Houston’s Illusion: Abyss of Romance: Houston’s Illusion, #1

By Leslie Basco

This is a story of seemingly two inseparable friends. It’s a story about one man who was born into wealth and another man who was born into poverty. It’s the story of two men who learned to take charge of their own destiny, who survived the horrors of war, who fell in love and lost love. It’s a story about the women they loved and the women they shared. It’s the story of two unlikeliest of friends, their rise and their fall, and their betrayals.

What do you do when you’ve been betrayed by her best friend? What do you do when the love of your life cheats on you with your best friend? What do you do when you suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and the world around you seems unreal because you suffer from hallucinations?

Gordon Houston is independently wealthy private detective who became friends with Bill Brennan during World War II. The two came from opposite ends of the economic spectrum. Somehow, they became the best of friends despite their vastly different backgrounds. But through the years, they grew apart and became quite differ men from what they were during the war.
All Gordon wants is to find true love. He has everything except true love. All Bill wants is wealth and power, he already has true love. Bill abandons love for the pursuit of power. Gordon abandons a life of wealth and privilege, for pursuit of love.

In the process, one man becomes an integral had of an international crime syndicate and another man vows to take him down. In the process, one man finds true love and another man finds wealth and power. One man will survive and one man will perish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leslie Basco
• Release date: Jun 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507062036

Book preview

Houston’s Illusion: Abyss of Romance

By

Leslie Basco

Copyright © 2015 Leslie Basco

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are all made up in my mind. In other words, nothing is to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

© 2015 Leslie Basco

Book Description

This is a story of seemingly two inseparable friends. It’s a story about one man who was born into wealth and another man who was born into poverty. It’s the story of two men who learned to take charge of their own destiny, who survived the horrors of war, who fell in love and lost love. It’s a story about the women they loved and the women they shared. It’s the story of two unlikeliest of friends, their rise and their fall, and their betrayals.

What do you do when you’ve been betrayed by her best friend? What do you do when the love of your life cheats on you with your best friend? What do you do when you suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and the world around you seems unreal because you suffer from hallucinations?

Gordon Houston is independently wealthy private detective who became friends with Bill Brennan during World War II. The two came from opposite ends of the economic spectrum. Somehow, they became the best of friends despite their vastly different backgrounds. But through the years, they grew apart and became quite differ men from what they were during the war.

All Gordon wants is to find true love. He has everything except true love. All Bill wants is wealth and power, he already has true love. Bill abandons love for the pursuit of power. Gordon abandons a life of wealth and privilege, for pursuit of love.

In the process, one man becomes an integral had of an international crime syndicate and another man vows to take him down. In the process, one man finds true love and another man finds wealth and power. One man will survive and one man will perish.

Thank you to my parents! The older I become, the more I realize how much they sacrificed for me. I only wish I realized it more when I was younger. One way or another, I will make you proud. I’ll never stop working to be the best I can be. Thanks mom and dad for all you did and continue to do for me through all that you taught me. I think of you daily. You are the inspiration for all that I do.

Thank you lovely readers for your support, you are the best! I appreciate every one of you and that is from the bottom of my heart.

About the Author

I’m just a person trying to live out a dream. I was born in a small town near Rome, Italy. My parents moved to the United States when I was very young. I grew up having the usual dreams and ambitions of most kids, but I was always too shy to chase those dreams. I eventually entered the teaching profession. I love teaching. I love students and I love when a student thanks me for helping him or to achieve something new.

Now that I’ve gotten older, I realize it’s time to chase a new dream. I’m putting myself out there. I’m writing books and trying to share my story ideas with the world. I hope you’ll get some pleasure out of reading my books. I hope you’ll stay with me on this journey and continue to support me. I promise I’ll always try to improve and write better books.

Over time, I’ll share more about myself with my loyal readers, but for now, I think that’s enough. Besides, you didn’t buy this book to read about me :-)

I thank you so much for buying my book. From the very bottom of my heart, thank you!

Copyright

© 2015 Leslie Basco

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the Author. Your support of author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Chapter 1

There are people in this world who never seem to catch a break. These people find themselves living in a broken down world and learn to adapt to survive in that broken world. They learn to struggle, scratch, and claw from the second they’re born. The struggle forges courage of steal and survival instincts.

Then, there are those people who have everything handed to them from the second they’re born. They seem to have everything go their way. When the inevitable day comes when they must face unexpected tragedy, their perfect world shatters into unfixable pieces. They crumble in the face of tragedy and look for solace in the comfort of others.

This is a story about seemingly two inseparable friends. It’s a story about one man who was born into wealth and another man who was born into poverty. It’s the story of two men who learned to take charge of their own destiny, who survived the horrors of war, who fell in love and lost love. It’s a story about the women they loved and the women they shared. It’s the story of two unlikeliest of friends, their rise and their fall, and their betrayals.

Gordon Winston Houston is a tall, athletic, ruggedly handsome man, with jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes. Gordon is independently wealthy, but he inherited his massive fortune from his father, an American real estate tycoon, named Winston Jonathan Houston II, who prematurely died of a heart attack. In many ways, Gordon seemingly had it all, looks, smarts, and money.

At the time of Winston’s death, Winston had amassed various commercial properties up and down the entire East Coast of the United States. Most of Winston’s commercial properties were concentrated in the northeast tristate area, especially in the very high priced and lucrative Manhattan area. Winston was one of the first developers to venture into the then relatively new concept of self-enclosed shopping malls. Winston’s company, WJH Worldwide, owned several commercial properties in various parts of the United Kingdom, including within the heart of London.

As a father, Winston was extremely demanding on young Gordon and he set very high expectations. Some people might have considered those expectations unrealistic since Gordon, as a young and bashful idealist, never shared his father’s enthusiasm for hard work, extremely long hours, and superficial relationships. In fact, Gordon had very little in common with his father. Gordon was very much his mother’s boy, he was always sweet, sensitive, and some might say naive.

Winston’s greatest hope was for Gordon to one-day sit at the helm of WJH Worldwide, but as Gordon entered his teenage years it became increasingly clear to Winston, and everyone else close to Gordon, that Gordon would probably need to carve his own path in life; rather than the follow the path carved for him by his father. Winston was deeply disappointed in his son, but he never told Gordon about his disappointment. He only pushed Gordon to be his best. Winston himself had a father who never supported him or showed him love and he didn’t want to repeat that mistake with Gordon.

Winston Houston was the consummate philanderer and he was never one to pass up an opportunity to sleep with a beautiful young woman. In fact, that’s exactly how Winston met Gordon’s mother one early spring day while vacationing in downtown London. Gordon’s mother, Sally Margaret Meade, was then the assistant hotel manager at the same hotel where Winston had been staying. Sally was a beautiful petite Irish brunette woman with blue eyes who could trace her lineage back to the Celts. She was an ambitious hardworking college educated woman who had been making her way in the male dominated world of hotel management with not only her brains, but also her beauty.

Winston spotted Sally while sunbathing at the hotel pool; he introduced himself and quickly asked Sally to dinner. That evening, the two shared a lovely meal inside the hotel’s restaurant. Hotel policy prevented any member of the staff from fraternizing with any hotel guest, but Winston was very charming as well as persistent. Sally quickly became smitten. She even considered quitting her job, to avoid having to sneak around, but she decided to stay on. Because Winston spent a considerable amount of money at the hotel, management looked the other way when an employee brought the romance to their attention. Winston had the kind of money that made many problems disappear. He spent lavishly and freely when it came to protecting his own interests.

Winston bought a small summer home near West Wittering Beach in Birdham village and he ran his business from there. Sally found herself falling in love with this very handsome and very rich man and became pregnant. After