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His scowl lessened just slightly at the compliment and I returned my eyes to the screen as I finalized my accounting stuff and logged out.
"You attending this meeting with the Forbidden is more of an opportunity. Yes, they can handle themselves, but if I'm planning to drop in on this deal, I want to create some buzz."
"You want me to attend so that people see I'm around them." Viktor voiced the obvious.
"Well, think about it. William De Luca resigns in a month from his father's enterprise, while multiple media resources catch his bodyguard attending the latest business conference that could potentially hold the biggest deal of the century in NYC," I mimicked a news reporter and sighed. "It would be in the headlines for weeks."
"You want Roberto to realize you may go for it."
"Not may," I corrected with a sly grin. "Will go for it. I want to make his palms sweaty at the idea that I'll win."
"What if he tries to find another woman to venture in as the one needed for this deal?"
"I'm sure he already has someone," I acknowledged and leaned into my chair. "However, Papa Dearest has never been good at keeping up teams, correct? Only a matter of time before that falls apart, especially with the big Benjamins on the line."
I twirled the pen between my fingers, excited for six o'clock to come along so I could go to Onyx's place, where everyone else would be gathered.
This deal was huge. It was one that would put the Forbidden so far ahead in the game that they would easily be able to take over NYC.
It couldn't be better timing, and I knew that was making poor Roberto anxious as fuck.
Good. Let him quiver at the idea of me stealing everything from him with my Forbidden pack. Mine? Hmm. We're not even serious like that. William's Forbidden Pack? Eww. That sounds horrendous. Willow's Forbidden Pack... Not bad. Not bad at all.
"What are you thinking about?"
"How does Willow's Forbidden Pack sound?" I offered while tapping the end of my pen against my lips.
"Dark. Possessive. Right up your alley," he replied. "So you're taking ownership of those four fuckers? I'm not acknowledging Onyx, though. He's been yours since forever."
I rolled my eyes as I sighed and tugged at my tie.
"There's so much I don’t know about them," I quietly muttered as I stared at the computer screen. "If we do this deal and it goes through, I'm stuck. If they show their true colors down the road and they don’t align with mine, there's no way out."
Another heavy sigh left my lips as I lifted my legs up to rest my black LV dress shoes on the table. “I’ll have tossed myself in a cell without realizing it, and if I become a captive of foolish decision-making, it's going to carry a lot of consequences."
"Do you want my honest opinion?" Viktor inquired.
"Sure," I replied. "Not like you're not brutally honest 1000% of the time."
He huffed but carried on, "They are different, dangerous, and definitely not showing all their cards," he reasoned as his eyes darkened. "Each carries a terrible past. Ones that are probably going to take time before you're able to find out for yourself. Their pasts definitely carved who they currently are, but from what I've gathered, they're the reason why the crime rate in California dropped like flies."
"Dropped?" I questioned. "You don’t mean rose?"
"Dropped," he emphasized. "They don’t like foul play. Meaning, if you fuck up and deserve to be killed, beat, captured, and thrown in jail, that’s what happens. They've been in Cali for what is believed to be five years. Cali is now one of the safest spots with the lowest crime rate in America."
"No way." I looked at him questioningly. "California is tourist central, full of rich celebrity madness, has addicts lurking in alleyways…and don’t get me started on the underground bullshit. At least, that's what I gathered when I was younger."
"You're correct, but as of this year, addicts are practically non-existent, only celebrities who aren't a part of the whole Illuminati movement reside there, tourists are monitored to ensure they're genuine and not there to cause trouble, and the underground is as calm as ever. It's regulated now, and we haven't even gotten into the wolf shifter stuff."
"So are you trying to say my Forbidden Pack is actually a 'good' mafia organization that deals with the crime while stocking up on their own resources and makes sure everyone follows the rules they lay down or they're fucked?"
"My Forbidden Pack?"
I threw my pen at him, which made him laugh as he caught it like it couldn’t be used as a weapon. He was smirking from ear to ear, which was clearly jinxing my day because whenever this fucker smiled like that, the world tried to end itself.
"To answer the prime question, yes. They're basically a "good" mafia organization. They do the dirty work so that the innocent, captured, and forced shifters that have no choice but to do the grind of evil are saved from this disastrous life."
"Now that they're not in California, what's happening?" I inquired. "Are people rebelling due to their absence?"
