Death Kings

Chapter 23

Dominic

I haven't been to the corporate office in a very long time. Callum is accompanying me as my shadow and bodyguard. Since high school, we have moved in teams. We got lax senior year, but it made us buckle back down. We never know where a threat will come from. Gerhardt Fuchs is on a warpath against us.

Both Callum and I rode our Sally's into the parking garage for the corporate office. Callum is in all black with his bulletproof vest and weapons on the show. It's a power move, to prove that I do have a security team. Not that I need one. My vest is worn under my clothes, along with my pistol and knife are both hidden behind my coat in a shoulder holster. It's not as though security will bother us.

Natalie just about jumped my bones when she saw me in this dark charcoal three-piece Armani suit. I refuse to be uncomfortable, so I'm wearing my motorcycle boots with it.

My uncle meets us in the lobby. "Nipote! It's good to see you, Ragazzo. I swear you've gotten even larger since I saw you last summer." He gives me a tight hug. I tower over this man now.

"It's good to see you too, Zio. Any warning to this meeting?"

"It's Gerhardt Fuchs. He wants a merger." I laugh out loud at my uncle's words, my voice booming throughout the lobby, drawing every eye to us.

I texted Ryder about this. He knows what my answer will be to this wolf who raised him.

"Zio, I'm telling you now that it will not happen. That man makes horrendous business deals. We will not be partnering with that man. His son? Yes. Him? No."

"According to the public, his first-born son is dead, but I'm thankful you told me the truth. He brought his replacement son with him." I scratch my freshly shaved jaw. Ryder said there was a bastard old Fuchs had been grooming. It looks like I'll finally be able to meet him.

I walk into the boardroom to find a kid at least five years younger than Ryder with golden hair and eyes ice-blue eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes. This kid is the spitting image of old Gerhardt. Ryder, thankfully, looks more like his late mother. The kid is tall and skinny, not yet gaining the lean muscles that his half-brother or father has. The kid's gaze, though, is so much like Ryder's. Calculating, cunning, and stone-cold. But unlike Ryder, something is missing in this kid. 

I glance at Gerhardt, who has a smirk on his face, thinking that maybe he has won something. I sit at the head of the long table with my uncle to my right. As the current CEO, my uncle would be in this chair, but seeing as soon as get my master's degree in business administration and bachelor's in a relevant discipline, I'll take full control of my company. I own seventy percent of the company. My uncle owns the other thirty.

Callum takes his position along the back wall behind me with my uncle's second-in-command, Santino Achille. They both have hands-on weapons hidden in their clothing, just in case. Santino is in a three-piece suit versus Callum, with his black hood and cargo pants with a chain in the pockets.

"Why is the kid here? He is not running Muerte Corp," Gerhardt questions my uncle.

I chuckle under my breath. The kid beside him slides his eyes to me.

"I own most of the company, Mr. Fuchs. I will run the company as I see fit after getting my master's. My uncle runs everything involving my company through me first. Which is why I'm here in my best suit talking to you," I say diplomatically.

"I want a merger, Eiskonig, with Muerte Corp," Gerhardt rushes out, cutting to the chase.

"No," I boom before he can say anything else. "A, you don't own that company. According to your eldest son's last will, it belongs to his wife. B, We already have a partnership with Eiskonig. I'm working closely with Mrs. Jamison," I inform him.

"He was not married to that whore who is in prison for murder!" I laugh again at his outburst since he is standing up leaning over me in an intimidation attempt. This power move is not working.

"Check with your lawyer. Will not be merging with you, Gerhardt Fuchs." I nod to the other board members to filter out. It's only my uncle, Gerhardt, and the kid left. 

"You had your son kidnapped and allowed him to be rapped. You had his wife arrested for his murder. Good thing your frame job was poor, and there wasn't even a grain of evidence against Natalie. These are just your most recent infractions against the man I called my brother."

The kid winces but does not move to avoid the scrutiny of the old man. Smart kid.

The old man is becoming red in the face, shaking in anger with his fists clenched as tight as his asshole.

"Thank you for bombing our tour bus, by the way. We needed a new larger one anyway," I smirk, leaning back in my chair. "You're dismissed, but the kid stays."

"I'm not leaving him here with you," Gerhardt hisses, but my uncle is already clapping him on the shoulder, giving it a warning squeeze.

"Leave the ragazzo, Fuchs. Don't make me remove you by force, you know I will," Zio Alonzo threatens.

Fuchs's upper lip curls up in a snarl, but he knows better than to argue with the Capo della Morte mafia head. My uncle earned that position for a reason. He jerks a nod and gets up out of his seat. My uncle follows him closely out with Santino on both their heels. Callum steps up behind me.

I address Gerhardt's kid. "What's your name?"

"Ransom Oaks. My friends call me Ran," he deadpans, not flinching or moving. His eyes only moved from mine to meet Callum's.

"I'm sure you know who I am," I say. He nods slowly in answer. My lips tilt up slightly in one corner. "I'm Dominic Zanetti, but my friends call me Dom and my enemies call me Demon. So Ransom Oaks, will you be calling me Dom, Dominic, or Demon?" What I'm asking this kid is if he is a friend, acquaintance, or enemy.

"I hate that old geezer. He might have kept me and my friends out of juvie, but I owe him no allegiance. He wants me to replace his dead son, but I have no desire to be his puppet. I just want to be with my friends." I nod in the understanding of the honesty lacing his voice.

"I get it. I just want to be left alone with my friends too, and my family. Tell me, ragazzo, what would you do without Fuchs pretending to play daddy?" I ask him, curious about what this kid is made of.

"Go home to my brothers. None of us has much of anything but each other and a girl. We would burn everything down to protect her. She is mine," he says with conviction.

"You just met me, but I can tell you are a lot like Ryder. Where are you from?" I ask him.

"Right here in Palomino Bay, why?" The kid is skeptical of us, not that I can blame him.

"Give me your phone." He hesitates for a moment, but hands it to me, anyway. I input my info, then I text him an address. "Meet me at that address in four hours if you want out of the life Fuchs is offering you. If you intended to be his puppet, then don't bother coming. If you need a ride, let me know." I get up, pausing at the door to the boardroom. "Bring your friends." I leave, but I still hear him call me Dom and agree to meet.

I make sure a driver is waiting with a car to take him where he needs to go. I hope my gut is right about this kid being someone we need and can trust. No money, huh? Well, there are ways he and his friends can earn money.

I call Ryder to tell him about the kid and my plans.