“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Jason.”
“That’s Agent Anderson, to you.”
Jake chuckled. “Why should I address you by a title that is no longer yours?”
Jason glowered at Jake. He was a tall, hefty man in his fifties with greying black hair, icy blue eyes, a square beardless jaw and an ego the size of Texas.
He’d been fishing quietly at the lake which was a short distance from his small house on the outskirts of town. When Jake and Darius showed up at his quiet place, his hand had instinctively flown to his pistol which he kept hidden in the waistband of his pants.
He disliked Jake at first sight because the billionaire seemed like a cocky prick and talked like one. Jason wondered if he could empty a few rounds into this intruder and his companion, and get away with it.
“Don’t bother,” Jake said calmly as if reading his mind. &ldquo
“What an honour it is to finally meet you in person,” Atticus Fletcher beamed happily as he shook Jake’s hand backstage after he received the award for the most enterprising CEO.He was the organizer of this awards ceremony and he was a retired investment banker and now a renowned business consultant with solid connections in every sector of the economy.Jake had been avoiding this event every year since that time when he and Morgan were attacked on their way home after his first award. Pierce had been standing in for him since then but unfortunately, his dependable COO was out of the country for a much-needed vacation with his family.Since that first win, Turner Group had won a variety of awards over the years and different categories. However, this year, the award was specifically for him and he didn’t want to snub the event by giving flimsy excuses not to show up.“Thank you, for always finding me and my conglomerate wort
One week after Jake’s run-in with Sandra, she followed through with her threat and published another explosive piece about him.However, this time around, she included excerpts from his rivals including Jude Weiss, Patrick Sawyer and other former members of The Association who had participated in the class action lawsuit against him in the past.Jake was so pissed he couldn’t hide his anger. Within 24 hours, the media was thrown into a frenzy by the shocking claims made by Sandra’s sources in the publication.Before Jake could even call his lawyers, his story was already trending worldwide and a petition was made, calling on the authorities to investigate his questionable business ethics.“Am I supposed to ignore this too?” He asked Fletcher angrily.“Well, we could sue her for libel but let’s not forget that Patrick Sawyer has enough evidence to support everything he said in that interview. That’s not a good look for your case.”“What are you saying? That I let that stupid woman get
“Where are we?” Sandra asked with a yawn.“Honolulu,” Jake replied. “I bought this private resort recently. It’s still under construction but it will be ready to open in a few months.”“It looks perfect to me. It’s such a relaxing place and I especially love how secluded it is from the rest of the city.”“That’s the idea.”“You’re such a brilliant guy. Is it any wonder that I am hopelessly attracted to you?”“You have a strange way of showing your feeling though. Why would you air me out like that?”“Are we back to that again? I thought I already apologized. Besides, you can tell me the truth now.”Jake adjusted himself and put a little distance between him and Sandra. They were lying in bed in one of the executive suites in the unfinished resort.He prided himself on being a man with solid self-control but this insanely sexy woman had shattered all of that and gotten him right where she wanted.He’d known that sex with Sandra would be a feisty affair but nothing in this world could
“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Mr Turner. I’m Detective Louis Logan from the Chicago Police Department.”“Chicago?” Jake marvelled.“Yes, sir. May I sit down?”“Of course,” Jake answered, pointing at one of the chairs in front of his office desk.The lanky man sat down and adjusted his grey jacket that was worn over a multicoloured shirt. His tan hair was thinning and tied back in a neat ponytail. His full moustache reminded Jake of Burt Reynolds.“So, I’m not going to take much of your time, I’ll just go straight to the point.”“Ok.”“I’m here to talk about Patrick Sawyer’s death.”Jake was stunned. “He’s dead?”The detective was watching him closely. “Yes, that’s what I said. Didn’t you know?”“No.”“Well, he died last week Thursd
The tension between Jake and Megumi extended into the next day. He’d called Fletcher the previous night to come to the mansion before the detective showed up again.“So… how far have you gone with the planning of my birthday getaway?” He asked her at breakfast.She ignored him and instead, focused on feeding James who was sitting in his highchair beside her.Jake cleared his throat and tried again. “Are we still travelling for my birthday?”“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she replied flatly. “I don’t enjoy hanging out with liars.”“You have got to be kidding,” he said in disbelief. “So, my birthday trip is cancelled?”“Did I say that?”“Ok, fine. Let’s not go anywhere then. I’ll celebrate it alone.”“Perfect.”When Fletcher showed up, Jake took him to his study to discuss the
“We’ve got a problem, Jake.”His ears perked up immediately he heard the worry in Sandra’s voice. “What is it?”“I’ve just received a heads-up from a friend about a story that is about to hit the media first thing in the morning. We’ve been discovered.”“What?”“Some nosey paparazzi caught us leaving that Malibu resort together yesterday.”“Aw, shit!”“My friend just let me know as a courtesy but there’s nothing we can do to stop the story. It’s going live in a few hours.”“Damn it! We’ve been very careful this entire time.”“I know but I guess we got sloppy this time. Our disguise wasn’t good enough I guess.”“What do we do now?”“Prepare for impact. That’s all we can do.”“You’re taking this rather calmly.&rdqu
“My phone has been ringing off the hook all morning. Photos of you and that shameless bitch have been making the rounds all over social media and beyond.”“I’m sorry about that, Meg,” Jake replied tiredly and sank onto a nearby sofa.“Where did you spend the night? Were you with her again?”“Hell, no! I was at the office.”“I didn’t even know when you left the house. Why didn’t you come back home?”“Because I was on the phone with Orlando’s boys. I wanted them to get me everything they could find on Sandra.”“Why?”“Because it turns out that she has been running an undercover operation with the CIA to spy on me.”“What?”“It gets worse.”“What’s worse than being spied on by the CIA?”“She’s been meeting with Rex in prison.”
“What the fuck?” Jake whispered in awe as he stared at his former bodyguard who had been pronounced dead in Jersey more than a year ago.He’d grown his hair out, gotten rid of his tattoos and was less muscular than Jake remembered. His skin had even lost its usual tan.“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” said Barry/Orlando.“How are you still alive?”“Because I never died. Come on, let’s get out of here. The noise is starting to do my head in.”He walked past Jake into the games arcade, leading him past a labyrinth of gaming machines that are manned by enthusiastic gamers. They passed through a door that led to the parking lot of the bowling alley.“Where are we going?” Jake asked.“My crib,” Barry answered. “It’s a short walk from here.”“Ok,” Jake said and fell in stride beside his host. He wondered if