The Journey

Chapter 1

Nick

The shrill ringing of the phone broke into my dreamless sleep.

Fumbling with the light switch on my bedside table, I squinted to attempt reading the name of the person who will soon stop breathing when I get my hands on them. Nobody, and I mean nobody, disturbs my sleep. Everyone who knew me knew that fact.

"Who is it?" Valerie whispered sleepily beside me, throwing one of her fabulously long legs over my torso. As one of the most promising professional dancers of Madame Shrapovna's Ballet Troupe, Valerie Griffin was very nimble, to my utmost satisfaction.

I focused on the blinking screen of my mobile phone and immediately all thoughts of sleeping vanished. Grabbing my boxers on the floor, I pressed answer while getting dressed, "hello, mother."

"Nicholas."

I stood from my bed and walked over to the sliding glass doors that led outside to my balcony. I lived in the penthouse of one of our family's towering skyscrapers in London. Looking out onto the night sky, I vaguely registered that it was still very dark. Rubbing my head, I knew this was indeed very serious. My mother never called otherwise. "Yes?"

"Nicholas, your brother is missing."

"Newt?" I asked, a little stupidly. I only had one brother after all.

"Yes. Obviously, " my mother replied testily. "I don't have time for games, Nicholas. Do you know where he can possibly be?"

"I haven't talked to Newton in a week, mother. What do you mean, he's missing?" I gazed out at the few stars in the sky, thinking of my mother. She was probably pacing the rug off in her own penthouse suite in our main building by now.

She impatiently sighed, "just that, Nicholas. Your brother cannot be found anywhere. I have gone to his apartment and he clearly isn't there. The security guard states that he hasn't been home since two days ago. He said that Newton left in quite a hurry, bringing with him a suitcase."

That was surprising. "A suitcase? Maybe a last minute business trip?"

"Of course not, I would have known all about it," mother said. It was the truth. Our mother was our boss. She knew everything and anything pertaining to our business.

I could tell she was a bit freaked out. My brother, Newton McAllister, was the forefront of McAllister Enterprises. My mother believed that nobody would ever invest in women's judgments despite her sharp mind and business acumen, so Newton was the one who always represented her and her ideas, and since our father had passed ten years ago, this was how we had survived. Our mother grew the business steadily and ruthlessly, and five years ago, she brought me into our London branch to manage things on this end while she and Newton handled the main branch in New York.

"Have you asked Elisha?" I was now trying to come up with possible solutions to why my brother was missing all of a sudden.

There was a long silence on the other end, so long that I thought we had become disconnected, then mother answered, "Elisha has no idea where he is."

"Why not? If anyone has a clue about his whereabouts, his girlfriend would be that person," I said drily.

There was a pause, then "Nicholas, Newton and Elisha are no longer together."

If a bomb had gone off right outside my balcony, I wouldn't have noticed. "What?"

Mother sighed, this time wearily, "Elisha broke up with Newton three days ago, right before he disappeared. That night, he was spotted by Luke Benson in the bar drinking heavily and beating himself up for whatever. The next day, he simply vanished without telling anyone where he was going."

Now I knew this was very serious. My brother was head over heels in love with Elisha Winters. She was his college sweetheart and they'd been together for seven years. I was expecting wedding bells pretty soon, so this was quite a shock.

Though I hardly knew what the attraction to her was. Elisha Winters was not a very warm person in my experience. She was beautiful, true, but she was also the campus Barbie, with her irresistible brilliant blue eyes and wavy honey blond hair and curves all in the right places. Newton declared it was love at first sight on his side, and after weeks of courtship full of flowers and romantic candlelit dinners, they finally became the "it" couple. He was the sports hero as the star quarterback in college, and she was the head cheerleader. It was a match made in heaven.

Don't get me wrong. I was in no way jealous of my brother. In fact, I was extremely proud of Newton. He was my hero too. I was the geeky nerdy little brother of Newton McAllister, the legend, but he took care of me all the time. No one could bully me, not unless they wanted to be wiped off the face of New York University and scratched off as an outcast. For that, I was grateful for my brother's unwavering protection. After graduation, I finally started working out and building my body up with some muscle, and I had to admit I now looked great, thus scoring finally with the ladies.

However, I did not think Elisha Winters was good enough for my brother. She was too aloof, too concerned with her appearance, too snobby and too high and mighty. Whenever they hung out at our place, she acted like I wasn't there at all. She was such an airhead.

The news that Newton and The Ice Princess broke up filled me with a bit of satisfaction. The fact that mother said it was SHE who broke up with Newton filled me with uncontrollable rage. Who did she think she was? My brother absolutely adored her! How could she break his heart like this? She really was the coldest bitch in the world!

"Nicholas, I have sent the company jet to London. I want you to tidy up any loose ends there today and come home as soon as possible. This situation needs to be controlled and contained. We cannot let the press know that Newton is missing. You must come here and find him."

I nodded grimly, "I'll be there, mother."