by Anya Palvin
"I saw the news." She raised her mug to her lips, savouring the taste of her tea inside. He smirks and took off his jacket. "Who's the American?" She asks referring to Ciara. "I'm working on it." He says grinning. "Prince, please don’t go after with this young lady. I can see that she’s selfless trying to help out a complete stranger, and you, my love is the total opposite." Her British accent sounds so natural, sweet and mature. "She's beautiful isn't she?" He asks as if he's impressed. "Just another reason to leave her alone, you had enough fun. Don't include this poor girl into your tangled life." Julia begs him, but deep down she knows that his mind’s already fixed. "I have a meeting tomorrow morning with three ambassadors in Russia, so you better behave while I'm not around, okay?" She rumpled his hair. "Always." He reassures her that he will be ok, and she kissed his hair. "Goodnight, mum" he says it with a smile and she wraps her knit brown blanket around her floor length night gown.1
Julia and Gadeno though living apart from each other must still be in love with another so much that neither of them wanted a divorce. They still co-owned and managed a multi-billion dollar company, and they see each other from time to time especially during holidays and some important meetings, but try to avoid being alone in the same room for more than ten minutessince they both get jealous when they see each other with someone else.
...
"Are you all ready?" Danny asks Ciara as he zips his suitcase shut. "Yea" she looks over at the sink where her clothes from last night’s incident are and she released a deep sigh. "You should really frame those. It was your first patient since you officially became a doctor. He may be dead, but nevertheless, I'm still very proud of you kiddo." Danny cheers her up and she smiles. "Ok, let's get the hell out of here." Tom says impatiently standing by the door with his laptop bag thrown over his shoulder, his carry on and suitcase in hand. He looks fashionably alluring, low hip dark blue jeans white T, plaid scarf, and Kanye's new grey sneakers.
Ciara decided on dressing herself today. Plum coloured suede dress with black stockings and a white pearls and Givenchy boots. Danny still isn't dressed but his jeans, t shirt and leather jacket are laid out on the bed, and he's going to wear a pair of Kanye's new sneakers too.
Choker was wrapped in his $5000-worth duvet cover. His bodyguard, advisor and best friend Keys remained composed. "C" Keys prod hid elbow to wake him up, and he blinks up at his best friend and rolls his eyes. "We need to talk." Keys has a strong built, and has a sexy Irish accent.9
He's a biracial lady-killer, and without sounding clichéand cheesy, he's actually beautiful. He's 6"1 with brown curly hair, caramel skin, golden brown eyes, thick dark eyebrows, and full sexy lips. "Hey!" Keys yelled at the two naked women lying next to Choker. They're both abruptlywoken up by his rough voice. "Out!" He orders and they quickly sloped out of bed, gathered their belongings from the floor, and exit the room.
Choker sits up, resting his back on his gold framed headboard. "What's up?" Choker is both bewildered and inquisitiveas to the reason why his best friend been acting just like that on a beautiful Sunday morning and even chased his guests away."I’m surprise you don’t know ‘what’s up’? I thought you went there to make sure they did a clean job? So what’s with this little girl on the news saying she was there? Why isn't she dead yet or silenced in a freezer somewhere?" He holds up a file with Ciara's picture and some of her personal information attached. "We want the spotlight not be drawn to ourselves. We leave unsolved cases not mysteries to be solved. What the fuck are you doing, Choke?" Keys lose his temper and throw the files at him. He looked at Ciara’s pictures, and was even more mesmerized than he was last night.
Keys snaps his fingers to get Choker's back to his mind when he seems like he almost lost his. "She's not a problem." He says in-a-matter of fact with ironical humour in his voice and hopped out of bed. "What do you mean she's not a problem? We never have witnesses...ever! On top of that she's at the airport right now heading back to America. That's actually a little odd that last night she spent about two hours in a police station telling them god knows what, and today nobody’s bothering her from last night’s incident as she walk herself through the airport!" Keys snaps, his Irish accent sounds sexier when he's upset it's hard to focus on what he's actually saying. "She's leaving?" Choker asks in a low dispirited voice. "Yes! Are you even listening to what I’m spouting here?" Keys snaps again, throws the file on the bed, and storms out.
Choker examines the file thoroughly.
Her name is Ciara Rennae Carlyle. She's a doctor, 6 years at Penn State University. She's 24, she recently opened her own practice in New York City, and her parents own one of the biggest estates in South Africa and in Pennsylvania.1
"I guess she was scared after all, not even 24 hours had passed since the incident happened and she's now rushing away from me. How is she going to handle my lifestyle if she can't survive one traitor’s death?" He wonders to himself in a folly way. "I have to find her." He makes a serious, dangerous promise.
3.
Ciara and Danny own a Loft in the heart of Manhattan, a skyscraper building with a beautiful view of the city, and everything it has to offer.
New York isn't just a city with really tall buildings...it is a place where dreams be fulfilled.
***
Ciara worked a double shift at the Hospital for Special Surgery. "Paging Doctor Carlyle, you're needed in the ER right away. Paging Doctor Carlyle..." The receptionist's voice echoes from the intercom.
Ciara checks her watch and it was 2:58am. She gets off at 3, how could they be paging her for an emergency when Doctor Williams will be in for about 2 minutes now?
She's been unstoppable since yesterday and her dark blue scrubs were so pretty yesterday morning but now, remains of blood and coffee stains were in there. Her hair was up in a quick wrap and go ponytail, now the ends are loose and touching the back of her neck. Her white sneakers aren't stained but how long can one person stand on their feet before their shoes get uncomfortable? She’s wearing no make-up except a mint-flavoured Chapstick on her lips and still manages to look like a woman.
She walks slowly to the front desk and the clock strikes 3am by the time she gets there. "Hi, I just clocked out. Doctor Williams is now on duty."She tries to punch in her time but the receptionist’s worried eyes caught her attention. "I'm sorry, doctor but there is a patient in the ER right now with multiple gunshot wounds and he’s refusing male doctors to treat him right now." She explains why they paged her instead. "What kind of stupidity is that?" Her blood boils as she rants.5
A patient refusing medical help just because of the mere fact that it's a male doctor. What is he homophobic or something? She speeds up his stride to the elevator and run in hurry to the ER. Doctor Williams meets her at the door, and he helps to robe her for surgery.
"What's the condition?" She asks as she steps into the cold operation room. There are 3 nurses to assist her in surgery, and doctor Williams stayed also to help her if she needs it. This will be the most crucial case she's ever done. Being nervous must be an understatement to describe her feeling at the moment but fortunately, she manages not to let it show, not to her face, nor to her voice, but she hold no control to what her eyes may depict. The last time she dealt with a gunshot wound was 2 days ago in Italy. But she refused to have the same results on this patient. There's still time to save him, he's not dead yet.
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4 hours after, she walks into the Doctor's locker lounge and took a deep breath before she continues. It feels like she's been holding her breath for the entire surgery and now that it's finally over, the feeling is a bit overwhelming. "Good job, doctor." Doctor Williams pats her softly on the back, and throws his blue surgery robe and gloves in the garbage disposal. She does the same, imitating what Doctor Williams just did. "You should go home, and take a rest. You absolutely did pretty well in there. I will be here until 3. You don’t have to worry about your patient.I'll take good care of him. And…Ciara? I’m so proud of you
." He leaves her alone in the locker room to be immersed into her own thoughts.
...
Choker's in the waiting room pacing back and forth.
He looks business savvy in a navy blue suit, light blue shirt and navy blue checker grid tie. His shoes are crocodile skin, and he finally got a hot frat boy hair cut that makes his eyes seem more like emeralds in golden frames instead of just dangerously green.
He was on his way from a meeting in Pittsburgh when Keys rings him to report that JT, one of his best snipers was shot.
JT has become one of his people ever since he took over the company, and he's been a good friend to him ever since he retired from the army. He suffered severe trauma from all the men he'd killed and the men that tried to kill him. He was almost in a psychiatric hospital until Choker offered him a job, and taught him how to take control of his anger, and channel it back to a target.
"Nurse" Choker calls out to the short, curvy nurse passing by. "Yes" she walks over to him and almost quivers when she took a look directly to his dangerous eyes...awkward.
"I've been waiting for hours..." his voice is intimidating, cold and callous. She flinched again. "I...I...I'm sorry sir, I wasn’t able to immediately get back at you. I don’t know much but the operation ran so long. I will page the doctor that operated on your friend right away." she hurries away to page Doctor Carlyle, and he rolls his eyes in complete exasperation and frustration.
Choker answers his phone in a loud, angry, monstrous way. It's a reliefthat he's the only one in the waiting room or someone would be terrified by his bearing.
"What do you mean you can't get the money transferred? Do I have to get it done myself? Dad, you work for me now. Find a way to get them to see things our way, or you’ll be leaving me no choice but to kick you out of the company. Incompetence is not something to admire, dad...fix it!" He yells and hangs up just in time for the nurse to come strolling back in.
She nervously clears her throat to draw his attention. He puts his phone back into his inside jacket pocket. "Uh, Doctor Carlyle's shift is over but the operation went well and he's in the ICU stabilized and now awake. He did great, you can see him now if you'd like. We usually don't allow friends to see the patients first but..." he raised his hand cutting her off. "Which way is it?" He fizzes and then again that cold expression on his face makes her swallows and forgot was she’s about to say, and immediately leads him to the ICU instead.
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"Hello, Mr. Taylor how are you feeling this morning?" Doctor Williams enters into JT's private room to check on him as promised. "Sore, but alive. I thought I told them I allow no male doctors touching on me while I'm unconscious." JT's paranoia is a bit unsettling. "Rest assured Mr. Taylor I wasn't the one who saved your life. My colleague is responsible for your survival and I'm only here to make sure you stay that way. The speed of your recovery is solely up to you now." he continues as he was checking his vitals. "Is she hot?" JT asks with a mischievous smile. "What?" Doctor Williams is clearly confused, or irritated, or maybe it's a little bit of both. "That girl. Your colleague. The one who operated on me, is she hot?" He questions again. "I will send in some warm soup, no solid foods for the next 48 hours." Doctor Williams completely ignores him and walks out the door.
JT turns his head to Chocker. "You know that means yes, right? He must like her that's why he was stomping his way out here like his pants are on fire." JT jokes and the pain creep up on him as soon as hestarted giggling.
Chocker spent the whole night on the hospital and with him right after his operation. He took off his navy blue jacket and rolled up his sleeves. It's still unbelivable that he looks so well rested without a wink of sleep. "Tell me what happened, you never get shot...ever. But last night someone shot you 6 times. What happened?" Choker asks the question as if this is a business meeting and somebody just fucked up big time. "It was my fault." JT killed his humour the minute he realized Choker was real mad and possibly disappointed in him. "It's not what you think. I was messing around with this girl. She’s married but the husband is an old fart so I got a little careless, and maybe I let my guard down a little." JT danced around the question and Choker narrows his eyes. "What...happened?" He asked the question again, but this time dangerously slow. "She had another boyfriend that I didn't know about, and he showed up when we were sleeping and caught me off guard. He killed her instantly, execution style, it was lovely." JT stopped and closed his eyes as if reminiscing once again the sick confrontation, but he seems in great awe. "Who shot you?" Choker asks ignoring every other detail of what JT just said. "Ryan" JT finally admits who almost murdered him, and Choker stands and reached for his jacket. "Choke, wait, you know Ryan, he's Russian, they're cold-bloodedscoundrels he could've killed me in just one blow but he didn’t. He shot me onlyin my trivial parts and dropped me off here...it was my fault." JT tries to calm his friend slash boss, and prevent him from slipping into Choker mode. "I'll be back" Choker walks out and JT realized how badly he messed up. "Fuck!" JT swears, covering his forehead with both hands. Soon the nurse walks in with a food tray, and served his soup.
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The elevator opens and Choker steps in alone. A thousand thoughts run concurrently in his mind. Intensely processing which is the best resolution for this situation. Unfortunately the ride down from the 4th floor to the first floor is a brief one, and his mind pushed pause when the elevator doors open again.
"Doctor Carlyle called, she should clock in at 3 but she can't come in until 6. We have to call HR and ask them to give Doctor Williams some overtime or assign someone else for three hours." Some nurses in scrubs step into the elevator talking while Choker steps out, completely unaware and oblivious to whom they're talking about.5
***
Choker chose Waldorf Astoria as a place to stay. He showers and changes into another panty-dropping suit. Keys joins him for lunch at the hotel's restaurant, and they both devour up quite a feast.1
Keys got his hair braided in one ponytail, and he's sexy in his suit, and $350, 000-worth wrist watch.
"What are you thinking?" Keys interrogateshim trying to somewhat read his mind. He hardly said two words since he got there. "Whatever you decide, you know I have your back. But I wonder if any retaliation on behalf of that pussy is even worth it. A dead pussy I might add." He speaks his mind out and Choker strokes his chin, and stares off as if he is deep in thought. He looks alluring when he's in criminal mastermind mode. "I don't give a shit about the girl, I would've killed her myself if Ryan didn't already took over it. This is about fear. Our place is at stake. We do good business because people fear us, they stop breathing when we walk into a room, and jump without us saying when. Ryan is aware JT’s on my team, he paid that girl to seduce him and then show up like a jealous boyfriend. He executed her so she couldn't tell anyone anything, but he fucked up when he texted her every detail of his plan and others too. I got all the text from his phone not too long ago." he hands the phone to Keys so he could see the conspiracy for himself. "This was never about teaching JT a lesson for fucking his so called girlfriend, he's sending a message to everyone that he can turn the tables on us, that he can make us scared and unable to touch him. JT wants to let it go thinking he screwed Ryan's woman, and Ryan has a right to do what he did. But that’s not what Ryan wants to perceive to his followers. He's telling them that he's going to bring us down one by one starting with the lowest. He's telling them that they shouldn't do business with us, and he's telling them to turn on us because he has us running scared like little bitches." Keys mouth drops open as he listens to Choker and reads the messages that match everything he said so far.4
"I don't know about you Keys, but I'm nobody's bitch. I just want you to know exactly what we're dealing with and not get carried away with what they want us to see." he takes a sip of his whiskey and Keys crushed the disposable phone with his bare hands.
Choker is always 5 steps ahead of everyone. He never believes what he sees without detailede
vidence to back up whatever it is that's going on. He's a meticulous control freak, and that always gives him all the advantage over every amateur or veteran in their world.
"What do you need from me?" Keys asks ready to get to work. "Just watch him for a few hours, don't let him out of your sight. Let me know when he's with his crew or family or both. I called in reinforcements." Choker gives out his orders without any hint of hesitation, and Keys agrees without any further questions.
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Choker rented out a 2014 Range Rover sport and drives to Manhattan. He took another look at Ciara's file to locate her private practice. He finds the building ok but it's empty except for furniture and a few contractors putting in glass windows and the final touches outside. He hoped she'd be there, but deep down he's relieved that she wasn't, because that would mean she might run away again, especially since the man she tried to save in Italy got a slap on the wrist compared to what he has in store for Ryan in a few hours. Both men earned their death, but in different ways.
On the way back to his truck, he sees a man sitting on the street asking people for money, and telling people that god will bless them throughout the day. "What about you?" He asks the man, and the homeless man looks up at him with wrinkled brows. "You just said God bless you but you're referring to the people giving you money. What about you?" He asks again, and the man remains quiet. "I don't believe in blessing or God and I'm worth over 10 billion dollars. You can stay sitting here and continue to parrot what rich made up to embarrass the less fortunate or you can take my card and call me with one of those quarters. I guarantee I can change your life. It won't be a blessing as you call it. It'll be your reclamation." he drops his card in the man's hat. "Wow, that's an interesting speech." A soft, kind voice says. He turns around and there she is- - - perhaps the best thing he's seen all day.