Chapter 67Franrigo's eyes widened in shock and caution, spitting the content out quickly, his mouth rejecting distastefully. Davidson's hand shook as he'd gulped his and had already taken into his system completely. Podrego laughed, quite amused at their reaction.“Get him the antidote, Credo”Credo brought some yellow powder in a crucible.“Sniff that and you'll be fine”, Podrego said, his hands on the lighter. Davidson was a bit unyielding but his whole body began to vibrate badly.“For real this time.You too, steward”Franrigo rubbed the yellow powder vigorously on his nose, almost throwing up from the smell of the powder. Davidson breathed heavily, his body temperature increasing by the second. His body vibrated frantically and his neck twitched. Franrigo watched him in horror on his feet as he had been alarmed to find Davidson in such a state.“Wh…wh…what's wrong … wh… what's wrong wi…wi…with him?”“He'll be fine amico. Sit down”His body jerked uncontrollably, and he tumbled of
Chapter 68Andrea sat behind his room table. The lights were put off and the only source of illumination was the blue light from the screen. An open Samsung laptop lay on his tabletop, records of bank statements lined up on the screen, arranged chronologically. He relaxed back on his office chair, hands behind his head. A rock glass stood beside the personal computer, its content a colourless liquid, quite as clear as pure water. The expensive wine bottle was on the ground, leaning on a table leg. Andrea took the glass, sipping its content. A phone call came through his iPhone.Not bothering to look at the device, he picked it from his airpods. “Hello?”“Hey babe”, Sasha's voice came from over the phone.Andrea's expression changed.“What do you want?”“Come on babe”, Sasha said, a little taken aback by his cold reply. “What's up? I have missed you . You've been gone for weeks and you aren't even picking my calls.”“I've been busy”. Andrea let out a low huff and rolled his eyes.“Bu
Chapter 69The air in the car smelt the same. It was the same choking odour of marijuana that seemed to be mixed with vapourised whisky. Franrigo put his hand over his mouth, too disgusted to even speak.Davidson on the other hand, was as still as quiet as a mouse. Who could blame him? He recounted several situations in his head, where he had had near death experiences. He was aware that in car rides like this, you had three likely situations- you could either be killed as the dealers may change their mind along the line and break the contract. You could survive attack but survival was a 1% chance. 0.01% of the time, the contract remained. One too many times, Davidson had almost been killed. So he was observant, his eyes moving from bodyguard to driver. Credo sat next to the driver, both with black clothes and shades. Davidson looked at them, noting their every body language, their glances and their mutters. Usually if they either received word to terminate their unsuspecting victims
Chapter 70Luna looked all over for it. She'd never lost it before. She searched frantically, her room fast becoming a mess. Pillows went from one end of the room to the other. Clothes flew out of hangers and wardrobes. Her walk in closet was a mess.Luna's desperation grew as she scoured every nook and cranny of her room, her usually tidy haven now transformed into chaos. More pillows scattered like fallen leaves, and clothes cascaded from hangers, painting a vivid picture of her frantic search. The once-organized walk-in closet mirrored the chaos, its shelves now a jumble of misplaced belongings. Amidst the disorder, a kaleidoscope of items lay strewn across her bed, a beautiful disarray.“I can't find it”, Luna said, hands on her waist.“Any progress?”, her mother asked, as she walked through the open room.“No”, Luna said disappointedly. She tried to recall where she last saw it.“I don't understand. It's always in my bag.”Luna looked into her empty minibag. “I could have sworn i
Chapter 71(Flashback cont'd)Luna got to The Garden.Marco sat at their special place, legs crossed, one atop the other. He smiled on seeing her but Luna kept her face straight. Seated at their cherished spot, Marco crossed his legs, a smile playing on his lips as he beheld Luna. However, her demeanor remained stoic, her face devoid of any reciprocation. The contrast of his warmth against her impassivity hung in the air, casting a subtle tension over their once-shared haven.“What's this about? It better be good”Marco pulled her towards him. “I told you. I missed you”He leaned closer for a kiss but Luna turned her face. She put his hands down gently from her waist, showing him expressly that she wasn't interested. She crossed her hands, taking a pose that added to her serious outlook.“Thought you had something important to say”“I do. Come sit”, he said, taking his former position. He patted the bench in demonstration but Luna remained standing.“Stubborn as always”“Is this all
Chapter 72Luna stared into the atmosphere, her expression turning quickly from anxious to pale. Isabella looked at her, finding it quite strange.“What's wrong, dear? Are you okay?”Luna didn't seem to have heard. She just stared into thin air. The realisation had caught her off guard. Raising her hands to head, she ran her hands through her hair, like someone in a trance.“He couldn't have”, she said, lost in her thoughts as her mind raced. “What? What are you talking about?”But Luna stared on.“No. I… I need to go. I need to get somewhere”She walked out the room, not minding her outfit. “Where are you going?”, Isabella said, getting to her feet. She looked alarmed. What was going on with Luna?She took the car keys off where it hung and walked out into the compound. Benny sat on a stool in the garage, peeling what looked like an orange. He stripped the skin of the orange off slowly, the sharp pocket knife cutting cleanly through the acidic skin of the orange. Curled orange peel
Chapter 73“I don't know why I went Benny. I felt so lonely after that day. He didn't call, he didn't even text.”, Luna said, the incoming tears choking her voice. She cleared her throat and raised her head, trying desperately and failing to push back the already streaming tears.“So?”She let out another sigh.“So when he finally texted, I … I.. was angry at first but I just decided to umm… I decided to umm… you know, hear him out. And .. so I took the smaller car cause I knew you'd be upset if you knew.”She paused to use the handkerchief in her hand.“When I… when I got there. He…”, she said, gulping down her initial words. “We had another fight. He wasn't willing to apologise for his actions. He just wanted to… you know… emotionally blackmail me into coming back to him. The insecure bastard really thought I would never get out of the spot where he put me..”“He's more than a bastard, trust me”Luna laughed a little, her heart unlightened. “I blurted out that he was selfish and
Chapter 74“Finally he's here”Andrea, shades on in a black suit, resembled the popular TV spy, Mark Crabat as he alighted . Two cars of four bodyguards each pulled up behind his own Bentley Bentayga. Marco's men, or rather, the Mafia men, two in number, stood in the middle of the empty open space. Hands in their pocket, they waited for Andrea to approach them.“Andrea Rodriguez… I thought the Boss said no extras?”"Men always bring their protection. But they won't be coming into the hall though”Andrea soon reached where they stood. Two bodyguards following him, stood behind him.“Mr. Rodriguez”, they both echoed, bowing a little to greet.Andrea removed his glasses, an unimpressed expression on his face.“Please, follow us”Andrea put the shades back on but the men stopped Andrea's bodyguards from following.“Any problem?”, Andrea said, turning back. “They have to wait here. Boss said no extras”Andrea raised an eyebrow but didn't react. He just nodded to his bodyguards to cooperate
Chapter 179: The happy ending “What? “How dare you?!” Maria panicked at first when Asher said what he said, but she quickly covered it up. “ Vincenzo, did you just hear what he said?”“Gaius Come in” Asher said and Maria's knees suddenly went weak. She stumbled behind as she thought she was seeing a ghost. What was Gauis doing here? I thought he was dead.“Gaius here revealed everything to me after Maria and Andrea tried killing him off for finding out their secret ''. “Here sir,” Gauis said, handing a brown envelope to Vincenzo. “Father, in there is the DNA result of Andrea and Mr Wyatt Oril”“What? The late Mr Wyatt?” Vincenzo asked, scanning through the contents of the DNA results. “Yes, that Mr Wyatt, Maria and her son killed him off, as he was a threat to their plans of killing me. And since they couldn’t succeed, Maria here began the slow process of killing you off slowly by lacing your tea every day with a substance. That’s why you have been so weak lately. Here is the s
Chapter 178“Hey let go of me!”. Finn yelled loudly at the prison guards as he was dragged into the toture room. “Do you want to die? Do you know who you are laying your hands on? let me go. Let me the fuck go”Finn was dragged and strapped on the same metallic chair that was used to torture Asher. Mr Vincenzo gave those specific instructions.“Hey!Hey! Are you guys deaf?!Call my dad. You people are dead meat once I leave this place” his spat out at the guards, only to get a hard punch to the stomach as a response. Smack! Smack!“You want to speak to your father right?” The prison warden said as he entered the room “Fine, we will call him for you.”A call was placed across to Mr. Wilson, and with one single ring, his voice echoed at the other end of the line. “Hello Mr. Wilson, someone is dying to speak with you.” The warden passed the phone to Finn, who didn’t hesitate to grab it”“Dad!, dad!What the hell is going on? I have been here for weeks now. What am I still here?”“Shut u
Chapter 177Finn staggered back and Sofia scurried away from behind him. She picked up the gun which had fallen near her boss. Asher, on the floor by then, was fast losing a lot of blood.He brought his hand to his face. It was blood. He stood unsteady, his vision blurry and double and his mind was hazy. He staggered forward a little and Sofia quickly picked up the gun and aimed it at him.“Stay away!”Finn tilted from side to side, trying to widen his eyes. That made it worse as he couldn't even see Sofia or decipher the position of the gun anymore“You…”, he said, swinging his hand aimlessly. In fear, Sofia pulled the trigger and shot his leg.“Arghh”, Finn groaned, holding his leg. His back hit the wall and he fell to the floor, his mind's vision slowly going into a blackout.Sofia turned her focus to her boss, squatting down to his level.“Boss”, she said, shaking his leg. He was still conscious.“Sofie”, he whispered, the most quiet whisper Sofie had ever heard.“Boss! Stay with
Chapter 176The heavy screwdriver fell off her hands and landed on Sofia's right leg.“Ow!”, She cried in pain. She held herself from cursing out, hopping away a little, from the control board.She had tried to pull off the metal cover of the control board for the door. But there were no screws on it. Then, she tried to break the cover. And that landed her in the situation she was presently in. Sofia banged on the door.“Help!!”But she knew her efforts were effortless. There was none other in the building than her and Asher - and the intruder she recognised so much but couldn't place a finger on where she'd seen him.Sofia wanted to feel exhausted but the anxiety that controlled her was great. She'd spent at least fifteen minutes trying to get out of the room and that was more than enough time for her boss to have been reached and attacked by the intruder - probably even dead.“No”, she gasped. She had to think fast. She had to get out now.“Think Sofia. Think”, she said to herself,
Chapter 175Sofia relaxed a little when she heard footsteps on the staircase. She knew she was usually tense when they were in the same space but her anxiety seemed to heighten by the minute. It was unusual and she couldn't put a finger to it. She had tried to concentrate on work but she had only progressed in eating all the biscuits and cookies on the plate. She had poured the remaining contents of the bottled water into her mouth. Tossing the empty bottle into the bin underneath her desk, she had placed her fingers on her forehead and did a quick massage. Still, she felt stressed and just looking at the screen made her feel even more stressed.She took off her glasses and lay back on the chair. The footsteps felt closer now. She opened her eyes. No footstep heard. Maybe she really needed that sleep.She closed her system. Then she heard the footsteps again. Curious, she got up from where she was sitting and moved towards the door.For some reason, she was stealth about it. She look
Chapter 174The security cameras picked Finn's car as it sped past Asher's residential building. Finn's car was captured by the vigilant security cameras as it zipped past Asher's residential building, leaving a trail of speed in its wake. The driver and bodyguard in the car that had brought Elena noticed the car and watched it zoom off, bearing witness to the fleeting scene.The bodyguard put a phone call through to Mr. Salvatore.“Boss”“Speak to me Spider”“Intruder alert”“Intruder alert?”“Yes Boss. Some car just sped past us. There is no other residential building in this place and I can still see the car parked, though it's far away from the gate.”“Well, who's in it?”“We don't know yet Boss.”“Find out Spider and don't let them ruin this plan. È tutto chiaro? (Is that clear)”“Sì Capo (Yes Boss)”The call ended. Paolo moved towards where Raphael was. “They say there's an intruder, Raphael”“Oh really”, Raphael replied, his eyes fixed on the screen.“Put the security camera'
Chapter 173Sofia let out some air, obviously exhausted. Her boss, Asher, paced the room as he gave instructions over the phone. “I want ceramic used in those spaces, Travis, not wood. Did you…”Asher paused, listening to what the voice over the phone had to say.“Travis, Travis….”Another pause.“Listen.. listen to me. I don't want to know if it is or if it is not possible to get the ceramic tiles today. Whatever it is you need to do to get them today - this night - do it. Do it now. When I come by tomorrow, and just note I'll be coming in very early, I want the exact type and quality that I asked for. Can you get that done, Travis?”Asher paused for longer this time. “Okay. Let me rephrase that. Get it done Travis. Thank you”He ended the call. “What's up? Are you done?”“Yes sir”, Sofia said, letting out a sigh of relief at the end of her sentence. Asher did too.“Finally”, Asher said to Sofie, a slight smile on his face.Meanwhile, after minutes of wasted efforts going in the w
Chapter 172It was dark out. Asher glanced at his watch as he went up the stairs. It was past seven already. He walked into the office room where Sofie was still working.“Are you done?”“Almost sir. Let me just tidy up this document”“Alright”He left the room and came back with two small glass bowls of fruit salad.“Here”, he said, handing it over to Sofia.“Oh.. thank you Boss”“You deserve it”, he said, taking his over to the mediun sized sofa. Pink flushed on her cheeks and she had to bend her face so he wouldn't noticed. Asher smiled, noticing before she could even hide it. In all his life, he didn't know a person more shy than Sofia.He settled on the sofa, balancing the fruit salad bowl in his hand.“I've been willing to ask something, Sofia”Sofia raised her head immediately, unnecessarily in alarm.“How has your mum been?”“My mum? She's fine. She's.. perfectly okay”“Is she still at the hospital?”“Oh no sir. She got discharged about ..two months ago? Yes. It should be two
Chapter 171“It’s done Boss”, the delivery guy said, adjusting the air pod in his ear as he rode. The bike bent as he maintained being on the bend, the wind flapping in his ear. When he got onto the straight road, he had to reduce his speed for the traffic ahead.“Good”, the voice responded. “Well done Ryder”“Yes sir”The call terminated and Paolo set his phone down on the table. In front of him were three monitors and a slim guy sat in front of them, moving from one screen to another.“What’s the update, Raphael?”, Andrew asked“I'm in. I have successfully gained access into the facility now”, he replied, zooming in on one of the screens. On it was a live recording of Asher's gate, which was still open even when Asher had closed it. So he thought.Raphael switched to another monitor. On the monitor display, the different controls that were sectioned to the different parts of the house were shown. Raphael zoomed into each room, and the door controls, studying the signals. From there,