The Emperor Awakes (37 page)

‘I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. This is unbelievable. I still cannot understand what the hell is going on. I leave for a few hours, I come back and a stranger is giving me this amazing story and tells me to drive off. What would you have done in my place? Would you have believed him? How do I know you are not the one who’s here to harm me? You say you came here to talk to me. But how do I know? Look, just get out of here. You are not welcome here. This is private property. If you are not out of here in two minutes, I’ll call the police.’

‘And they won’t be here for at least twenty minutes. And by that time you may be dead and there would be nothing for them to find. And if I am lying and I want to harm you, you don’t have enough time to do anything and the police won’t be here soon enough to do anything about it. And, besides, I would have harmed you by now. So you have no choice but to trust me.’

Konstantinos Palantis thought about what this man was saying and realised the sense in it. His expression changed and his demeanour indicated to Aristo that he had got through to the man.

Aristo relaxed but only briefly. They were still in danger. ‘Come on let’s get inside.’

This was no time to be polite and Aristo went in first with Palantis following behind. At the moment Aristo entered the entrance hall he heard a shot and he turned to see Palantis collapsing to the floor with half of his head torn off and Aristo found himself staring straight into the eyes of the man he had tied and straight into the barrel of the gun he held in his hand. And there was another man behind him.

Aristo was holding a gun as well, but he knew he did not have enough time to use it. He knew he was a dead man walking.

CHAPTER 40

Elli’s private island retreat, Mount Ellothon Aegean Sea, Greece

The scene could not be more contrasting. One of the most powerful women in the world next to one of the most powerful men in Australia. They were sitting at a wooden table that wouldn’t have been out of place in a monastery with its Spartan air and what you would call minimalistic luxury.

They were luxuriating in the creature comforts of Elli’s compound in the paradise of Mount Ellothon, both pityingly oblivious to their impressive surroundings that were changing as their conversation was developing to show the images of what they were talking about. To the untrained eye it was a surreal roll of film.

Andrew barely gave it a glance, and yet it kept distracting him and irresistibly drawing him in. He tried to shut it out and concentrated on what Elli was talking about.

‘Anyway, it’s good to have you here. You made it at last. I’ll be honest with you. I had my reservations. I know you are a busy man, Andrew, and I didn’t really think that you would bother to make an appearance. You do understand why I wanted you here. I wanted us to have a few days alone before we launched you back into the family bosom.’

‘I agree with the wisdom of that decision.’ Andrew paused. When he continued the tone of his voice was soft and nostalgic. ‘Elli, there’s been so much history between us. Why don’t we give it another go and try to recapture the magic of our first years together?’

Elli was not amused by the wave of nostalgic sentiment that seemed to have overcome Andrew. His sudden show of emotion took her by surprise and, if it was a seductive technique, it was not working. ‘Andrew, there’s been too much water under the bridge for grudges or animosity and for anything more than friendship. I didn’t ask you here to revisit a romantic liaison.’

‘Liaison? Is that how you see it now? You could fool me. If my memory serves me right, it didn’t feel like that at the time. It was deeper and more special than a simple romantic affair.’

Andrew, you know as well as I do that the honeymoon did not last long before the problems and your drinking started. What’s surprising is how we held it together for as long as we did. In retrospect we shouldn’t have let it reach the stage that it did. Every room we were in together became a battleground. Being tired from the constant rows led us to end up hating each other for turning everything into a battle.’ Elli’s tone became gentler. ‘But that’s all in the past. Life is too short for regrets and ‘what ifs’ and journeys into the past. Now, though we are here alone, except for the staff of course, I’m sure we can behave as adults and find something other than a romantic liaison to amuse ourselves. Do you fancy a swim before lunch?’

‘I’d love to.’

‘Good. I’ve asked Marios to get the boat out.’

‘The boat? I was thinking of something simpler, here. What do you have in mind?’

‘We will be sailing to Ikaria and having lunch on board. It’s only about an hour to get there.’

‘That sounds like a fantastic idea. You never cease to surprise me even after all these years.’

‘Well, you haven’t seen me for quite a few, at least not properly. Distant glimpses at various events and meetings don’t count.’

CHAPTER 41

Valchern Corporation Headquarters Limassol, Cyprus

Andrew left after a four-day stay to go to Cyprus and Elli planned to enjoy the rest of the week alone in peace. She was dozing by the pool when her mobile rang.

‘Hello?’

‘Mum, it’s Vasilis. I think you have to get back here. Manoukios has called an extraordinary board meeting.’

‘He what? When?’

‘Tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning.’

‘He is in a hurry. Do you know why?’

‘No, he didn’t say.’

‘But he is obliged by law to give warning of the reason of such a meeting. I’ll be back in Limassol tonight. In the meantime try and find out as much as you can.’

She had been waiting for this for sometime. She was wondering when Manoukios would declare his hand. She had not believed Andrew. She had had a cold feeling about him since their discussion a few days ago. But she didn’t show him anything to indicate that she had been suspicious.

Let him be lulled into a false sense of security. In the meantime, she had been doing her preparation and had unearthed some interesting information about Manoukios.

Elli landed at Larnaca International Airport at midnight. A car took her straight to her house in Limassol where she had a meeting with her son Vasilis.

‘Vasilis, have you studied the information I have had collected on Manoukios and his family?

‘Yes.’

‘Do you understand what’s going to happen at that meeting tomorrow?’

‘Yes. I think Manoukios and the others are going to have a fit.’

‘Good. You know, if they do, that would make it easier and spare them the embarrassment that I have in store for them.’

* * *

The set was the boardroom of the Valchern Corporation headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus.

‘I call this meeting to order.’ Elli called out to silence those present and let proceedings roll.

‘Elli why are we here? Why all this formality? And it’s Sunday of all things. Why the urgency?’

‘The impatient Dekon.’ She looked across the table. ‘Maybe Manoukios should tell us. He was the one who called this meeting after all.’

Manoukios hesitated. He was suddenly afraid of Elli. Up to that moment he felt confident and cocky of having the upper hand, of turning the tables on Elli and her domination of the company that he despised for so long. He could not wait to finally settle the score with her once and for all.

He felt that with allies like he had now, this was the moment to strike, when she was at her most vulnerable, her moment of weakness, seemingly distracted by other matters, or so he thought. He was determined to press his advantage.

But Elli had other plans and he did not have the vaguest idea of what was in store for him. Her authoritative manner shocked him. His courage evaporated. His bullying demeanour was surprisingly mute.

Elli decided to encourage him and perhaps intimidate him a bit more. ‘Well? Are you going to enlighten us?’

Again silence from the other end of the table.

‘No, maybe not.’ Elli paused. ‘Since Manoukios has shockingly lost his tongue, let me tell you. We are here, because one of you has been assisting an outside coup and stirring things.’ Elli paused for effect.

There were gasps of shock around the table. Dekon expressed everybody’s question apart from the perpetrator who was fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He was so transparent, thought Elli. He was never one to control and hide his feelings. He would be a very bad poker player.

She would have expected him to clam up and look ashamed. But no, not Manoukios. That would have been too much to ask. Too big a demand on his intelligence and ample common sense. God ran out of brains when he made this one, Elli thought.

His belligerence raised its ugly head. Instead of staying quiet, he stood up, defiant and defensive, reckless or unaware that Elli held all the cards. He didn’t care if he betrayed himself in the process.

‘Why should you be the one to still lead this company? I think it’s time for the chair to move to one of the other clans. You are no longer fit to run the company. I move for a vote of no confidence in you and for your removal from the board.’

‘Do you think you have the numbers?’

‘I’ll take that chance.’

‘Would you like to tell us why?’

With a smug expression on his face he launched into his indictment. ‘You have been using company funds illegally for a futile personal project or a quest for which the company will obtain no financial gain.’

There were audible gasps around the table even if some of the other shareholders for whom Manoukios was the spokesperson knew about this. It was still shocking, as it was the first time the authority of the head of the family and the head of the company had been at least openly challenged in a public venue.

Manoukios was on a roll, or so he and his allies thought. He continued, laughably undaunted, blindingly digging deeper holes for himself as he went along.

‘Unless, of course, it is for the pursue of treasure or something valuable in which case it belongs to the company and it should therefore be shared proportionally amongst the shareholders as an extraordinary tax-free dividend. Elli, is it treasure that you crave and are searching for so obsessively?’ There were murmurs and nods of agreement with his last proposal.

‘If you actually check your records you will realise that everything was paid for through my own personal funds. That was a cheap shot, Manoukios.’ Elli ignored his other allegations. It was none of his business.

Elli thought that her mere presence at this meeting and her obvious confidence should have been enough to indicate to him that he, and the person or persons he had allied himself with, had already lost.

He had played with fire and was about to get burned. He had no idea of the fate Elli had in store for him for such blatant and sloppily organised betrayal. She knew how she would have gone about doing it, if she was planning such a coup, and it would not be like this fool has done it. And it would probably have had a bigger chance of success. So typical of Manoukios not to be properly prepared. His habits during his school years still bedevilled him.

‘Manoukios, you always were a greedy fool. Now, shut up and listen. This concerns not only you but all of us. It is not about you, about one person or one family.’ Elli paused. ‘And I will tell you why. It appears you have not done your homework. You have not studied the rules of the company. I am the current 60% majority shareholder and as such I have absolute control of this company. The rules were created by the founders, so as to prevent future petty challenges causing upheaval by distracting from the company’s management and damaging the company.

‘You are on a slippery slope, Manoukios. To continue on this silly course of ignoring the facts and hoping for a miracle is a waste of all our time and it smacks of a vendetta, of a desperate attempt to settle scores. Perhaps you believe you are in a parallel universe where a miracle will override the company rules.’ Elli’s last sentence was phrased as a question. Her words oozed caustic irony.

Manoukios was still smarting from Elli’s assault, but there was no giving up and no turning back. He had to see this through to the bitter end. He went on a new assault of his own.

‘My dearest Elli, I repeat. Why should you and your clan be the one solely deserving of this honoured position? Tell us, please, where it is written that you and your brood are the chosen ones. Because, and I believe I speak for most of us here, I don’t know of any such situation that should continue in perpetuity.’

Elli almost laughed out loud. Manoukios certainly had a lot of fight still left in him. Playing to the gallery, as they say. Such splendid posturing. She was almost impressed by his performance and sheer stupidity, put on display for all to see.

He was now well on his way to, expertly and determinedly, dig an even larger hole for himself and taking his allies with him. Well, he would do that literally and very soon, Elli thought. And he didn’t know it yet. Elli calmly and tactfully nudged Manoukios along.

‘I think you have not been listening.’

‘Yes, I have, and I plan to challenge those rules in court. I’m going to call my lawyer right now.’