King of New York (46 page)

Her hands shake with
excitement as she answers the phone with the ring on her finger almost blinding
her.

“Good morning,
princess.”

“Hey, baby, I’ve
been missing you all day.”

“I’ve missed you
too my love, have you eaten?”

“I had a salad,
I’m trying to remain sexy for you,” she says laughing.

“With a body
like yours, you could eat a thousand burgers and still look sexy. Anyway I
would like to take you for dinner after work.”

Sierra is
surprised. “Are you sure, babe? I thought you didn’t want anyone to know that
you’re alive right now.”

“I’ve changed my
mind, princess. It’s time for the king to rise, but I have something to attend
to before I make myself known to the citizens of the city.”

Sierra is
slightly apprehensive but doesn’t make it known to him. “Ok, baby, please just
be safe. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I know baby, I
promise to be careful.”

“I love you, my
king.” She hears him blow her a kiss and hangs up as she clutches the phone to
her chest.

She misses him
deeply already, but decides to focus her mind on the pile of work on her desk.

****

Sierra’s rise in the demanding
and challenging world of corporate finance in one of the toughest and most
prestigious firms in New York is quite remarkable considering she has only been
there for a short time, and she does not have all the necessary qualifications
as of yet. She sometimes feels sceptical as to why she got the job, but she is
nonetheless happy at the good fortune that has befallen her.

While sat in her
office seeking out venture capital and looking at stock charts, she is called
in to a meeting for all staff members.

Sierra from an
early age loved challenges. Optimistic and enthusiastic about facing a new
environment, with all the uncertainties, anxieties as well as thrills offered,
Sierra came to New York with fresh eyes and ideas for making it big. She was
lucky enough to get help from Uncle Danny in the world’s most bubbling but
predatory concrete jungle, plus she always had a way with people. This
extraordinary ability to get along easily with others made Sierra a leader in
school, various organisations and clubs, as well as becoming a senior prefect
and champion debater, which had always stood her in good stead with others
wherever she went. Sierra also had another very good human quality – her
indefatigable and unsuppressed sense of humour, which made it possible for her
to tolerate, appreciate and get along with people, however diverse or weird
their intellectual or social orientation was. This personality trait, coupled
with her unshakeable faith in her ability to influence things and people
favourably, played a great role in helping her quickly find her feet among the
young social elite of Manhattan. Many men had tried to make a pass at her but
she always kept herself to herself and only longed for one man – Chad Perry.
She hasn’t made any friends in or out of work, and has only been to one evening
out with her work colleagues. The only company she likes and appreciates is
Chad’s. As she makes her way to the meeting, she starts to feel a little uneasy
at the prospect of being around her work colleagues. If left to herself, she
would hide away from the world and only be seen by Chad.

She goes into
the meeting, which is very short. They finish and she exits back into the
seclusion of her office with Chad Perry on her mind.

After a few more
hours of sorting out documents, Sierra leaves her office with paperwork that
still needs attending to. She tells her assistant to hold all her calls. Across
the hall she sees her boss, the big dog of her firm, walking towards her. She
tries to evade him but the handsome billionaire is too swift for his young
employee.

Sierra’s boss
hardly ever shows his face in the building, but she remembers him from the
first day she started work when he held the doors open for her. She also
believes she remembers him from long before, but she is unable to think where. He
is iron-fisted but generous at the same time.

“Join me for
lunch, Miss Malcolm.”

He doesn’t ask,
but the command in his voice is friendly. Sierra obliges and follows him in his
chauffeured vehicle “I hope you enjoyed yourself during my function at the
Metropolitan Museum of Arts.”

Now she
remembers where she’d seen him. He is the “wealthiest investor in New York”,
but he clearly dabbles in other businesses also. “Yes, I most certainly enjoyed
myself, sir.”

They are driven to
a small burger bar in a quiet street in Manhattan. She is shocked at his choice
of restaurant.

“Don’t be so
shocked, my dear. Money doesn’t mean one can’t enjoy the odd fatty burger with
a can of beer.”

Sierra laughs.
The burger joint is cosy and it brings relief from daily concerns. The grey-haired
man is probably in his late sixties but it would have been difficult to tell
had it not been for his grey locks. He is handsome with a deep scar that
accentuates his features.

He radiates
power, but the calm and cool of his green eyes are inviting to Sierra.

“Make an order
for us. I like it when a lady orders my food.”

“Yes … yes, sir.”

Sierra orders
two beers and two quarter pounders with extra trimmings and a variety of
sauces.

Bringing the
food, the young chef wipes the grease from the plates on his apron. “Enjoy your
food, guys. I would join you guys for a beer, but those fat fools over there
keep bugging me to make their food.”

Sierra is
appalled yet humoured by the chef’s service.

“This is what I
love about this place, Miss Malcolm. The down-to-earth attitude of young Tommy,
the best burger chef and waiter I know.”

They both burst
out in laughter and they clink their cans of beer with one another.

They eat in partial
silence as the burger joint is filled with the sound of rock music. There is a
karaoke machine at the other end of the joint, and a seemingly drunk diner
starts to belt out a well-known rock and roll song. Her colleagues howl like
wolves as she murders the song. Sierra enjoys the happiness and freeness of the
bar.

“This is nice. I
have to admit this burger is good.”

Sierra’s boss
nods as he devours the burger.

Tommy takes a
chair and places it right next to Sierra. She is shocked to see the chef join
them.

“You is a pretty
li’le-thang-ain’t-ya?”

Tommy has a
Texan twang that sounds funny to Sierra. Nonetheless, Tommy is very charming
and she enjoys his uninvited company. Her boss enjoys the last drop of his beer
before joining in the conversation.

Sierra assumes
Tommy to be a good friend of her boss, with the way he fits in perfectly with
the rich and powerful customer of his humble bar.

“I tell ya li’le
English, this man right here is the bestest and kindest I’ve known.”

They all say cheers
and Tommy continues to crack old Texan jokes.

Sierra’s boss’s
green eyes glint as the rugged-looking Tommy continues to praise him at the end
of each of his unfunny, yet very funny, jokes.

Suddenly the
tone of Tommy’s voice becomes serious, filled with emotion. Sierra suspects the
alcohol.

The scar on the
billionaire’s face is now more prominent as Tommy speaks.

“They came seven
winters ago, li’le ole English. They were men looking for blood.”

Tommy now has
tears falling from his eyes as the billionaire stares at him. Tommy catches his
breath and continues to speak.

“It was not me
they wanted, they wanted him.” Tommy looks at the billionaire and continues. “Criminals
never come looking for the poor man. But I thought they wanted my secret burger
sauce.”

Sierra wants to
laugh but she refuses to, as Tommy is sounding very serious.

“They did not
want my burger secret, li’le English. They wanted him right there. They darn
near broke ma shop. All my burgers were lying on the floor. It was a sad sight,
li’le English. Mr Billionaire right here saved me and the remainder of my
burgers as we escaped. That’s how old rich got the cut on his face. He saved my
life and that’s his mark of honour.”

Although Tommy
is humorous in his recollection of what occurred a few years back, especially
as he adds an emphasis on his burgers, his story is still heart-warming.

“Nobody cares
about the poor. We’re just vermin for them. You wouldn’t think my kids are in
private school with the way I dress, look and talk. My wife is studying law and
it’s all because of this man right here, li’le ole English.”

Sierra’s boss
finally speaks.

“That is why I
am King of New York, Miss Malcolm. Long live the king!”

“Long live the king!”
They say as the three of them say cheers with their drinks.

Sierra is
suddenly consumed with fear as she remembers Chad referring to himself as the
only
King of New York.

Could it be that
her boss is the man that tried to kill her lover?

“This city is
mine, but there a few young rascals who do not know what it is to respect a
king. Instead they think my city is theirs. What they fail to realise is that
billions of dollars do not elevate your status. I have been king and always
will be in New York. I am the one of the wealthiest men in this great country
of ours. I own most of the lucrative firms in this country, but since I almost
got killed I do not speak about my wealth to the minions. You see, there are
people that started from the bottom that will do anything to get to the top,
even betray the ones that helped take them there. They tried to kill me just to
get to the top. They are evil, but they believe that I am the devil. All I can
say is that their evil is now dead!” There is a haunting look of wickedness in
his eyes.

Sierra feels a
dangerous tingle run through her spine as her boss’s green eyes pierce through
her senses. His stare is fearsome, almost evil.

“They do not
keep to their end of the deal. They believe the money of this city should
freely be theirs. But like flies they have started to drop one by one. In fact,
one that calls himself the King of New York and tried to dethrone me has recently
passed away.”

Sierra feels
sick to her stomach. She shakes with a deep hatred for her boss but tries to
hide her contempt for him.

“I believe that
Chad Perry is dead. The fictional King of New York is dead. How ironic, because
he once told a brother of mine that kings do not die. How funny, because kings
do, indeed, die.”

He laughs with
evil in his voice and Sierra shakes with fear. The grey-haired billionaire
becomes a monster of a man before her eyes as she fears for the life of her
lover, who is still presumed dead to the rest of the world.

****

She calls Chad’s phone but he doesn’t
pick up. Instead of going back to work, she zooms recklessly through the
streets of New York in the supercar Chad had bought her. She cries
uncontrollably with fear as she makes her way to Chad’s apartment. She sees his
car and assumes he is home, so she waits for him. She gives a sigh of relief as
she presumes him safe. She calls him till her battery dies. She rings his bell
but there’s still no answer.

Hours pass and
he does not call her for dinner, so she continues to wait as darkness begins to
loom over New York.

All of a sudden,
Chad’s car goes past her, and she reverses and follows where he is heading. A
sense of relief overcomes her as she sees the only man she’s ever loved still
alive. But her mind suddenly becomes gripped with fear. He looked angry and
paid no mind to anything but the road as she saw his blue eyes spark with pure
anger.

She hurriedly
races after him to his destination. She waits inside her car at a distance, as
he gets out his car and enters a beautiful mansion. His walk seems calculated
and terror consumes her as he looks back and she catches the evil in his eyes
before the gates to the mansion close behind him.

CHAPTER 39

The shots fire out! One – two –
three.

The body of the
man changes from human to a beast as he howls and roars at the bullets inside
him. His body is ravaged by agony. His blood runs slowly, caressing his pale
white skin, staining it crimson.

The voice of the
beast recoils back into the man. His voice quietens and his body weakens, but
his eyes are still strong and filled with passion. His clothes are wet with
blood; he takes his blood-covered hands and wipes a strand of hair away from
his face.

“As the body
fades, so does the power of man.”

The fallen man’s
green eyes spark with hatred as he laughs painfully at Chad Perry’s words.

Chad is fearsome
as he stands over the body of the conquered. The moon casts a shadow across his
face. Chad lights up a cigar as the green-eyed man fights a battle for life.