Dominus (Book I: parts 1-3)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 "The Island cannot wait! It is the key to everything! I have to go. I expect this to be dealt with ... swiftly." Jennifer hears Alexander screaming into the phone as she walks into to his office. Even though it’s not even 10 AM, he pours himself a scotch from the mini bar. "It’s a little early to be drinking, isn't it? Care to share?"

 "I am in no mood to tolerate your attempts at wit and humor." He takes a second to compose himself and refocus his thoughts. "How's Victor?"

 "You didn't bring me here to ask about Victor. Why am I here so early?"

 "If I needed to liquidate assets, what would need to be done?"

 "Well, it depends. How much do you need?"

 "All of it. Immediately."

 "You have billions of dollars in holdings, it would take months just to coordinate the logistics of it. Did something happen?" Alexander is not a man that is easily shaken and she knows this, but the look on his face, pale and ghastly, tells her that something perilous is on the horizon. "What did you do?"

 "It can be fixed."

 "WHAT can be fixed? What did you do?"

 "You're the spitting image of your mother, God rest her soul. She was striking. I imagine she was a direct descendant of the Goddess Athena. I was smitten immediately. I knew she would be my wife. It took some doing, but I convinced her that I was her Prince Charming." Alexander is happy to again be reflective and recall memories of the purest thing he's ever done in his life, fall in love with Jennifer's mother.

 "I've heard this story a million times."

 "No, you haven't. Not the complete version."

 "You met in Monte Carlo at the Grand Casino and you swindled her for her heart like you swindle everyone."

 Alexander grins off the obvious dig. He goes over to the wet bar, drops an over-sized square of ice in a glass and mulls over the drink selection before selecting a scotch. He pours the warm scotch over the ice cube. The cracking of the ice echoes through the now silent room. He takes a sip and lets the flavor of the rich amber libation marinate a minute before he begins. "Your mother worked for the casino."

 "You said that she was a duchess."

 "She was. Well, her mother was. Your mother was quite the rebel, which is where you get that fiery spirit that has become the thorn in my side. As I was saying, your mother worked for the casino. I didn't know this initially, but eventually all things are revealed. I was at the craps table and I was on a roll. I should have quit while I was ahead, but the excitement of winning was addicting. Needless to say, I lost nearly everything I won. I lost even more attempting to win it back. I was down to my last few chips and then she walked over to the table. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I figured I quite literally had nothing to lose. I told her that I was down to my last, but win or lose I wasn't leaving Monte Carlo without her. She said, "Win or lose, I'll go with you, but I would much rather you win." She blew on the dice, and the rest is history, as they say. We had dinner and walked around for a while. Monte Carlo is enchanting at night. No matter what dull thing I talked about would seem romantic to her because of the atmosphere, this was my logic. Obviously I wanted to know everything about her, every detail."

 Alexander chuckles slightly, already amused before he can get the next part out. "Of course I wanted to know what she did. Naturally I assumed that she had to be some type of international banker or something of that nature because she spoke several different languages. I tried to guess, but she said no to everything. Finally, even though she was very embarrassed, she said, "Well, as of right now I am in between jobs since I quit my job the moment I left the casino with you."