Stryker (3 page)

I climbed out of bed and headed for the shower, my trip
down memory lane over. I wondered how my dutiful wife had spent her first night
back home in her empty bed. I got dressed in my favorite work attire a bespoke
suit from Gieves and Hawkes. For work all my clothing came from the fashionable
Savile Row of London. For playtime I went for the more relaxed casualness of a
Prada or a Gucci. Downstairs Elsa the housekeeper was already busy in the
kitchen with my usual morning fare of freshly squeezed juice and fresh fruit.
There was no sign of my runaway wife at the table. I guess she’s decided to
hide out.

“Good morning sir, your breakfast is ready will the
mistress be joining us this morning?”

“I’m not sure why don’t you go up and find out.”

“As you wish.”

She was smiling again this morning. The two women had grown
close, and for the last two weeks the housekeeper had been a bit less lively
because of the absence of her mistress as she calls her. I of course had not
divulged any information one way or the other. I wasn’t going to lie, and
besides the newspapers had been rife with speculation about a split between us
when it was discovered that she was flying solo. We’d never been apart in the
time we’d been married, not even when I travelled for business. She’d given up
her career as a model the day we got married at my request. I didn’t want my
wife showing herself to other men. Travelling around the world for shows and
all the other stuff that came with a highly demanding modeling career. Old
fashioned I know but that’s the way I wanted it; her charms and her beauty were
all mine. She hadn’t been too torn up about it. Nadia had been only too happy
at the prospect of settling down and starting a family. She was twenty-three
when we met and had been modeling since the age of fourteen. The daughter of an
Egyptian nurse and a Greek shop owner, she’d been discovered while vacationing
in her father’s home of Corfu. Her family hadn’t been wealthy by any means but
the success of the young girl had propelled them into a new world.

We visit them at least once a year and they spend the
holidays with us every year because that’s what she wanted. We were never one
of those jet-setting couples; there was no partying all night into the wee
hours of the morning. We spent most of our free time at home together with the
occasional night out. Weekends were spent away somewhere usually of her
choosing. I think it was her difficulty in falling pregnant that had first
started her discontent. No matter how I told her that these things happen when
they’re supposed to, she worried and worried about it until she made herself
miserable. I on the other hand was quite happy with things the way they were. I
was more than happy to let things happen in their own time. Enjoying the
pleasure of having my young beautiful wife all to myself. Not that I didn’t
want kids, I do, but I was in no hurry. Nadia on the other hand seemed to think
that it was an affront to her as a woman. That somehow I was going to leave her
if she couldn’t give me a son. No doubt something else she’d learned from her
mother. Don’t get me wrong I adore my mother in law Bettina but the lady has
some very antiquated ideas. Most of which she’d passed on to her daughter. For
all her high-flying life as a model, she was still a very sheltered girl when I
met her. Which is one of the reasons I fell so hard for her that and the fact
that she was the most beautiful creature in the world.

Elsa came back down the stairs five minutes later with a
slight frown on her face.

“She’ll be right down sir.”

“You two enjoy your morning I’m off.”

I stood up from the table and headed for the hall entrance
where I’d left my keys the night before. I met up with her coming down the
stairs. She was dressed casually in jeans and another one of those silk blouses
she prefers. It didn’t matter, casual or refined elegance she was still the
most beautiful flower in the garden. And you’re such sap Stryker. I had all
intentions of bypassing her and going about my business; after all she hadn’t
been here to say goodbye to for the past fourteen days had she?

“Good morning Gabe.” She’s the only one who calls me that
except my mom. Everyone else prefers my last name as they said it suits the man
more.

“Good morning Nadia.” I kept going even though I wanted to
take her in my arms and kiss the hell out of those pouty lips. Her breasts
looked full and ripe beneath the silk and I felt my body react. I tamped down
the impulse and called myself ten kinds of fool for letting her still have this
power over me after what she’d done.

“Are you ever going to talk to me?”

“Not now Nadia I have a meeting in an hour and I’m already
running late.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“I heard you sweetheart only your sorry isn’t going to be
enough. Look, now is not the time I don’t want to have this conversation as I’m
heading out the door and I certainly don’t want to hash out our dirty laundry
in front of Elsa.”

“Should I come to the city for lunch then?”

“No I’ll be too busy for that, I’ll see you later.” I
caught the flash of pain in her eyes but steeled myself against it. No way was
I letting her off the hook that easily. I walked out the door before I did something
stupid. I sped down the driveway, not even looking in the mirror to see if she
was watching from the top step, which was her usual habit. I’d programmed
myself in her absence to not put too much stock in the little things she’d done
before she’d taken flight and left our family home for parts unknown. She’d
fucking gutted me and I’d vowed to never give her that kind of power over me
again. There was no excuse in the world she could give me for her behavior that
I would accept. We were husband and wife, a team. We were supposed to be
together in all things; when part of that team decides to play renegade without
regards to the feelings of the other, they’re no longer considered a team. This
was her doing she’d made the choice. My own mother had cried because she hadn’t
even had the decency to say goodbye. We’d worried together for two days and
nights, not knowing where to look when we’d exhausted all our resources and no
one could tell us where to find her. I’d felt like a million kinds of fool
asking people if they knew where my wife was. Oh no, she wasn’t getting off
that fucking easy.

I got caught up in work and didn’t have any time to dwell
on personal matters. The company I’ve been trying to acquire had just folded
under the pressure of my onslaught. The president of one of my top competitors
had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar months ago, and the ship was
sinking fast. A good many of their clients had already been heading my way. But
the company had been one of good standing before all this mess and I thought it
would be prudent to merge the two and take over their operations. That way, the
honest workers who might be out of a job if the SEC closed their doors could
hold onto their jobs, not to mention their pensions if the deal went through.
With the acquisition of this particular firm, I would be closer to my dream of a
multi armed financial service: Insurer, brokerage, and investment banking. I’d
set my sights on the century and a half year old company before all the
fireworks but they’d been playing hardball. Now with their weakened stance I
was about to gain it for a song compared to the hundreds of millions it
would’ve cost in the beginning. Today by end of day the deal will be signed on
the dotted line. It didn’t matter to me that the president of said company was
none other than Stephan Aristobulus, father of my one time lover Sabrina. I
never mixed business with my personal affairs; it just so happened that he’d
been handed the company some ten years earlier and had since driven it into the
ground. The once outstanding firm had been slipping in the ranks for the past
six or seven years and had come to my attention a year and a half ago. That’s
when I’d started my takeover campaign, but they’d held out this long. There was
speculation in the financial papers that I’d been behind the whistle blowing
but that’s not the way I do business. Had I been privy to that information I
might’ve used it to my advantage. It’s business after all but I would most
likely have gone to the board. I fought dirty yes but I liked to keep my hands
clean.

My phone rang in the office and I answered as I perused the
contracts in my hands.

“Yes Marsha.”

“Mrs. Stryker on line one for you sir.”

“Thank you; Nadia what is it?”

“Gabe you can’t leave me here like this, I’m a prisoner in
my own home.”

“My name is Stryker.”

“What?”

“My name, only family and on the rare occasion a few close
friends call me Gabe.”

“But I’m your wife I always call you Gabe.”

“Are you? A wife wouldn’t have snuck out of my bed like a
fucking thief in the night and disappeared for weeks, leaving me to worry if
she was dead in a fucking ditch somewhere. Look I told you before I left that I
wasn’t doing this right now. I waited two weeks you can wait a few hours;
unless there’s something else I really need to be going.” The line was silent
for ten seconds so I hung up. I sat with my head in my hands as I tried not to
think of the mess my life had become.

Marsha came into the room five minutes later with a stack
of files in her hand and a cup of coffee for me.

“Don’t forget you have that business dinner this evening at
the Palace.”

“Shit I forgot; there’s no chance of rescheduling is
there?”

“You’ve already done that once last week.”

“Fine, thanks for the reminder.” I really wasn’t looking forward
to tonight. This guy was going to beg me to save his ass again and there was no
way to do it. He’s one of those types who asks for advice and then totally
ignores it to do as he pleases, only to be back later with the same story. I
have very little patience for such things; but we’d been friends in college,
and I knew that this was his last chance to get out of the hole he’d dug
himself before his old man gave him the boot. I warned him years ago that
slacking off and paying others to do his shit would catch up with him. Now I
guess he was reaping the rewards of his laziness. I have nothing against Jonas
he’s an okay guy. But somewhere along the way I’d lost all respect for the
other man. Had I been born with the opportunities he had been I’d hope I would
do much better with my life. But instead of applying himself and getting
himself ready to take over the company his great grandfather had built, he’d
drank and snorted his way through school. Now for the last three months he’s
been after me for loans and or business advice. I’d given him one loan on the
basis of our past friendship but that wasn’t going to happen again. I wasn’t in
the habit of supporting other people’s bullshit. Not to mention I don’t like
the way he looks at my wife. The loan I knew was a write off. I was never going
to see that quarter of a mil again. It was no big deal to me, just a drop in
the bucket. But just because I had the means did not entail me being an ass and
rolling over for every asshole that thought I had wet ears. Tonight could very
well be the end of a twelve-year friendship; because I was sure I was going to
be disappointing him, whatever it was he was after. I wasn’t interested in
getting tangled up in the muck and mire that was his family’s business. There
was nothing in it for me and as a businessman I’m all about the bottom line. He
will be well served to sell it off and take the profits now before it was too
late and there was nothing left to sell. Even now, a mere three months since he
first contacted me things had already changed, and not for the better. The
price of the shares had been dropping steadily for a significant loss. I’m
afraid it was too late to stick a Band-Aid on it and make it all better.

I had one other issue for the coming evening. Picking up the
phone I called her cell, which I’d had deprogrammed as well. It’s amazing what
having money can do. She could only make calls to a few select numbers just as
with the home phone. And her contacts list had been terminated except for
incomings from her parents and I.

“Nadia I have a business dinner this evening the car will
be there at seven.”

“I’m not up to going out.”

“I could care less what you’re up to be ready or else. And
Nadia you’re already skating on thin ice with me so I’d think very long and
hard before pissing me off.” With that I hung up the phone. How dare she? Did
she really think she was calling the shots? That she any longer had a say in
what I did? How could she not know me at all? How could she think that I would
shrug off her insult?

My wife had never been on the wrong side of my temper
before, not really. When we met and had what the press called a whirlwind
romance, I’d treated her the way I always intended to treat the woman of my
heart. With love, honor and respect. I’d been in the middle of putting the
finishing touches on a boutique named after her when she pulled her
disappearing act. It was supposed to be a surprise and everything had been set.
It would’ve been a great escape for her I’d thought, something to keep her from
obsessing about the pregnancy thing. Not that I thought a business could take
the place of a child. But I thought until we made a baby together she would
have something she loved to keep her occupied. The building was still sitting
there unoccupied waiting for her to redecorate and fete out however she saw
fit. I had merchants already chomping at the bit, just dying to do business
with the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the city. Everything had been put
on hold. And I’d had to face those people knowing that they knew all was not
right in paradise. Like a fucking fool; the thought of it fucking burns me up.
How the fuck did we get here? Where did we go wrong? Had it ben happening for a
while and I just hadn’t seen it? Or was it really as sudden as just a few short
weeks ago?