Chapter 52 Ch. 32.1
"Yes, you need something from me," Lorenzo concurred, lips lifting into a sinister smile. "Cleaning up a mess your nephew made... Your nephew who is heir to the clan."
Dylan laughed and then pulled out a chIr opposite Lorenzo. He sat slowly and gone crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, what's family for? We have to has each other's back don't we? Stick together to protect our secrets."
"No," Lorenzo shook his head. "I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were."
"Good, so let's stop playing on each others intelligence," Lorenzo said in a cold voice. "You have always wanted to take this throne away from me Matteo."
"Dylan," Dylan interjected immediately. "It has nothing to do with the throne."
"Really?" Lorenzo questioned lifting his brows. "You could have taken what you found out from your precious little girlfriend and gone straight to the elders of the clan. Which of course, they would say in addition to the uproar Ethan's races has caused, he has done the unforgivable by leaving evidence of crime against humans... So he is not a liable heir."
"And that tells you I am no longer after your throne brother," Dylan said. "I could have gone to them, but I didn't."
"Well, because you need something from me now," Lorenzo shrugged. "And don't act all like a saint. It's only a matter of time before you take it to the elders... After using this as leverage a few times."
"Ah well," Dylan chuckled. "What do the human Christians say? Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new."
"Your little girlfriend take you to church?" Lorenzo asked in a mocking tone. An expression of amusement flickered in his face very briefly.
Dylan shrugged. "I need a daylight ring brother. I don't want it linked to our clan."
"And you think I'll give that to you?" Lorenzo laughed heartily. "What now? Trying to get a clan of night walkers, make then powerful and find a way to overtake."
"It's impossible with just one daylight ring brother," he said with a sigh. "You can at least do it for me. I promise I'm not causing any trouble with it."
"You," Lorenzo said pointing to the maid at the corner. She came closer, and he dragged her her, pulling the ring off her finger. "Remind me to give you another one when you want to go grocery shopping. Here you go brother."
"Thank you," Dylan said, taking the ring and examining it with satisfaction. "You won't be seeing me here again."
Ethan watched his uncle walk out of the door and then sighed, turning to his father.
"I'm not doing it dad."
"You don't have an option."
"I don't care about your throne dad. I'm not taking over the clan, and I'm sure as hell not taking over your plethora of illegal businesses."
"Illegal businesses sponsor your allowance, which allows you to have almost anything you want. And business is business, everyone does something illegal or corrupt."
"Managing a drug cartel? As an athlete?" Ethan scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah, sure, that speaks well of me. It's bad enough that my father owns one."
Lorenzo laughed heartily, leaning back in his seat. "You make it seem like I'm one of those lowlife human drug lords."
"You're no better than them. You hide under the fancy name of a Mafia... But truth? You're just a drug lord, a pimp who runs a prostitution ring and..."
"Vineyards Ethan... Vineyards. The wine businesses are pretty much legal."
"How you got them isn't legal."
"But now they're legally mine," Lorenzo grinned. "Forget about your career as an athlete. Do exactly ss your uncle has advised."
"I'm done with this conversation father." Ethan stood up, his chair scraping the marble as it pushed back. With one last hard look at his father, he walked away.
The hallways were cold and seemed to close in on him— he hated it. Everything about the house was suffocating. He walked up the stairs and down the corridor to his room, pushing the door open.
The metal of his key holder felt cold against his palm.
He walked in with a sigh, eyes scanning the room for his training bag so he could hook it onto. But when he finally saw the bag, his key holder was there, just like it always was.
He glanced at his hands one more time.
If his key holder was always on his training bag, then who owned the duplicate his uncle had dropped off?
Without hesitation, he pulled it from his bag ran down the corridor and stairs, passing the backdoor so he did not stumble into his father.
He went to where his bike was parked and jumped on, zooming off into the night to his uncle's house.
Dylan was seated on the porch when he arrived, a cigarette with it's smoke curling up into the air in his hand. "Ethan, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked drily. "Haven't we had enough of family dinners?"
"I never left my key holder—"
"How did my girlfriend find it then?"
"Maybe she didn't. Maybe you created this to find a way to get a daylight ring from my father."
"I have no reason to lie about that Ethan. And why didn't you go to your father? Why come here?"
"I'm not trying to start a new feud between you two."
"Your key holder... Was on your bag— Ethan... Someone close to you is trying to set you up. They are using you, to get through to us. We should tell your—"
"I'll handle it," Ethan interrupted sharply. "The last thing I need now is my father breathing down my neck and having his men stalk me uncle. I'm sure you know how that feels like."
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