Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 969 : Livid Silence

*Leo* 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

My blood was still boiling over the meeting with Darion the following day. I was still imagining the way he looked at Bianca. It had taken all of my strength not to punch his arrogant little face in. if Bianca had shown any interest at all, the little brat might not have been so lucky.

I ran my hand through my thick hair as I stepped out of my car and headed toward the doors of the warehouse. It was going to be another grueling morning of paperwork but I was looking forward to some peace and quiet.

My plans were dashed though as soon as I stepped in and one of my men approached, holding one of the slim black phones. “Call for you, boss,” he said, passing me the device.

I resisted the urge to let my shoulders drop in annoyance before taking the phone, giving the guy a curt nod.

“I trust all is going well with Darion.”

I felt my annoyance return at the casual way Al spoke of my new protegee but I reeled it in, reminding myself that he had no way of knowing how much of a bastard the kid was. “If by well then you mean that he has already disrespected me, my woman, and our entire operation in almost a single breath, then yes. I would say that things are going swimmingly.”

Alessandro was more than used to the heavy sarcasm by now, especially when I was irritated. I could almost see the way he was looking at the sky with exasperation as he spoke to me.

“Darion is a bright young man,” he said. “While he was at UCLA, he double majored in business and finance. And he is currently working toward his master’s degree in business management. All of this will serve as an asset toward our operation.”

I could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke of his distant relative’s achievements. It made me want to strangle him through the phone.

“He might be smart but he definitely has some overinflated arrogance to go along with it,” I noted, trying and probably failing to keep my tone diplomatic.

I wasn’t going to admit it but I had to agree that Darion’s background did sound impressive. He didn’t just have the education to back up his potential as a future don but the confidence he had would aid him as well. He would need to have a backbone to be a good leader, especially in this world.

“He will need to be strong for this role,” Al said in a twisted reflection of my own thoughts. “It isn’t just his background that impressed me though. His quick wit saved us from a faulty contract from the Russian’s last year. He negotiated with them himself and we were all blown away by how he handled the situation. He saved us millions.”

I cursed inwardly. That was another tally for the brat. I was quickly running out of arguments but that didn’t mean I was going to back down. This kid couldn’t be this disrespectful. There needed to be order if this was going to work.

I wasn’t feeling good about leaving my entire life before Bianca to him and I wasn’t going to be able to until I found a suitable replacement.

“Darion acted all high and mighty when he saw the compound,” I told Al, biting back a growl as I recalled the guy’s comments the other day. “He clearly has no respect, which is also something that will be necessary for this position. No one will respect him if he doesn’t respect them.”

My logic was sound and I could tell that Al agreed with me on that front. He grunted but was starting to sound a bit exasperated. “Darion can be a cocky asshole at times,” Al admitted. “But at the moment, he is the most fit to take over your position. I would suggest that you just try to put up with him for now while he proves himself to you.”

I bit my tongue to keep the smart remark from escaping my mouth. “Very well,” I said finally.

“Due to the nature of Darion’s background, he is probably assuming he has this job already despite this being a trial run,” Al said. “He is our best candidate but you can still remind him that he is working beneath you.”

I scoffed at the suggestion, having already been set on doing just that even before this phone call. “Oh, you can trust that I have every intention of keeping this boy in his place.”

I could almost see Al roll his eyes through the phone.

We said our goodbyes before I hung up, gripping the phone tightly in my hand as I continued my way deeper into the warehouse.

I was having trouble figuring out how much of my distaste of the bastard stemmed from when he was coming on to Bianca. I was already annoyed with him before that but that was when my suspicions of him started.

I tried to set my feelings aside to look at the situation logically but now that Bianca was involved, even barely, I found that my emotions had to take some precedence.

I told myself that there was still some logic in my judgment of him. What kind of cocky bastard hit on another man’s woman? He might not have known initially but he didn’t seem to care when I firmly explained that Bianca was my fiancee.

I reminded myself that it was in my and Bianca’s best interest for Darion to be the one to take over. He seemed bright and capable enough from his background alone. Plus, taking Darion on would mean we wouldn’t have to start over and search for other potentials, making it so that I could leave the mafia sooner.

I imagined Bianca’s face when I told her that we found a potential replacement for me. She had been trying to be reserved and cool about it but I saw the excitement in her eyes. She wanted us to be a normal family, especially now that we had a child on the way.

I couldn’t just think of myself anymore. I couldn’t even just think of Bianca anymore, no matter how much I wanted to do just that.

With that resolve in mind, I pushed the thick metal door to the warehouse open.

My eyes narrowed immediately as I took in the quiet space. There should have been guards waiting at the entrance as well as just inside the doors. There was hardly anyone around. There was usually men milling about, seeing to their various duties.

I bit back an irritated growl, knowing that Darion had something to do with this.

I pushed my way down the hall and to the surveillance room. There was no one posted there either. Where the hell was everyone?

My heart raced at the possibility that we had been infiltrated in the short time that I was on the phone with Al. It wasn’t the most likely but it was possible. I raced through the halls growing more and more irritated as I looked from empty room to empty room. There were no signs of a struggle. Everything was in its place. Papers were on desks and books stowed away.

The only thing missing were my men.

I checked another surveillance room to find Franky sitting in front of the screens, a brooding expression on his face.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I demanded. “Where is everyone?”

Franky narrowed his eyes on me. “Hey, don’t take this out on me,” he said, waving a hand. “I am exactly where I should be, doing what I should be doing. It’s your little protegee who has been screwing everything up since he got here.”

I could feel my temper flaring as Franky completely ignored the where question I shot at him. “What the hell does that mean? What has he done?”

Franky didn’t answer but instead, stood up from his chair before gesturing me to follow him. I was brooding quietly as he led me down the hallway, turning into a hidden corridor. I raised both eyebrows when we were clearly heading toward the safe room.

Franky calmly put in the combination and pushed open the heavy metal door.

I stared in dismay at the state of the room.

Our state-of-the-art bunker had been transformed into a night club of sorts. There were beer cans scattered about. Someone had installed a light that was throwing around neon colors. Base-heavy party music was blaring loudly. In the middle of the room, the guys had pushed together some crates to make a table where cards and poker chips were stacked.

And of course, in the center of all of this chaos, was Darion himself, leaning back slightly in his lawn chair and the largest pile of poker chips in front of him.

I saw red and for a long moment, I was so livid that I couldn’t even find my voice.

One of my men spotted me. His eyes widened for a moment but then he grinned and waved me over. “C’mon, boss! Join us for a round.”

I blinked once and then twice, as if doing so would make some of this scene make sense but the entire mess remained. The other men looked a bit wary when they noticed me standing there but they made no moves to get up or explain themselves. I caught them glancing at Darion, who was staring at me as well but with a relaxed, bored expression on his face.

The look on the cocky bastard was what finally snapped me out of my shock. I stomped over, my voice carrying over the music. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demanded, gesturing angrily around me. “Get back to work! Now!”

A few of the men started to stand but Darion put up a hand to stop them. My jaw dropped when they actually listened to him. “I believe we’ve worked enough for today,” my protegee said coolly. “We are simply recharging for the next day.”

I could feel my blood simmering. “You are all on the clock,” I spat impatiently. “You will get back to work.”

“We’ve completed all of our work, boss,” one of the guys had the audacity to say.

“Yeah,” added another, although I did notice him shift uncomfortably. “We were told to follow the new don’s orders and to treat him like he has already taken over.”

“They’re right,” Darion said, smirking at me. “They are doing nothing wrong. I believe this is what is best for them and for the entire operation. You wouldn’t want to interfere with my learning on the job, would you?”

I levelled the kid with a stare that should have seared a hole through his head but he just gazed right back, unafraid and completely unruffled.

I couldn’t show my displeasure of him too openly. That would cause the men to question the decision if he was named don.

Still, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t give him a warning. I narrowed my eyes. “I’ll be checking those reports to ensure everything was completed,” I said, my voice booming over the music.

Unable to look at the mess Darion made of things for a second longer, I turned and stormed out of the room.