The week had been peaceful, not completely but almost, and that was good enough for me, especially when I had just completed a job I had been handling for months, and had landed a big account for the company. It had been okay, until the news this morning about Katherine and her vacancy to accept another male candidate into her life.

I wasn't interested in her, but I knew someone who was and he was the one calling my line. Douglas Martinez. I didn't even have to check to know. Why couldn’t she have stayed there, right there in the relationship with her boyfriend, for a few more weeks, and allowed me to enjoy my hard-earned vacation?

The ringing phone that had become a nuisance with its continuous bird song tune and unending vibration finally stopped and I exhaled with nothing but relief. I rose from the ugliest couch in the history of mankind with nothing but sad ripped jeans and a bottle of beer. It was barely 8am, and I was already in my third bottle. What better way to start your day? This was why I liked vacations. There were no lies to tell, no schemes to plot, no roles to play, I was the real me, lived my life and I didn't mind what people might say.

I gulped down another round of barley, water, yeast and hops and strode slowly to the balcony, picking up my annoying cellular device from the small wooden table next to the glass balcony doors. The sun had risen in its full glow in Hawaii and had given the city a beautiful golden-colored glimmer. I should do this more than once a year. I thought as I breathed in the morning. It was just wonderful until the phone began to ring again, cutting off my little pleasure. Now vexed, I clicked the receiver button and selected the loud speaker option on the screen.

"What? Milia, what?" I screamed. I checked the screen before picking up. If it was Douglas, I would have turned on airplane mode instantly.

"It's Douglas, your father, you idiot." A strong male voice vibrated through the speaker. Although it sounded like he was shouting, he wasn't. The man was born with a voice eternally connected to invisible speakers, but Douglas was enraged. I could feel it.

I rolled my eyes, my sister Emilia had tricked me.

"Oh, hi Dad." I replied so innocently and took another sip.

"Go to hell. Where are you?"

"Hawaii." I answered and took in a deep breath loud enough that he could hear me.

"Come back this instant," he commanded.

"No. I just landed." I lied. An unnecessary lie, since he knew when I travelled, everyone in the company knew.

"A week ago. You have gotten enough sunshine that will last you a decade. I know you saw the news. I want to see you here this evening."

"But Dad." I began to complain but he cut in.

"Do not mess with me boy. Be here. Emilia, come have this back." He said from the receiver. The man never listened to anyone and I couldn't defy him either, so I drank once more to swallow my protest.

"Hi. Jacob? Hey Jacob? Are you still there?" A female voice spoke this time. It was my sister, the one that had put me in this mess.

"What do you want now?" I blasted, seriously irate.

"I'm sorry. You know how difficult Douglas can be. I can't disobey him, he is too scary." She said. I could imagine her whispering since she had lowered her voice when she mentioned Douglas's name.

"You owe me. Remember that." I said, and tilted the bottle to drink, but found it to be empty and I groaned.

"Yes, whatever. What is it?" She asked, hearing my beastly groan.

"My bottle is empty." I complained as I walked back into the small rental room.

"You should cut down on your drinking, Jacob Void." She complained.

"Yes, yes, whatever, Emilia Antler. I have to go now. I have a carton of this to finish, clothes to pack and a flight to catch. Later, Mil." I said and waited for her reply, which came instantly.

"Yeah, I’m busy too. Bye, Jay." She said and disconnected the call.

I looked around the room, it was a wreck. I couldn't pack up the entire mess in such a short period of allotted time, so I went for the most important thing. I sat back on my couch, picked up a new bottle of beer from the crate, found my remote under an ugly pillow, and switched to Netflix. I still had a lot of hours until evening and I wasn't going to waste my remaining vacation time in packing. Not when I could always abandon them, and travel empty-handed. For all I care, the housekeeper could burn everything.

This moment was important so I cherished it, like I did everything dear to me.

******

The trip from Hawaii to New York was shorter than the drive from the airport to my father's house. Thank you Katherine Winchester for being all civil, sophisticated and wealthy. Her perfection was the reason I was back in a city so wild all year long and I hated it.

During my drive to the house, I had gotten zillions of calls, from Milia, Douglas and even numbers I had never seen. All I had ignored and because of my actions, my arrival was welcomed with spates of unending bashing, heaps of insults and flying champagne bottles all from none else but Douglas. The chaos lasted for seconds that felt like hours, and ended with the arrival of Miguel Stonewater, a co-employee in our little company.

"Ah, Miguel is here. Why don't we begin?" Douglas said, dropping the next bottle he had planned to launch my way.

"Good evening sir. First of all, I apologize for my lateness. I had a meeting with the Minister of finance and I couldn't postpone it." Miguel said,  then glanced my way.

"No no. That contract was important, we can't lose the account." Douglas said, cleared his throat and I rolled my eyes at the complete personality metamorphosis. He was a monster in my case, but with Miguel, he was an angel.

Because it was disgusting to watch, I stared outside through the window into the well-groomed yard instead, while their dialogue continued as my annoyance rose. Why was I even called when he had Miguel to do the job? I and Miguel were like ice and volcano. Of course me being the volcano, but the bottom line was that we never saw eye to eye, and the only thing we ever agreed on was the mutual hate we had for each other.

The man's energy was just wrong and I knew behind his innocent angelic smile and his obviously fake calm demeanor, he was nothing but a sly, poisonous con. Although we were all con artists, all of us currently in the room, including Douglas, were all con artists since that was our job. Miguel was worse than we were.

He was at a totally different level, not in the job though. No, I worked better than him, but he was on a different level in everything else and it irked the hell out of me. At least, I was only a liar during my working hours and knew how to separate my private life from business, unlike Miguel.

"Jacob, if you care to join us," Douglas shouted, dragging me out of my thoughts. I winced and as I came closer, I searched for my sister Milia but she wasn't in the room. She wasn't part of our cooperation, she was here only because of our relationship, so I stood next to Miguel instead.

"Welcome back sunboy." Miguel whispered and I almost crushed his face with my eyes.

"Thanks. How's the account going? You are rather slow at stealing from them. Lost your touch?" I asked without looking at him.

"My touch is just fine, I'm just more ambitious than you can ever dream of being." He replied and I smirked. Why wasn't my rival someone less irritating? Why? I began to reply but I was interrupted when Douglas spoke again.

"I plan to retire. By the end of the year," Douglas said rather too happily.

"What?" My surprise was swallowed by the same question from everyone. Douglas, that old betrayer. What did he mean by retiring?

"Oh, weren't you aware of this? Are you sure you are truly his son?" Miguel said, laughing.

"You knew about this?" This time I turned to ask him.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot. You are not, you know? His son.." Miguel said, not replying to my question.

"Shut up, Stonewater. Or you will learn how to do so soon enough." I said, leaving his side and walking forward to Douglas.

"Douglas, what are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm going to retire. I'm tired of all you useless lots." He said, chuckling far too heartily as he looked around the room.

"Dad," I shouted, and he laughed. I knew why the whole situation was annoying and he was not helping, not with his hearty jolly laughter.

"Oh, now you remember who your father is," Douglas stated.

"Are you sick? Or... or... are you dying? What is it? Cancer? Brain damage?" I was frantic and unspeakably scared. It was all I could do, losing another parent scared the shit out of me.

"Do you want me to die that quickly?" He asked, looking at me with nothing but amusement.

"Dad," I shouted. Why couldn’t he answer the question? It was an easy one. Or was he really dying? I felt the air seize and my lungs contract as they searched for air. Soon, I was sure that my newly nature-tanned skin would also turn pale, as I completely forgot how to breathe. I really did need an answer, a good one or I might run mad.

"Don't call me that, we are in a place of business," Douglas chuckled. He was trying my patience. I couldn't bear it, I knew, but I also knew that he was right. I had to compose myself but I couldn't, I just couldn't do that.

"Come on, Douglas, give me something... at least a hint. Are you okay? I don't know about Stonewater but everyone here is worried." I said, this time as calmly as I could manage.

"I'm not dying yet, boy. I formed this organization over forty years back, even before you dreamt of existing, and within those many years, I have met many nut-jobs, scums pretending to be learned, damsels and beasts. I have travelled the world, ran from many countries, and even got red listed in some. Do not forget the fair share of prison time I have served. Boy, I need to rest. I need to take a good long vacation. It's been a while." He wasn't laughing, his eyes had also turned warm, he was being serious. I knew when he was. After all, he was my father. However, I still had to be sure, so I asked,

"You are certain? I hate being lied to."

"Ironic indeed. You lie for a living." He replied.

"A job I enjoy doing, one you introduced me to. Besides, you are changing the subject."

"I'm fine. Enough of your nonsense. Now go back and stand with the rest. I can't keep turning to look at you while I speak." He really did look fine, no man in his early eighties could look this healthy if he was dying, so I had to believe him. Douglas was the most truthful man I knew, one who never lied unless it was for professional reasons. Without another word, I walked to my spot, completely ignoring Miguel’s stare.

"Now back to the reason I summoned you all this evening. I had thought long and hard about my retirement since this morning, when the idea came to me. With the news about my beloved Fiona, my mind was completely made up. So I have her to thank for my future break."

"Did you just say this morning? Are you joking? You called me back from my vacation, from Hawaii because of an idea you formed this morning?" I shouted at him, then looked at Miguel, who instantly looked away. Was he being serious right now? Perhaps he was going to die, but this time not from the assumed ailment, rather he would meet his demise in my hands.

"Shush boy. As I was saying. I have a proposal to make and that is the major reason I have called you all." When no-one spoke and all listened, he continued.

"I called you all to discuss my plans for the next leader of our little company. I have two successors in mind. They have both shown their competence, expertise and loyalty. I chose them because they are worth taking over from me. But one, only one can. Therefore, I will call Miguel Stonewater and Jacob Void, to step forward."

As we did, the rest clapped, it was already an honor to get selected as a potential successor. I couldn't imagine taking his place. When we stood in front of him side by side, ice and fire, he continued,

"Since Miguel is currently handling an account on the Minister of Finance, I will assign Fiona to Jacob."

"What?" Although I knew what was coming, I almost tore my hair out.

"Shush boy." Douglas warned.

"No, no and no, I can't, not another female, you can't do this. I have just finished the account with the Arabian witch. You can’t do this to me."

"Jacob-" Douglas began, but I instantly interrupted whatever he was about to say.

"Why, why can't Leo do it? Mm? I'm sure he can handle her. You know how I hate working with two women back to back. Listen Douglas..."

"No you listen, Jacob, if you don't accept this project, I will cut you off not only from this, which is a possibility of you being my heir, but also from your inheritance. I will delete your name completely from my life and I will have nothing to do with you. I will make sure no one in this room will ever have any contact with you and you will be worse than a ghost. In short, you will never exist, so choose wisely." With his threat and warning, I turned speechless, after he had cut in and shut me up without saying the word.

"No arguments, good. Now I will give you both this year. Miguel, you need to be careful with your account, since it is a dangerous one. If you are caught, you are aware it could lead to that, we never speak of." Everyone in the room knew what he meant. The term we never spoke of was death. The industry was a dangerous one, filled with a lot of...unique individuals that could run wild or mad anytime.

"Yes sir," Miguel replied.

"That's why you don't have to rush things. Easy with your plans and your actions because a wrong step can cost you dearly."

"I understand sir." Miguel said once again.

"I know you do. Now to you, Jacob, you can use whatever means necessary with my dear Fiona. I expect nothing but results from you both and  the one with the highest funds by the end of the year, and the candidate with less mess following his trail will be my successor. I will give my final judgment, which must not be opposed. I hope I'm well understood."

"Yes sir." We replied.

"Good. Now, Emilia and the chefs have prepared a little banquet, let's all move to the dining hall then." He said, rising from his seat, and we all bowed.

I hated this, I hated everything about this job and the feeling I had about it was off just like Miguel. This was going to go wrong. I knew it, but I couldn’t complain to anyone, especially Douglas. Whenever he made up his mind, his mind was made up. It was that simple, a simplicity that would cost me my peace of mind. I inhaled heavily to calm my boiling nerves and frenzied mind. I was an expert, how hard could it be to scam a rich single white, over-entitled Empress, if I could call her that, of a few millions of dollars. I had this covered and I could not let Miguel win.