Chapter Five - REPEATING HISTORY

Thursday, 29th of September 2016

James' apartment, Upper Manhattan

James was eager for results. Ever since he thought of the idea of his own investigation, it suddenly became his main priority. He wasn't surprised by that since he had been a bit bored lately. You would think that his job would take most of his time, but it didn't.

At first, it was a bit difficult and challenging to handle the job of the COO of Price Industries but after a few months, it became easy for him. Over time, it became a routine that didn't thrill James anymore. Using parties and women barely distract him from the boredom. Even that was becoming a routine lately.

James had just arrived home from his two-hour gym routine with his trainer as well as another hour 'routine' with his trainer's assistant after she invited him to her place. He headed for the guest room where one of his favourite people was in.

"What have you gotten for me, little bro?" He barged in. The door banged on the wall loudly startling his brother, Trent, from his trance. His focus from the screen of his laptop was lost as he almost fell off his seat, much to James' amusement.

"Gosh, can't you knock, you are damn plebian", Trent hissed at his annoying brother as he righted himself in his seat.

"BAH!!! Knocking is overrated", James said dismissively as he reached him. His arms went over Trent's shoulders and pulled him for a bro hug. "Barging in is more fun, especially when it's my baby brother."

James knew just how to irritate his brother. It had been like this since they were kids. He had always taken charge of being the best parent and sibling that he could be for Trent due to the negligence of their parents.

James was born the middle child of the Davis Empire and a spare heir. His parents were very important and busy people that cared more about their company and lifestyle than the children they brought into this world. They had left their responsibilities in the hands of nannies that never cared for them, only their pay checks.

His eldest brother by two years, George Jr. was the doted one of their parents since he was the heir. He was spoiled and rotten to the core. He knew his position of first born gave him the power to do anything and get away with it. He bullied, abused and downright humiliated his brother for the first five years of his life until Trent came into existence.

George had turned his sights on Trent, but a certain series of events occurred that finally got their negligent parents to finally understand that their first son had a few screws loose in his head and got him shipped abroad for counselling and his education.

Even with the event, they still wanted George as heir because he was a 'prodigy'.

An annoyed Trent shrugged off James' arm, "I am not your baby brother. You are only older than me by a few..." "Five!" "...years."

"Aww..." The blonde mocked his defence. Putting his hands together and in a squeaky tone, James said, "How cute. My baby brother is all grown up."

His baby brother elbowed James' side forcing him to stand upright and find the closest chair to sit on. Trent went back to focusing on his laptop.

"So, what have you found?" James asked again

"The money trail led to an account belonging to someone under the pseudonym, Benito Mussolini. Anything physically identifying the person is not in the bank's system."

"Pseudonym? How do you know it's a pseudonym?"

James saw his hacker's knowing smirk as he said, "Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician born in the year 1883. He was formerly a socialist war veteran until he suddenly decided to be a dictator. He became the founder of the fascist party and was thought of as a traitor by socialists and most of the Italian government."

"So why choose that name then?"

Trent relaxed in his seat as he contemplated, "I have given it a lot of thought. From my perspective, this person chose the name because of the history. I think this person is Italian or has an Italian heritage. Benito was a socialist before his mindset changed into that of a dictator betraying the socialists, so I guess that this person is someone close to Alex as he represents the socialist, this fake Benito is betraying Alex by a change in mindset. This person now hates or dislikes him to the point of betraying him."

"Wow. You know your history. Is there anything else besides the lecture?" The blonde COO stared at the screen looking for more info, ignoring his brother who rolled his eyes at me.

"So far, there is nothing else on our thief. Any other information must be on paper in the bank's branch that the account was created at unless you want to break into the bank that has a top-class security system in place."

"Why not?" James asked. He obviously wasn't that serious, but his geeky brother seemed to take his question seriously.

He deadpanned at James, not even bothering to answering the playful question.

"Moving on, I am currently checking to see if the account had any transactions to it. It might give me a lead on anyone that may possibly be involved in the embezzlement."

James patted his shoulder in gratefulness before getting up, "Thanks, little hacker. I appreciate the effort."

Just as he was about to leave, Trent turned on his seat to ask him, "Do you have a list of names of all the employees handling the paperwork."

"Yeah, I have a copy in my office. Do you need it?"

"Yes. I want to track their financial records. I want to see if it matches any of the accounts transacting with Benito's account and also who's been getting or spending more money than they should."

"Okay. I will come back with it."

"Just drop it on my desk when you get it. I will look at it tomorrow."

James raised a brow at him as Trent stood up, taking his shirt and slacks off and headed for the bathroom, "Going somewhere?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

James was eager for details, "A date?"

"No. I'm going to meet up with Aryan."

James rolled his eyes at the answer, losing interest suddenly. 'When will he learn to start trying to get himself a girlfriend or at least get laid? No, he's going to meet up with his nerdy friend.'

"Go have fun," the elder brother said with disinterest as he left his room.

Heading to his bedroom to take a shower, James contemplated what he was going to do this night. He probably will try to hook up with some chick at the bar later.

As he entered the bedroom, his phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket, he checked the caller before answering, "Sup, Alex. What do you need?"

"Nothing much. I just came to inquire about your 'investigation'."

'That sarcastic piece of shit' he thought as he rolled his eyes. Why was the world against him?

"What? Do you doubt that I will succeed in solving this case?" James asked in mock annoyance just as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"Of course not; your brother is there to solve it for you. God knows that you don't know the first thing to do on your own." Alex taunted back.

James eyes twitched in real annoyance this time, "I resent that."

He huffed at Alex's quiet laughter of their jest and goading, "Well, Trent found the money trail leading to an account under the alias Benito Mussolini, but there isn't any physical description of Benito on their system. Any other info is on paper, and the bank has a state-of-the-art security system, so breaking in is out of the question."

He could imagine Alex's incredulous expression right now, "Were you actually contemplating breaking in if it had a poor security system?"

Just as James was about to answer him, he cut me off, "You know what, never mind. You're that crazy."

He sighed on the phone. Probably pondering on how he got James as his best friend, "I already knew about this Benito person and the account. Some FBI agents that took charge of our case came in to inform me about it."

'FBI? So, they took over the case.' "That's great. Let's see who will solve this case faster. It's either I or the FBI."

"Don't you mean Trent or the FBI?"

A brow twitched, "Fuck you!!"

He chuckled as he said his goodbyes, cutting the call and getting up to prepare for a shower. Tonight, was going to be a busy night for him...

...Alex had just ended the call with his best friend when he entered his penthouse, almost colliding with a figure that he was well acquainted with.

"Good evening, Mr. Price", said curtly with the must sultry British accent of the personal assistant of Natasha, Samantha Hill.

"Good evening, Miss Hill. Is my wife in? And please, stop calling me Mr. Price. Call me Alexander or Alex."

She smiled at him softly as she answered, "I will concede to that if you call me Samantha or Sam. As for your wife, she's on the phone with a client in your bedroom. She has dismissed me for the day."

Her boss' husband nodded at Sam as he observed her. She had on modest red dress that clung on her softly. She seemed to be going on a date. "Going on a date?"

She smirked like she had a secret, "Something like that." She walked around him and opened the door. He followed her movements, waiting for an answer,

"Goodnight, Alexander"

"Goodnight, Samantha," Alex replied back just as she shut the door. Sometimes he wondered about that girl. She seemed so mysterious and secretive, and she made sure that their conversations were short and professional. She was the perfect PI.

Alex dismissed the encounter to the back of his mind and headed for the bedroom. It was time for his evening workout, so he had to change into some gym clothes. Just as he got closer to the door, he overheard Natasha on the phone.

"The job is almost completely done, and I will personally tell how I accomplished it all." She paused to listen to the caller for a while. She sounded wistful, "I miss you."

That had perked Alex's interest. "We will meet again tomorrow, and I will show you how much." Her tone was sweet and seductive.

The cheated husband didn't have to think much on what to do next. He opened the door and saw her back was to him. Natasha had yet to realize that he was behind her, watching. He found her small luggage packed and placed near the door. It seems she had plans elsewhere.

"Goodnight, love." She cut the call, seemingly in bliss by her lover's voice. She turned around only to finally notice her husband leaning on the door. She was totally unrepentant at the fact that he might've heard her conversation.

Alex was calm outwardly but inside; he was boiling with rage. Not again. "So, is that your lover?" asked the angered husband as nonchalant as he could.

"Oh! Is someone bothered?" She had the gall to mock him, "Then again you don't really care about me so it really shouldn't bother you if I seek companionship elsewhere." She tossed her phone to the couch near the window then feigned pondering, "Oh! Wait! I see now. You don't want to experience being cheated on once by your wife again."

That got to Alex, and she knew it. His hand shook, jaw clenched as he restrained me from hitting something, possibly her. He barely brought out his next words through gritted teeth, "Why should I be surprised? You both are sisters. It really must be in your blood to be adulterous."

An emotion of pain flashed through her eyes as Natasha laughed unrepentantly. It pleased Alex a little that he could fight back in their verbal judo. She stopped laughing as she walked up to me, "You have no idea how different we both are, yet we are the same."

She caressed his cheek almost 'lovingly' as she whispered to me, "I have it all and she has nothing. Yet, we both live in misery." She patted his cheek and stepped away from him, taking her phone from the couch. She headed for the exit of their bedroom. Just as she opened the door, she spoke once more, her boldness back in full swing, "I will not be home for a week as from tonight. I have to complete a job for the client that I just spoke to."

She smirked cockily, "Don't wait up." She took her baggage and shut the door behind her, ignoring the pissed off husband's fury.

Alex was just about to find the nearest object to toss at the wall, but he refrained from doing it while she was nearby. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that she won that round.

He quickly changed to his clothes and headed for the gym. There was a perfect punching bag waiting in the gym room that existed for his frustration...

...Natasha felt free. She had been holding unto the hate for so long that it felt nice to hurt Alex that way. She knew she was in the wrong but matters of the heart hardly had rationality.

She admitted that it was her fault for falling in love with a man that never showed interest. It was her fault that she got pregnant for him and was stuck in a loveless marriage. It was her fault for believing that he would forget about her sister.

Her sister was another matter altogether. Reality slapped her in the face and made Natasha realize that it wasn't right using the advantage of a scandal to attain her obsession. She also needed to find her sister soon. No matter what anyone says, it is not right to marry your sister's ex some months after their divorce. It made her seem like a desperate leech. She needed her forgiveness for a lot of things from her. She couldn't bear the overwhelming guilt she felt when her eyes were finally clear of their desperation and obsession.

She drove to her lover's home, knowing that he would be there to comfort her in her time of distress and for her to shower him with love that he deserved. She was tired of their once-in-a-while meeting that she knew was gradually annoying her lover. She knew she had to get a divorce from Alex soon and she was preparing for the day it would happen.

She had arrived, parking her modest-compared-to-richer looking car and wheeling her suitcases to the condo's entrance. She strolled to the familiar areas greeting familiar faces as she headed for the elevator. It was time to put Alex at the back of her mind. That's where he was meant to be...