McGregor’s call.Finally, at a few hours to noon, his phone final
Luke froze in his seat as the detective kept on speaking;“Exactly five years ago, a rival automobile company, Fountain Automobiles, was established in Paris. According to my investigations, that company alone sold more than five hundred thousand cars in less than two months because apparently, they dealt with affordable and durable automobiles which the French people were clearly after.In the third month, Antoine sued the company with claims that they used fake materials in the manufacture of their vehicles. He was however not able to prove this claim in court and the case was dismissed.Two months later, the entirety of France was agog with the news that Fountain Motors had surpassed Antoine’s company, recording the highest sales between both companies in five months.Their CEO received an award of recognition a week later. That same night, a fire started in the company’s warehouse. The warehouse and factory were in the same building. It took that fire two hours to burn the entire
Luke watched as a knowing smile curved Fiona’s lips. To his surprise, instead of rubbing her success in his face, she stepped back and blinked at him coyly. “I’ll think about it but I’ll let you know soon.” She said before stepping out of his office.Minutes after she’d left, the room was still quiet and stiff with tension.Finally, Nina spoke up.“I do not trust her.” She said quietly. “Not one bit. I think she’s up to something.”Luke leaned back in his seat, rubbing his chin as his mind whirled in a billion different directions.“You’re definitely right. This only means we have to watch her more closely than before.”Nina leaned forward, her brows furrowed.“Do you think she had anything to do with the fire? I mean, she was so intent on making sure you blamed me for it. I cannot help but wonder if she had a hand in it.Luke remained quiet and thoughtful for a while, then he finally said;“There’s no denying that I believed she had something to do with it before. However, all of Mc