Heavy Love(50)

It reminds me of how close Madeline and I once were. But why did Lux  have to say she loved me? I kiss Lux's forehead. She smiles in her  sleep. Measuring my movements, I unwrap myself from her arms, and get up  with a sigh. I slip on a pair of black house shoes. And open the  bedroom door.

The night Luxury went out on a double date, for the first time, I lost  control. Just as powerless as when I was my father's human punching bag.  Should have never gone back to that feeling. Total an utter  uselessness. But she hadn't done anything with the man. Nothing would  stop me from murdering that motherfucker for a simple good night kiss.

After watching Luxury sleep for a while, I step out the room wondering  what this woman has done to me. She has some sort of spell on me, being  able to deny me in the past. Though I'm confident that Lux has learned  her role, I can't even believe how much I enjoyed eating her out last  night. The pleasures of feasting on the sweetness between her thighs  rapture me to the point of madness.

As I slip into pajama pants and an undershirt, Burt exits the second  bedroom. I yawn. It's the middle of the night and he's still in uniform  as he holds up a silver tray with my laptop.

"Thank you," I grab my Chromebook as the only constant in my life continues to spin.

"Earl Gray Tea?" he asks as usual.

"Yeah." Rubbing my eyes, I take a seat on the living room sofa and press  the power button. After navigating to D'Ross Enterprise internal  system, and press on the logo, which is really a mimic of the D'Ross  royal seal, I am directed to an impenetrable Internet system. A live  view pops up.

"Good morning, Vic," Monica's chipper voice rings in my ear before I can  even see her. A few seconds later, the connection completes, and her  happy go lucky face appears.

"Hello, Monica."

"Oh wow, it's not morning where you are, I see," Monica's bright green  eyes look around. Then gives me a rundown of the different businesses  that might be of interest to capitalize on.

"Monica, before we go over the preliminaries, have you figured out who the anonymous requestor of Dr. Whitson's death is?"

She pauses and it's obvious that this is new to her. Not the request. I  gave her more than enough time to find out. But her inability to  understand that something has taken precedence to my work has me pissed.  Despite my need for a meticulous kill, D'Ross Enterprise is my all.  Mother isn't into my need for capitalization, but she isn't aware of how  much Graham splurges.

"Vic, I'm working on it. The entire tech team is working on breaking  through a six-tier system. Paul has been tripped up so many times by  X-Member's – "

"You're not hearing me, Monica." I could give a fuck that she's bringing  up Paul one of the best hackers in Europe. "You, Paul, and everyone  else are paid top dollar. If Paul is asked to hack into the  motherfucking queen's personal email, so be it. Monica, if you are given  a task, and you're certain of your inabilities, then you know what to  do."

"Yes, Victor." Her heart-shaped face reddens at the thought of not completing her duty.

"When will I have the requestor's information?" I ask, taking the hot cup of tea.

"By the end of the day."

"Negative."

"This afternoon – your time if that's okay," she sputters.

"Yes. Now tell me about our latest potential acquisitions," I command.  Monica gives the rundown on the different failing businesses and  provides statistical information on which ones are a shot out of the  ballpark or not, per our risk analysis predictions. Then I'm on a video  chat with my entire financial board. Of all my duties that I neglect,  these meetings aren't one of them. Each and every one of these members  holds even more than an advanced degree in business and acquisitions.  They are the foundation to my ever-growing business.

About an hour into the discussion, the board is divided as to one of the  more risky companies that we have had our eyes on for a while.         

     



 

High risk, high reward.

"Victor, may I speak?" Asks Hartford. He's one of the smartest on my  team, but the most cautious when it comes to monopolizing businesses. On  occasion, his knowledge is correct, and I have to realize that this  isn't a game of chess with me as king, but we're dealing with people's  lives – employees, and even the founders who have built their business  from the ground up. It's imperative that every time we swoop in and take  over a business that this is a sure thing. Predator to prey, bulldozing  businesses brings the rush that I have learned from my father.

"By all means, Hartford," I reply. The entire room is quiet, knowing  that we bump heads often. From one dominating force to another, I know I  could learn to be more calculating like Hartford so I listen intently.

Hartford, and his meticulous articulate mannerisms won't allow him to  begin to explain the necessity to wait, when Burt is handing over the  cell phone that only takes X-Member calls.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I must excuse myself this morning," I begin,  knowing that this meeting was important. In another life, Whitson  would've been dead already, Lux in mourning, and myself at this billion  dollar meeting since it includes a pending acquisition.

"May I take the reign?" Hartford asks. "We'll discuss the options available and you can review later."

"Yes," I quickly disconnect, close the laptop and answer the phone on the third ring.

"Hello, Victor, am I to presume you've taken ill?"

"No," I reply gripping the receiver so tightly that my knuckles turn  white, thinking about the Siamese twins, just the beginning of my  assassin woes.

"Family troubles?" the electronically disfigured computer voice asks.  "Something, anything that would cause you to sit on a mark for almost  two weeks, Sir?"

"I have reason to believe that the requestor is operating under false  pretenses." Wow. Being around Luxury has me making dumb statements. Of  course, the profile reeked of the necessity for Doctor Whitson to die in  a swift manner. Death provides a hasty hush.

"That concerns me?" replies the liaison from X-Member.

I rub the back of my neck. Yes, I've murdered innocent people, all  because of my need to kill. Good people, who were deemed untouchable,  died by my hands. All because of their so called "untouchable"  positions. One of the best parts of a kill is reminding someone who is  virtually limitless that the 2% error in their security or defense  systems could potentially be their demise. My father's words whisper in  my ear even now, as if my finger is on the trigger, and already for the  shot. However, for the sake of my reputation with X-Member I add, "I  don't fucking appreciate being lied to. Marks can be as white as snow;  profiles can be one sentence long, no explanation given. And I couldn't  give a shit. It's all a form of art. But to be lied to."

The liaison provides a mechanical chuckle, "Now you're taking the noble route?"

Technically …  "Yes."

He sighs. "It's been great to have you on the team. The Siamese twins  haven't returned so, they weren't much of a warning I'm sure. You have  $500k that was previously wired to you – "

"This is about $500k?" I shout, damn, in all actuality, I rarely, if  ever consider the funds being paid. X-Member wires money as soon as the  mark has been selected. Not the smartest way to conduct business. But we  live by the honor code and flair of confidence that the mission will be  executed.

"No, it's not about the money. It's the principle."

"Come for me. And me alone." It's wishful thinking, but I say it  anyways. Later I'll have Burt rewire their five fucking pennies.

"You and everyone that is connected to you, sir," he replies.

"Then your entire system is fucked." I hang up with that. I'll make good  on putting down any assassin sent my way. They don't know of my true  identity, that's how X-Member works. Yet, they know Luxury. So my being  with Lux should run its course. But selfishness won't allow me to leave  her alone.

Besides, she's already vowed to be mine.

To compound even more variables, I'm sure these customer service centric  assholes are already preparing to have another assassin finish Doctor  Whitson.





Lux

Money problems. Wow. To hear Dr. Victor Finch complaining with someone  on the phone makes me wonder why and who he owes $500,000 to. I woke up  around 3am to pee, just to overhear that Victor owes someone so much  money! Vic owes somebody an actual home, I consider while placing the  flowers at Urban Gardens outside the next morning. To think I keep  meeting him at the Bulgari and he won't pay a debt. Wow, he needs to get  his priorities straight.         

     



 

"Mmmm, shorty looking kinda right today," Deondre says from behind me. His eyes are undoubtedly plastered onto my jeans.

I straighten up and turn around. "Good morning, Deondre."