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I absorbed my father’s rage and let it dissipate. “I think it’s unwise to gamble what we have when we have no idea if this new distributor will be an improvement. And once Axel is gone, we won’t be able to get him back.” He wasn’t as stubborn as my father, but he definitely had his pride. And since he hated my father, I knew he wouldn’t be eager to work with him again, not for all the money in the world.
“Trust me, this guy is an improvement.”
I felt no allegiance to Axel, not after what he did to me. And I wouldn’t want to work with him directly once my father stepped down. That would be shitty. But I saw Axel’s work on a daily basis, and I knew he was a great partner to have, not someone to be dumped so carelessly…even though he’d dumped me carelessly. “Who is he?”
My father relaxed in his chair, his anger starting to evaporate. “The Skull King.”
The restaurant was empty when we walked inside, fully booked out for this meeting. I wasn’t sure if my father was responsible for that or the Skull King. I’d heard of the Skull King but never met him. He was the unofficial prime minister of the country, pulling the strings of the puppets in government, taking tariffs on all illegal commodities shipped through the country as payment for his services. He had his hand in other industries too, from what I understood.
His men were positioned throughout the restaurant, standing in the dark corners and sitting at empty tables, all armed.
My father led the way and then reached the table in the center of the room, the Skull King sitting there alone.
He was not what I’d pictured.
He was young, good-looking, muscular. He had dark hair and dark eyes, a beard that traced his hard jawline. He looked a couple years older than me, in his early thirties, very young to have attained this kind of power.
My father greeted him first. “Been a long time.” He extended his hand for a shake.
The Skull King rose to his feet and shook my father’s hand. He was over six feet, taller than my father. When he greeted my father, it was with a slight smirk on his lips, like this was a great pleasure…or a joke. “It has. You’re looking fit, Dante.”
My father gave a chuckle. “I do what I can.” He turned to me. “Theo, allow me to introduce my daughter, Scarlett.”
I moved to him next, refusing to be intimidated by a man hailed as a legend. I extended my hand to shake his. “Lovely to meet you.”
He grabbed my hand and gripped it tightly, his dark eyes shifting back and forth between mine as he shook it. Then a smirk moved on to his lips as he pulled away. “You really are beautiful…” The smirk remained, like he knew something I didn’t, told a joke and I’d missed the punch line.
“Thank you…”
Theo nodded to the table. “Sit.” Before he took a seat, he pulled out the chair for me, something my father would normally do for me.
As I sat down, Theo pushed the chair in then took a seat to my right, across from my father. He crossed one leg, resting his ankle on the opposite knee, and he wore a black long-sleeved shirt with no jacket, even though it was freezing outside. Last night, we’d had a frost, and the frost was already settling in again this evening.
The waiter arrived and brought a bottle of wine for the table before he poured the glasses. We weren’t asked what we wanted because Theo seemed to have already made the decision for everyone.
My father took a drink. “Excellent choice.” My father turned the bottle to look at the label. “The Pearl, Barsetti Vineyards, 2016. That was a good harvest.” He turned the bottle back around.
“Are we here to talk about wine or money?” That knowing smirk was gone, and now Theo was all seriousness. His focus was reserved for my father, and he didn’t seem interested in me anymore.
“Very well,” my father said. “If we formed a partnership in distribution, not only will you receive your tariffs, but also ten percent of the proceeds from our product movement. And on a weekly basis, that amounts to…” He turned to me since I looked at the numbers all day.
“Twenty million,” I answered. “We’ve also increased production, so we’ll have more product in the coming weeks. We’ll need additional partners to fulfill these orders. We hope that you have the connections to expand our business.”
“Twenty million a week.” He paused to mull that over. “That’s impressive.”
“Thank you,” my father said.
“It sounds like your current distributor is doing a fine job, so why do you need me?”
My father paused as he considered his answer. “I know you can do better.”
