CHAPTER ONE
–FIERO –
“Your four o’clock might have canceled, but you have another appointment scheduled an hour from now.Mister Reaux, please.There’s a...”
I don’t let her finish her sentence and grunt, “Cancel it.”
Her heels are still clicking on the sidewalk behind me when Floris, my brother, opens the door of the limousine.I slide inside and the woman keeps rattling until it’s cut off by the door slamming shut.
Floris slides behind the wheel and chuckles.“You’re gonna find her letter of resignation on your desk tomorrow morning.”
Staring out the window, I grumble, “One phone call will get me a replacement.It’s her job to handle these things, and if she fails to do her job she should resign.”
“She should have never penciled in the meeting in the first place,” Floris states with a load of disgust.“Every request for a meeting has to go through you instead of simply making a damn appointment.”
This is the very reason why I left the office.I don’t dance to anyone’s tunes.Especially not when it comes to the fucker who tried to force me to listen to him talk.I know why Ian Rafferty wanted to meet me because he managed to corner me last week at a charity event.
“Do you think Rafferty is still trying to get his son’s cock wet?”Floris asks, his eyes briefly meeting mine in the rearview mirror.
A wave of anger flows through me.Decades worth of experience is how I manage to keep my emotions locked inside.
“Not my problem,” I calmly state.
My father might not have had principles when it came to his selection process, but I fucking do, and so did my grandfather.I don’t care about money, keeping friends, relationships, favors, or whatever my father thought was worth risking our family business for.
The only reason I’m sitting in this limousine, running the family business, is due to myself and no one else.I built my own fortune by creating complex software and selling those applications.Good investments allowed my money to grow.
When my father made bad choices and was on the brink of losing our family legacy, I stepped in and bought him out.It’s part of the reason why he moved to the other side of the country, and why I haven’t called him since.He’s shunned and chose to go into hiding.Except for me because I know exactly where the fucker is who almost fucked everything up for me and my brother.
Good riddance.It took me three years to get the company back up and running the way it was when my grandfather handed the reins to my father.Our grandfather didn’t have a choice but to pass it over to him due to the fact that his daughter didn’t have the ambition to take over.It’s the only reason he passed it on to his son-in-law.It should have been me, even back then.Except, I was a teenager when my grandfather was on death’s doorstep and had to pick someone to take over.
My father can’t even wipe his own ass correctly, let alone run a damn business.Especially a private college linked to a secret society.The activities of the last one allow me to hustle as an information broker.
“Motherfucker,” Floris exclaims and hits the brakes.“Sorry, boss.Want me to run him over?”
Floris might be my younger brother, but he also works for me and had called me boss ever since.
I grit my teeth when I see why Floris had to make an abrupt stop.“I’ll handle it.”
Opening the door, I step out and leave the button of my suit jacket open.Gliding a hand over my tie, I walk to the front of the limousine where Ian Rafferty is blocking the campus road.I take in my surroundings and notice a student sitting on the grass against a tree with her nose stuck in a book.
Focusing on the man in front of me, I don’t stop walking until I’m standing toe-to-toe with the fucker.
“Fiero, I’m sorry for confronting you, but I really have to discuss something and it can’t wait.Your assistant called to cancel our meeting...”
Cutting the fucker off, I calmly state, “A meeting that shouldn’t have been scheduled in the first place.We have nothing to discuss, Ian.Move.I have more pressing matters to deal with than your petty attempts to get your son laid.”
He starts to sputter.It’s my cue to step back and leave, but the idiot thinks it’s smart to grab my arm.There’s no warning for this asshole when I reach for one of the hidden knives in my belt buckle and quickly slice up the fucker’s hand.
Pointing the tiny knife at his throat, I grit, “First and only warning.No one puts their hands on me, understood?”
“S...s...sorry,” the wimp stutters.
I wipe the blade clean on his dark suit and place it back in my buckle.“The last time we spoke I politely declined your request about your son.Due to your actions, we’ve now passed the point of politeness, and you will receive an order very soon to compensate for what you just fucked up.”I step away and feel the need to add, “Oh, and make sure you transfer your son to another college.Caleb is failing courses, has a big mouth, and is a bully without a purpose.Either one on its own is a reason why he doesn’t qualify to join the opportunity you were given in the past.”
Dismissing the idiot, I turn to glance over my shoulder and notice the woman who still has her nose in her book.Though the way her knuckles are white and her chest is rising and falling a little faster than it was a moment ago, makes me stride her way.The book in her hand shows me she’s reading about cybersecurity.
“Exciting reading material?”I question, hinting about the fact I’m fairly sure she just witnessed me cutting a man.
