Aliyah strolled hesitantly across the corridor and headed back to the living room, as soon as she turned the corner, she met his piercing gaze, fixated on her as she moved closer. Ben was seated on the couch with his legs crossed, she wondered why he was still shirtless, perhaps he had the sudden urge to remain topless this evening. She was gone for quite a while and Ben had more than enough time to go back to his room, get something to wear, and return to the living room, but he did not. He just sat there waiting, unclad, for reasons only he knew the answers to. She could feel the heat from the lasers he was shooting from his eyes. "How long are you gonna leave my limited editions togs lying on the floor?" his words jolted her out of her thoughts, "W—W—What?" She asked in a low and submissive tone, still in a daze. "Get my Shirt off the fucking floor!" he snapped at her, Aliyah did not know when her legs moved on their own toward where she had thrown his shirt, on the ground, It
********"Sir, we have searched everywhere and there is no sign of it, all his houses and hidden properties, even the ones acquired under false names""Damn you Peter. Even in your grave, you are being a thorn in my side, huh?" The grumpy middle-aged man muttered to himself, as he peered out of his window. "You are probably somewhere up in hell making fun of me now, aren't ya?" he gave a thousand-yard stare. "Sir, there is one more thing I have to tell you." he turned in curiosity about his assistant's words."What is it about?" his brows furrowed in anticipation. "The only possibility left is his dau—"Ring! His mobile buzzed, it wasn't a text but a call. He raised a hand to cut him off. And picked up the phone to his ear. "Hello, who am I speaking with?" he asked in curiosity, he was not expecting any calls this earlyAliyah's eyes widened at the familiar voice"Hello, Uncle Dave is that you? it's me, Aliyah" a low tired voice spoke from the phone, the middle-aged man's brow
She turned to him briefly, it felt like they could both see through their eyes, what was lying deep in their souls, away from the world. Ben stared at her, his gaze being nothing like it was yesterday, not tender, but more subtle, she thought about asking him again, she had no one to turn to, no one but him, and it was all clear to her now.Even if he was a raving lunatic whom she suspects to be a murderer, she was still willing to toss those thoughts aside and plead with him again. Her Uncle did not give a rat's ass about her or about making things right, that was the weighty fact she had to come to terms with, it was the truth laid bare. And she was going to have to deal with it somehow. She felt betrayed. Being next to him, was unsettling but, the words sat right on tip of her tongue and all she had to do was just say it, her eyes were already saying it on her behalf, but he wouldn't acknowledge such a thing, he had a heart of steel. "I-" Ben interjected before she could say a
It was now clear to her that his order was just an attempt to make her suffer because she could not stand the sight of blood. It felt like she was out of the lion's den as soon as she stepped out of the room, she stood there for a while and her eyes traveled to the clothes in her hands, since he wanted too much to throw them away now she would do just that. She retraced her steps back to where she had picked them from and tossed them back there. Then went back to the kitchen to brew his cup of coffee for him, when she was done she carried the cup, gently on the tray to go and give him in the study— as soon as she opened the door— that was when she noticed the scene, books were scattered across the floor, as if a tussle had ensued in here, but it was just Ben at his desk doing what he was doing like he did not notice this, although he seemed troubled on something as his gaze remained fixated on his laptop.What the hell happened here? She wondered. Aliyah's eyes shot from left to
Ben fiddled with the the glass cup filled to the top with whiskey, he brought the cup to his lips and gobbled it down his throat, his Adam's apple bobbling up and down, before he dropped the glass cup on the table with a slam. An annoying thought invaded his mind. Opposite where he sat was Karl who was fiddling with a pen in his own hand, while the other hand held a glass cup which he took his time, sipping slowly from, savoring the taste, and taking a sip again. His eyes darted to Ben who looked troubled somewhat, a very unusual expression on his face. "What's up? Seems like you've got a load of things on your table," Ben spared him a glance as he settled on the couch, waving his hands through his hair, "Is it business related? Or the other?" Karl asked, visibly worried, because he was well aware of the countless number of people trailing behind Ben recently. For one thing or the other —mostly negative things. "Nothing serious," Ben answered with a flip of his finger
Ben rubbed his forehead, seeming bothered about something after he cursed. "What's up?" Karl asked."Speak of the devil," Ben muttered as he dropped his phone on the table. Karl raised a brow, wondering who Ben was referring to—he suddenly paused, throwing a gaze at Ben "Don't tell me you are referring to grandfather as the devil when you are even more delish than he is? Is that a text from him?" Karl asked bemused. "Who else will I be referring to if not him?" Ben asked with a shrug of his shoulders, he stretched his hand, "It was from Steve. He said grandfather had to be rushed to the hospital again. But it wasn't very urgent no need to worry. Grandfather just wants to be out of the hospital, I guess that's why he didn't wait for more than two days before rushing out of the hospital, only to be rushed back in."Karl chuckles—both of them fully aware of how tough the old man could be, only doing things he wanted and wished. "And he also wants me to come by tomorrow, bet that's ju
She felt like she was drowning in a sea of exhaustion, the arch of her back was aching and her heavy shoulders weren't in the best shape, she lifted the weight of her body on the floor and felt the warmth of what seemed like a cover in her side, she remembered clearly that she didn't cover herself with this.It looked like Ben's jacket so she quickly took it off and rushed to place it back on the rack before he came back. Her muscles were tensed and she still had so much book to cover. She could not even think for a second that it was Ben who put the cloth on her. Without much thought, she stood up from the floor, feeling dizzy. An hour passed, and Aliyah concluded her tasks at the library. Exiting after meticulously arranging everything, she descended the stairs, anticipating Ben's presence in the living room to report the completion of the assigned work. However, he was nowhere to be found, prompting her to head straight to the kitchen for a much-needed water break.Viola, hav
*************It was a breezy evening before a storm. Mr Vawn stood in front of the expansive window before him as he muttered to himself about not being able to undergo his nightly strolls. Even For a man who had been unstoppable all his life the limitations of aging and the eventuality of death were unavoidable. this was the task he faced every day as he was on the last leg of his life, he had left most of his work in the hands of capable men, and the strolls were the only thing he looked forward to these days apart from the timely visits of his grandchildren as he awaited his end. He spent his time resting these days as he had fully relinquished all his positions to retire but there was one thing that bugged him to this day. His search for a successor. Being a man who arrived at the pinnacle of business by sheer dedication and hard work he wasn't okay with the idea of inheritance merely on the basis of blood tiesHe had made it clear to his family that the one who inherited his
Chloe stepped into her room and went on a frantic search for her phone. Her father barely threatened her but she was sure that whenever he did, it wasn't a joke—this annoyed her to the core. She picked up her phone, intending to make a call, and scrolling through the call log, she dialed a number."Hello, Clarice," she spoke abruptly. "Hey, Chloe it's been a while. How are you? you don't sound so good." Clarice detected immediately that the unease in Chloe's voice was clear."Is everything okay with you?" She asked with great concern.She drew in her breath to recall herself before she spoke. "I'm fine, umm...remember the last time we had a reunion and you invited Aliyah?" Chloe went straight to the point.Clarice was puzzled by the direction their discussion was going since Chloe never tried to hide her contempt for Aliyah. Hearing her start with something that concerned her was off-putting."Y-Yeah I do" she stammered, her lips curling to one side as she waited for her friend's
Dave Thompson sat down in the living room of his opulent house, looking disturbed and worried as he angrily slammed his phone on the table—he was heavily disoelws3d from the news he just heard. Mark was just not anyone to their organization, he had a lot of resources and was like a brother to him, so the news reaching him about the death of his friend shook him to the core, but what disturbed him more was how Mark was killed and tossed in the street close to one of their underground business headquarter—he was certain that whoever killed Michael was not just powerful but daring and he was after something that without a doubt had something to do with him as well. He cursed under his breath before standing up, pacing around, and thinking deeply about something—he would have to get Akiyah out of Ben's territory sooner and not later, cause there was so much time. If he wasn't careful, the next death would be his and maybe it would be more cruel compared to what his friend suffe
Ben held a blank look at her before he shut the door, and the last thing she saw was his lips slowly pulling into a smirk. She zapped out of the room like a scaredy cat, his eyes trailed to the item that was placed stop his table, a small parcel that was no bigger than a brick.His eyes flicked as a thought seemed to extinguish in his mind. he turned his back to carry on with what he was doing.What was that about? She wondered if she could still feel his breath on her skin even though she was away from him already.Aliyah cursed him in a low voice before heading down the stairs. Cecile was nowhere to be found and Aliyah assumed she was already getting ready in her room, so she went straight to the kitchen.She still couldn't find Viola, so she decided to just start preparing the dish, she wanted to do it alone without assistance, so this was fine. Just as Aliyah brought out the ingredients she needed, she stepped over to the refrigerator and opened it, bringing out some vegetable
Cecile might have tried to hide it but getting a compliment from Ben pleased her.She was a little girl at the end of the day and even though she was so against her brother she still sought validation from him, to be seen and to be heard.Viola and Aliyah observed as she came by to drop the plates that had been lined in the room for a while."You are lucky Master Ben didn't get angrier than that, that was a crazy stunt you tried to pull. how could you do that?" Viola stated Aliyah rolled her eyes at the endless nagging she was receiving from her makeshift older sister."Don't worry about it, I was just about tired of his attitude that was why I did that, okay?" Viola only pursed her lips.She took a long probing gaze at Aliyah's and then suddenly relented since she seemed to be getting nowhere with the scolding.With all that had happened and how Ben had reacted to the whole thing it all made Aliyah wonder if he was trying to seem softer to his sister, if that wasn't the case there wa
A black Mercedes drove into a dark alleyway across the street, a narrow way in between long buildings, and after a while, it came to a slow stop. Chris stepped out of the car, and brushed his hair to the back, with closed eyes, he took in a deep breath and ruffled his hair, a smirk seized at his lips. Rolling the car keys in his hand, he approached a door, opened it, and stepped into a dark room. As soon as he walked in, the lights flickered on, his skeptical eyes scanned the surroundings, and he muttered, "Let's get down to business, Ernesto. Unlike you, I have other things to do rather than stay hidden in a dark alleyway while planning an attack on my rival." Chris pulled out a chair, wiped it off with a napkin on the table, and sat down, crossing his legs to sit in a relaxed state. Nearly two minutes after he welcomed himself in, shoe clicks echoed through the small room and a man came into view. Standing tall, emanating a thoughtful presence, his angular jawline was mark
The heat that exploded in his body due to the spice in the food was unimaginably painful, he felt it in every inch of his body as he experienced severe heart burn, he knew for a fact, that beyond any reasonable doubt, this was a malicious orchestration. Heavy beads of sweat formed and trickled down his forehead as he held himself in place with shere will, if he wasn't used to the sensation of pain he'd have been rolling on the floor like a goddamn child.Cecile had a knack for getting back at him but he knew for a fact that she'd never pull such a trick. Already knowingly, there was only one other person who would have done it and he knew.Ben leaned his back against the wall for support, still reeling from the near-death experience he just had before he'd go back into the dining room, if she was trying to play a fast one for him for petty revenge, even if she won he wouldn't let her see that or get the pleasure of her success.Aliyah's eyes scanned around and there was still no sign
Ben left Aliyah seeking clues about what the hell he meant about all that.She was beyond confused wondering what she could possibly do to get through to him, to appeal to that rock-hard heart of his.She suddenly heard the door swing open, and Ben strutted slowly into the room looking ready to go to bed."You have told me to try to earn the privilege but you have given me no clue on how to do that whatever I do, you are just going to have to bear with it then. Until I figure it out.""Whatever I don't care," he replied casually before nestling on the bed.His answer was expected, she grinned as she watched him turn his back to her."Fine then I'll just do whatever I can since he asked for this she thought to herself."With the answer he gave, she was going to find a way to get on his good side one way or another, but before all that, there was something she needed to do first.Something that had been burning within her since the incident, her urge for vengeance, Whatever his reason
Ben pulled his car to stop, right by the corner of the road as a call came in. It was from Levi, and he had been expecting him to call sooner rather than later. He had handed Mark over to him and there were answers that he required."Hello Levi, what has he told you?" he went straight to the point."I got him to tell me all he knew, and as you suspected the Costello family seems to be involved, but I think it's more than just that, there was some sort of connivance, we've also been able to locate Riccardo's sister."He gave a deep sigh and brushed his hand through the loose strands of his hair."Find her and make sure she regains her freedom, do whatever you need to do, and bring her back.""Alright, Sir," Levi replied affirmatively"One more thing, boss, It has to do with your lady," he knew exactly who Levi was talking about."What is it?" Ben asked as his face contorted into a frown."All I could surmise is that a big player in politics seems to have been involved in a series of ki
A tall dark brooding man dropped out of his car, the entirety of his attire was black, as if he had just come from a funeral. His darkened gaze was that of a cold murderer, it was Levi, Ben's right-hand man. He tapped gracefully on the side of the cigar pack and swiped up the first one that popped up, sliding it between his fingers he lit it up and took a long, and deep breath, feeling up his insides with the thick smoke oozing from the burning cigar, he swiped it between his fingers and released a puff.Levi stared around briefly before he ambled into a seemingly abandoned building, his shoe clicked gracefully in the alleyway.tossing aside his half-finished stick of cigarette.Levi took a quick look at the battered man who was sitting on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, clear bruises lining every corner of his swollen face, hardly being able to move around because of the cruel torture he had been through. Sitting and looking pathetic on the floor, with blood oozing ou