Empress of the Chessboard

Matinee

How does one family lose so much sensitive information in the span of months? Scoffs continuously left my lips as I scrolled through all the information presented on my tablet, and I was not even a tenth of the way through.

Informants, names of business partners, the locations of safehouses and storehouses all laid bare in front of me. These had been slipping through the cracks for almost three years, and yet, somehow Porsche ended up being accused despite working there for less than one. It was sloppy, not to mention amateur, but it did ignite an ice-cold warmth in my heart to stare at the debt Korn would owe my family steadily building up.

The ding of a notification bell jolted me out of my thoughts before I extracted another phone from my bag. A gentle smile gracing my lips as I read the notification.

From: Porsche

Everything is still fine, and Chay managed to get into his first choice university.

Might not be able to speak for a while as my duties have increased.

Stay safe

XX

I stared at the message for a few more seconds before it vanished, doing so similarly on Porsche's phone. I thank the heavens everyday that Porsche managed to enthrall Anakinn so much that he was given his own phone, it did come with a multitude of encryption and spyware, but not enough that Xenia was unable to weave our own set of code into the mix. It made communication so much easier than having to rely on Yok to pass messages to Porsche each time he managed to charm his way to the bar.

"The same response as usual, Miss Alexandra?"

I sighed and nodded. If I truly trusted Porsche's messages at face value, I would have barely known a quarter of the things he had been through. The first news I ever received about my twin was that he had been found after being lost in the forest for three days, it took less than a few hours to plant people at the hospital to act as communicators between us both and to ensure that he received the best care possible.

That was the first time I offered him an out...he refused.

My lips curled as remember hearing through the grapevine that the Theerapanyakuls were beside themsevles in searching for the rest of kidnappers, Korn and Kan (though I do suspect it was more of obligation rather than concern that he joined the search) running the underbelly of Bangkok red as they grasped at straws for information. I wonder how they would react if they came to know that the scum were already fish excrement floating in the ocean, expelled by Bangkok's sewage system in tiny little pieces.

It was my mistake of trusting Porsche, and his request that Chay be kept as far from our world as possible, trusting Korn to honour his promise of keeping him safe... a fat load of help that did. My tech team was working overtime to extract all the information we had on their leaks while Xenia travelled to cut our losses. I did not check my informants reports for a few days, and that is all it took for everything to go to hell, and the next thing I knew, I was on the jet heading to Bangkok after news of Chay and Porsche's kidnapping reached my ears.

It was time for the Theerapanyakuls to know exactly who stood behind the Kittisawat brothers.

"The only difference is that Chay managed to clear his quota admission's audition."

Leo smiled, it was amazing how my youngest brother could incite fondness from those who only knew him from photos or third-party words.

Soon the ostentatious home of Thailand's most influential organised crime family came in view, a seemingly harmless hotel, the perfect facade to house a small army as well as host less than savoury networking gatherings.