Charlotte was halfway through her meal when she realized that Nathan didn’t return. She turned to stare at the door and darted her gaze back to the table with a confused expression. Meanwhile, Nathan had gotten into the Rolls Royce and was already on his way back to the mansion. He kept dialing Avery’s number but she wasn’t responding. “Anything the problem?” Larry demanded after noticing the tension hovering around Nathan. Nathan shook his head. “Avery is not picking up my calls.” “Let it be. Give her time. Just try calling her maybe later.” Larry advised. Nathan threw his head backward. He couldn’t stop wondering why Avery had to suddenly exit the restaurant without informing him. It then dawned on him that Charlotte was at the restaurant so Avery was probably mad because Charlotte showed up at Frisco. “Cheer up boss. Just give her some time.” Larry added. Nathan sighed and dropped the phone. Maybe Larry was right. He’ll just call Avery later. ****After Nathan was do
“To make things clear, Charlotte and I are not dating,” Nathan stated. Avery sighed. “So you are saying you don’t like her?” “She’s my friend. Look, I’m sorry we couldn’t get to talk earlier at the restaurant. I want us to resolve this right now.” Avery urged him to carry on with repeated nods. “I like you, Avery Jacobs!” He spat, staring directly into her eyes. Avery’s eyes lit up. She turned away with a shy smile. “I like you a lot but to be honest, I’m not sure if I’m ready to face these feelings I possess for you.” He pointed at her and then pointed at himself. “I don’t know if you understand me but I just wish… “I understand you, Nathan.” Avery sharply cut in with a half smile. Nathan raised an eyebrow. She continued. “I understand if you are not ready for a commitment or a formal relationship. The truth is, I’m not also ready for either of those things.” Nathan sighed in relief. Avery began to fondle her thump. “I just want us to be certain of what we share and where we ar
Fredrick walked into the private lounge with a nervous smile after identifying the boot Hose Luis was settled at. He sat opposite him. “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”Hose shook his head and puff his cigarette. “I just got here.”Fredrick nodded and went for the bottle of roaming dog on the table.“And the lady? Your so-called mastermind?” Hose demanded and stroked his hat. He was wearing one of his Mexican hats. “She’ll join us shortly and before she does, I’ll like to ask you for a favor,” Fredrick said and began pouring the wine into a glass.Hose pressed the bottom of his cigarette on the marble table. He turned to Fredrick after the cigarette went off.“Speak!”Fredrick cleared his throat. “I need you to add up 100 billion dollars to the 200 billion dollars you deposited for the deal.”Hose raised an e
Nathan made his way inside the house after a hectic day at work. He was about to head to the bathroom when the buzzing of his official phone caused him to stop. He wondered whether the call was work-related or was from one of the members of the millionaires club because people who accessed him through his official line were the likes of Dr. Lance and Dory. Nathan sighed after staring at the phone screen. After he took McDonald’s business card a couple of weeks ago, he saved his contact but didn’t get in touch with him. He cleared his throat loudly and responded to the call. “Hi.”“Hello, Alex.” McDonald’s voice came on. They exchanged a few pleasantries and McDonald went straight to the point. “Can we hang out?”Nathan sighed. He had wanted to hang out with McDonald because the young man had put a request before him several times but he had been Working from one thing to the other and couldn’t spare any time till he completely forgot about it. “We can hang out tonight,” Natha
McDonald realized that Nathan had quite a difficult childhood so he quickly switched the topic after deciding not to ask further about the Alcantara ritual. “Let’s talk about business. What else do you do aside from supervising your family’s companies?”“Well, I plan to keep up with that until I reach a state where I’ll establish new companies but for now, I’ll just stick to supervising the ones at hand,” Nathan replied. “Sounds like some crazy big stuff.”“Yea, but We’ve got the Alcantara executive assistant. With Mike on the case, everything just moves well. What about you? What have you been up to?” Nathan asked.McDonald sighed and wiped his mouth with the edge of his palm. “My main focus is attracting the right investors. I’ve reviewed several companies that work in line with one of our brands. I’ve spoken to Tyson and associates, Johson and Sons group of companies, Lead city coal, Tsunami Ventures, and a few others.” He then gave a twinkle. “And now, I’m speaking with the Alc
Nathan was going through his phone in his office at the surveillance unit when a message popped up on his screen. He checked the notification. It was a message from his class’s group chat. It was from the social director and it read: Summer break party tonight. 8 pm sharp, Level 2 hall.Nathan quickly placed a conference call connecting Henry and Charles. “A party has been fixed,” Nathan said after they were all connected to the call. “Yes. I just saw the message.” Charles said. “I guess we don’t have to meet at the arcade station then,” Henry said. The boys had planned to hang out that night. “Yes. We will just meet at the party. So I’ll see you guys there.” Nathan said. The boys went ahead to talk about their day before Nathan disconnected the call. At Phoenix University, students throw parties twice during summer break. The first party is thrown for all the students a week after the break and a week before school resumes, each class throws its party. Nathan was looking for
Nathan was led into his vehicle before McDonald could reach him. “Take me to my rented apartment.” He told Larry with a clenched jaw. He pulled out his phone and began placing a call to Mike while Larry sped away. Mike’s line wasn’t going through. Nathan tried Mike’s other lines but couldn’t get across to him. All of Mike’s lines were off and Nathan’s frustrations grew worse. “I’m sorry, boss,” Jackson said. Nathan sighed and threw his head backward. “Everything will be fine. You just need to calm down.”Nathan turned to Jackson with fury in his eyes. “I can’t calm down Jackson. Didn’t you hear what McDonald said? They are planning to steal my company and as we speak, their plans are almost complete. I don’t even know where to begin from.” He lamented. “Don’t even tell me McDonald was bluffing because he provided all the evidence I needed to believe him.”“I wasn’t going to say McDonald was bluffing but the thing is, if he is a part of the group that wants to steal your compan
At quarter past 10 pm, the party came to an end. Nathan and his friends traced their way out of the hall together with Avery. The boys escorted Avery to her vehicle and bid each other farewell but Charles wasn’t done yet. He pulled Nathan by the arm before he could get away. “Is there anything we should know?” He demanded with a wink and cocked his head toward Avery’s direction. Nathan chuckled and shook his head. Henry turned to Charles. “You also noticed the way they were stealing glances at each other tonight right?”Charles gave repeated nods. Henry cleared his throat loudly and faced Nathan. “Are we missing anything here?”Nathan gave his forehead a mild scrape. “Let’s just say Avery and I are in a good place.”The boys exchanged mischievous glances. “I see!” Henry hummed. “But we are not a thing yet.” Nathan quickly added. “Now shoo, time to go home.”They dispersed. When Nathan got home, he tried to place a call to Mike but Mike’s line wasn’t going through. It then dawn
Steve pulled the car to a halt in front of the airport building. Nathan turned to Avery with a smile. “You still want to do this?” He asked with his hand stretched out toward her. She took his hand into hers. “More than anything in the world. I’ve been running around for years and I never told you this but the main reason why I came back to Rockville was to make peace with your soul and then build my brand from scratch now that you’re here, I just want to spend as much time with you as possible, away from the whole chaos and drama. Just the two of us.” Nathan planted a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you so much, Avery.”She smiled. “I’m excited. It’s going to be my first time in Russia and I just can’t wait to explore the city with the love of my life.”Steve cleared his throat loudly. “Looks like I also need to find the love of my life and take her to Russia.”They laughed.Suddenly, Nathan’s phone began to ring. He heaved a deep sigh and turned to Avery. “It’s Charles.”“It’s over.”
Morgan turned to his bodyguards who had been inside the lounge with him all this while. “Call for reinforcements. We’ve been tricked.”Derrick darted Morgan’s attention toward the chip on the table. “It’s a camouflage. It’s all programming shit.” He said and began to take off his jacket. Morgan was already sweating profusely. “I must find the real Alex. I need to kill that bastard today.”“Are you even serious?” Derrick cried out. “We are in a mess. That chip proved that this whole session was recorded.” He took his head into his hands. “I should have listened to Kelvin. This was a bad idea and now, we’re doomed. I’m not even sure if we’re the only ones in this building right now.”“I reserved the whole damn building and apart from the staff, there’s no damn customer here.” Morgan retorted and threw his gun on the floor. “My backup team will be here any moment from now and we’ll get the hell out of here. As for that recording chip, I don’t care about what’s in it or who had access t
“Now that your girlfriend is safe and out of the picture, let’s talk business,” Morgan said to Nathan’s camouflage who was sitting before him and Derrick. Both men had no idea that the man sitting in front of them was a product of science programmed to function like Alexander Alcantara with a chip buried in his head. The camouflage was programmed to follow Cole’s instructions and ever since he walked into the longue, his words and actions were being directed by Coke from outside. “Why did you kill my parents?” The camouflage asked Morgan. Morgan broke into a laugh. “Seriously? Do you think I have time for this? Do you want me to respond to your stupid questions? You’re doing this to buy time right?”“Isn’t it obvious that you have me under your mercy? If you are going to take me out then at least I deserve the chance to know why you killed everyone in my family.” Nathan replied. “For my brother’s sake.” Morgan quickly replied. “You killed Corrigan, the only person in the world wh
Nathan stretched his hand toward Avery and held her hand tightly. “You’ll be fine.” He mumbled to her lovingly. She nodded repeatedly.Derrick clenched his jaw and looked away while his bowels continued to heat up with rage. “You’re lying,” Morgan replied. “I gave you ten minutes to come here and according to my guards, you came alone so how did you get to rally troops and station them here?”Nathan chuckled. “I didn’t bring any troops from home. If you and your partner were smart enough, you’d know that this is the Grandiose Hotel and the Grandiose Hotel belongs to the Alcantaras.”Derrick and Morgan exchanged glances. “Shit!” Derrick cussed and rubbed his hair repeatedly. “It didn’t cross my mind.”Morgan frowned. “All I had to was give the manager a phone call before coming in. I told him that if four minutes pass by and Avery does not come walking through the door, he should tell the restaurant security squad to start firing.” Nathan said. Suddenly, Derrick snatched Morgan’s g
The waitresses returned carrying food trays. They graciously placed it on the table. Morgan reached for the plate of steak and began to devour it like a hungry lion. Avery kept staring at her plate of pasta and meatballs. “Are you okay?” Derrick demanded. “Yeah.” She replied and looked up. “Don’t eat that.” Nathan’s voice came through the chip. She heaved a deep sigh because that was exactly what was on her mind. What if the food was poisoned? She kept thinking. Nathan continued speaking to her. “Leave your bag there and get up. Act normal and tell them you need to use the restroom then you head out.”“I think I need to pee,” Avery announced. Morgan stopped eating and dropped his plate immediately. “But you just got here?”“Yeah.” Derrick agreed with a nod. Avery faked a smile and quickly stood up. “I think I had a lot of water earlier and now, I need to pee. I’ll be back soon.” She said. She was about to turn around when Morgan spoke. “Excuse me?” Avery turned around lookin
“You look as gorgeous as ever,” Nathan commented while Avery was tracing her way down the staircase. It was time to meet Derrick. He had already dropped the location and had called a while ago to say that he was on his way. Avery was wearing a short black floral dress with black sandals to match. Nathan had insisted that she apply makeup so that Derrick doesn’t sense her insecurity. “Are you sure about this?” Avery asked when she reached Nathan. Nathan took her face into his hands. “You’ll be fine. I promise you with my life.”She smiled. “If you say so.”“Remember, act normal and do as he says. Okay?”“Got it,” Avery replied and walked away. By the time she arrived at the restaurant, Derrick was already inside because he had texted her about three minutes ago that he had arrived. On her part, Avery had convinced him that their meeting was a secret because Nathan was not going to approve. She had taken a cab to get there. When Avery walked into the building, she was stunned by i
“Welcome, bro. What can I offer you?” Nathan demanded the moment Kelvin walked into his living room. Kelvin marched in and didn’t even look at the couch Nathan was presenting to him. “I don’t think I can sit.”“You look restless. What’s the matter?”Kelvin sighed and faced Nathan. “It’s Derrick. He had been in my place for the past three days and he’s been looking like shit.”“Did you ask you to come here and convince Avery to go back to me?” Nathan asked. He then raised an index finger. “Listen, tell Derrick that if I see him close to my woman, I’ll kill him so he should leave her alone.”“That’s not why I’m here.” Kelvin sharply replied. “Last night, he went on a rampage and drank several bottles of my wine and when I walked into him in my living room, he was half conscious and he said some things.”Nathan abruptly stood up. “What did he say?”“You and I both know that it’ll be difficult for a man like Derrick to change.” Said Kelvin. “It’s not like I’m condemning him.” He quickly
“He’s coming out shortly,” Daniel reported and sat with the rest of the team. That morning, Morgan’s allies stormed his mansion to talk about the tragic events that were unfolding. It was no news that his biggest warehouse was burnt to ashes. That evening, another one was looted and by midnight, Morgan got information that his security guards were attacked on their way back from the club and 6 perished while two were in a coma. Morgan made his way down the staircase, carrying the weight of his problems. However, he was sober and didn’t display any angry reaction. Perhaps, he was too beaten by the incidents that he had lost his will to react. His Allies looked upon him as he made his way toward them. The group consisted of his friends and partners who had helped him execute shady deals in the past. After he sat, Daniel stood up and cleared his throat loudly. “There is no denying that we all know who is behind the constant attacks. Without mincing words, I’d like to inform you all t
It was Saturday morning and during the weekends, Morgan plays tennis with Daniel, his assistant. Daniel is no fan of table tennis and barely knows how to hold the bat but every Saturday and Sunday morning, he shows up dressed in shorts with his gears just to impress Morgan. Also, Morgan knew that his assistant was bad in the sport so it gave him an edge to defeat him completely all the time. This morning, Daniel was already seated by the court in Morgan’s house and was waiting for his boss to show up. Morgan had just stepped out of his room and was on his way toward the living room before heading out to your court when his phone began to ring. He frowned and didn’t pick up the call. Even though he was a workaholic, he had made it clear to his workers that none of them would disturb him with work matters except if it was an emergency. The call persisted and the warning bells in Morgan’s head began to ring. What if this particular call was a case of emergency?The call was coming fr