“Father,” she greeted as she walked up to him and kissed him on his cheek.
She took the chair opposite him and crossed her legs.“How did the meeting go in London?”Adriano was in his late eighties. He could not travel as much anymore due to his age and health.“It went well. Khan said he already informed you.”The butler walked in and placed Adriano’s whiskey on the table next to him. The butler bowed and left. The tray flew across the floor. Whiskey splashed against the wall and glass pieces shattered everywhere.“I asked you! How many times do I have to tell you, to not trust anyone?”Alice did not flinch. She only stared at him.The butler hurried in and started cleaning and picking up the pieces of glass.“The deal went through. They liked our proposal. We will start supplying in ten days.”Adriano nodded. The sound of his ring finger tapping against the wooden chair annoyed Alice“Everything going as planned with the engagement party tonight?” Adriano asked as he looked with curiosity at Alice.“Wes wants out. He wants to break off the engagement.”“What are you going to do about it?”“I’ll make him regret crossing us. Isn't that what you taught me to do?”Adriano nodded,“Good. I’ll wait to hear the good news”An outsider would frown upon you when they hear you say, “good news sends a chill down your spine”. If only they knew good news to Adriano meant the opposite.Alice nodded,“If there is nothing else, I will take my leave then. I still have to go to the company.” Alice saidAdriano nodded.He stared at the doorway where Alice had left.They arrived at the company. Alice climbed out and walked into the building. When she reached her office, she sat down and opened her laptop. Her fingers ran fast over the keyboard. She leaned back into her chair, then pressed enter. With a smirk, she stared at the coding text on her laptop. Alice pressed the intercom button,“Oliver, get me the CEO of Targo on the line.”“Yes, Alice”A few minutes later her office phone rang. Alice answered the call,“Hello, Jackson.”“Hello Alice, what can I do for you?”“I want you to freeze all further orders from Techno Corporation.”Jackson kept silent for a while,“I heard from your father, Wes will be his future son-in-law. So why do you want me to do that?”“Are you coming to the engagement party tonight Jackson?”“Of course, I am. It would be rude not to.”“Good. You will get your answer tonight. If you want me to continue our business transaction, you will do as I tell you to.”“Alice, If I may ask. Did Wes cross your family?”“Yes,” Alice hissed“It is always a pleasure doing business with your family. Jackson said then ended the call.Targo Corporation.Jackson placed the phone down and turned to his assistant.“Stop all future and current orders that are going out to Techno corporation.”The assistant’s eyes widened,“Sir?”“You better hurry and do as I say. This is an order from Alice herself. If one of our trucks is seen offloading supplies to them, we will be on the wrong side of the Bernardi clan. So, hurry!”When the assistant heard him mentioning the Bernardi clan, the hair on his arm automatically stood up. The two most feared mafia clans were the Rodriguez clan. Their leader was Kevin Rodriguez, and the Bernardi clan.The assistant hurried to his desk. He called all the departments and informed them to stop all current and future orders. The manager of the orders department stormed into the assistant's office,“What do you think you are doing? Do you know how big a loss the company will make if we go ahead with your request? Are you insane?”The assistant looked bored at the Manager.“I’m sorry, but the company's future is more valuable than a few dollars we will lose when we stop our business with them.The manager almost fainted when he heard the assistant’s words.“Stop- Stop – our business with Techno. Have you gone crazy? Where is Jackson, is he aware of this?”The assistant sighed,“Do I ever do anything without Jackson’s orders? I work for him. So of course, the order came directly from him.”The manager could not stand it anymore. He grabbed the chair that stood next to him and slumped down.“How – How can he do this? They are one of our biggest customers.” The assistant waved a dismissive hand, “Not for long. They are in the process of collapsing.” “WHAT? SINCE WHEN?“They crossed the Bernardi clan. It is only a matter of… I would have said days, but I think the correct term would be hours.”The manager leaned forward,“What was Techno thinking? Are they insane!”“They were not thinking at all.”The manager glanced around the office and then looked back at the assistant,“Are the stories true? That Adriano Bernardi is letting his daughter, Alice take over? I heard them say she is the most beautiful woman you will ever seen but inside she is as cold as ice. She has exceptional fighting skills.” He rubbed his arms as he felt goosebumps running over them.The assistant raised his eyebrow,“All I can say is that everyone knows not to cross that family.”The door to Jackson’s office opened. Jackson stood in the doorway staring at the two in front of him.“Should I call Alice and tell her you would like her to come and tell you her story herself?” Jackson asked annoyed.The manager's eyes widened. Jackson's words made him jump to his feet,“I – I have a lot of work that still needs to be done.” He said and hurried out of the officeTechno Corporation“Sir, Sir. Our server has crashed! Everything is down.” Wes stared horrified at the IT guy that rushed into his office.“Then what are you standing here for? Go fix it! Why do you need me to tell you that?” The veins on Wes’s neck stood out.The guy looked down at his shoes.“I – I can’t”“Is this company full of morons?’ he thought to himself.“What do you mean you can’t? Why are you the head of the IT department if you can’t fix something so straightforward?”“Sir. This is more complex than I have ever seen before. It looks like an outside source has done this– this is beyond my knowledge.”Wes closed his eyes, “Can you speak English? What outside source? How is that possible? Didn’t we buy the best program out there to prevent this? Are you telling me the company wasted money!”“It must be an Elite hacker sir. Hopefully, they will contact us soon, and tell us what they want. Normally they are after money.”“Are you telling me I should wait? That is your plan to
Kevin’s eyes followed Alice’s every move. He caught a glimpse of her eyes. Her eyes used to shine full of light. He remembered how they used to sparkle when she twirled around and laughed. Her laughter. Oh, how he missed that sound. He remembers her torn expression when they had to part ways. Her body shook against his as she hugged him and softly cried, saying their last goodbyes. He never saw her again, until today. He kept the promise he made her, but he had a feeling things were not going to be as simple as he thought.“You grew up, Alice. Your not the innocent girl you once were.” Kevin whispered to himselfHe smirked as he watched how she handled Wes."Sir, shouldn’t we follow her?" Nico, Kevin’s right-hand man asked“No,”“NO? We are just going to let her leave?”"Yes, It's not time yet."“O- kay,”"I would love to stay and watch the show, but I have things to do." Kevin patted Nico on the back. "Come on, let's go!"“Why are we leaving now? We are missing the best part!" Nico c
"You overrate my capacity of love. I don't possess half the warmth of nature you believe me to have. An unprotected childhood in a cold world has beaten gentleness out of me."by, Thomas Hardy"GET OUT," Alice screamed then stared out of the window.Her right hand started to tremble. She stops it by placing her left hand on top of it.Oliver nodded and climbed out. Alice watched Khan taking two steps at a time as he sprinted down the steps towards her car. He climbed into the driver's seat and sped off.Alice looked at the ocean as they drove along the shore. The car came to a stop. Khan leaned his seat back and closed his eyes. Alice waited a second. It has been a long time since she came back to this place. She inhaled and climbed out of the car. The fresh sea wind whisked across her face blowing the daisies that were still in her hair with it. She took her shoes off and continue to walk barefoot. In front of her was a long cement pier. She walked until she reached the end of the pi
Kevin read through an important report. He heard the door to his office open.“Didn’t I tell you not to bother me?” Kevin asked annoyed without looking up.“No, you did not!” She said as she walked toward his table and sat in the chair opposite him. Her feet automatically went on to the table.“Feet off!”"Why so grumpy today? Didn’t you miss me? I came here straight from the airport.”Kevin looked up. His facial expression softend when he saw her.“Hello, brother!” She said with a smileHe stood up and walked around the desk. She giggled when he hugged her.He pulled back looking from top to bottom.“Welcome back Maisie! You look good.”Maisie Rodriquez. Age twenty. Kevin’s younger sister.She playfully hit his shoulder.“You better not say I got fat!”He chuckled as he sat on the edge of the table in front of her.“I was talking about your clothes. I gather this is one of your new designs?”She twirled around. “What do you think?” She asks with excitement.He tilted his head left an
Alice’s eyes moved to the guy sitting a table away from the girl. He kept looking her way. Alice tilted her head.“What are you looking at?” Khan asked as his eyes followed hers.” He sighed, “Yeah, I also noticed it when she came in. Looks like he has been following her for a while”“Yeah. I saw that too. Can I please?” Alice askedKhan narrowed his eyes at her. “You know I don’t get you. You hate this type of work but when you can teach someone like him a thing or two” He motioned with his chin toward the guy. “You look like a child in a candy store.”“Yeah well, I like fighting. You like shooting. People like different things, and guys like that. You and I both know what he has in mind for her.”He sighed. “We will see this as your warmup.”Alice smiled triumphantly. She slowly stood up and walked to the guy and sat down in the chair opposite him.“Hey there.” Alice greeted“Get lost. I am working.”“Yeah, I noticed. You wanna play?”“What?” The guy asked“Hey, Franky.”Alice tilted
The door opened to Alice’s office. Alice looked up from her laptop and noticed Khan walking towards her.“Morning, Khan,”“Alice.”“What happened?” Alice asked"The shareholders of LLC Corporation have moved the meeting to tomorrow, they need the product sooner."Alice's frown deepened as she tapped her pencil on the table"Then I guess we are going to London.”“Not we, you are.”“Okay? And why is that?” Alice asked“Adriano wants me to stay behind. He wants you to go alone.”“Why does he need you here?”Khan narrowed his eyes at her, “Alice, do you want me to question him?”Alice bit the side of her lip.“Fine.” You can leave if there is nothing else.Khan stared at her for a moment before he stood up and walked away. As he walked out he slammed the door behind him.Alice stared at the door deep in thought.“Something about this trip doesn’t feel right,” Alice whispered.~~~London~~~Alice looked down at her phone as she walked out of the airport dragging her suitcase behind her.“So
“Bang.”His eyes widened. His finger loosens its grip on the gun letting it fall to the ground. Alice's eyes widened as she watched him fall to his knees. The blood poured out from his forehead down his face. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she crawled backward away from him. His lifeless body fell forward next to Alice. Alice held her breath. Through the screaming and police sirens, Alice, heard the sound of boots pacing toward her.“Alice!”A familiar voice she heard before calling out to her. Alice stared in the direction of the voice, but her blurry vision made it difficult for her to see the man’s face. She closed her eyes and opened them again trying to regain her focus.“KEVIN?” She called out in a hoarse voice. She tried lifting her body only to fall backward again, she saw the figure approaching her, “Finally” she muttered then lost consciousness.‘When we think we finally have everything in our control. Life comes and knocks our feet right from underneath us, showing
“What did you say?” Nico asked from behind.Kevin bowed his head as he closed his eyes. “She is gone.”“She is gone?” Nico asked then rushed past Kevin into the room. He looked frantically around the room and then rushed toward the window.“She is gone,” Nico said as if he was trying to convince himself.He leaned over the window and looked down. “Wow, she is quite something. How did she get down two floors?”“Nico stop looking, she will be gone by now.”Nico turned and looked at Kevin stunned. “She has been shot in both shoulders and her leg. How can she possibly climb down?”Nico looked around the room. He walked to the bed and looked underneath.“We need to get her back. They will kill her if they get her again.” Kevin said,After Kevin had found Alice, he sent word out to his men to keep tabs on her. Kevin had received word that two groups were sent to kill her. He still was not sure who, but when he received the information, he dropped everything and flew directly to London. His