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I hadn't really thought things out when I'd taken him. I got that now. I was usually a lot slower to act, thinking things through and looking at them from every angle before doing anything.
I'd simply seen red when I'd found René's father having an intimate dinner with someone who was not his mate and reacted. I should have taken a before acting.
This was all on me.
I wish I could go directly to René and apologize for my behavior, but my princely duties took precedence at the moment. I had a meeting this morning with the heads of several clans that I couldn't miss.
The work never seemed to end. Most nights, I didn't even get to bed before midnight. Despite what the gossip magazines said, my social life was pretty much nonexistent. When I did go out, it was usually for some social function that I was required to attend.
They were boring as hell.
They were also a necessary evil. Schmoozing and making connections in the human and paranormal worlds were all part of the job. Luckily for me, today was just a simple business meeting.
No schmoozing involved.
"Tashi, have you seen my briefcase?"
"I have it, sir," Paolo said as he stepped out of the bedroom. "Everything you need for today's meeting is in the file on the very top. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go over it before the meeting, sir. Alpha Ramirez has some things in his background I am sure he would rather you did not know about."
"Oh?" I took my briefcase and popped it open, reaching for the file Paolo had indicated. I set my briefcase down and then flipped open the file and started reading over the information Paolo had gathered, and he was right. This man was hiding stuff. "How did he gain his position?"
"He inherited it from his father, sir."
"I see." Sort of. It wasn't all that unusual for the first-born son to inherit the clan when his father passed, but it didn't look like this guy was a very good fit for the position.
"How up to date are your facts, Paolo?"
When the man didn't say anything, I glanced up. Okay, that haughty glare could have easily put me six feet under.
"My apologies, Paolo, I merely wished to know if the bulk of Alpha Ramirez's enforcers are here with him or if he had left them back with his clan." I let out a little grunt as I went back to looking at the information in my hands. "I can't very well remove him from his position if I am going to meet a lot of opposition when my men arrive at the clan home."
And it was incredibly clear that this man needed to be replaced. Besides the fact that he was driving his clan into the poorhouse with his excessive spending and lavish lifestyle, it looked as if he was abusing a great many of his clan members.
Obviously, he'd have to be replaced. I had that power. I was the prince of our entire region. Granted, I reported to the king of gryphons, but I reigned supreme in the country of Italy.
For gryphons at least.
Other paranormals were led by princes of their own kind, like Prince Visconti of the vampire covens. There were other princes of other species, but we didn't associate a lot. Not because we couldn't, but we just tended to keep to ourselves.
"Alpha Ramirez came with ten of his enforcers, sir, but I have record of him having over twenty. I would never assume to know an alpha's mind, but that seems a little excessive to me."
Oh, it was.
Kind of made me wonder what he was up to.
"How many in his clan?" I asked.
Paolo gave me a quick rundown of all the members in Ramirez's clan, including sex and age. I was a bit surprised that there were less than fifty members, especially when there were over twenty enforcers and they weren't part of the original clan count.
The numbers didn't add up.
"Send a unit of my enforcers down there, Paolo. Have them look around a little. Quietly. I want to know what is going on in this clan."
"Of course, sir. I'll see to it immediately."
I liked having competent people working under me.
I closed the file and stuck it back into my briefcase. "I'll be out for the rest of today. Make a reservation for two at whatever five-star restaurant is in the area, something intimate. I don't want a bunch of strangers gawking at me and my date."
