Chapter 23.

June 8th, 2016.

Since the incident of the photograph, Antonio remained indisposed, never in his room but he was always locked up in his office. I was the only one allowed access to his office. It was a miracle he showered and changed everyday.

In his office, he did nothing more than fill his glass with fine whiskey and stare at the portrait of his daughter hanging on the wall or her photographs on his desk. As for the photograph of the other woman that looked like her, I saw it torn to a thousands pieces on the floor.

Whenever he spoke, he did so in circles.

"Antonio, we have a problem with the dragons, they invaded our warehouse at the marina and took a couple of our men, what do you reckon we do?" I asked

"Anything that should be done." He replied offhandedly, looking out the window.

"Okay...Let's counter attack then. A straightforward or a tactical attack?"

"Which do you prefer?" He sighed.

I groaned loudly and put down my tablet. "I wouldn't be asking you if I knew what to do. This is a very delicate situation with the dragons and the lives of our men are on the line."

He turned around, "I'm sorry Luke. I'm sorry if I'm exasperating right now, if I'm hard to put up with." He sat down. "I'm just going through a very difficult time right now."

"Its nothing compared to what your daughter is going through." I said under my breath.

"What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to talk about it."

"No."

His sharp tone made me look up.

"I do not want to talk about it." He looked at me with cold, emotionless grey eyes and I knew he heard me.

I stared back at him with the same coldness, balling my fists under the table. He had no idea how his decision had impacted Ophelia, he only cared about himself. Now, there was a manhunt on his daughter and all he could think about was himself. His decision to marry her off to his rival nearly cost us our friendship.

We stared at each other, none blinking. Common sense kicked in, I remembered that no matter how close we were, Antonio was still my boss and a father figure to me. I needed to show him respect, regardless of his flaws.

I lowered my eyes, fixing them on my laptop.

He still had his doubts about me, challenging him was giving him more reasons to suspect me.

I closed my laptop. "I'm going to my office, call if you need me." I stood up and made for the door.

"Luke?"

I stopped and turned around.

"Tell Raymond I want to see him." He said. But his eyes were telling a different story altogether, warning me.

Be careful around me.

I gave a curt nod, walked out of the room and banged the office door behind me.

____________

June 13th, 2016.

A few days had passed but the tension between Antonio and I remained. If he was talking to somebody, he kept quiet immediately I walked into the room.

Its not like I cared, I bugged all his rooms, his office inclusive. If I wanted to know what he was talking about, I would just listen to the recorded conversation. If they found the bugs I could always blame it on Baddo and he's rats, knowing Antonio wouldn't question them and blow their cover.

My problem however was that, everybody in the mansion had started treating me the same way, if I walked into a room, everybody stopped talking. They didn't continue until I left the room.

They treated me like I was some traitor. Even though it was annoying, I didn't let it get to me, I had somebody to keep safe than care about their stupid attitude towards me.

I was in my office now, I put my headphones on. Raymond was in the office with Antonio, I wanted to know what they were talking about.

"Raymond, the text messages?" Antonio asked.

"Well...boss, the thing is..."

"Raymond?"

"They've disappeared, they're off the system like they were never there."

Silence.

"He's good, he's really good."

"What do we do now boss?"

"We wait."

I pulled off my headphones and smiled widely.

Team Luke: 1

Team Antonio: 0

___________

The next pitfall they dug for me was sending me on an errand they knew I could finish in a day, but let me off for two days. They sent subtle messages to me to take the second day off.

July 6th, 2016.

I got what I needed, got in my lambo and zoomed off to leave Rome for Pampeago

A few kilometers away from the mansion I noticed I was being followed. A quick look at my rear view mirrors and I knew Antonio had sent men to follow me.

I laughed.

Let the games begin.

It was night time when I got to a secluded area, close to a forest, the place of transaction.

I sighted a car and a lone man standing besides it. I got out of the car, but not before putting on a black beanie to cover my hair and leaving my headlights on full glare, to blind the man, effectively hiding my identity in the process, I went to the trunk and pulled out a squirming figure with a bag over its head in one hoist, took the bag of money from the passenger seat, and walked towards the man. He walked forward too but I maintained six meters distance between us.

Time for confirmation.

"Password?" I asked.

"Alpha Lima-" he replied

My turn.

I pulled the bag off the boy's head, he screamed through his gag and squirmed harder when he recognised the man in front of him. That was all the confirmation I needed.

He was the guy.

I threw the bag of money at his feet. He picked it up, unzipped it and looked inside.

"Marked bills? Did you think we would be so stupid not to notice?"

He didn't reply.

Okay then. I got out my Luger, cocked it and placed it on the side of his son's head. The boy screamed into his gag and squirmed but I had a firm grip on him, almost choking him.

His father stepped forward to intervene.

"One more step and I'll blow his head off. I've got nothing to lose."

He stepped back.

"You see Jonah, in our line of business we try to keep things on a professional level but it's guys like you who like to act tough that make people like me cross the professional line and come after family."

"Look, I'll give you anything you want, just let my..."

"Shut up!" I cut him off. "You brought this upon yourself the moment you started doing business in our territory without asking the proper questions. To show you how civil we are, we didn't come in guns blazing to chase you out, we only asked you, very nicely, to give us a certain percent of what you earned every week but you thought we were weak. And only when we came in and knocked things around did you decide to comply but you had the guts to set us up with marked bills. I'm sure the ransom money you came with is also marked bills"

I'd seen a reflective glare up in the trees and ignored it, thinking it was a trick caused by leaves. The sky was thick with clouds and it didn't allow any moon beams through. It was because the night air was so still, that I heard that unmistakable click of an assault rifle.

This bastard did not!

I raised my gun and fired three shots in rapid succession. A figure fell out of the trees a few feet away from me, groaning. I finished him with two more shots and placed the hot barrel against the boy's head, eliciting a shrill scream from him. I was pissed.

"The deal was to come alone, wasn't it?"

He really thought we were stupid, small time street thugs he could outsmart. Empire members were trained to perfection. Even before I had attained the position of underboss, I was trained ruthlessly, trained to recognise guns and become a marksman by sound alone.

"You bastard...I was willing to give you a week but now you have two hours. Two hours to get all the money you owe us or I will personally deliver your 3 year old to your doorstep after I have broken every bone in her body." To show him I wasn't joking, I took his son by the arm and dislocated his shoulder. The boy wailed but I only tossed him aside like a bag of garbage.

I looked at my watch. "Your time starts now."

He picked up his wailing child and put him into his car before zooming off like the wind, leaving the body of his dead companion.

I got in my car and drove off, still pissed about what had just occurred.

As I drove, I noticed headlights behind me, the cars from earlier still tailing me. Oh, I had a treat for them too. I got my phone and made a call, this was going to be so much fun.

Instead of heading back to the mansion, I decided to take the detour they were all expecting to to take.

I stepped on the gas, doing a 120km/h till I got to my destination.

When I arrived, a lot of cars were already there. I was at an improvised race track, today the race was at Campitello.

It was a place where the privileged few came to get drunk, get high, hook up and show off their wealth in the form of cars they owned, whilst making money off them.

It was a place to make good, clean money as bets were placed on racing cars. The winner took a certain cut out of the money, while the rest went to the supporters. I wasn't talking small change, sometimes the money was up to a million. Everything was fair and lookouts were positioned at strategic points to warn us about the police.

I eased my car to the starting point, besides my competitor. Tonight I was racing Dexter, a very good friend of mine. He had introduced me to the racing game after we had an impromptu race. We had pulled up at the same stop sign, in the same car and decided to race each other down the street to the next one.

I rolled down my window and gave him a quick nod, he gave me a mock salute. We had the same car, black sleek Lamborghinis. Only our code names were used to differentiate us.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight its The Destroyer vs Blue! You can head to the stands now to place your bets!" The coordinator announced with his megaphone.

Dexter was the destroyer because he was a crazy genius when it came to cars. While I was Blue because of the colour of my eyes.

We stepped on the gas pedal, trying to intimidate one another with the roar of our impeccable engines. A tall, beautiful brunette in heels walked to the space between our cars, wearing only a bra and a short that barely covered her backside when she turned around.

The rules of the game were very simple. The race begun when the girl dropped any piece of her clothing, the choice was hers, the first one to cross the finish line was the winner.

She unclasped her bra, pulled it off and let us stare for a few minutes. There were a lot of cheers and wolf whistles from the crowd. It was a classic move to take our attention away from the bra.

They were a nice set of tits but I wasn't distracted.

She released the bra.

I watched it drop in slow motion, as soon as it hit the ground I put my gear in motion.

Tires screeched and the smell of burning rubber filled the air as we sped through the streets like crazy, changing gears and pushing our cars past their limits.

The person in the lead was determined by our ability to maneuver through sharp turns, curves, slopes and various obstacles in our path. Sometimes I was in the lead, sometimes it was Dexter. He was good in manoeuvring sharp turns, while I was good at maneuvering through obstacles blocking my path.

I sneaked a peek at my rearview mirror. They weren't following me, they couldn't. Not without drawing attention to themselves.

Good.

Which meant they would be tracking me through the tracker on my car.

Perfect. All part of the plan.

We were approaching a tunnel, Dexter in the lead. It was time to unveil the master plan.

__________________

July 7th, 2016.

I pulled up in front of the mansion a few minutes after 8am the next day.

I got out of my car and stretched. Popping all my bones back into place. I had been driving for hours.

I stopped by the general kitchen to get a glass of water and some snacks. Raymond was in the dining eating breakfast, as soon as I walked in he chocked on his food.

"L-Luke, you're back!" He coughed, reaching for his glass of water.

"Yes. I am."

"Wow, that was fast, I thought you'd stay out a little longer." He spoke after wiping his mouth with a napkin.

I opened a bag of chips, put a hand full in my mouth and observed him as I chewed. "It was quick. Were you expecting me to go somewhere else?" I asked him outright.

His eyes widened, then he answered quickly. "No...no...no...I wasn't...It's just that...well."

I cocked my head to the side, to show him I was suspicious of his stutter? Well, you could figuratively say I had him by the balls.

I stretched again, reliving my tense muscles.

"Listen Raymond, I'm tired, very tired, okay. I'll give my report to Antonio when I've recovered my energy. I'm going to my room to sleep." I yawned.

I left the kitchen and went upstairs.

I was tired, yes, but I wasn't going to sleep yet. I knew Raymond would run his mouth to Antonio, I wanted to hear what he was going to say.

I got to my room, closed the door, went straight to my gadgets hidden in a false wall in my walk-in closet, set them up and slipped my headphones on.

Someone banged a door.

I winced and gritted my teeth at the sound that filled my ears.

"Raymond, what is it?" Antonio asked in a voice filled with disinterest.

"Boss, its Luke. He's back."

"What do you mean by he's back? Isn't he supposed to be away for two days?"

"Yes, but he's in his room right now."

Silence.

"What about the other two?"

"Well...."

"Well what!?" He barked.

"They're not here yet. He must have figured out that they were following him and did something to them or he must have lost them."

"That's no excuse for incompetency, call those two idiots and find out where they are. They should have given us a warning."

After a few seconds later, I heard a new voice.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Raymond asked.

"Out."

"I know you're out you idiot, what are you doing?"

"I'm following the underboss like you asked me to."

"Really? Then you should know that he's already home, in his room, on his bed, SLEEPING!"

"Wait! What?"

"You heard me, you let him slip through your fingers you ars-"

"That's not possible! He's out of town, I'm behind his car right now."

"What did you say?" It was Raymond's turn to sound astonished.

"I said I'm behind his freaking car right now! Check the tracker and see if I'm lying. I don't know what you're trying to say but I don't think that man upstairs is Valentino." The man's voice had gone up a few octaves, I knew he was hysterical, he knew the consequences of slipups.

Oh it's me alright, the one and only, in flesh and blood.

There was a long silence.

After a few tapping sounds on what I assumed was a computer, Raymond finally answered. "He's right boss, Luke is out of town."

"I told you so and yo-" A beep notified me that Raymond had ended the call, cutting the other speaker off.

"Are you sure Luke came back with his car?"

"Yes boss, I personally checked before coming here. Its custom made, you'd spot any difference right away. It's his CAR."

Silence. This one stretched for a very long time.

"Get out. Leave and don't come back until you have something of value." Antonio said in a cold, emotionless voice.

I couldn't help the smile that stretched my features.

Time to make my own call.

I searched for the contact I was looking for, I found it, then I hit the call button.

The phone barely started ringing when he picked up. He must have his Bluetooth device on.

"Blue my man, what can I do for you?" Dexter still didn't know my name and I wanted to keep it that way.

"Now listen up Einstein, I let you win that race. You got your five minutes of fame, now you have to keep up your end of the deal. Get that fucking tracker off my car, change my baby's tires and wax her. Drop her off at the address I gave you and you'll find your car parked at the maritime hotel. And let me remind you Dexter, if I see one, just one tiny scratch on my car, I'll make you watch your car get rammed into a wall, then I'll put a bullet in your tiny skull."

"Dude! I get the point, no scratch on your baby! No need for threats!"

"Dexter?"

"Yes?" He answered uncertainly, unsure of the next threat.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, man." I could almost see him grinning ear to ear.

I disconnected the call.

The trick was quite simple, Dexter and I had switched cars when we got to the dark tunnel, we made a deal. I'd let Dexter win the race and he would get the tracker off my car and destroy it.

It was a win-win situation. He'd get his five minutes of fame for beating me and I'd be tracker free, everyone would go home happy.

After the race, he drove my car away taking the bastards with him, while I took his home.

The sweet smell of victory. I grinned.

Team Luke: 2

Team Antonio: 0

I stripped but I didn't bother changing into my PJs, I just crawled into my bed, I was too tired.

I thought about Ophelia and picked up my phone. I was tempted to call her to listen to her calm, reassuring voice but I couldn't, her number and my phone were under close observation, once I called her or sent a message, Raymond would be on me like a pack of vultures on carcasses.

I picked a framed photograph from my bedside table, it was taken on her 18th birthday. I held her in my arms and placed a kiss on her cheek while she tried to push me away, smiling. It was taken without our notice and it was cute.

I traced her face in the picture with my thumb. "Its going to okay, we'll get through this." I whispered.

If only I could believe myself.

I sighed, put the picture down on my bedside table and turned the lamp off.

We're going to get through this princess, was the last word I said before I blacked out.

_________________

July 23rd, 2016.

"Listen Harold, you have just one week to get my money or you won't like what I'm going to do."

"Mr Valentino justa giva me one mora chance." He replied in an accent I could barely understand.

"No more chances Harold, I think Antonio and I have been lenient enough. One week Harold or I promise, I'll make you watch me kill your mother, your wife, then your daughter, finally I'll make you die a very slow and painful death that you'll remember on your way to heaven or hell. Don't test me Harold, I always keep my promises."

"Mr Valentino, Mr Valentino I beg yo-"

I slammed the phone down.

"Dio mio..." I held my head. I could feel it pulsing, warning me of an incoming migraine. This wasn't in my job description, it wasn't my job to hassle people who owed us money, I was a cooperate decision maker. Worse case scenario, I was the guy who fixed situations by making people disappear. Yet, this was the 15th call I had taken in the space of three hours and it wouldn't be the last for today.

It had been two weeks since the race car incident and they still couldn't pin anything on me, so they did the only thing they could do best: bombard me with work left right and center. They wanted to break me, make me cave under the pressure they were putting on me but I wouldn't give them the pleasure. Though, I couldn't deny that after two weeks of nonstop tedious work I had pushed myself past my human capacity and I was slowly cracking.

But a cracked wall was better than a broken one.

Maybe I could endure the strain a little longer.

The desk phone started ringing, again.

I took in deep breaths and counted down from ten.

In my head the ringing intensified.

7.....6.....5

I couldn't take it anymore.

I grabbed the phone and threw it, it smashed on impact when it hit the wall.

They had finally succeeded in pushing me to do the very thing they wanted.

I found my phone and dialed her number.

Once it started ringing, I knew they'd trace it. Its not like I cared, since they couldn't pin anything on me, Raymond started tracing all my calls, every single one if them, incoming or outgoing.

Since I had a lot of calls today, I hoped he would just ignore the fact that I called this particular number.

However, the score had changed.

Team Luke: 2

Team Antonio: 1

Come on, pick up, pick up.

The call was about to disconnect when she picked up on the last ring.

"Luke?"

I sighed in relief. Like a lighthouse, she had refocused my faculties, she made me remember why I was going through this strain in the hands of Antonio and his goons.

"Princess. How are you?" I settled down on my desk.

"I'm as happy as the situation let's me be."

I'd wanted to hear her voice for so long, now that I did, I didn't know what to say.

"So.....did you finally go shopping?"

"Shopping?" Her voice went up a notch, indicating surprise. "No, I didn't."

"Which means you still haven't found what I left for you?"

"You left something for me?"

"Yeah. I figured I never gave you money in case you wanted to go shopping or in case of emergencies, so I dropped a few bills before left"

"Where?"

"In your room?"

"Give me a few seconds..." I heard the clatter of plates, footsteps up what I assumed were the stairs, then a door slammed. "....where exactly did you keep it?"

"In your bedside table."

I heard rustling.

"Luke!"

"What?"

"I thought you said you kept only a few bills"

"I did."

"You call five bundles of euro notes a few bills?"

I rolled my eyes. For someone who lived in wealth since she was born, five bundles should be relatively small.

"What are you trying to say, princess?"

"Its too much! I don't think I'll use it anyway, I already have everything I ne-"

Ophelia. I shook my head. "Then it's a good thing you can't return it because I won't take it back. Keep it with you even though you won't use it, something might come up."

The line was silent for a while. She didn't argue because she knew she would lose.

"What about you, Luke? How are you?" Her voice was soft, barely there.

"I'm fine, princess, I just have a little work to keep me busy for a while." I eyed my desk strewn with papers, files and envelopes littered everywhere. My eyes drifted to my computer screen filled with unopened emails that needed my attention. Yep, just a little work.

"Oh....is there anyway I can help?"

I smiled, my little ladybug, always eager to help out.

"Ophelia, I want to tell you something. Promise me you won't freak out."

"I'll try."

Good enough.

"Ophelia, this call is being traced."

"Is this some kind of joke?" She laughed. When I was remained silent, the mirth turned to fury. "Are you crazy, Luke? Why are you taking such a risk?"

"Because I need to tell you..." I took a deep breath "....Ophelia, this might be the last time I'll talk to you before I see you again. Hell, I don't even know if I'll be able to see you for a while because my freedom is limited and my movement restricted to my schedule, they follow me everywhere I go. Your father has switched to detective mode and the only person his culprit sensors are pointing to, is me and he's doing everything he can, to get a little evidence against me. He doesn't know he's right." I chuckled lightly.

I could hear her mumbled protests and heavy sighs, I knew she was worried.

"...I'm sorry I won't be able to spend Halloween with you, I won't text either. In other words, this line has to go dead for a while, until it's safe again.You know it's for the best, right?"

"Yes." She answered after a while, her voice sad and broken. I knew she felt guilty for putting me through this.

"Luke, I'm sorry..." I heard a sob as she broke off. "...if I had just disappeared, none of this would be happening." The sobs were more frequent now, she was crying.

It broke my heart, I wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be fine. "Ophelia, stop. Don't cry, you'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would."

"Good. Then stop beating yourself, we'll get through this."

I'd spent too much time on this call already, they'd start getting suspicious "I've got to go now."

"Luke?"

"Yes, princess?"

"Please be careful, I won't forgive myself if something happens to you..." She broke off. "...do you want me to back out?"

"NO!.... I mean no." I controlled my outburst and cleared my throat. "I'll be careful, I promise."

I would rather die than see her married off to another man, when I could do something about it.

"Okay. Goodbye, stay safe."

"Goodbye princess, take care of yourself."

I disconnected the call.

I buried my face in my hands. After a few minutes, I surveyed the work on my table, suddenly I didn't feel burdened anymore. I had renewed hope because of Ophelia and if working myself to death was the price I had to pay to keep her safe, then so be it.

___________________

October 17th, 2016

September drew to an end and gave way to the month of October.

We experienced fall at this time of the year. From my office, I watched the leaves on trees turn brown, some had a golden hue to them, others had a reddish hue then they'd fall off the trees to the ground. It felt magical and had a calming effect.

The two months had been hell for me but I didn't give in. Sometimes I worked from one day into the next, I only left my chair when I wanted to use the bathroom or eat. I spent most nights in my office working, a time like this made me thank God for my insomnia. Sometimes I passed out on my desk when I couldn't handle the stress. I looked like a starving vampire when I examined my features in the mirror, I hadn't seen the sun in a while, my complexion was pasty and my eyes bloodshot and baggy.

But I handled everything Antonio threw at me, none of his tactics worked on me, I didn't fall for any trick.

Then one day, everything stopped.

The first thing they did was relieve me of unnecessary duties.

I walked into my office expecting loads of work on my table but to my surprise it was empty. I had cleared my office the previous day, so I was expecting my table to be stacked with piles of paper, files, anything, but there was nothing.

I thought, maybe they were looking for the next shit they'd dump on my table. So I sat quietly and waited.

I waited and waited and waited....nothing.

Days went by and the same thing happened everyday, no extra work, I only had to attend to my work.

Strange but I was happy about it.

The second thing they did was restore my freedom:

I could take a walk in the garden without someone watching me and reporting to Antonio. One day, I even risked leaving the mansion without telling anyone, just to test waters but no one followed me. I went out a couple of times and it was the same thing. Its like they didn't care anymore.

I became very suspicious of Antonio's motives, he never did anything without a reason, never. If he thought I'd drive straight to Ophelia because I had my freedom back he was wrong, so very wrong.

Surely he knew, I wasn't stupid.

The third thing they did was let me regain their trust:

Since Antonio started having doubts about me, he kicked me out of any conversation he was having. Even when making big decisions for the mob and the company, instead, he preferred asking Raymond, even though I was his superior! I was surprised when he called me into his office two days ago and asked for my opinion concerning something about the Dragon cartel.

Me! Traitor number one.

Once his attitude changed towards me, so did the others, they all felt comfortable around me again. We laughed and joked about, but I wasn't deceived by the charade. Mom always told me the eyes were the windows to the soul and in the eyes of Raymond, I saw disgust and disdain. It told me Antonio was planing something big. Even though we ate and laughed together on the same table, Raymond's eyes were telling me a different story.

I knew they had stopped tracing my calls, Nicholas had been kind enough to let the information slip. It took me by surprise, Antonio trusted me again and since the only person he apologised to was his daughter I figured this was his way of apologising by totally letting me off the hook.

I smiled as I left the window and went back to sit behind my desk.

Everything was back to normal. I checked my calendar, it was two weeks to Halloween. Maybe I could spend Halloween with her.

The thought excited me, I picked up my phone to call her when my desk phone started ringing.

I groaned.

I put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

I heard two small beeps.

"Luke Valentino! I do not like what I'm looking at."

I rolled my eyes. And I'm supposed to be the all seeing God to know what you're looking at. I checked the caller ID, it was our weapons dealer.

"Alfredo.... It's nice to hear from you too."

"Valentino, am I a fucking joke to you! Do you take me for a fool?!" His tone made me flinch away from the phone.

As Alfredo hammered away at my fragile eardrum, I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd just heard.Two beeps? They sounded so familiar, no, IT COULDN'T BE! HE WOULDN'T!

"Valentino, Valentino! Can you hear what I'm saying."

"I will as soon as you stop shouting."

I heard him say, 'the balls on this guy' as he took the phone away to speak to someone in the background.

"I just got off the phone with my accountant and he's telling me that there's no offshore account in the Cayman Islands with my millions in it."

"That's impossible! Are you sure?"

"If this is a joke, I do not find it very funny, Valentino." I pulled up the email with the confirmation of 50 million euros deposited in an offshore account, on my laptop. So Johan had pulled the ultimate runner on me, a fake bank alert. He had probably closed up shop and gone underground after I had given him his daughter.

The bastard.

"Alfredo, I'll get back to you." I hung up before he could say another word.

I was going to kill him.

I punched in Andre's cell number, he picked up on the second ring, I heard those two beeps when he did.

"25 million euros if you can track down a man named Jonah Mitchell Sullivan for me, I'll double the price if you can coerce him, through whatever means you like, to sign in all his assets, wherever and whatever they may be, into an account in the Cayman Islands. He'll know the one. I'll triple the price and even give you a gift from Alfredo if you can keep him alive, long enough for me to come down and put a bullet in his skull. I'll send in half the payment now." I disconnected the call.

I picked my phone and dialed my PA's number.

"Good evening, Mr Valentino." She answered in her velvety voice when she picked up.

Two beeps again.

"Agatha, I seem to have a problem?"

"What can I do to help you sir?"

"Please email my schedule for next week and have my accountant wire 13 million into Mr Andre's account."

"Yes sir."

I disconnected the call.

It wasn't necessary, but I just wanted to confirm that they had done the same thing to my phone and I had heard correctly.

I called Alfredo back on the desk phone. Two beeps sounded again when he picked up.

"Listen Alfredo, I'm sorry. There must be a mistake somewhere. I'll deal with it, in the meantime I'll refund."

"You'd better." He disconnected the call.

I stood up, paced around until I could hold it in no more, I picked the vase on my table and smashed it against the wall.

My mother's words rang in my head:

'Come into my splendor says the spider to the fly, come into my web let's have a drink tonight.

Antonio!

He gave me a false sense of security, freedom but I was still in bondage. He was tapping my calls, I'm sure if I searched my office, I would find cameras hidden everywhere.

What made me so angry was that I had almost called Ophelia. I had almost endangered her.

Team Luke: 2

Team Antonio: 2

It was only a matter of time, just one more move and one of us would checkmate.

And I knew the consequence if Antonio made that move first.

________________