𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐭

01

A T R E U S

Straightening my tie and my cuffs I wait for the elevator to arrive at the top floor. Silently I prayed that it was straight because my capabilities with ties were not good.

In a house with only two men you would think that my father and I would at least know how to do it, if only to hold onto our masculinity.

That was definitely not the case, my father's ties were always bad for as long as I could remember. My mother usually tied it for him and the same thing for me. She tied mine up to yesterday morning.

She wasn't at my place this morning when I woke up so I had to do it myself. I would say I did an alright job, even though I had to call Vera to guide me through it.

Stepping out the open elevator I walk straight to my office to get the legal files for the meeting I had first thing this morning.

This deal would be the breaking point to our limitations. We would be worldwide for the first time since this firm was built 15 years ago.

"Good morning." I said to the employees I passed on my way.

Grabbing the files from my desk I walked to the meeting room. Sitting in a random chair, I look over the stipulations of the contract, making sure everything was correct.

"Sir." My assistant said making his presence known by the door, that he opens wider.

Standing from my chair I walk to Dariya Verlice, who I can now put a face to. She wore a grey pantsuit that fit her perfectly, with a pair of black heels.

"Atreus Castro." I said to her offering my hand to her respectfully.

"Verlice." She said to me shaking my hand firmly.

I lead her to the desk, gesturing for her to take a seat. She sits in the chair that was directly opposite the one I just vacated.

She stared at me silently, her dark blue green eyes piercing my grey ones.

"Well you called this meeting." She said leaning back into her chair expectantly. Her strong German accent contributing to her mispronunciation of some of the words.

"Yes, my apologies. As an upcoming attorney of Castro's law firm, I'm here to offer you a deal or partnership per se." I start professionally.

"We want to expand overseas and who better to advertise than one of the best Formula 1 races in your time, who travels Europe yearly."

"If you accept and take the task of us being one of your sponsor stickers on your race car, we'll sponsor your races with 5% profitable income from the new firms we plan to open."

"5%? What else do I get?" She asked me.

"Well you also get the best lawyer in all of America to fight your cases."

"And who might that be?"

"Me, of course." I answer confidently.

"Why ask this now? Why not a few years ago when I joined Formula 1?" She asked.

"Having advertisement of a athlete in a sport that has many different range of viewers every year can be beneficial and also the fact that you just fired your last lawyer. The chance was open for the taking, so I took it."

"Do you know why I fired my last lawyer, Mr. Castro?" She asked leaning on the glass desk, eyes never wavering from mine.

"From what the media said, he lost a case that made you lose 10 million dollars."