….
Friday, October 17, 2017, 5:15 pm
The Sundial
...
Amia bit her bottom lip as she allowed George to pull out her chair before she sat in it. As soon as they had walked through the doors, all eyes had turned to them, agape at the billionaire that had walked through the door. The attention made her want to crawl into the deepest, darkest hole she could find. To add insult to injury, they were seated right in the middle of the busy establishment and prying eyes never averted their gaze. It was so silent that the sound of her own breath sounded thunderous to her ears.
"Are you finding Dallas to your liking?" George asked and Amia cast her eyes down towards the table.
She had only been here for forty-eight hours but she had yet to find a single thing that she liked about it. It was too humid, sand got in everything, and the food wasn't very agreeable to her stomach. She was not about to insult George's home though. Those who resided in the lone star state were quite prideful, so she nodded. Perhaps with time she would grow to like the place. After all...there wouldn't be any snow...
"This city is... interesting." She replied.
"Is that so?" He said and cocked his head slightly to the side. "I find it rather hot."
Amia smiled and tried to engage George in conversation as best as she could. Since he would be her husband one day, she should give this her best shot. Did her mother feel this way when she met her father? Was she this awkward and unsure of herself? With Sylas it was much easier to be herself since...no... she shouldn't go down that road. There was a man here in the flesh before her that was her future. It would only hurt to dwell on others.
"George!" A loud portly man shouted from across the room. He approached their table with three of his cohorts in tow. "What a surprise to see you here!"
"Likewise." George said flatly as the man eager shook his hand.
Amia watched as George was quickly enveloped in business with the men who had joined their table. Their wives had also joined the fray and were now trying to engage Amia in conversation although she didn't have much to say. The women were all gorgeous with their tanned skin and fresh blonde blowouts. She once heard someone say, 'The bigger the hair, the closer to god.' Apparently, that was true. None of the women seemed to mind that they had evidently been ditched for greener pastures and business stratagem. Instead, they all caught up on the latest gossip in their inner circle and inquired after each others' children.
Amia smiled as she tried to follow their fast-paced conversation but after about fifteen minutes of constant banter, she found herself on autopilot. Smiling and nodding where appropriate while her brain drifted off elsewhere. A place where she actually could keep up with the conversation and genuinely care about what was being said. The dinner itself passed by quickly. Only when the dessert plates had been cleared did the interlopers finally take their leave. George looked at her guiltily as they walked through the front doors of the restaurant.
"This was another date that did not go the way that it should." George sighed as they walked down the sidewalk toward her hotel.
"It's fine." Amia replied softly. "I was able to meet some new people."
"Hm." George pondered. "Hopefully they will help make your transition to moving here in the future as smooth as possible."
Amia nodded absently. She didn't doubt that the women she had met today would ever hesitate to drop whatever they were doing to be at her beck and call. They had already started talking about the best nannies to hire and nurseries for her to send her children to. The women did not disclose that they knew of the impending marriage contract between the Sabaku and Hato but Amia imagined that they had their suspicions. Why else would George be seen out alone with her if she wasn't someone he was seriously courting?
"Your hotel is this way correct?" George said, pointing in the general direction of where she and Ira were staying for the conference. "I will walk you back."
"That's okay, it isn't a far walk. I will be fine on my own." Amia replied.
She would much rather spend time alone, but George's look made her swallow her rejection. He was just trying to be considerate. A gentleman through and through. She could be nice as well. As best as she could, she swallowed her discomfort and smiled.
"After you."
They walked together down the raucous main street of the city. Vendors hawked their wares well into dusk and children ran after each other, weaving in and out of the legs of adults. Streetlights began to light up, creating an even livelier atmosphere on an already busy street. There were so many sights and sounds that Amia wondered how long it would take her to get adjusted to all of it. She doubted that she would be able to be as forward as so many of the women from Dallas but she could try, right? Could she make herself appear bolder, more forthright? She could style her hair the way they did and wear vibrant fabrics just like these women.
'You shouldn't try to change yourself for some guy.'
Her words to Aviva reverberated in her head and she pushed them aside. George wasn't just some guy. He owned Sabaku Group and held immense economic influence in several industries. He was a powerful man and a capable leader. He was to be her-
"George?" A small voice called out and Amia snapped out of her thoughts to see an excited woman waving to them from one of the vendor stalls. "George, that is you!"
The woman quickly grabbed her purchase and bounded up to them with a beaming smile. She was a slender woman with short brown hair and skin kissed by the sun like all of the people of Dallas. The woman appeared genuinely happy to see George until she noticed Amia's place at his side. All at once her face dropped from being friendly to sad in less than an instant. Her eyes welled up with unshed tears and her bottom lip quivered. The expression made Amia want to find the nearest exit. It was as though she had been caught in the midst of a crime, yet she had no idea what she had done wrong. Not knowing what to do in this sort of situation, she fell back to using pleasantries to try to cut through the awkward tension.
"Hello, I'm-" Amia started with an outstretched hand. to say
However, the woman in front of them quickly switched her face to become impassive and took a step back. Stupidly, her hand hung in the air for a second too long.
"Sorry to interrupt." She mumbled. "I didn't realize you had a companion. Enjoy your evening."
She then turned on her heel and skirted quickly around them. Amia watched her leave with a furrowed brow. Who was this woman to George? Why did she look so sad? George began walking forward once more and she could no longer watch the unfortunate woman's retreat. Her heart ached for the stranger because in her face, Amia saw her own emotions personified. It felt like looking in a mirror.
….
Friday, October 17, 2017, 1:45 pm
DayBreak Coffee
...
"You weren't wrong Uri." Ezra growled as he tossed the thick stack of paper on the small café table and ran a frustrated hand through his long hair.
Sylas frowned as he looked over the data highlighted on Ezra's tablet. He had found the same leaks in his data set in his own half of the spreadsheets. It had started off as small amounts here and there that would have gone unnoticed. The amount had been steadily increasing until the Hato accounts were leaking like a sieve. That corresponded with the time that Arlo had reached out to his father to join forces and restructure the Hato and Uri assets.
Being that they were now combined, the leaks had ceased but only for a short time. Already small unaccountable amounts were leaking out once more. Their merge was only a stop-gap and would be useless sooner rather than later. Sylas rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and put the tablet back on the table. His eyes were beginning to cross from staring at the numbers for so long.
"Have any idea where this money is going?" Sylas asked and Ezra shook his head.
"No idea. I will-" Ezra began to explain and snorted when Sylas raised a questioning eyebrow.
"We will have to question everyone in the accounting department."
"Not everyone." Sylas said with a shrug. "That will only arouse suspicion and whoever is doing it will cover their tracks."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"Then what do you propose?"
"We ask their computers."
"You're back again?" The brunette waitress interrupted as she placed coffee and tea in front of them.
Sylas rolled his eyes as the Hato seemed to lose his tongue again in the woman's presence.
"He likes the tea." Sylas said and Ezra glared at him.
"Oh." She said with a slight tone of dejection in her voice. "Is that it? Well, enjoy."
As the woman returned to her station behind the bar, Ezra watched her go intently before throwing Sylas a death glare.
"Why did you say that?" He hissed threateningly under his breath and Sylas cocked his head to the side, unperturbed by Ezra's near-murderous intentions.
"Is there another reason that you would want to keep coming here?" Sylas asked bluntly. "If you continue insisting on coming here for the tea there are other places with better."
"Uri-"
"But if it's to see her," Sylas continued, jerking his thumb in the direction of the bar. "You should do something instead of looking like a lost puppy every time she turns around."
Ezra scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, unwilling to accept the advice handed to him.
"Do not speak on things you do not understand Uri. Let's get back to what we came to do. I'd rather not spend more time in your presence than necessary."
"The feeling is mutual."
……
You're right…she is stubborn but she's getting better…
Sylas had stared at this text from his brother and subsequent video of Amia practicing her speech for almost half an hour. She didn't sound like her usual soft-spoken self. No, this version of Amia sounded a lot more confident even when he knew on the inside she was scared. She sounded as sure of herself as she had when she stood up to the Sabaku Board members in his defense. The memory of those old men swallowing their disbelief still made him smile. No one would have expected such an outburst from the meek woman. He certainly hadn't.
He supposed that might be the reason he was so attracted to her. She was an unknown quantity that he was still trying to get to the bottom of. When he did have her all figured out, would he lose interest? Set aside as a project conquered? He paused the video and stared back at the Amia looking at the camera. Her eyes gleamed with determination- shoulders back. No…even when he knew all her secrets, he knew he would want to master her like his cello. Make her play the same song he'd played a thousand times before-
"Sylas, it's getting late."
The man looked up as he was forcibly dragged back to reality. Sara sat on the edge of his desk before him; a look of concern marred her features. A brief glance at the clock let him know that it was well past time to call it a day. It wasn't like he was going to be getting any more 'work' done today.
"You're right." He said and proceeded to shut down his computer for the day. "You may leave."
"Um…well…I wanted to talk to you about something."
Sylas paused and looked back at his secretary. He really didn't want to stay a moment longer than necessary but he at least owed it to her to hear what she had to say. When he didn't make any more moves to leave, her green eyes brightened and her glossed lips twitched as though she were suppressing a smile.
"I wanted to see if you've given any more thought to another date…its been awhile since the first one and I know that you're busy but-"
"No."
"No?" she repeated, the smile she once had now vanished.
"I have no desire to date."
An unspoken 'you' hung at the end of his statement but that felt too harsh to utter, even for him.
"Is there someone else?"
"No."
Yes.
He couldn't really tell her that the someone else worked with them every day. If word got out, Amia would be even further out of his reach than she was now. However, his answer did not dash whatever ideas the woman had in her head. In fact he may have given her false hope. Sara hopped down from the desk and made her way over to his side. He could smell her perfume as she drew closer. A flowery, fruit aroma that overpowered his nose. She placed a hand on his arm and he had to stop himself from recoiling.
"I know we didn't much of a chance to talk one on one during the double date but we can always try again."
"Uri." Ezra's stern voice called from the open office door. "I suppose I'm interrupting something."
The look of disapproval was written clearly across his face but Sylas had never been so grateful to see the stick in the mud. Sara's hand quickly fell away as he moved around her, grabbing his briefcase as he did so.
…
"He's late." Ezra grumbled with his arms crossed over his chest.
Sylas looked down at his watch and squinted at its face illuminated by the street light above them. The lazy bastard should have been here fifteen minutes ago. Even though he was not voicing his disgruntlement, he was just as impatient as Ezra was. They were wasting precious time waiting on him. It wasn't like they had much of a choice. No one else he knew was trustworthy enough to handle something like this. The smell of cigarettes reached them well before its owner lazily approached them under the streetlight. Sylas wrinkled his nose at the smell. He would have thought that Sean would have kicked this nasty habit of his but by the smell of tobacco and ash that clung to his clothes informed him otherwise.
"Yo." Sean greeted, an ostentatiously large black messenger bag bumping against his side. Ezra and Sylas nodded their acknowledgment of his arrival before walking toward the building.
"Wait up guys!" An obnoxious voice pierced through the darkness and Sylas pinched the bridge of his nose. What the hell was he doing here?
Beside him, Ezra tensed, fists clenched tightly by his sides.
"Uri." Ezra growled under his breath and cut his eyes at him. Sylas ignored the threatening look and turned around to see his oblivious blonde friend bounding up to them.
"What are you doing here dobe?" The raven-haired man asked and Noah just rolled his eyes as he put his hands on his hips.
"I can't just give you our best hacker bastard." Noah replied.
"I'm not a hacker." Sean sighed. "Do you even know what I do?"
Noah tapped his finger against his chin as he contemplated the answer. Sylas could literally see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to formulate a response.
"You steal emails...break into the firewalls of other governments...encrypt code..."
"Cyber-security. The word is cyber-security." Sean groaned as he shifted his grip on the heavy bag on his shoulder. "Your father is going to have my ass if he finds out I'm helping you."
Noah only grinned and threw an arm around the reluctant brunette's shoulders.
"Well, what the old man doesn't know won't hurt him eh?"
"No."
Everyone turned to look at Ezra whose back was rigid as he glared at Noah.
"This is not a field trip. This is not a game." Ezra said as evenly as he could. "I could have sworn that I told you to stay far away from anything to do with my family. I let you slide during the signing but I will not put up with you in my presence tonight."
"Ezra-" Noah started but Ezra grabbed the front of his shirt. He raised his fist to throw a punch but Sylas caught his wrist. The Hato tried to wrest his limb from the Uri's grip but Sylas didn't budge.
"Let me go Uri." Ezra hissed but Sylas shook his head.
"We don't have time for this. Punch each other's brains out later."
"What a drag." Sean mumbled as he dropped the butt of his cigarette onto the asphalt and stamped it out with his foot. "I don't get what your issue is, nor do I care. What I need is as much help as I can get so it would be in your best interest Hato to allow an extra set of hands on this."
Ezra turned his pale-eyed glare onto Sean but slowly uncurled his fingers from Noah's shirt. Sylas let go of Ezra's arm now that it appeared a violent escalation had been averted. Noah let out a breath of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Whew, Let's-" Noah started to say but was immediately knocked to the ground by a swift right hook.
Ezra shook his hand out, a look of satisfaction on his face.
"That was for Amia." He said and roughly pulled Noah up to his feet. "Let's go."
Sylas sighed as he led the men into the building. This was going to be a long night.
….
"Connect the last yellow wire to the third port in the back of the tower." Sean instructed.
Sylas did as he was told and watched as the dark conference room was suddenly illuminated with bright blue light. The screens from all the laptops and tablets they had confiscated from the accounting department turned to the same string of random code as Sean worked his magic.
"Impressive huh?" Noah said and he nudged Sylas in the arm.
Sylas didn't respond but internally, he agreed. He had imagined that they would have to go through all of the computers individually to get the information they needed but this was much faster. The most challenging part was gathering the devices into one room and following Sean's directions. All they had to do now was sit back and let him work.
"You guys are leaking like a sieve." Sean mumbled. "Personal files, passwords, unencrypted email chains. It's no wonder someone was able to get into your system."
Ezra crossed his arms over his chest and stood rigid over Sean's shoulder as he watched codes he couldn't possibly comprehend fly across the screen. After a long moment, the screen of the main computer stopped moving. It changed to a short compiled spreadsheet showing a rather disturbing pattern that only confirmed the knowledge they already possessed. The Hato stocks were being bought for enormous sums, well over market value, and then sold for pennies on the dollar. Sean clicked his tongue as he scrolled down and showed that the profits from the stocks being purchased at such high sums were not staying in the Hato accounts.
"You guys are caught up in some serious money laundering. You sure it's a good idea to have the son of the Govenor and a government official here?" Sean said with a smirk as he continued to go deeper into another file.
"Can you see where the money is going?" Sylas asked, ignoring Sean's snide remark.
"Not really. From what I can see it's getting transferred into several shell accounts. Taka Inc. Dynastic Corp. Gohai-"
"Wait, Taka Inc..." Sylas grumbled. That name sounded rather familiar. "Aren't they a branch owned by the Sound Group?"
"We don't do deals with anyone with ties to the Sound." Ezra said tersely. "It shouldn't be possible."
"Well, the evidence is right there. Someone in this company is allowing them to do this and is probably taking a cut too." The Uri countered but Ezra still shook his head.
"No one would have access to this many stocks for them to be turned over so quickly and for it to go unnoticed. It's impossible."
"Can you check again to see if you can find a source?" Sylas sighed and Sean shook his head.
"This is what it is. No amount of scanning will change that."
Ezra's nostrils flared at Sean's rejection and he opened his mouth to protest but Noah interrupted him.
"What if it's not one person." The blonde said distantly and everyone turned to look at him. "What if it's a bunch of people working together? Like a...uh...whats the word?"
"A conspiracy." Sean said sharply with a snap of his fingers. "Someone, or quite a few people are trying to take you guys down from the inside."
"This is why Uncle merged." Ezra mumbled under his breath. "I don't think even he knows who did this or how extensive it is, otherwise he would have ferreted them out himself."
"Call a shareholder's meeting." Sylas said and began unplugging all of the computers from their web of wires. "Early tomorrow morning before the international markets open for the day."
"Tomorrow is a Saturday Sylas." Noah said with a roll of his eyes.
"Even better. Markets are closed."
"I doubt any of them are going to show up."
"They will show all right. No one undermines the Hato. No one." Ezra growled, swiftly heading towards the door. No doubt heading straight up to his office. "You coming Uri?"
Sylas smirked and stepped over the tangled wires that littered the floor to follow Ezra.
"Hey! You can't just leave us here to clean up this mess!" Noah called but Sylas ignored him.
"Come up to the fourteenth floor when you're done dobe."
…...
"God Sylas how long are you going to keep me here?" Noah groaned and Sylas rolled his eyes.
"Until we finish the fucking list." He said through clenched teeth. He understood that Noah was tired.
Heck, Sean was even passed out on the office couch and the Uri could see the bags beginning to form around Ezra's eyes as he too struggled to stay awake.
"Fine, fine." Noah huffed as he dragged a tired hand down his face. "Who's next?"
"Riku Kobayashi." Ezra said.
"Currently engaged in an affair with the head of the economic policy development. It's been going on for roughly three years. Their wives have no idea."
"Jonathan Sawyer." Sylas said, typing away furiously on his computer.
"Recently entangled with the justice department for an illegal gambling ring."
"Marjorie Glendale."
"Having an affair with the defense secretary."
Sylas shook his head as he continued to record all of the rather salacious details that Noah was dishing out. How the man knew all of these private details was beyond him but somehow people trusted the blonde to keep their secrets. Who would believe the dead-last son of the Govenor anyway?
Unfortunately for the Hato shareholders, Sylas did believe him. Noah was many things but he was not a good liar. When they finally finished with the last name on the list, Sylas pressed print and the sound of the printer working replaced Noah's gossip newsreel.
"What use is this information? Blackmail?" Noah yawned. Sylas removed one of the finished documents from the printer and shrugged.
"In a way." He replied.
Usually, Sylas didn't peddle in the petty secrets of others but they needed leverage. There was more than one person laundering money through the Hato. While most of the people involved would likely keep quiet, there was always a weak link. These 'scandals' Noah spoke of were likely only the tip of the iceberg for these people. If they thought they had more dirt on them than they were willing to risk getting out, it would only be a matter of time before they caved.
Hopefully, that would be sooner rather than later. Earlier, while he had been opening a blank document to begin typing on Ezra's computer, he noticed a tab opened with 'Sabaku' as its title. Sylas knew that he shouldn't go through Ezra's private files but his curiosity got the better of him and he opened it. It turned out to be a draft of Amia's marriage contract. The contents had made his blood boil and it was all he could do to not immediately delete the document.
"You owe me for this bastard." Noah grumbled before immediately passing out in his chair.