Page 1 of Daddy Billionaire Dragon

Chapter 1 - Lex

“Lex, I have the numbers. Gold Room in ten minutes. I’ll tell the others,” Liam Townsend, the head of Marketing of Druk Technologies and a life-long friend, says to me through the partially open door of my office on the top floor of the high-rise we own in midtown Manhattan.

I nod, resisting the urge to swear. I almost forgot about the meeting, and also the fact that this particular partners’ meeting isn’t going be like our usual end-of-the-week status updates plus informal bouncing of ideas kind of meeting.

I pull out my planner and look at the agenda on it, which has been penned in my own hand. The entry under Friday, 7 pm has three things:

1. TokenMintz

2. Stealth Mode - Shifter Skins

3. Twenty-fifth anniversary party

When Liam was talking about the numbers earlier, he was referring to the first point on the agenda.

TokenMintz is our attempt to venture into the NFT space. The NFT minting platform has been functional for one whole business quarter now. We all had misgivings about this project from the very start for several reasons. For one thing, we would be venturing out of our niche, which is security tech, and entering into unfamiliar territory; for another, we would be competing with the likes of Tron Tech, who are already established in the NFT space. They are also known for their ruthless and dirty profit-making tactics, not caring how much collateral damage they leave in their wake. But it was also the reason we decided to go ahead with the project—Tron Tech needed to be taught a lesson. Last year, their underhanded practices almost besmirched our reputation, and we couldn’t simply let it pass. Liam’s poker face told me nothing, so I am certainly apprehensive about the numbers.

I curse steadily when I read point number two on the agenda. I had volunteered to try on the Skins personally, but it slipped my mind. I have ten minutes before the meeting. For a moment, I’m tempted to head to the roof and test out the Skins, but decide against it. I’ll be cutting it too close. All I can do now is apologize to the guys. After my exec assistant Linda went on her maternity leave, things have been chaotic. My office secretary Rachel tries to take some load off me, but it just isn’t the same. Rachel promised me that Linda’s temporary replacement will be joining on Monday, and Monday can’t come soon enough.

However, the third point on the agenda makes me smile. I swivel my chair around to face the floor-to-ceiling windows behind my desk. New York City lights shine like little diamonds against the indigo darkness of the night. A thrill of pleasure runs down my spine, knowing that Druk Technologies has been around for twenty-five years, with me as its CEO for the last five of it. At least we will be wrapping up the meeting on a high note. I stand up and stretch, working the kinks in my neck and shoulders before heading to the Gold Room.

When I enter, the guys are already seated around the U-shaped table in the center of the room. While all our offices are ultra-modern, we have gone for an antique look with this conference room which is used only by us partners. The Gold Room has a gold-plated cornice skirting the ceiling. The wallpaper is a specially commissioned, hand-painted work of art with magnificent dragon motifs painted in silver, fiery red, burnt sienna, violet, and amber colors. Each individual dragon is linked to the next by a single, unbroken golden thread. The hardwood floor gleams bright under the crystal chandelier. A white screen covers the wall facing the table.

I nod to the guys and begin walking towards my seat, but stop in my tracks when my gaze falls upon the numbers projected on the screen.

“I don’t believe it!” I say, goggling at the screen.

“We fucking did it!” Liam says with a huge grin on his face.

TokenMintz is a roaring success.

“We’ve minted a record number of NFTs!” Patrick Cummins, our COO, says with a wide grin on his face, his midnight-black eyes crinkling at the corners

“And Tron Tech?” I ask.

“They’ve minted only half as many NFTs as we have. We kicked their ass,” Damon Hunt, the head of Legal, says with a grim smile of satisfaction.

“The numbers are absolutely right? There’s been no mistake?” I ask again.

“Lex, have you ever known our resident nerd to make a mistake when it comes to numbers?” Theodore J. Rubens, TJ to his friends, who is the head of Security, says, leaning back in his chair, cocking an eyebrow in my direction.

“The profits from this venture alone will have us posting a strong quarter. We need to celebrate this,” I say, grinning.

“Damn right we do. We head to The Sitting Duck after we wrap up,” Pat says, referring to our favorite watering hole.

For the next several minutes, we discuss the strategy for the next quarter for TokenMintz.

“Let’s move on to the next point,” TJ says.

“I’m sorry, guys, but it’ll have to be point number three. I totally forgot about the Skins,” I say with an apologetic shrug. Then I’m struck with sudden inspiration.

“Actually, why don’t we all test the Skins? It seems to me like we are going to wrap up sooner than expected, so why not head to the roof after this? The building is empty, so it’s unlikely that we will be spotted. Besides, it’ll be a real test of the new functionality.”

“Why the hell not? It’s been too damn long since I shifted anyway. Since we all shifted together. I’m in,” Liam says, jumping on the idea.

“Sure, as long as we head to The Sitting Duck after that. I have a feeling I’m going to get lucky tonight,” TJ says with a grin, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Right. You’re going to get lucky at The Sitting Duck,” Damon scoffs.

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