As Alexander left the banquet, "Maybe they are not all the same after all" he thought to himself about his meeting with Jacob Harrington.
The sky was pitch dark, and as he walked through the Billiard Maze Avenue. It was given its name due to its numerous corners intersections and dead ends synonymous with that of a maze.
Alexander could feel that he was being followed so he turned around, and his suspicions were correct. He took the next turn to the left and lost his pursuer, but just after a few seconds, he saw another one.
Quickening his pace, he took the next corner and the next, but with every turn he took there was always someone tailing him from behind or by the side until he was faced with a dead end.
Alexander stood firm, and looked at the shadows behind him, he counted six of them. Alexander let out a loud sigh and said;
"Before we get started, do any of you gentlemen want to walk away" he said in a cold still voice. His words sent shivers down their spine.
He turned around to face his attackers. There were murmurings in the midst, but not one took a step forward.
Suddenly, a loud outburst of laughter erupted from their midst.
"You certainly are a man of character, Alexander Chase." The familiar voice said, as a way paved in their midst, all the way to the front, it was none other than Julian Monroe.
"Figures..." Alexander murmured to himself. "What do you want, Julian," he asked firmly.
"Julian? I had no idea we were on a first-name base already" Julian mocked.
"Okay I tell you what, for giving me a good laugh, I'm willing to let that slide and give you a second chance; sign the divorce papers and I promised to let you walk out of this unharmed" Julian continued, stretching forth the papers to Alexander's.
Alexander pondered "a second chance/sign the divorce papers/promised to let walk out of this unharmed" His words baffled Alexander greatly.
"It seems I failed to make myself clear earlier. Julian, I will not be signing those papers, not now not ever" He answered firmly.
"It's a shame it has to come to this Alexander. But you have left me no other option. Your wife, Seraphina Lockwood must be mine"
"Over my dead body," Alexander retorted.
Julian gave a coy smile, and snickered "O, that can be arranged…. Boys get him." He signaled,
With that, the dozen men charged to Alexander. Alexander smirked and said to himself, 'Finally some action'.
The first attacker launched at him with an iron rod, swinging it recklessly at his face, but Alexander dodged it with ease, and struck him with his hand by his neck pressure point, knocking him out instantly.
Next assailant charged toward him with a knuckle ring, but before he could throw his first punch, Alexander knocked him out with a single punch right in the middle of the first.
"Come on there's like half a dozen of you, how hard is it to knock a single guy down" Julian bickered from the sideline, as the remaining men slowly paced in a circle around Alexander.
The fourth charged with a knife, to which Alexander weaved and raked him to the ground.
All of them lay flat on the ground, with just a single fighter left staggering on his feet. He swiftly pulled out a gun from his belt and with a definite aim, he pulled the trigger. But Alexander's reflexes were fast enough, as he swerved to the left from the bullet's direction. The bullet missed Alexander and flew right to the closest person far behind him, the only other person still standing and wasn't in the fight, Julian Monroe.
The bullet struck Julian by his left side of his neck, sending him flat to the ground. At the sight of his boss lying in a pool of blood, the shooter scampered away.
Alexander rushed to Julian, but by the time he got to him, Julian had passed out. He wasn't dead, but the aftershock of the getting shot knocked him out.
Alexander immediately tore a piece of his clothes, gathered two sticks, and stopped the bleeding. When he was sure Julian was going to make it, Alexander pulled out two cards in his breast pocket, took a decisive glance at both, placed one of them back into his pocket, and dialed the number on the card still in his hand. It was Jacob Harrington's.
"Alexander, I wasn't expecting your call so soon, did you forget something," Jacob Harrington said at the other end of the phone.
"No, I am in a bit of a mess, and I'm hoping it isn't too soon to cash in on the favor you offered," Alexander asked.
"No certainly not, whatever you need."
"Good. I will send my address, please be as quick as you can, he doesn't have that much time left"
"What?"
....
In a few hours,
Julian lay on his hospital bed, hooked on life support. The room was heavily guarded by half a dozen men. Suddenly, a man entered the room, his aura so strong it stiffed the room's entire atmosphere like it was held on a siege.
"How did this happen" He roared. His voice was laced with terror.
He was Wilson Monroe, Julian's father, the Kingpin of Monroe Logistics. He is a powerful man known by few, but feared by many. One of the few that stood at the pinnacle of the Pantheon Valley. Aside from his vast wealth, and affluence, he was also known to be involved in shady business, like transporting illegal goods for people who could, a means through which he amassed his large fortune.
"Sir, your son and a few of his friends were attacked" one of his assistants relied
"And what be the name of a gang foolish of enough to attack my son" He asked,
"Not a gang sir, just one man"
"One man?"
"Yes sir, Alexander Chase"
"What the hell is that" He asked, almost rhetorically.
"Sir I have some bad news, Jacob Harrington just called off the deal," Another assistant said.
"What!" He yelled. His anger tripled.
"Yes Sir, their reason being your son assaulted one of his esteemed guests after this night's Banquette"
The kingpin smashed his fist into the wall "… And who is this esteemed guest" he asked, his mind already pointing to a particular person.
"His name is Alexander Chase"
The deal with Jacob Harrington was going to raise Monroe Logistics even higher, at least by thirty percent. Now it was gone thanks to a single man, the same responsible for his son's attack.
"How does the name of a man this powerful not ring any bells in my head?"
"That is because he isn't powerful, Sir. He is but a wretched live-in-son-in-law married to the woman Julian wants to be his"
The Kingpin fumed with fury even more.
"Find HIM!!!" He ordered.