Iniquitous Consortium

Chapter 1:

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"Father, I'm home!" Nuri yelled in frustration while opening the front door to their blue and grey villa home. Her father had told her earlier that he was going to go to a late night work meeting. He was gone for the whole day in a meeting. Nuri thought it was strange that he was having all these last minute meetings.

She ran up to his room, seeing that his light was on, she cracked open the door.

"Have you told her yet?" A strange voice asked. She had never heard this man's voice before, but it sounded like he was a tough, down to business, man.

"Not yet. I don't know how she'll take it. Do you think she would join us or rat us out?" Nuri recognized this voice, it was her father's. They clearly hadn't heard her yelling from downstairs.

"You don't have to tell her, it's just difficult to get around her. She has shown signs that she could be one of our best, with training of course." The strange man said as if it wasn't even a question.

"She's not going to join us if it comes from you. I think I can recruit her. She'll be put into my son's squadron." A third man's voice entered the conversation.

"Did the boss say we had to recruit her?" Her father asked the men.

"The boss wants new recruits that will make it out of training. She has more potential than all our current trainees put together." This time the voice was one of a woman.

"It's going to be difficult, but I have a plan." The strange man stated confidently.

"Care to share this plan of yours?"The woman asked sternly.

"I'll get it approved by the boss before I tell you." At that, the man walked towards the door putting his hand on the handle. He turned around before opening the door, "And, Jonas, don't tell her that you are involved. You'll ruin my plans."

Before Nuri could process everything they had said, she ran back to the front door. Opening it, she slid through silently closing the door behind her. She waited a minute before she re-entered the house. Acting as if she just now got home, she opened the door, walked through, and slammed it shut behind her. She yelled that she was home, louder than before, to make sure they heard her this time.

A man walked down the stairs in a full black, silk suit. It looked strange on his tall muscular figure. There was a single stripe of gray hair on the right side of his head that was bold against the rest of his black hair. When his eyes met hers, there was a tug at the back of her brain. He stopped walking, his eyes were wide and a shocked expression lay on his face. Wondering why, Nuri kept staring into the man's green eyes as if they would tell her something under the pressure of her gaze. Her thoughts were interrupted by a set of heels clicking down the marble stairs. She looked up, past the man in front of her, to see a beautiful woman. Her elegant sapphire dress falling behind her, dragging the train of the dress on the ground, she walked towards Nuri. The magenta curls of her hair bouncing with every step.

"Hello, you must be Nuri." The woman bowed respectfully. "My name is Ophelia."

"And who are you?" Nuri asked, looking at the man that had first walked down the stairs. By now a third man had walked down the stairs followed by her father.

"I am Roscoe, I will see you soon." He gave a slight bow and walked out of the house, followed by the other man.

"Don't worry about that, he's a bit strange. You'll get used to it." The woman assured her. "We will meet again. Soon, hopefully."

After Nuri sent them off she shut the door and turned to her father. He was on the phone talking to someone in a dark and serious tone. Hanging up the phone, he started to speak.

"Have your things packed by the end of the week." He ordered.

"But I just got back. Why?" Nuri asked, not wanting to leave for another long trip.

"You are the heiress to my company. There are bad people who would want to hurt you. I have signed you up for a private school where you will learn everything you need to know before you run this business. You will also learn how to protect yourself if your new bodyguard fails to do his job." He explained.

Nuri could tell that she couldn't do anything to change his mind. But, being her stubborn self, she wasn't going to leave without "discussing" the situation.

"I already know how to protect myself. There is no reason for me to have a bodyguard." Nuri protested.

"You will have the bodyguard that I chose for you. He will be undercover so he won't draw any unwanted attention. His part in the cover is playing as your boyfriend. It's the best cover we have right now." Her father informed her with a serious voice. His tone told her that his decision was set in stone and there would be no further discussion.

"Fine. But, can Wynn come to the school with me?" Nuri begged her father.

"If he wants to then he can." Her father compromised.

They both walked off to their rooms, satisfied with their compromise.