Bloody Hell

Chapter 39 - Fraudster

B L A D E

"I'm sorry you lost your daughter, Blade. It must be really hard for you to cope without seeing her again. I can't even imagine loosing my sons. I would die before that happened," Benjamin Rodriguez offered his condolences to me. He laid a comforting hand on my shoulder and flashed me a small smile.

If it was someone else that touched me like that, I would chop off their fingers and shove it up their nostrils so hard until I get to the brain. Benjamin was my friend. That was crappy for me to admit even if it's the truth. We might not be close friends but we had each other's backs. I was grateful for that.

"Thank you, Benji. I'm trying my best not to think about it. It's hard sometimes." I weakly mumbled and decided to change the subject. Thinking about the death of my daughter made me want to burn the whole world alive. It's kind of random but that's the way I would like to handle my grieve. "Who called for this meeting?"

It was 10:00am in the morning and I found myself in Benjamin's conference room in the hotel he owned in New Rochelle. Several of the mafia dons were gathered here for an impromptu meeting. Aloïs Monet who I thought I had never see again glared at me from across the table. I should have expected his presence anyway. He was the Corsican mafia don and the reason I hated French people. Don't ask me why.

"I don't know. Alessandro Parisi sent me a text last night that we had a meeting at my hotel but I don't think he's the one who called for it." Benjamin said, glancing at the Sicilian mafia don who was busy typing on his phone.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut and everyone went silent as Aran walked in dressed in a black Armani suit and a white hat on his head. That was his signature look. I never really gave it much thought but it fitted him perfectly.

I didn't know he was in America.

"I called you all to this meeting because we have a very important issue to discuss," Aran's firm voice echoed through the silence of the room. His eyes lingered on me and I instantly felt wary when all eyes turned to me. "Honestly, I wouldn't consider coming to America on such short notice but Aloïs here called me last night crying and pleading for me to address this issue because he was the most affected by Leandro Armani's plans."

That got my attention. Next to me, Benjamin snorted and covered it up with a cough when Aran glared at him.

"What do you mean? I don't understand." I asked in confusion.

"Your idiot father is a fraudster. That shouldn't come as a surprise to you, Blade. He had embezzled billions of dollars and pounds from different mafia organization. He also abducted their children for the child trafficking he recently engaged in. I was the most affected by it all. I don't know how he did it but he managed to make me go bankrupt in less than a week and now, one of my child is missing." Aloïs explained with an irritated glare. Aran let out a loud sigh with a look that said he wished he could be anywhere but here.

"And how is this my concern?" I asked the most obvious question here.

Aloïs fumed and begrudgingly answered in a spiteful tone, "You're his son. You should take full responsibility of his actions and do something to compensate me," The other mafia dons coughed except Benjamin and Aloïs quickly corrected himself, "I mean, us."

"Aloïs Monet," Aran barked harshly. His voice sent chills down our spine and it made the don shrink back in his chair in humiliation, "You don't get to speak to Blade that way while I'm standing in your presence. I wouldn't condole that rotten behaviour from you next time. I don't usually take sides in this kind of shit but that is an immature thing to say. Leandro Armani will compensate you, not Blade. This meeting was only to make it known to him and discuss possible solutions to the issue on ground. I don't really give a rat's ass about your losses as long as Leandro Armani doesn't cross his boundaries when it comes to me. The next time you disrespect anyone here, your head will be chopped off and hung as a trophy in my club in Korea."