Chapter 27 Maverick #4
Money makes enemies great bedfellows. And he knows that he won't be able to betray us, not without losing so much more.
And once our children are married, like he said.
.. we'll be family. In this business, you learn to adjust, Rico said, then he looked at Nico.
Do you have any issues with your son marrying Xiù? You were silent during the meeting.
Nico shook his head and responded both vocally and with ASL.
"No, I see this as an opportunity really, to force Cenzo to take my name.
He's been refusing to take the name of Castiello, rather choosing to keep his mother's maiden name of Rossi.
This union means he has to accept me as his father and his Castiello blood.
So, no, you'll get no opposition from me. "
Rico nodded, understanding the importance of a son taking his father's surname. Good, I'll make sure he does so as we don't want anything to get in the way of this union. If it's Castiello blood that will bond us, it's Castiello blood the Mujins will have. Xiù will take his last name.
Dasan sighed. "As long as the Lords don't get betrayed, we can adjust."
Rico nodded. You're family now, too. From what I've seen, your son, Burger, is probably seconds away from proposing to Akari, and your other son seems smitten with—
"We don't need to talk about Akane," Maverick said, interjecting.
How did you know I was talking about you? Rico asked with a smirk.
"Well, you were looking at me," Maverick said and signed.
Dasan looked at Maverick, suspiciously. "Oh, we don't need to talk about her?"
Maverick shook his head. "Not worth mentioning."
Rico chuckled, as did Alessia.
"Fucking kid," Dasan muttered as he rose from the chair. He looked at Rico. "Just hearing that you consider us family is good enough. As you know, the Lords are loyal."
"As are the Castiellos," Alessia said, and Rico nodded.
"Here's to a very bright future in our empire," Dasan said.
"Very bright, indeed," Alessia said with another one of her sultry smiles to match her voice.
"Damn, you're sexy," Dasan said, giving the woman one of his charming smiles.
Watch it, Rico signed.
Dasan laughed. "Wait until you see my old lady. You'll understand why my eyes don't wander; I just appreciate."
Oh, I've seen her and do understand, Rico said.
"Your intel is too good," Dasan said as he signed.
Rico laughed. Enjoy your flight back home.
"I will," Dasan said, then left, taking his two sons with him.
"We don't need to go back for anything; I have my bag in the trunk of the SUV," Maverick said, because his goal was to leave Akane in the past.
"Before we head back, I want to visit Al and the rest of our brothers in the New York chapter," Dasan said.
"Oh yeah, they'll love to see you," Maverick smiled.
"Did you fuck Akane?" Ace asked his little brother once they were back inside the SUV.
Maverick huffed. "Yes, but it was just sex."
"You just don't ever fucking learn. I saw crazy in that woman's eyes," Ace said.
Dasan turned to face Maverick. "You looked me right in my optical nerves and lied into my auditory receptors when you said you would leave crazy bitches alone. So, why did you fuck Akane?"
Ace laughed as he couldn't help himself. It was rare for their father to have that level of humor, especially when he was serious.
"Yeah, she's crazy, but she's also a crazy good lay. That's it. I made it clear that I don't do relationships," Maverick said in his defense.
Dasan rolled his eyes. "You sons of fuckers continue to get entangled with Rico's people."
"Let's give him a break, Dad. I mean, us being mixed up with Rico's people might be a good thing. You heard him; he called us family," Ace said.
Dasan snorted. "You don't think that man can't put a bullet in the head of a family member, one blood-related to him?"
"Oh, I know he will. But we won't give him a reason to fuck us over. From what I've seen of him, he wants to work with us, and he knows our alliance only strengthens his outfit. Making enemies of us isn't a wise business decision," Ace said.
Dasan sighed, then nodded. "I'll never let my guard down around that man, but I hope you're right."
"My suggestion will be to make sure Richie's recipe for his drug stays with us. They can help us produce it, but to make sure they can never cut us out completely, we need that advantage," Ace said.
"Wise move, son," Dasan agreed.
"Let's just take this shit one day at a time.
Right now, Enzo and Li Mujin are about to get married.
The war is over, and we've got fucking billions to make.
Every Lord is about to come up in the world.
Hell, we're going to have to spread out wider, open a lot of chapters, and be more strict about our recruiting," Ace said.
"That's a smart move. The bigger we are, the more leverage we'll have. But this isn't anything we can rush," Dasan agreed.
"One day at a time, like Ace said." Maverick smiled at his brother.
"For now, we visit with old friends, then head home," Dasan said.
Maverick smiled. Finally... the light at the end of the tunnel.