Chapter 7: Controlling My Empire
I went to visit my uncle the following day and began to discover the full extent of my empire. Beside the consulting business my father had built there were various other businesses he had inherited or earned an interest in and all were operating profitably. I had accounts in all the places mom mentioned and several others as well so my holdings were widely dispersed. The combined businesses employed over 15,000 people in several countries and dad had left plans for several expansion projects that would nearly double the staff count. The businesses included construction, product manufacturing, a health care network and 2 banks.
I also owned an island that was independent of any country jurisdiction. It was located at the southern end of the chain of islands that make up Indonesia. My grandfather had bought the island from the Indonesian government decades ago and it was currently maintained as a wildlife sanctuary and was generating income through Eco-tourism.
All told, my net worth was in excess of fifty billion dollars. Dad had been drawing a meager salary of $250,000 per year and had left instructions through Uncle Steve to continue paying me that same amount in the event of his death. As a result and given the fact that I was not spending any of it, I had cash in the bank of about $750,000 dollars. This was small change given what I was learning.
Mom had been drawing on a trust dad had set up in the event that he died and I was either dead or incapacitated. Now that I was back on my feet and ready to take the reins that trust would revert to me and I would assume support for my family.
Dad’s primary work was to provide consulting services to all sorts of folks who wanted to learn how to be more successful in their lives. Uncle Steve handed me a note Dad had left that asked me to assume his role. He explained that with our unique talents we could offer advise and guidance that was unparalleled and thought I would find the work as fulfilling as he had. He also explained the fee structure and this helped clarify how we now controlled such a diverse empire. Basically, everyone dad helped provided a financial interest in his or her future. He was paid in equity rather than cash. I knew I wanted to work and this work seemed as good as any at this point. Beside, if dad found it fulfilling I truly expected I would too.
I spent the rest of the day getting settled into dad’s old office; actually, my new office and getting acquainted with several members of the senior staff and our client list. The office was actually two rooms with a private bath. The primary room was more like a comfortable living room with two large leather sofas facing each other and a simple oak and glass coffee table in the center. The floors were set in a herringbone pattern of oak in various shades and a Persian carpet woven in rich shades of red and gold covered the majority of this. The lighting was subdued but sufficient for the space. One wall of the office was a floor-to-ceiling window that was dressed in both a sheer and a heavy set of drapes. The heavy set was done in rich velvet that mirrored the colors of the carpet. In the far corner was a small bar with a couple of leather stools and behind the bar stood a huge tank with fresh-water fish. The overall ambience was one of understated comfort that made me feel immediately at home.
The second room had much the same feel but this was set with a large oak desk as its centerpiece. Again there was a wall of windows while the other three walls were covered by bookshelves that were fully stacked. I took a quick inventory of the books and found that they ran a gamut from casual fiction to business and psychology texts. I had a feeling this collection was going to provide all the education I would require.
I sat behind the desk and tried to get a sense of how dad felt in this position. The clearest image I conjured was a man who was humbled by the power he wielded on a daily basis. Given how destructive power can be it seemed that maintaining a humble disposition was the best defense I could mount and I knew it was a defense I would have to become dedicated to maintaining. I would do my father proud or die trying.
I began rummaging through his desk and found all the typical paraphernalia until I got to the last draw. In this space was a control panel with a touch screen and monitor that made it look like a TV remote control on steroids. I found the power button, pressed it and this compact beast came to life.
It didn’t take long to discover that one of its functions was to monitor the security cameras in several locations around the building. I played a bit until I was satisfied that I had accessed all of the monitoring points before moving on to the other controls.
That’s when I got stuck. I hit a control that was labeled “Access Points” and was prompted for a password. I had no idea what that would be or at least, I didn’t think so. But, then it came to me. I don’t know where it came from but I immediately began entering a series of ten numbers and suddenly the display changed to reveal a series of 4 door shaped icons. I began testing each.
The first opened a panel on the surface of the desk and a computer popped up to fill the space. It was lit with a mirror of the display I was toying with. For the time being, I stuck with the remote.
The second icon opened a panel in the bookshelf behind the desk that was filled with file folders. A quick looks at these revealed that these were clients with very well know names. Each folder had a description of the services dad had provided, recommendations for additional services and most importantly, what form of payment had been promised by each client. Many of these clients had paid with an equity interest in their companies and I recognized most of these as part of the list Uncle Steve had shared. There were a couple not on that list, including a chain of bordellos in Australia and a ranch of some sort in Argentina. I was not yet sure why there were holdings that did not appear on Uncle Steve’s list. I’d have to look into that later. I guess dad kept these secured to guard client privacy. .
The third access point revealed a similar panel, also filled with file folders. I didn’t recognize any of these names so I began going through the first few before I realized these were all women dad was having sex with. Each folder had the woman’s details and a description of her likes and dislikes. Dad had also included notes about what he liked and disliked most about each. I spent quite a while going through these and it proved to be very interesting reading. The most interesting part was a discovery that dad had several slaves. Apparently all had offered themselves freely and each had been willed to another master when he died. In each of these folders was a detailed description of the training he had put them through and, like a report card, each was scored on how well they had learned what was required of them. He had also characterized them by type. There were domestic slaves, office slaves and sex slaves. I also discovered one category labeled toilet slave that was particularly strange. It mainly involved urine; he called it golden showers, and the two women in this category seemed to be among the first he had trained.
He was sexually active with all his slaves but it was the sex slave’s role to please him and others while the remaining slaves where there for his pleasure alone. In the folders of the four sex slaves he included a list of all the folks he had demanded the slave service and each of the serviced individuals had also given the performance a score. When scores were sub-par he listed the various punishments each had endured. I noticed several matches between the list of his clients and the list of those serviced.
I discovered a total of 14 slaves from age 18 to 36. His first slave was taken when he was 20 and the last joined him a year before his death. As I studied these I knew I could and would enslave Savannah and now I was getting some sense of how I would train her and what I would train her for.
The final access point revealed a hidden door in the bookshelf that was situated between the two file panels. This office had much more than I had expected. I entered into a bedroom that was perfectly matched in decor with the lounge. Its focal point was a huge circular bed in the center that was set on a carpeted platform. It appeared that the platform was cushioned so falling off this monster would be more fun than painful.
There were three doors offset in each of the three interior walls. The first led to a large bath done in marble with bronze fittings. It was the first and only space that was ostentatious. It included a toilet and bidet, a glass-enclosed shower stall and a very large whirlpool bath. The marble counter had a pair of matching sinks set into it and a full wall of mirrors backed it.
The second door led to a large closet and dressing area. The racks were filled with suits and the draws were filled with everything else my dad could possibly need. I gave one of his suit jackets a quick try and realized I had grown so that it fit just about perfectly. It was a somewhat unsettling revelation.
The final door led to a chamber that looked like a mirror image of the chamber in Savannah’s basement. The only real difference is it was larger and had a more complex set of mechanisms to bind a person. This was obviously where dad had trained his slaves. Thinking back to the files on his slaves and the training he put them through I began examining the equipment and imagining how it was and would be used. I was getting hard as I began to picture Savannah bound and being whipped. I was definitely going to have fun here.
I left this space and returned to the desk. There would be plenty of time to fully explore this private space. For now, I needed to focus on the business and how I was going to assume the reins. I found everything I needed to know on the computer and it was nearly 10 at night when I finally looked up and realized I was starving.
I grabbed some things I wanted to review at home and left the office only to find a young, smarty dressed, secretary sitting at the desk outside my door.
“Good evening Mr. Marcus.” She was eerily cheerful for this time of night. “My name is Rachel Anderson and I have been assigned as your secretary until you can find someone more to your liking.”
I liked what I saw so far. She had red hair the color of a rich burgundy that was cut neatly across her shoulders and brushed back from her forehead. Her eyes were honey colored and seemed almost Asian in shape. Her breasts were not particularly large but they did seem to fill her blouse nicely. If the lower half was in tune with the upper half she was a fine specimen of a woman.
“How long have you been here Rachel?” I suspected she was sitting here since shortly after I had entered late that morning.