Your daughter or your family

Warren sat gobsmacked starring straight at the man in front of him like a ghost had just appeared in front of him.

  “Hello, Mr. Byrne.” Malcolm had a dirty smile playing on his lips as his assistant pushed the seat opposite Warren and he sat down gracefully. The fearsome aura from the man now sitting opposite him, jerked Warren to his feet. His legs suddenly went jelly.

He wasn’t dreaming, was he?

  “Mr. Knight…” He lacked words to say. Here he was standing in the same space with the most powerful man in the whole of US. A man whose words alone was enough to bring a man down from whatever height he was.

  “You look surprised, Mr. Byrne. I thought this was supposed to be a kidnap according to you.” The dirty smirk never left his lips. His blue eyes as cold and terrifying as ever.

  “Forgive me for being so reckless. I—“

  “Sit.”

Warren quickly found himself back to the chair the minute the words left Malcolm’s mouth. Only a few people were opportuned to meet this man in person. Ninety percent, were people that offended him—locked up in a kind of prison. The other ten percent were lucky business people. Warren wondered which category he fell under that moment. He didn’t remember offending the Knight family.

Malcolm gestured to the man now standing beside him. Now, Warren realized why he was so familiar. He was Malcolm’s assistant; the man with the most envied job in the entire country.

Alex dropped a newspaper in front of Warren whose eyes immediately caught the large picture in black and white print on the front page

  “I’m sure you know who that is.” Malcolm spoke up, the dirty smirk on his lips was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a grim expression.

Of course, Warren immediately recognised the girl in the picture. Her face might have been hidden by Malcolm’s large features but he still recognized her.

It was Lauren.

Shutting his eyes for a brief second, he cursed inwardly. That girl! Always bringing trouble.

  “From what I know, the Byrne family has only one daughter and I think she is too sophisticated to be selling drinks in a hotel.”

Wait a minute!

Was he insinuating he had a hand in it?

  “I don’t know. Maybe, you can tell me.” Malcolm answered his thoughts.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Malcolm scoffed, “You know, we could settle this amicably or I’d be glad to do it the other way round.”

  “My family has nothing to do with this.”

  “Your daughter has, and unless you don’t care about her, your family is involved.”

Warren instantly regretted why he had not added Lauren’s name to the family lineage or even announce her as his daughter in public when she was brought to him. There was no way he could convince anyone that she was his daughter; not when she bore a different surname.

He exhaled, “What do you want?” in as much as he wanted to sound confident, he knew Malcolm could still detect the fear in his voice.

Malcolm remained quiet for a while, “Someone to punish. Your daughter or your entire family.”

  “Are you…!” Warren stopped himself remembering who he was talking to. “You can’t be serious.”

Malcolm’s brows perked up. He wasn’t someone who would mince words. Moreover, if he wanted to play, it would definitely not be with such issue.

  “Your time is going, Mr. Byrne.”

Warren’s heart raced so loud that he could swear Malcolm who sat opposite him heard it. He couldn’t choose. There was no way he would give his daughter up; even Grace wouldn’t let him! He couldn’t let his family fall completely either.

  “What will you do with my daughter?”

  “How I choose to punish her is none of your business. All you have to do is hand her over.”

  “I can’t.” His voice was more of a whisper.

  “Then maybe, I could help Blue Star finish what they started. You should know what I am capable of doing.”

Of course he knew! Just a word from him and his family will fall drastically to the point of no return. “I need time.”

He needed time to talk things out with his wife and his family.

  “I don’t have time, Mr. Byrne.”

Warren gave him a pleading look.

  “Sir, your next meeting is in ten minutes.” Alex spoke up from beside his boss.

Malcolm looked at the gold wristwatch on his left wrist. “I’ll send a car in two days. What returns in it should be your reply. Good day.” With a graceful gait, he walked out of the room quickly followed by his assistant, leaving behind a confused Warren.