Huracio
It’s midnight, but Houston never sleeps.
The night is cold and the breeze is biting as autumn is just around the corner.
Standing in front of the hotel’s balcony, gazing at the city lights. The sounds of cars consistently breaking into my thoughts, – I closed my eyes and let my spirit fly.
In five years, this is the first time I am in tune with everything around me. I can feel the ambiance and see the details.
I feel alive.
A few hours ago, Stone returned with a report. Katalina is staying offshore on a relatively safe island, and Emilia is preparing to move to Poland.
“We can’t let her leave. As long as she is here, Katalina will not be too stubborn.” I told him.
“Boss, do we really have to go this far?” Stone finally asked the question I knew was eating him up since I activated RedNote.
“What do you think I should do, Stone?” I gave him an enquiring look.
“…”
Not knowing what to say, he brought out another file and handed it over.
“This is the proposal. I have already spoken to the chairman’s special assistant. We may have to wait for some time.”
“How long is some time?”
“Two weeks, or a month.”
“I don’t have two weeks. Find a way to accelerate it.”
“Yes boss.”
Once he stepped out, I closed my eyes, reclined into the sofa, letting my mind drift back to the past.
The darkest time wasn’t when my brother died, or when I heard that my parents were gone. The darkest time was every morning when I woke up with no one by my side. I could smell her in the air, hear her voice drifting like the sound of a soft-sounding whistle, the gentle cackles of her laughter, echoed around the house, but that side of the bed remained empty.
Just like Salvatore said, training Celine was a great distraction. I had someone to vent on. I channeled all my hatred, my sadness, and anger into that training. Celine was brought to the gate of hell and back several times. There were days Salvatore panicked because she almost died. But who cares? Katalina was dead, nothing else mattered.
With that much intense training, Celine was a bimbo within two months. Four months after her disappearance, information about her whereabouts was leaked, and her family moved all their resources to retrieve her. After that, I moved closer to her and she naturally got closer to me.
Seeing that their now mentally unstable, yet precious daughter only liked me, the Alkim’s were ready to shower me with gifts just so I could marry her. Of course, I agreed, and we privately started dating until our engagement was announced a few weeks ago. Celine has been living with me for three years, but never appeared in public until that announcement. She is my human pet, identifying as a dog.
While engulfed in grief and taming Celine, I hardly had a sober day. I was doing lots of drugs and booze, but I never touched her. Instead, I have her to Stone. Though she belonged to me, she became his whore.
During this time, Salvatore didn’t let me stay idle while grieving. He kept sending me documents to sign, and most times, I didn’t read before appending my signatures. I am suspecting that he might have slid in those divorce documents around that time.
After I sobered up and cleaned up, I started thinking straight and secretly questioned some movements and activities from when Katalina went missing. Back then, I was excluded from several meetings, and decision-making. I was too worried and self absorbed to notice that something fishy was going on.
Feeling unresolved, I decided to investigate those events, but nothing surfaced, and that was strange. Even if no traces of Katalina were found, there should at least be other things, like the trial of the people Salvatore sent to search for her. But there was nothing. When I asked questions, no one had answers. That was when I realized that aside from Stone, none of my boys could be trusted. They all answer to Salvatore and will only follow his last orders.
Having strived and grown under his directions and protection all my life, I had overestimated myself, forgetting that all I had was provided by Salvatore. Because Salvatore and I never had a reason to oppose each other, I thought we were on the same level. Then, Katalina came along, and everything changed.
Realizing that I was no different from a kept pet, I sat up and started taking charge of my life. I continued to do the things Salvatore wanted me to do, but I also started building my own connections.
Unfortunately, I dared not build a combat force, so I went online and started building a cyber force of hackers and investigators. I started keeping receipts of Salvatore’s activities and orders. I gathered evidence that could ruin him home and abroad, while also building connections outside the circle Salvatore had created or introduced me to.
With the help from my online connections, I created several strategies to combat Salvatore. RedNote is just one of them. I never thought that I would need to use it for the next ten years. But now that I know that Katalina is alive, I must make big moves. For as long as Salvatore is in charge of my life, I will never be able to bring my wife and son home…
Having organized my thoughts, I walked back into the room where Celine was patiently waiting for the permission to retire for the night. The moment she saw me, she started panting and wiggling her waist. I paused and gave her a deep look. Though I had no use for her, with Katalina back, I needed to figure out how to deal with her.
Deciding her fate would have to wait as there are more important things to ruminate about.
“Good night.” I said to her in my trainer’s tone. I then watched as she crawled into her cage, closed it, and curled up to sleep…
“You will have to trust me on this. More verifications risks exposure. This is not good for both of us.”
“Mr. Ignatius, I understand that Sir Salvatore is your brother.” Laurel, the man seated across from me, asked solemnly.
“That is true.” I nodded.
“Why are you backstabbing him?”
It’s been a week since I found Katalina. I have long secured the deal Salvatore sent me to America to secure, but before returning, I wanted to set the Kim’s corporation against Salvatore by using them to sabotage some major deals he is bidding on overseas. After securing a meeting with Laurel Smart, Chairman Kim’s special secretary,- he proceeded to finely comb through my proposal, but insisted on more verifications after the facts in the file I gave him.
“I am not backstabbing him, Mr Smart. And even if I am, it is not what you should worry about. Your business is with me, and if I don’t have hundred percent assurance, I wouldn’t bring this up. All you have to do is tell me if you are interested or not. If you don’t want it, I will find others who do.” I continued in a monotone, expertly hiding my emotions, giving him no hint.
“…”
Seeing that he was still processing, I stood up, adjusted my suit, and cleared my throat.
“I can see you are not interested. Let’s not waste each other’s time, Mr Smart. Your Kim’s family have done enough for me as it is…”
“You have misunderstood me, Mr Ignatius. We are taking this deal. We just need more guarantee that it is a safe bet. You also know the kind of person your brother is.”
“Every big move comes with its risks, Mr Smart. But I can assure you that if you follow the strategy in this file, you can snatch this pie from my brother. It’s going to be easy and very profitable.”
“If you say so.” He finally broke into a smile, and the tightness in my chest eased up. If he had rejected this deal, I would have needed to regroup and start looking for a better ally, but time isn’t on my side.
He stretched out his hand and I quickly grabbed it. Once we finished shaking on it, I made my way out of the room, unable to stop the smile creeping up my cheeks.
The next move is to retrieve that which solely belongs to me:
Katalina.