Manhattan: In Love with the Infamous King

Chapter 4

Nolan POV

“NOLAN!” I hear Trent yelling at me as I slowly put down the bar I was using to work out. It’s only been two days since the hit was made and we haven’t had any more people come for us. It was unsettling how quiet it was. “You’re not going to believe what The Whisper did!” Phillip and Tori run in with him as I swing the towel around me and sit up on the bench. Phillip puts his tablet in front of me. I see images of Henry Portsman, his bodyguards, and his entire intermediate family with bullets through their throats. There’s another series of photos of Joseph Moreno with the same set of scenario except they are shot through their ear. You don’t have to be a genius to know the Portsman tried to whisper to the Moreno and it backfired. The Whisper is sending a message. They tried to double cross him and now both sides are dead.

I hand the tablet back. “When did this happen?” I use the towel to wipe the sweat accumulating on my face while Phillip taps on his tablet to tell me the exact time.

“Exactly 37 hours ago. About six hour since The Whisper rejected our bid. He took out Veronica too, but he didn’t take the money nor is he asking for it.” This is new. Damn, he’s changing the game. Even though he’s a cold blooded murderer, I do have a lot of respect for him. He has morals in regards to our lifestyle and I can respect that. He’s been a wild card in the black market for awhile now, picking and choosing the type of targets instead of being based on money.

Tori looks towards Trent to usher him to tell me something, so I look his way. “Renaldo took down the bid for me, apologized, and wants to settle it by giving us $1.5M. To let bygones be bygones. Turns out Veronica lied and told him I got her pregnant.” Women. I nod at him to take the settlement. It’s easier than being in a gang war with him and he’s not going to like having to owe us one.

“Phillip, have you firmed up our security? I’m not trying to have what happened this past weekend happen again.” The kid hesitantly nods back at me, but I can tell he has more to say or to ask. “What is it Phillip?”

“That girl that was here that saved Trent’s life? Her name is Alex Kane. She’s a security genius and she created one of the strongest systems in the world. Technology companies and the government have been trying to recruit her since she was 13.” He pauses when all of us look at him intently. Damn, didn’t realize the pretty little girl had that side of her. “Anyways I recognized her from one of her thesis works. I want to ask her for code. Mine is good, but I think together with hers, it would be like a fortress.” I nod in agreement.

“Damn, I just thought she was anti-social. Didn’t realize she had that in her. She doesn’t act like it.” Trent spills out to us. “We can contact her, but I have a feeling she’s just going to say no. I still have to talk to her and see if she wants like money or something so we’re squared.” Tori has been quiet this whole time, which is kind of unlike her. We all look at her to see what she has to say. She shrugs.

“I like her, she’s different than her group of friends.” Tori eyes Trent with that stink eye. “Next time you have a date, can you choose one without the whines and squeals? Seriously Kennedy and her friends were practically giddy just up here.” Trent pouts at her.

“You like Alex! She wasn’t so bad!” He spits back out at her defensively while Phillip and I shake our heads. Tori is about to say something but I put my hand up to stop her.

“Get in touch with her. See what she likes to do. If she wants to go to a concert or a show, make it happen. Make sure she’s happy before we ask her to do us a favor because then we will be owing her twice.” I eye Trent as I say this. He nods in disappointment. Having to owe someone in this line of work is dangerous but it’s a code we live by. “Tori, make sure the shipment at the docks get in properly.” She nods before scurrying out of here. “Phillip, go with Trent since she knows and can relate to you.” They leave me alone in the gym.

I get up and stand near the window to look at the city. The Whisper isn’t going to make an appearance anytime soon now, not with the message he just sent everyone. He’s pissed. How the hell am I supposed to find him now?

Alex POV

I wave goodbye to Kennedy and Holly, one of the other girls that was with us that night. We have plans to have dinner tonight because, apparently, Liv is upset with me. I could not care less, but the others think it’s a good idea for us to talk it out. Seriously, I haven’t done anything to her, but it is what it is and I have to remain civil. I didn’t say this earlier, but Kennedy and all her friends are Manhattan socialites, Wall Street babies. They’re kind of used to getting everything their way. The Royal Flush Club has been so exclusive that even socialites have issues getting in. I go towards my car and drive off towards one of my favorite vintage bookstores.

When I get there, I comb through the mathematics books before settling on some physics theorist book. This might be useful. Walking around, I decide to also get a fiction book, maybe a classic like Jane Eyre. I notice two men sneaking around me in the bookstore, but I play it cool. While I am purchasing the books, I walk from the store to the cafe next door. They follow me in and I see it’s Phillip and Trent. Acting like they haven’t been following me, they wave up to me like “oh hey! Funny seeing you here.” Oh great, people to socialize with. I order my coffee before going up to them to see what they want.

“Hey Alex!” Phillip greets me enthusiastically while Trent just gives me his glowing smile. I nod at them both with a polite smile.

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask, trying to get straight to the point because I’m not in the mood to get into any drama today. Just want to go home and watch a basketball or hockey game.

Trent speaks up first. “We were talking about the Ariana Grande concert this weekend! Are you a fan? Do you want to come with us?” I shake my head. She’s nice and all and her music isn’t bad, but I’m not super into that scene. Plus, I feel like this comes with some strings attached. The more I look at them, the more I’m sure of it. Maybe they’re trying to make it up to me after saving Trent’s ass from the Panther. I saw his tattoo when he swung down and miss. Nasty situation.

Phillip tries next. “Oh we might have dinner before going, do you want to come with us? You can choose the place!” I shake my head again, but I hear my order ring up, so I go to grab my coffee before returning to them.

“I appreciate the gestures, but I’m fine. Thanks. I have to go. Bye.” I leave abruptly for the parking garage and before they can say anything. Jumping in my car with my things, I almost back out into Trent. Damn it. Will they just quit it? I hop back out and slam my door. “Can I help you?” I try not to sound incredibly stone cold.

Trent smiles sheepishly at me this time before 10 men step out and surround me. I give him a questioning look before I cross my arms across my chest and expect an answer to my question. “Have dinner with us tonight.” He says it more like a command than a suggestion.

“I can’t. I have plans with Kennedy and the others.” I quickly reply back while looking each one of the men in the eyes. What are they thinking about? “I don’t have all day, what do you you really want?” Phillip comes up to me and points at his tablet, so I take it from him to see my security program, but it’s incomplete without my set of codes. “Seriously? All of this..” I swing my arm to gesture around all of them. “to get the other half of my program?” I shake my head and remember that Phillip has some impressive programs as well, a face recognition program that I need. “I’ll give you the rest, but I want your face recognition program.” I turn towards Phillip and return the tablet to him. “Take it or leave it.”

Phillip looks at Trent. That face recognition program is the reason why that gang is so powerful in the first place. They have been able to spot targets with a fraction of the time it takes for other programs. And it’s incredibly accurate. The sophistication of it is years beyond its time, but I need it to find someone important. I knew that Phillip had the technology and I was hoping to do it myself since at first I had nothing to offer to him, but now that they want something from me, I think it’s time for a trade. The kid’s a genius even if he hasn’t figured out my security program, he could probably surpass it. I’m betting that their intruders messed with his head about how good his program was.

Trent looks begrudgingly at Phillip as a few minutes pass in silence. I sigh and grab hold of Phillip’s tablet. “This is my phone number. You can use it if you decide to make the trade. If not, erase it.” Giving back his tablet, I get back into the car and they all get out of the way as I back up and get of there. The clock says it’s 5:43 PM which means I have about 1.5 hours before dinner tonight.

Nolan POV

“Well, how big of a loss would it be if we gave her the face recognition program?” I ask Phillip after they report back to me. He looks pretty beat up about it.

“It’s not necessarily a loss, but the foundation of that program is what is needed to make it go further. With her knowledge of programming, she could make something better, but she doesn’t have the baseline codes.” Phillip mutters back to me. That program is his pride and joy and I know that he would give it up if he had to, but I wouldn’t make him do that.

“Where is she going to be tonight?” I ask them as I think it might be wise if I start stepping in for this part. Normally, we would drag her to the warehouse and beat her until she gave it to us, but Trent has a debt that hasn’t been paid off yet.

“Kennedy‘s text messages say they’re trying to go to Kingsman Restaurant.” Woah. For a college student, that’s not exactly friendly to the bank. Why would they choose to go there? “Kennedy and her friends are all socialites.” Trent responds to my inner thoughts. I have to admit, he is good at his job.

“How does Alex fit in that crowd?” I ask them, as I know she’s pretty different from her friends, but exactly how different? Phillip hands me the tablet and I look through as he gives me her run down.

“Alex Kane. 20 years old. Mother died in childbirth. Father unknown. She was found on the side of the road when she was 13. She had no other family and was placed in the foster care system. Discovered at 15 when she won a software development contest from Google. She registered under her foster father’s name because she wasn’t 18. Sold the software for $12M. High school years are a little shady because it looks like her foster father home schooled. Applied to every school in New York City. Received a full ride to Columbia and currently going for a B.A. in Physics.” Phillip finishes while I take a deep breath at all of that information. Damn, so not just another pretty face. I looked at the pictures of her from 13 and up because it doesn’t look like we have a lot of childhood photos. She looked depressing in each one of them, never smiling, just emotionless. Her body language next to her foster father shows that she was uncomfortable being near him. There’s definitely more to the story.

“Make a reservation for 4 at Kingsman. Looks like we have a dinner party to crash.”