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106|Chasing Ghosts—Part 2
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Beautiful Disaster 107|Finish What You Started
They had to stop in Forrest Creek first to pick Orlando up from Mrs Allan's place before heading back to The Castle.As they drove through the cobbled streets of the artsy neighbourhood, Austin pointed out various places of interest, from the rooftop market at the Civic Theatre to the public swimming pool and the Garden of Remembrance in the middle of the Town Square."And that's Fugue," he concluded the tour, pointing at a fairly new building swathed in postmodern architecture in the distance.Marybeth craned her neck, trying to get a better look. "It sounds swanky. What is it?""An art gallery owned by Willow Anderson, Liam's middle sister," Austin explained."You seem to know a lot about the Andersons," said Marybeth as she tried to think back to the last time she had set foot in an art gallery. She couldn't."Not really," Austin replied, shrugging. "But since we move in the same circles, it's hard not to know everyone's business.""I see," she nodded absently, her eyes lighting up
Beautiful Disaster 108|Paranoid
Marybeth sat on the couch, her stomach immediately twisting in knots when she noticed her bathrobe on the wingback chair in front of the window. She clearly remembered leaving it on the couch before joining Austin in the shower earlier.Running her gaze through the room, her dread intensified when she noticed one of the drawers on the console table in the entrance hall was slightly open even though none of them had touched it."Beth?" Austin said from the doorway of Orlando's room."What's wrong?" he asked as he softly shut the door behind him and crossed the room. "Are you feeling sick? You look a little pale. Was it the food?""I'm fine," Marybeth said, pulling away from him when he tried to check her temperature with the back of his hand."You don't look fine," he insisted, his eyes dark with concern. "What's going on?"Marybeth opened her mouth to speak, but her brain couldn't articulate her terror for some reason. Surely Austin would think she was crazy and making shit up—"Žena,"
Beautiful Disaster 109|Two Minutes
[Book 2]...Austin had done this at least a hundred times before, if not more—blitz-attacked idiots bold enough to think they could cross him. And never in his wildest dreams would he have ever imagined that someday he'd find himself on the receiving end of such an attack or that the person who'd try to take him down would be none other than the man he'd trusted implicitly up until a few moments ago.While he was still trying to process the last ten seconds and make sense of the horror unfolding before his eyes, more armoured vehicles descended upon the scene, and a fresh wave of armed guards spilt out of the open doors."The backup teams are here!" announced Jakov, the man in charge of Austin's security in Rock Castle.Austin had known him his whole adult life, and if anyone could get them out of a hairy situation, it was Jakov. After all, he was ex-military and had a wealth of experience in surprise attacks."How do you want to proceed? Should we engage?" Jakov asked as he fiddled w
Beautiful Disaster 110|A Fool For You
As they drove to the Ivanovs storage facility on the outskirts of town, an unsettling silence wove its spell over the car. No matter how hard Austin wanted to lighten the mood and ease the tension swirling in the back seat, his rattled brain couldn't come up with anything appropriate to say. So, he eased back in his seat, oddly comforted by Orlando's soft, rhythmic breathing as she slept in his arms. He kissed her forehead, grateful she was a heavy sleeper. He would have hated for her to wake up in the middle of the chaos and be confronted with the brutal reality of their world."We're here," Jakov announced almost ten minutes later as they pulled into the parking area where Nikolai's shiny Bentley and the three cars his men had used in their ambush just moments ago were now parked.Having been here a few times before, Austin knew that not everything stored at the facility was legit. In fact, the place was the Ivanovs' home base for their drug operation.The main floor of the single-s
Beautiful Disaster 111|Beaten
Marybeth dozed off with Orlando in her arms almost as soon as they took off for the Blue Mountains, giving Austin a chance to quickly draft the agenda for the family meeting. He sent it off to Tim and Angelo when he was done.Next, he tackled his reports and contracts.His interest was piqued when he checked his emails and saw a vague message from his assistant asking him to call her ASAP.Austin reached for his phone, dialled Elizabeth's number, and had to wait exactly twenty seconds before she picked up, "Mr Hawthorne, I didn't expect to hear from you until you landed in the Blue Mountains. Is everything okay, sir?"Most people were usually cranky and disoriented at 1:00 AM on a Sunday. Not Elizabeth. She sounded chirpy and lucid. But then again, why was he surprised? She wasn't like most people. Sometimes Austin wondered if she was even human."I saw your message," he said, skimming through his mail. At the rate things were going, he'd have to hire someone just to man his inbox; th
Beautiful Disaster 112|Take The Throne
Austin was pleased to see that his message about expecting full attendance was well received. Everyone—from their soldiers right up to top management—was present and waiting with bated breath to find out why he'd called them in at the crack of dawn. They couldn't even keep their curiosity in check long enough to give him a chance to turn on his camera, firing their questions as soon as he opened the meeting. "We're leaving The Corporation with immediate effect," he said calmly, his gaze unflinching as he stared straight at the camera. For the longest minute in history, stunned silence followed his announcement. Then the virtual meeting room descended into chaos when his words finally sunk in. Everyone spoke at once, demanding to know what possessed him to take such a drastic decision. "Have you lost your mind?" Lukas bellowed from the comfort of his living room in Clarence Estate. "I told you Blake was far better equipped to run this family. Look at the mess Austin has made!" Fria
Beautiful Disaster 113|Can No Longer Be Trusted
After the meeting, Austin asked his father to stay behind; he had a few urgent matters to discuss with him."What's this about?" Lukas asked as soon as the last of their men dropped off the call. "Don't tell me there's more to the mess with the Ivanovs!"There certainly was more with Nikolai, but Friar John was a far more pressing concern for Austin."It's not the Ivanovs," he told his father. "It’s your consigliere."Lukas leaned back on his Chesterfield couch and crossed his legs, his gaze steady as he stared back at Austin through the screen, "John? What's the matter with him?"Ignoring his father's question, Austin proceeded with his own fact-finding mission, "I know you two go way back, but how exactly did you meet? And how well do you know him?"Lukas seemed taken aback by his question, but he took a moment to mull it over before replying, "We met in '89. Back when I thought abalone trading was good business.""So you know about his past life as a game ranger, then?" asked Austi
Beautiful Disaster 114|Powerless
It took Austin a little while to get a hold of his emotions, and when he felt calm enough, he phoned Blake. He wanted to give him the heads up and check how far he was with his plans to get Sebastian and his family to safety. But his call went unanswered. So he sent him a brief text, letting him know the cleanup was about to begin.Dog-tired as he was, Austin still had a few more fires to put out, starting with briefing his handlers about Marybeth's security.He turned to the kitchenette, where they were lounging around, sipping on bourbon while they played a fierce game of crazy eights.They set their cards down on the counter and gave him all their undivided attention when he strolled in."What a shit show, huh!" commented Benji.Austin wasn't sure if he was referring to the family meeting, Lukas or the stuff with Nikolai, but he nodded anyway, snorting under his breath, "You have no idea!""What did Ivanov want?" Arno asked as he picked up his glass and twirled it in his hand befor
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