I drummed my fingers against the mahogany desk, as I leaned my body against the leather chair that was rather hard and uncomfortable. At the same time, I waited for my henchmen to find Caius as he was hiding somewhere in this awful-smelling factory where he makes the weapons that I pay him millions of dollars to make for the Vallea Mafia as well as for my buyers that put in bids months in advance. I get excited and thrilled when I hear him trying to fight with my henchmen who have been trained to find and deliver my enemies directly to me wherever I was located at the time.

I usually do not put forth effort in going on a witch hunt to find anyone who crosses me, but since Caius has played a pivotal role in allowing me to expand the Vallea Mafia, I wanted to personally find him. "What the fuck are you doing here!!!", The office door is pushed open as one of my henchmen pushes Caius inside, his pale face has turned red from anger as he glares at me, so I do not remove myself from my seat.

His reaction to seeing me proved that he did not respect me, rather thought he was above me being that he created all of the weapons I would sell to some of the most dangerous crime organizations in the world. "Laurent, I see we have a problem". I place my hands in a praying stance and bend my elbows against the desk as intently observe Caius, waiting to make a move, so I can slice his throat.

Over this past year, I had been nothing but lenient to this French fuck, without giving him more than enough money to build another warehouse as well as a lab to create explosives. I should be enjoying my time right now with Verena, but I am here waiting to kill a selfish, entitled bastard who believes he is more powerful than me. "There's no problem. I want more money Vallea or our deal is off".

I then push the chair back, making sure to not break eye contact with Caius as stride toward my two henchmen stand directly behind with their glocks aimed at him, if he tries anything. Once I have made it in front of him, a sinister smile covers my face. "I did not know I made a deal with you. I do not work for you. In fact..". I then place my hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly as his facial expression changes from the confidence he displayed moments ago to dread as sweat drips down his face.

"I am no longer in need of your services", I say before I pull my gun out from my back pocket and aim at his right kneecap before a shot rings out. Pop. Caius drops to the floor as the bullets land inside of his kneecap and blood drips down his pants leg and against the floor. He whines and moans as he holds his now injured knee as I glance down at him.

Just as I am about to put a bullet in his head, the office door opens once more. "What are you doing, stop this!!!", Ryen appears out of nowhere dropping to the ground, her eyes pleading with mine as she places her hands around Caius trying to stop the bleeding, her pink pantsuit is now ruined and it is now stained and covered in his blood. I shake my head at her.

"No, Ryen, your bastard husband seems to think he is running the show and you know as well as I do that I do not tolerate disrespect". Ryen has been trying to place herself in the affairs between me and Caius this past year. She is the reason why I did not put a bullet in Caius' head almost a year ago and was the one who convinced me to continue to work with them. I am not sure how Caius was able to wed such a brilliant woman like Ryen, but I was through babying this fucker, he needed to go.

"Please, don't kill him, you promised". Ryen begins to cry as she looks up at me, trying to convince me to not cause harm to Caius. I lean down and wipe the tears that have falling from her face, 'Don't waste your tears on this bastard", as I point my gun at Caius, he is already in a vulnerable state as he lies on the floor as he manages to push himself up and spits on my Burberry Print Python Leather Loafers.

Without a second thought, I raise my gun and put a bullet in Caius' head, his blood splatters everywhere as Ryen screams. Ryen looks down at Caius' dead body as she frantically begins to shake in fear. I grab her hand, pull her off the ground, and snap my fingers, alerting my men to remove my body. "You can't cut the fucking act you are playing Ryen. I know you weren't in love with Caius". Ryen looks at me as my henchmen walk out of the room, removing Caius's dead body before closing the door.

"I do not know what you are talking about". I wave her off as I walk toward the edge of the desk as I leaned back sitting against the edge of it. "I know you have been fucking around with Davian Sinclair". Sinclair is a drug cartel leader who ships and operates illegal drugs from the state of Evergreen, a cold northern state, I have frequently visited to stay in the mountains during the winter months from to time.

My revelation takes Ryen by surprise, "Umm, I can explain", I hold my hand up for her to stop. "I don't care about you fucking Sinclair, he is the least of my concerns. I need you to sign over your rights so I can take over ownership of Laurent Enterprises". Ryen takes a step back as if my demand is not something she agrees with.

"You want me to give you rights to the company. Is that necessary Eryx". I nod, "Actually it is seeing that I was a highly-paid contributor to this business. Please do not fight me on this Ryen, I would hate to have to retaliate, but I will if you try me".

Ryen looks at me for a moment, before she shakes her head. "Good girl", I then pull the documents that have her name and Caius' name on them, as the sole owners of Laurent Enterprises. "Sign these papers to relinquish your rights". I then point for her to sign as I hold a pen out to her. She takes it from my hand, as she quickly signs before I place the documents in a manilla folder reaching down and placing it in my leather suitcase.

"Now that it is settled, Verena is expecting you later this evening for your shopping excursion. I advise you to speak nothing of this matter with her. Understand". Ryen looks every bit fearful of me, but I do not halt my demands to baby her. "Yes, I won't say anything". I do not make a habit of killing women, but I would make her life a living hell if she tried to seek revenge against me. I watch as Ryen quickly escapes out of the room and grins inwardly that have managed to garner another empire, father would be proud. I should call and share the news with him and check on Zyran and Kaemon to ensure they are behaving.

"Dad, I got rid of Caius, how are the boys doing", I ask a minute later over the phone. "They are doing well, good, I never liked that Laurent muthafucker I just put up with him because I had a great relationship with his father. Also while you are in France, make sure to take Verena to Trevor's Steakhouse, the head chef has wanted to meet with her the past couple of months".

I nod, "Of course, I will do so, let me talk to the boys if you don't mind". Dad excuses himself from the phone in search of the boys before I hear them fighting with each other on the other end of the phone call about which one was going to speak to me first. "Hey you two stop, you are Vallea men, we do not fight over petty shit". I then tell them to place the phone on speaker so I can talk to them at the same time. "I graduated to a yellow belt in Shi Shitz Zu", Zyran says excitedly. "Great, proud of you, soon you will be a black belt like me".

"I'll be able to kick your ass". I laugh, "That will never happen, but nothing wrong with having an imagination". Kaemon then begins sharing with me, "I still trying to get the hang of playing the piano, but some of the songs I am learning are a little complicated".

I was amazed at how skillful both my brothers had become in the things that pushed them to be productive. "Don't give up, you will become a master at the keys very soon. Just keep practicing".

Moments like this made me realize how much I missed my mother. My brothers were getting bigger and one day they were going to start asking questions regarding her death I am not too sure how I would be able to handle it when the time comes, but right now I was going to make sure to keep them busy as possible, so their minds wouldn't drift so far off the deep end like mine had become consumed with.





Eryx is not the one to make an enemy out of. He holds grudges as you can see rarely does he give second or third chances. I wonder will Ryen will take keen to Eryx's advice or will she try to retaliate.