CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

Evangeline picked her call and sighed heavily, “Hey, Sis.” She said. “It’s good to hear from you.” She adjusted herself on the bed because Jason moved slightly behind her. She turned to look at him with questioning eyes. He signaled that he wanted to get up, so she adjusted, and he got off the bed. “I was so worried about you. When Jason heard, he came to pick me, and we got in early hours this morning.” She listened to Adriana while her eyes followed the gorgeous man walking away from her. He walked into the bathroom. And she heard him turn on the water.

Entering the bathroom, Evan smiled at the man dipped in the bathtub. “Hey, you.” she said and removed her robe. She loved how he was gazing at her. She deliberately took her time removing the lacey nightwear underneath the robe.

“Come on in.” Jason invited her, watching her undress. Her stomach was becoming rounder and protruding. He helped her into the tub. “Hey.” He said, his eyes fixed on her as she slowly sat down opposite him. He worried about her in a way that he did only for one woman; Ellen. He couldn’t even understand why. Perhaps his growing seed in her made him drawn to her. All he knew was her safety meant more to him than his safety.

When James had told him of Adriana’s kidnap, he had taken the jet and flown down to Miami to get her himself. He found her, unworried, with her friend Zoe. Her head was thrown back in a booming laugh. Her calmness became the cold water that calmed his turmoil. He had simply said his hello to the ladies and waited for her to take the cue.

“You’re here?” She said aloud. Her surprise was written all over her face. Then turning to Zoe, she introduced both, “I don’t believe you’ve met officially.” She said, looking at them both. “Jase, meet Zoe. Zoe, Jason Valdez.”

Stretching her hand for a shake, she said, “Hi, good to meet you, finally.” His handshake was firm, all business-like. Smiling, she added, “I can see you’ve come to whisk her away.”

Thankful that her friend had noticed, he responded, “Yes.” He smiled then turned to Evan, “We’ve gotta leave LA.”

Evangeline could sense the worry in his words. She quirked an eyebrow, but he looked away, refusing to say anything. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. But we should talk on the jet. Can we go now?”

“I was having this serious talk with Zoe.” She frowned, “What do we do now?”

“She can come with.” He said absent-mindedly as his phone rang, and he stepped aside to talk with James briefly. While on call, he heard as Evan excitedly persuaded her friend to visit Miami and sleepover. By the time he was through with the call, she had successfully gotten Zoe to go with them with a promise of a quick stop at her house to get her things. “So, shall we?” He asked as he stepped back into the room.

“Yes. But we’re rushing off to her apartment first, and then we move.” Evan said excitedly, almost jumping up at the news. She could use some old company.

He nodded, and they all left the office with Evan giving a long list of instructions for her PA. “Get the cleaning crew to wipe my desk and underneath it.” She said to Audrey, leaning on the PA’s table. She ran her finger on the lady’s desk. It was dust-free. “Is mine left untouched because I haven’t been here much?”

“No, it must have been an oversight. The cleaning woman always cleans the room.” replied Audrey, getting up to respond to her boss quickly.

“Then monitor her when next she comes. Underneath my table is a mess.” seeing Audrey nod, she paused to think of any other thing she might want to add. “And please give me a brief of the new proposal. Send it to my mail.” She started to walk away. Stopping again, she turned to Audrey, .Then let me know when Mrs. Sullivan contacts us. I’d love to respond to her personally”, she added, and with a smile said, “I think that would be all. And thank you, Audrey, for being so good at your job.”

“Thank you too, ma...for the bonus.” Her paycheck had come in this month with a little extra. And it had meant a lot to her considering she was paying for a course online.

“It’s okay.” She turned and walked into the car to meet Jason frowning over his phone. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. It’s okay now.” he said, smiling at her. He had just received a call from Robert that Adriana was safe. The kidnap had been orchestrated by her husband, Noah. He relaxed as the driver drove them through the busy LA traffic to Zoe’s apartment. They were to pick her stuff before getting on the jet and headed for Miami.

After picking Zoe’s things, they left LA and got in Miami later that evening. And all through the evening, the two ladies chitchat about Zoe’s business proposal and plan. She was serious about starting her restaurant after all. Evan was so happy that her friend was taking the step.

While they talked, Jason had nothing to do. He had cleared his schedule for the day before coming to get Evan. A few times, he went to check on the ladies, but they were deep in their conversation, and he just let them be. Evangeline had no idea her sister was kidnapped until later. And thankfully, Adriana had left a message for her family that she was safe with Noah. The family had, in turn, called him.

It was around 10 pm that Evan came into the two wide master suite, which Jason shared with his late wife. She met him in his room, staring into the distance. He was worried. She noticed he had been all day and felt bad for completely neglecting him. He smiled when he saw her walk into the room. Leaning over to kiss him, she said, “Thank you for letting her stay.”

“Of course.” he said. He saw the concern etched on her face. “There’s something you should know.”

She sat down beside him on the bed while he spoke. “Okay.”

“Adriana was kidnapped.” the words were barely out when she screamed and jumped off the bed. Jason quickly held her down. She was breathing heavily. “Listen, she’s being found.” He said hurriedly, watching her closely. Her eyes were closed, but her breath evened. “Apparently, it was her husband who got her.”

“Noah?” Evan said, her eyes fluttered open “Noah had her kidnapped?”

Nodding, he adjusted them, so he was behind her now since her condition seemed to have improved. He sat leaning on the wall behind the bed while she sat between his laps, facing away from him. Her back was resting on his chest. “He might have to tell.”

“Still, it’s wrong.” She said, taking in slow breaths. Then she asked, “Has anyone heard from her since?”

“Not that I know of. Only your dad called to say she’s okay.”

“I need to call her.”

That was what had prompted the call to Adriana. Jason leaned over the bedside lamp to get the phone for her. He could sense her relief when her sister picked the call. While they talked, he had decided to take his shower then. Something about what Anders and Key had uncovered about the account troubled him now. Could the Smiths really be the one that had sabotaged his business deals years back? Why? What did they want from him?

“A penny for those thoughts?” Evan asked while splashing water at Jason. She found him zoned out while staring at her in the bathtub.

Sighing Jason smiled, “You told me to tell you everything.”

She nodded.

“There’s more.” He told her simply.

“Okay?”

“Key and Anders have been working on an account. Remember the incident linking me with Logan Thames? The lost money.”

She nodded again.

“We got the account it was paid into.” he sighed, “Well, he did, and he called my attention to it.”

Surprised, she asked, “Wait, Logan did that?”

“Yes.” he answered her and continued. “Then we got our two computer analysts to work on the account. They finally got in” he shifted in the tub to go deeper in the water. “The account belongs to a certain Matthew Smith.” He stared into the foam, concealing her body from his distractedly. “I know that Smith is a prominent name in Miami. But I haven’t had any business…” He stopped talking when he saw that she wasn’t listening to him anymore.

Evangeline sat straight up, “Smith?”

“Yes, know the person?”

That was the name their dad had mentioned when he spoke about their family drama. Why were they involved with Jason? “Okay, this is getting troubling. Smith is one of the founding members. According to my parents, they caused the war that started all these years ago.”

It was the same thing that had been troubling him. “Why the hell am I involved in their scheme then? This deal was before I even met you.”

********

Adriana did her best to fill in Noah all her family had gathered about their enemy. It wasn’t much, and the Monterey felt there were more than one hand involved. Samantha figured the Smiths had joined forces with a mob or the Mafia. And their fears were confirmed when Nate explained his attackers were Mexican. With all being said, Adriana was free to go home the next evening.

As Noah drove Adriana back home, she couldn’t resist not questioning him about his family. “So Gaby is the other man?” She noticed there were only three Monterey men; Nate, Noah and Gabriel. If Nate had been in such a critical state, then he couldn’t have been the one in the car with her. It had to be Gaby unless some men were hired, which was unlikely.

Looking very focused on the road, Noah didn’t turn to see her. He simply asked, “The other man?”

“You both abducted me.” She explained, “You were the driver, and he was backing orders too. Then again, sometimes it was you giving the order.”

He sighed, not sure what the question was. “Is there a point to this?”

“Is he the family leader now since you lost everyone?”

He nodded, sparing her a brief look. “Yes. His father was the only standing older Monterey. He helped us escape. And by age, Gaby is older. He just sorts of fill in the spot.”

She figured that part herself too. But what leader was so hot-tempered? He’d be their undoing. “He’s always angry.” She stated, remembering their long drive down here and how Gaby had badged in when Noah wasn’t making any head start with her. Yesterday as she was brought there, she had refused to say anything. Proving stubborn had only gotten the man pissed. But Noah was able to make her talk after all. After she told Noah about what she knew, Gaby, who had been eavesdropping, had stormed in.

“You mean you know nothing about why I almost lost another family member?” He had shouted. “The fuck is wrong with your family!”

“I’m so sorry.” She apologized, seeing as his anger stemmed from the fear of losing yet another. The man might appear rough around the edges, but he did care. He was doing a bad job of hiding his vulnerability. Underneath the cold demeanor, he was scared. He had lost so much and couldn’t risk losing another, “You better get your family together and sit down to discuss this. Shit is getting out of hand.” he busted out, pausing by the door to look at his cousin.

“He’s been doing a good job of it too.” Noah said.

That brought back Adriana to the present. Noah was taking a U-turn then. “He’s just scared of losing another.” she commented drily.

“Scared? Gaby?” He mused over that. “I’d never use that word with Gaby in a sentence.”

“Well, it’s true. He might fool you all with his tough acts, but he’s a baby at heart.”

Laughing at that, he agreed with her.

After a long silence, Adriana said to him, “By the way, I’m sorry about everything that your family went through. I’m sorry we made you lose so many members of your family, including your parents.”

For a while, he said nothing. He had never seen her as an enemy. Fine, she was the daughter of the man who may have pushed the button that ruined his family. But they had no hand in their blood. The Smiths were. And though they hadn’t gotten any concrete headway in getting those, they definitely would. “You didn’t do anything.” He replied, looking at her.

“It would have happened anyway. The Smiths had been penetrating our family a little before then.” he sighed, “And we didn’t know.” he switched gears and took another turn. “Had we suspected earlier, those deaths could have been averted.”

“Still, we played a terrible role in that. I can’t believe my dad threw everyone in jail like that.”

“Only after his witness got murdered right outside his courtroom.” He told her, frankly. “That was his territory.” One thing everyone understood was you don’t go into another man’s territory to cause trouble. Doing that was like laying a claim to that space. If nothing was done, it could mean the territory owner wasn’t man enough to hold down his forte. The result would be an attack and a change of ownership.

He understood how that played out perfectly. Many times, his family had taken over some business deals after carefully infringing on someone’s spot. If the person does nothing after two or three attempts, they lay claim to it. If, however, the owner threatens with an attack on anyone, staff or business, they knew he was holding his forte. It was either they step back or attack if he was weak and get the spot forcefully. “If he hadn’t done that, it would have meant he was giving up his territory.”

“You made it sound like something a drug lord would do.” Adriana scoffed, looking out the window. “He’s a judge, not a criminal.”

“Like mine?” he asked, his eyes stayed on the road. He didn’t see her look amused before she made her face blank. “Your dad may not even realise what he did. But trust me, that’s how things work.” he sighed. “It’s okay, though. Apology accepted. I’m sorry too.”

“What for?”

His silence weighed heavily. He could feel the tension building. His wife had been very distant. He could tell she was hurting, but he had no way to comfort her. So, he had stayed a little away too. After seeing Nate, though, she seemed to relax a bit. Now, the tension was back. “I’m sorry for using you to …” He swallowed hard, unable to complete the sentence.

She shrugged, still looking away. “It’s okay. I guess.”

Was there hope for them yet? For a while, he said nothing. Perhaps there was hope for them. If only things had been different. “Do you suppose we can start again?”

“No.” she said, even though it hurt her to say that. She couldn’t yet bring herself to forgive him. Not after using her that way. She could see that hurt him. He deserved that. She had gone through a lot of pain these few days. She enjoyed that he had painful moments like these too. “You lied to me, Noah.” she said, “How do I look past all that?”

“I’m sorry, babe.” he said, stroking her hand with his free hand. She moved the hand away. “I hope you’ll someday forgive me. For the kids?”

“I hope too.” she replied, suddenly feeling exhausted. She needed to change the topic. Samantha? Yes, the lady Monterey. “Samantha looks like a rational person, very attentive and observant.”

Noah let her change the topic. “Samantha was trained to be that way.” He commented drily. “Her father introduced her to the family business at a tender age. As a young girl, she was unnoticed. Nobody paid attention to most girls in our line of business. Unless, of course, the girl, lady, runs the business with iron-clad hands.” He sighed. That was a mistake most people made. They overlook the women, and it had cost so many so much. Samantha’s family had learned from that. And just that had made them rebuild their ruined legacy. He doubted he could have made some decisions that had helped had she not being involved. Her wise contributions and attention to detail and being so helpful in getting everyone to fall in line. “She knows how to read people merely by looking at the body language.”

“Wow!” Adriana liked the lady more. She recalled her experience with her while with the Monterey. She had brought her food and a change of clothing after Noah had excused himself for a sudden business meeting. At the time, she had thought he only wanted some space because of her rude outburst about his selfishness in taking her against her wheel. Samantha had come in, attracted by her sobs, which she desperately had tried to tune down.

“Hey.” She had said, walking into the room. “Okay, if I sit?”

“Yes.” Adriana replied, looking up at the woman sitting beside her on the bed. She was a slim, petite lady with mild makeup. Her smile was endearing, and she was so pretty.

“I’m Samantha.” she said and smiling, she added, “Another Monterey. The only one left that you haven’t met though.”

“Okay.” Adriana nodded “It’s my fault you got dragged here.” she apologised but said nothing more to explain herself. “Please, stop crying.” she said and hugged the sobbing woman. “Shush, it’s fine.” She said, trying to comfort Adriana, who went on sobbing for a long time. The lady had urged her to get a bath, then served her milk. She felt sleepy as she drank, and so she slept off.

Smiling at that few minutes spent with the Monterey woman, she said, “She’s amazing, you know. She could be a lawyer. A good one at that.” She woke up the next day to see she had left. In her place was Noah, who suddenly left. She watched him leave and felt a deep loss while he walked away.

“Yes, she is.” Noah knew the ladies had met. He had gotten back from his impromptu meeting to see them curled in each other’s arms, asleep. While he gently tapped his cousin to go in, he had taken the spot and laid down with his wife. He was relieved that someone at least had given her some comfort. While she slept, he watched her. How much he missed her so much. He didn’t know how long he could wait. He wanted her so much. Even his body craved her presence. He slept off, thinking of the good times they had shared

When he woke up, she was coiled into him. He stayed cradling her too, enjoying her warmth even as she slept, unaware of his company. She must have assumed it was Samantha. Then he remembered how she had accused him of being selfish. And she was right. He was selfish in having her here forcefully. He was selfish to even now in enjoying a warmth she wasn’t giving him freely, but he was taking anyway. Irritated with himself, he stood up and had gently left the room. She stopped the car to let the pedestrians use the road and looked at her. He forced himself to concentrate on what they were talking about. “She’s so helpful in helping me run the family business.”

Adriana nodded. They were almost at the Swiss’ compound. She said to him, “You could stay and spend some time with the kids.” It was the only thing she could promise. He was their father. That wouldn’t change. But a future with him in the picture as her husband looked bleak for now.

“Really?” when she nodded to affirm it, he smiled, “Thank you.”

“The kids would love that.” She said, wondering if it was just the kids who would actually love having him around again.

**********

With Adriana safely back home and with Jason’s new discovery of the account run by the Smiths, Robert Swiss decides there should be a meeting with everyone so they could table their findings and find a way to do this. It was Adriana who had brought up the suggestion, and he saw the need for it. Now, he needed to make a list of the people to be called for.

“Do you suppose we should invite the Monterey?” Robert asked his wife.

Adriana walked in then, “He’s here already; we should.”

“You mean Noah?” Mrs Swiss sighed. Ever since Noah brought in their daughter and was staying over, she had had her reservations. She wasn’t pleased with the man who had used her daughter to get to them sleeping in her home. But for now, she had no choice. Her husband had insisted they needed all the allies they could get. Still, she could never trust him. “We can’t just trust what he says.”

“But Mom, he’s very forthcoming, and they are ready for some alliance if you will let them.” Adriana said, surprised she was defending Noah. “He can be trusted.”

“He kidnapped you. How does that make him trustworthy?” Mrs. Swiss argued.

“She’s right.” Robert butt in, defending his wife. To Adriana, he said, “And from what you said, Gaby is the head of the family. It’s only natural that we involve him. That way, we can know whose side they are”

Adriana scoffed and walked back in. Her family were being biased right now. If the Monterey were lending out a helping hand, shouldn’t they take it? Rather than dissing the hand and making more enemies. More so, the Montereys on their side meant one enemy won over. When she stepped into the room, she smiled at the scene before her. Her kids were on the floor with their father, having their press-up time. “Come join us, mommy.” Ethan said.

Robert turned to his wife, “You need to take things easy with that man, and Adriana is pretty upset about it too. Bringing up the dirt will only add to her pain.”

Mrs. Swiss breathes heavily. “I hate what he did to her. To us.”

“I know.” He said, “But at least now, he’s helping us, and that’s because he married our daughter. Suppose they’d taken another route for the revenge. We’d be fighting this war on all sides.”

He was right. She leaned on him, “True. Who else are we calling to the table then?”

Robert gave that a deep thought, “I was thinking we get Logan Thames too”

“How would Evangeline take that? And Jason would be there too.”

“We need him; he found the Smith’s account.” He said, “Side lining him? I just don’t want to make another enemy.”

“Then call him right now.” She said, walking back into the room. From upstairs, one of the kids threw a soft ball at her. “Ouch.” she yelled. The twins ran down to retrieve the ball.

“Sorry, grandma.” said Elizabeth. “Sorry, granny.” whispered Ethan. He was the one who threw the ball.

Mrs. Swiss ruffled both twins’ heads and smiled at them. “It’s alright, you lovelies.”

The twins smiled, retrieved their ball and ran back in to continue their ball game with their father. “I got it.” Ethan said, aiming the ball at his mother, who ducked quickly behind the door.

Logan Thames was in his office when the call came. He was in some kind of mood. Picking the call, he said, “Yes speaking.” when Robert Swiss introduced himself and asked if he was speaking with Logan.

“We were hoping we could have around dinner table get-together.” Robert said, “You coming?”

Logan thought about that. Before he could reply, though, Robert began speaking “We are inviting all allies so we can pull resources. It’s an open dinner for everyone’s safety, and we can freely discuss.”

Oh, that meant Jason Valdez would be there. Nah. He’d pass this. Though he wouldn’t mind seeing Evan again, it wasn’t like this. He might be okay with the two being together, but he couldn’t look on while they were all lovey-dovey. “When is this dinner?”

“Next tomorrow, 7 pm.” replied Robert.

“I think I have a meeting scheduled that day.” He lied. “But I’ll send my PA and Anders, my tech guy. He knows more about the account than I do. So; I’m sure he’s better qualified for that seat than I am.” Logan told Robert, smiling shakily. Once the call disconnected, he got up. His mood that had been just a bit downturned sour instantly. He opened his door and screamed at his secretary for not attending fast enough to a client, an older woman who smiled gladly at him. Then he took a walk down the hall to check on the other. He found everything they did questionably. For one, his advertising team were busy having an open discussion. He coughed, and everyone went to their seat. “I take it you have a new strategy of selling our latest product?” he asked sarcastically. Nobody said anything. He walked towards one of them who was busy staring at his laptop, “Yes, Kolb? Do Syou?” he paused, “No?”

“No.” replied the man, who stood clumsily.

Logan tapped his shoulder before forcing him down his chair. “Then you all get your silly jokes together and get to work.”

“Yes, sir.” some replied while some just turned around pressing their system.

Logan stormed out of the room and strolled down to check on Anders. The nerd was busy typing hard. Whatever he was working on made him angry. He hit his keyboard angrily. “Hey, man.” He walked up to him to check what it was. Bending down, he saw that Anders was trying to bypass security to get into another page, but he was failing.

“I can’t get in again.” he complained to his boss. “I may need Key to work on my portal tonight.”

“I take it we’re talking about that account?” Asked Logan.

Anderson nodded, “Yes. It’s still operative, but I’m logged out. I can see Key is logged in, though. So he might be able to get me back in.”

Sighing, he tapped his analyst lightly, his distractions forgotten. “Whatever you do, get something concrete soon. You’ll be representing me at a meeting in a fortnight” nodding to the quirked brow of his analyst, he answered his unspoken question, “Yes, it has everything to do with this account”

“Alright.” Anderson said as his boss left his office. He reached for his phone to reach out to Key.

As Logan walked back to his office, he found his secretary still attending to the older woman and got pissed again. He went over himself to sort things out. the old woman, glad to have another hand working her case, smiled thankfully. “Sorry, it took so long to sort out.” he apologized to her.

“It’s okay. Thank you so much.” the old woman said and started walking away. At the door, she paused and said, “You’re so cute.”

The secretary scoffed and covered her mouth so her boss wouldn’t see her laughing. He hated being called ‘cute’. Even now, she could see he was trying hard not to get angry because she was a client.

Logan waited until she wasn’t within hearing distance before barking orders at his secretary. “My office, now!” he entered his office, leaving the door wide open while he accused the woman of being sluggish. “How the hell do you cope when we have more sales and more people coming in?” before the lady could reply, he went on, “If you cannot handle this now, how do you handle them later? I mean the good looking, to spare time ones. How do you handle them?” Someone at the door distracted him, “And you freaking left my door ajar.” he yelled.

The secretary was going to say that he left the door ajar himself, “I didn’t know sir…” when he screamed at her “Get out!”

The young lady scampered out hurriedly.

“Logan Thames.” said the intruder. “I can see you are as grumpy as I know you.”

Logan looked at the man, uninterested. Suddenly, recognising his old school friend, he stood up, “Thomas?”

“The one and only.” said Thomas happily, walking into the office.

The secretary quickly closed the door, but not before her boss barked that she got them drinks. “Okay, sir.”

“Free the pretty young lady.” said Thomas, taking his seat on the round table at the corner of the office. Logan, who was on the extreme end, moved over to him and shook hands with him.

“It’s been what, ten years?”

“Yes.” he shook hands with his friend, and they both sat down. The secretary came in with their drunks, served them hurriedly, eager to escape her boss’ scrutiny. Done with the serving, she dashed out. The men sipped their drinks, appreciating the rich blend.

“I hear you’re a big shot in the digital world now.” Thomas said, dropping his empty glass.

Logan noted how smoothly he finished his glass, “As I heard you’re hitting it big in the fuel energy efficiency sector.”

Smiling, the man poured himself another drink, “Looks like you’ve been paying attention after all.”

“Trust me, I have. It was a hard lesson learnt back then.” Logan told him. “And I hear you’re a big shot there too.” he sipped from his glass, “So, tell me, have you come to sell me slots?”

Thomas laughed at that, “Why would I come here to sell my slots?” he smiled, “As you said, I am a big shot after all” he dropped his glass and flew his jacked proudly.

“Spoken like a true mogul.” commented Logan.