The air in the room shifted the moment Iryna's presence was announced. It was incredible how someone could be very intimidating.From the guards entering to the throne-like chair being brought in, everything was enough to make the average person tremble. Audrey barely forced herself to not be absorbed by the tension.All executives present at the meeting were standing on their feet, as a sign of respect. They were all waiting for the woman to enter.That woman was Iryna Gallagher now known as, Iryna Walters.Audrey remembered the first day she had seen Iryna. It was not fewer than eight months ago when she and Michael's relationship was still new. She saw Iryna walking hand in hand with Michael on a street. Michael noticed her looking at him and he smiled at her and winked.She had troubled herself many nights, asking why such a handsome prince like Michael was holding hands with such a vulgar person. She had initially thought that it was a fan, but seeing the way they were too chummy
Audrey was trembling in her seat despite the calm exterior was trying to maintain. If the director who she considered a workaholic could be fired —what could happen to her?If this happened a few weeks ago, she might have not even cared. But she had just made up her mind to prove to Michael that she wasn't dumb. Now, she wanted to become serious..."God please help me," she mumbled under her breath.She wasn't a believer but extreme problems called for extreme measures."Mrs. Iryna—" Marcus suddenly squeaked out."Mrs. Walter," Iryna corrected Marcus immediately."Sorry, Mrs. Walters," Marcus corrected, already feeling the pressure pressing down on his lungs.What if Iryna got so angry and decided to punish him as well?"Please, I beg of you to reconsider him from his post in this company. I have known him for years, forgive him for his—" Marcus was suddenly interrupted again by Iryna's high-pitched voice.Audrey did her best to avoid direct eye contact with her."Let him stay? Hell n
"Modelling school project! Yes, it is on the way. I didn't inform her of that because I took it upon myself to see it done personally." Marcus took over.Audrey let out a sigh of relief, but from Iryna's facial expression, relief was a very distant oasis on a sun-scorched wilderness."She hadn't been briefed?" Iryna directed her attention at Marcus."Haven't you heard that communication makes a company grow? You could have just given her the heads up on it," Iryna wore a tight scowl on her face.Marcus was starting to get on her nerves."I didn't really want to tell her. Even some of the members here are not aware of it because it was against the wishes of the board," Marcus said.Iryna looked at him for a while, she would let them get away with this but there were a lot of things she knew that Audrey probably didn't."Good. Glad to hear that it is on the way, what about STRAUN? Why haven't we struck a deal with them yet?" She turned to Audrey again.Audrey's face was pale with worry.
Iryna glanced at her watch and saw that it was already late afternoon –no wonder her stomach had been grumbling in the meeting.Strangely enough, there was soft music playing in the elevator which only intensified her hunger. Lucien stood in front of her while the other men flanked her. She wanted to talk to Lucien about food, but that would belittle her. She was a boss now, she couldn’t eat just anywhere.Besides, a black SUV would be waiting for her in the basement parking lot. All she had to do was have a little more patience.Lucien led the way, the moment the elevator dinged open. They formed a group walking on either side of her till they got to the vehicle. Lucian opened the door and waited for her to step in before following.“Christ! That was draining! Don't you think so Lucien?” Iryna asked as she got comfortable in the car.“You did really well madam. I didn’t expect them to be that frightened by you. It was a pleasant surprise really.” Lucien made a hand signal to the guar
“This is not acceptable, I shall not take this lightly! How can she just walk in and embarrass me in front of the board? Doesn’t she know who I am? I am Michael Grant! America’s up-and-coming model!” Michael barked inside Marcus’ office.Marcus eyed him from his computer. “Don’t forget, she owns this company,” Marcus muttered.He was getting tired of hearing Michael’s rant. First, his daughter had locked herself in her office, weeping all day since the meeting, and now he had to deal with Michael too.“My foot! I don’t care, I will have to do something about her. Just because she has a lot of power doesn’t change the fact that she is a peasant! A few makeovers and a change of clothes won’t change that. It is in her blood, the poverty genes!” Michael continued fuming.Marcus breathed through his teeth and slammed the table. “You think you are the only one that has it rough here?” He stood up and pointed at Michael. “You think you are the only one that has it rough? I have to endure thi
Michael stopped at the door and looked at the two muscular men standing at the door. They barely looked like police officers. Their toned muscle probably showed ex-marine or something like that. Michael made sure to keep a mental note of that so that he wouldn't try anything stupid. "Your card sir?" The first man asked. His uniform was abnormally tight around his chest, and even his face was muscular. His tanned skin, which showed his interest in the outdoors, glowed.Michael handed the card out and smiled. "Sure."The blond man handed his card to the second one at the door. The second man who was two heads taller than Michael had a breath that was enough to scare children on Halloween. "Verified, you can enter," the man said as he passed a machine on it. "Thank you very much," Michael said graciously and entered the office. His arrogance had no place here and he knew it.The office was quite spacious, with large windows that had shutters on them. Achievements and awards lined th
Iryna scrolled through her phone to order food at the restaurant. The restaurant had an app that displayed its menu for orders, an innovative way of eating. The restaurant itself was one of the best modern restaurants around. A VIP section of the restaurant was reserved for Iryna. The men stood around, watching with eagle eyes precision for anything suspicious that might harm their new master. She heard Lucien conversing on the phone and watched as he turned to stare at her then he turned to continue on the phone."Did you check him for recording devices?" Lucien asked. Iryna cocked a brow since it had sparked her interest. She waited patiently for Lucien to finish on the phone. "Please make sure to shake him up for me," Lucien said before ending the call with a hiss. He walked back to Iryna and stood at her table. "Who were you talking with?" Iryna fired away immediately. Lucien put the phone down. "I just got off the phone with the chief of the police." He gave a hand signal
Hello?" Iryna answered. She felt disappointed in herself the moment the word left her lips. She should have waited for him to speak first since he called. "Iryna? Oh, thank God you picked," Michael breathed on the line. There was a pause and Iryna could hear the sound of traffic in the background. She pictured Michael walking back home at ten minutes past seven in the evening. The thought brought up a smile on her face, the tales of his suffering were what she was looking forward to. Michael's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she crossed her legs. "Hello? Hello? Iryna can you —can you hear me?" Michael asked. "What do you want?" Iryna asked immediately. Lucien looked back at her upon hearing the tone of her voice. He thought it was maybe a waiter bugging her. When he saw that she was speaking on the phone, he turned away, minding his business immediately. "Look Iryna, whatever pain I have caused you, can't we just talk it out peacefully? Look, I know you are after my
The court had been swift in declaring Marcus and Michael's verdict.Michael had hired a hot-shot criminal lawyer that lied like fuck during the entire hearing. The man was so good that he had almost even convinced everyone at the hearing that his client Michael was innocent, but the evidence was just too much against him.Marcus had been sentenced to ten years in prison with light labor in a penitentiary in California.Michael was sentenced to twenty-one years in prison, with hard labor and no parole. His modeling career was over, his life was over as it stood."Mark my words, you will pay for this!" Michael had said to Iryna when he was being thrown in a van."It should get old by now, shouldn't it?" Lucien waved him away at the court.Amanda Walters was still being held by the FBI, and it looked like it would remain like that for a while.The FBI wanted to fish out all information about the Mafia network in Latin America.Tyrese's charred body was later recovered.It was discovered
The sound of helicopters got closer and panic started spreading among the gangs and Mafia lords that surrounded the empty cars."The FBI!" Someone screamed.Government-issued SUVs pulled up and FBI SWAT teams were already over the place, holding their guns at them. They were completely surrounded.Michael gritted his teeth and dropped his phone. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He screamed. "Why does this always happen to me!"The FBI team wasted no effort in apprehending all the Mafia and gang members.The mission was possible because of two things, one, the FBI had come in massive numbers and had surrounded their enemies. Two, because of their magnificent entree, the enemy was too overwhelmed to act that they had suddenly given up their will to fight."Drop your weapons and go down on your knees, order of the bureau!" someone said on a loudspeaker."Fuck this!" Michael dragged Amanda and kicked Marcus out of his way. He ran forward to a nearby vehicle, but he was stopped by agents.Amanda tried
"Sir, the plane has landed," the intercom buzzed.Michael was seated inside a black limousine and sipped wine from his cup."Any sign of them?" He asked after he had put his glass down."Yes, they are stepping out of the plane," the intercom buzzed again."Jesus, New Orleans is so cold at this time of the year," Amanda shivered as she entered the car. "So this is the United States," Amanda looked out of the window at the high-rise buildings in the Central Business District."The target has landed, the plan is being kicked into motion," Michael said."Good, they will be heading to the mansion, and we will cut them off in that location you mentioned," Amanda held Michael's chest and began drawing circles."What are you doing?" Michael suddenly asked.Amanda came up and kissed Michael on the lips, short and fast."What was that for?" Michael asked as blushes developed on his cheek."That is just part one, I will give you the rest when we are done with them," Amanda whispered in his ears.
Iryna's eyes felt like lead when she woke up. She was in and out of sleep for the past eight hours. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The bandages on her hands made them feel even sore.She looked out of the window and all she saw was water, from a bird's eye view. They were on their way to The United States... home."You were out for quite a long," a deep voice spoke.Iryna turned in the direction of the voice and saw Lucien sitting on a chair on the other side. IV lines were there and he wore a blanket over his legs. He looked better now, and his wounds had been tended to."Gosh," Iryna rubbed her eyes and yawned. "How are you doing, Lucien?" Iryna asked. She stretched and heard a few bones bop in her shoulders."Never been better," Lucien laughed. "The doctor said it was a miracle I was alive. My liver has been grazed, plus a lot of other internal blood vessels," he said with a smile. "Seems like I will be out for months," Lucien chuckled."Just rest up," Iryna told him. She looked o
Michael was getting irritated where he was. All of a sudden, the cops were showing up in large numbers, and Amanda was nowhere to be found."Alright boys, let's round this up!" Michael spoke out.The men all stopped and looked at him."I know, I am not your boss, but I can't seem to find Amanda anywhere and the police are coming, so we will have to ditch this place and run," Michael explained.He expected Amanda to do just fine, besides she was crazy enough to save him from the FBI that day. She would save herself."Where is Amanda?" One of the men asked. "We can't leave without her," he looked around. There was a murmuring passing among the group."For Christ's sake! It is almost morning, we have to go," Michael pointed at the sky.The sun was just On the horizon, it was just seconds away from sunrise. There was no time to wait around anymore."Michael!" Amanda suddenly appeared from behind a vehicle and she limped heavily.Her Kawasaki bike was oddly naked and there were a few crazy
Amanda stood up and stepped forward. Her left leg side roared with pain from her contact with the ground after that stunt with the van. There was a bruise on her forehead, but nothing she couldn't handle.Amanda picked up a bat that lay on the floor and smiled. She walked in the direction of the van.Iryna was the first to open her eyes. She let out a cough. Her legs hurt, but she could still feel and move them.She looked around and saw that the door at the back was missing. She felt fear develop in her and turned towards Lucien. He was still breathing, but he was knocked unconscious after the van turned over. Reynold was also unconscious, but his breathing was becoming raspy.Iryna looked at the front, and she saw Selena dangling from her seat belt upside down, the wound on her head looked very bad, and she could already tell that the driver was in an even worse state.Iryna tapped Selena's face. "Selena, Selena, wake up," there was a response, the twitching of facial muscles and so
"Shit, hold him tight!" Selena cussed as they lifted Reynold across the burning parking lot.Iryna held his legs, while Selena held his hands. He turned out to be too heavy for one person to carry."Huh," Reynold groaned. They had managed to stop the bleeding, it was a miracle he was still alive after all that blood loss."Hang in there, we will soon get you a doctor," Iryna said despite the pain in her leg, as they carried him to a waiting vehicle. A nab was waiting outside and when he saw them, he brought out a stretcher and ran to them."He needs medical treatment," Iryna said to the man."Christ! Señorita Selena! What took you so long?" The man asked. He had a very thick accent."Long story, just focus on getting us out of here," Selena said to the man.Iryna opened the door to the bus and saw Lucien sleeping on a bed. There were vials and IV lines that were still attached to him."Hey madam," Lucien's voice cracked."Lucien!" Iryna hugged him. "God, you are alright.""Last time y
Selena would never forget Iryna's scream. It rang through the night and was momentarily louder than the sound of bullets moving around them.Iryna herself could not even hear her own screams. They were silent in her skull. She couldn't even hear the sounds of gunshots. She didn't care about the bullets that ricochetted against the cars.As she watched as Reynold slowly fell to the floor, she wanted to die too."Shit!" Selena cussed as she grabbed Iryna and ran to take cover.Kynes fired several shots at them, but they had safely gone behind vehicles."What are you doing?" Iryna was hysterical. "What about Reynold? We can't leave him there!" She kicked against Selena and thrashed about.She refused to accept that Reynold was dead. He was lying on his back, a pool of blood was already forming there."What are you doing? There is nothing we could have done! There is nothing I can do to bring him back!" Selena screamed.She looked over the trunk of the car and several shots rang. She duck
Reynold rested on the bench and ran his hand gently on Iryna's shoulder. It was the first time he was finding comfort in detention. Even in their situation, Iryna still looked very appealing.Reynold tried not to wake her up as he caressed her gently. Very soon, Selena would come up with a crazy escape plan.He was worried about Iryna, he didn't want any bullets touching her, and how they would move Lucien who had just come out of surgery —everything was hard.Reynold bent down and kissed Iryna's head. She smelled of mint, she must have used the twenty-four hour mist. It had been two days since they had gotten a proper shower. But Iryna still smelled nice.He heard footsteps at the door and Reynold clenched his jaw muscles. He sure hoped as hell that it wasn't Kynes. He always spoiled the mood.There were two heavy thuds. Reynold cocked his brows and watched the door.The door flew open and Selena walked in. She looked around the room and pressed the switch. Reynold flinched from the