Chapter 26 Kratos
Dom rescheduled my meeting for Saturday night, the same night Jade had dinner with Randall.
If I didn’t know better, I would think he did it on purpose to ensure I stayed away, but he doesn’t even know about the dinner.
He also informed me that Elio will only be in town until Sunday, meaning I couldn’t reschedule again, even if I wanted to.
Well, I could, but not without issues, and honestly, I needed to have this meeting, plus I could use a distraction.
I knew Jade could handle this. I told her I would back her choices so long as she stayed free of the ring.
So no matter how much I hate this plan, I will stand by it, by her.
She deserves my loyalty and respect, and if I don’t give it to her, nobody else will either.
That's not an option.
A knock at the door pulls my attention from the computer I’ve been mindlessly staring at for the past twenty minutes while my thoughts wandered.
I look up as Dom pops his head in. “Elio’s here, boss,” he says, and I nod.
“Send him in.”
He leaves the door cracked and disappears, only to return a few moments later.
Elio walks in, pushing the door wide open, the picture of a high-end businessman.
His dark hair is slicked back, not a piece out of place.
Elio’s shoes are spotless, and not for the first time, I wonder if he ever wears a pair more than once or if he just takes that much care with them.
His skin has a natural tan that, at this point, I think is just its natural color.
For all the years I’ve known Elio, he’s never struck me as an out in the sun working on my tan kind of guy.
His eyes are brown but have little flecks of green that people usually overlook, but I’ve seen them when he smiles over a shared drink or a good deal.
His suit alone probably costs close to what the club makes in a month, and that’s saying something, considering how well we do these days.
Elio comes from old money. His father and his father's father built their empire for years, and Elio has only helped it flourish since he took over a few years ago.
He’s got a few years on me, but you would never know it. He’s about six feet tall, and while his build is more on the lean side, he’s not to be underestimated. You’d never know it, but he's built under that expensive suit.
We met a handful of years ago in one of the fighting rings.
We went three rounds, and although neither of us went down in the end, the fight was bloody and intense.
Intense enough that after it was over, he pulled me aside to congratulate me.
It wasn't until later that Dom informed me of who he was.
The son of one of the biggest players in the Italian mafia. He was set to take over for his father in just a few months’ time back then.
It was a friendship I found by accident, but that has been more than useful in Vengeance’s climb up the ladder in this city.
Jade had told me to make connections in the underground and had insisted I be in that fight.
I never knew if it was because she knew he would be there or just a feeling, but a lot of our success had stemmed from the ties I made with Elio that night.
I’d have to ask her someday.
I stand as Dom pulls the door closed, leaving us alone.
The moment the door clicks, Elio’s stoic face melts away into a smile.
Moving around my desk to meet him with a handshake and a solid thump on the back.
We pull apart, and I move back to my seat while he drops into one of the chairs in front of my desk, crossing his ankle to rest on his opposite knee and relaxing back into his chair.
“How are you, my brothera?” he asks, the hint of his Italian accent dripping through. He usually does a pretty good job of masking it, but when he’s relaxed, it seems to slip through more often. “It would appear the business is good, no?”
“Yes, business is good, as you very well know,” I tell him with a smirk because he would know if business was bad, and if it was, we wouldn’t really have a need for this meeting.
“Ah, that’s true.” He chuckles and gives me a knowing smile.
“So, what matter of business are we here to talk of today? Issues with shipments or your neighbors?”
His voice dips a bit at the mention of one of our neighbor gangs, and he rolls the ‘r’ hard in his frustration.
Elio works most of his business out of New York, and while he has some here in the city and a few other major cities like Detroit, he deals with the Renegades often.
Usually, it’s not a pleasant experience for either of them.
The Renegades buy from us, but that's about as far as our ties go. They are under strict orders to stay out of our territory, and we have yet to have issues, but I wouldn’t put it past them.
Their system is set up much differently than our own.
Whereas we keep the underground off the streets and as far from the innocent as possible, they thrive on the discord and chaos they can wreak through the city.
Which isn’t good for businesses like Elio’s.
“No, we don’t have any issues like that. Today is simply a check-in of sorts to make sure we're still on track for the next six months' shipments and to let you know, we’ll need to add a bit more for one of our newer clubs.”
His eyes light up once again at the mention of new business. Elio might be from old money, but there isn’t much he loves more than making new deals and expanding.
“Yes, of course. I assume this new club is showing promise if you have decided to bring it into the fold,” he says with a nod as he pulls out his phone, no doubt already putting more orders in.
“Yes, it’s been open for three months now and is turning enough profit that if we keep taking the supplies from the existing clubs, I fear we will run into a shortage somewhere.”
“Very good indeed. I will add a quarter more to the shipment set for the end of this month,” he tells me before sliding his phone into his pocket. “If we need more or less, we can revisit this later. I will be back in town the week of the shipment, and we can meet again before I leave.”
I nod in agreement, trusting it’s handled. Elio is nothing if not proficient, and this gives us time to see how quickly we move through the shipment before it's gone.
Once I agree, he drops his leg back to the ground and sits forward, reaching over my desk with his hand outstretched.
I reach out and grasp his hand, giving it a firm shake before we both pull away and sit back again.
We’ve always closed business deals with a handshake.
The first time, I was concerned, but since then, I’ve learned that it means Elio trusts me.
He doesn't call me brother lightly, and to him, actions speak louder than words.
Our shaking in agreement is more binding than any piece of paper he could have me sign in his eyes.
He leans back heavily against the chair, once again slinging his leg up for his ankle to rest on his knee. Leveling me with a look that lets me know that business talk might be over, but he’s not done with me yet.
“You think I missed how you worded that earlier, brothera? You said you don’t have issues like that, but not that you did not have any issues at all,” he says, raising his brow as if daring me to deny it.
I can’t.
I’ve never lied to Elio. I might have kept things hidden, but I never lied.
There was too much at stake back then to worry about covering my lies.
He knows everything there is to know, from my piece of shit father to the girl who saved my ass and why I wanted to build this empire.
Hell, that’s part of the reason he was so happy to help me, beyond just our fight.
Back then, he told me he was a sucker for the underdog, and as I’ve risen to power over the last few years, he’s been sure to remind me of just that.
I forget he’s waiting for an answer from me, and when he gets nothing, he pushes for more information. “What might be troubling you in this time of splendid success? Have you finally found yourself a woman who threatens it all?” he asks before he throws his head back and laughs.
My head whips in his direction quickly enough that the movement catches his attention, and his laughter dries up immediately.
“Dio mio. Mi stai prendendo in giro!” Elio says, his eyes widening in disbelief as he watches me.
Shit, I should have let him laugh it off. I had thought for a moment that he had heard something about Jade, but now I see he was teasing me, as he often does. Too bad I gave him exactly the type of reaction that lets him know he hit the nail right on the head with this one.
“Elio,” I say his name with a sigh because I know there's no way he’s going to let this go now.
“Oh no, you don’t. I have been waiting for the woman who will tame the mighty Kratos for many, many years.
Who is she? When do I get to meet her?” He fires off the questions in quick succession, and I sit back, waiting for him to finish.
This meeting just got a lot longer. When I steal a look at the clock, I see it's only just past seven. I’ve got time.
Next time, I’ll be more specific when I say I need a distraction.
I explain everything from the beginning, filling in the holes I had left before, and give him the rundown on the last couple of weeks while he listens intently.
Elio was aware of who Jade was. I had always been careful not to give him too much information about her or let anything I might feel for her show.
How I did that for so long is beyond me because now I apparently can’t fucking talk about her without sounding like an idiot, and the longer I talked, the larger his shit-eating grin got.
“I see, so your Jade is the reason for Vengeance,” he says with a nod, and I don’t correct him. Technically, we both are. We started this to help others, but it didn’t take long before my focus was on freeing her and helping her accomplish what she needed.