Page 48 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

"Now, let's start this meeting over. Let me introduce myself. My name is Orazio Cattaneo. That's my brother Roman Cattaneo and our baby brother Caspari Cattaneo. We're the sons of Cattaneo Corporation's president. We're the sons of the don of the Cattaneo family. And we didn't come here to discuss removing the president. We came here to see who was loyal to my father and who wasn't. Can you guess what we'll do to those who aren't loyal? And trust me, it doesn't involve a vote.Because no matter what my uncle led you to believe, Cattaneo Corporation is not run by its board members. It belongs to the Cattaneo family. And there will be no taking your investments out or selling your shares and leaving the corp. You either get rich with us and follow our rules, or you die. Choose now before I continue the meeting," Orazio drawled, still holding Tatum's head against the table.

The mood in the room had changed. Orazio could see it in their eyes. They finally understood who they were dealing with. They finally understood that Patrick Cattaneo wasn't the one they should fear.

Orazio Cattaneo was the one they needed to be afraid of.

Chapter Fourteen

ORAZIO

––––––––

With Tatum's head still pressed against the table, Orazio scanned the faces staring back at him, taking note of the fear that had settled in their eyes. Good, let them be afraid. These men needed to understand what it meant to cross the Cattaneo family.

"As I said, your only options are death or follow our rules," Raz stated. "Show of hands, who chooses death?" He waited for a hand to go up so he could shoot it down. No one volunteered for target practice. "Who chooses to remain on the board and follow our rules?" Raz asked.

Slowly, hands began to rise. Even the wounded board member raised his hand. Tatum tried to lift his. Raz glanced down when he felt the man move.

"Put your motherfucking hand down," Raz growled. "You shouldn't even be here."

Tatum quickly lowered his hand. Raz looked in his uncle's direction. Uncle Patrick refused to look his way. Raz chuckled. His uncle didn't have to raise his hand. After the stunt he'd pulled by calling this meeting, he was lucky Raz was letting him keep his hands.

When the wounded board member whimpered, Orazio briefly considered shooting him again but decided against it. He needed these people alive, for now, at least. There would be time for retribution later.

"Everyone can lower their hands now," Raz stated.

With a final glare at Tatum, who was still dazed from having his face slammed into the table, Orazio released the man's head and returned to his seat. He noted the glare Tatum sent his way before Tatum lowered his eyes to the table.

That motherfucker was already a dead man, he just didn't know it yet. However, Orazio wouldn't be the one to kill him. He'd let Cas have the honor of doing that. Raz leaned forward in his seat.

"Let's continue with this meeting, shall we?" Orazio announced, his fingers drumming impatiently on the table.

The room remained quiet for a moment before one of the board members, an older man with a shaky voice, spoke up. "We... We need to take Mr. Frillman to the hospital. He's losing a lot of blood. We can reschedule this meeting for another day."

Raz's gaze moved to the man he'd shot. Blood trickled down Mr. Frillman's arm, dripping onto the floor.

"Another day? That won't work. This is an emergency meeting, remember?" Raz drawled. "This meeting must happen today, or the company will fall apart, right? If it hadn't been such an emergency, I'm sure you all would've waited until my father was available to schedule this meeting. Since it had to happen today, let's get it done. If Mr. Frillman is still alive after the meeting, one of you can take him to the hospital. If not, I'll pay for his burial." Raz looked over at Mr. Frillman. "You're okay with that, right, Mr. Frillman?"

Without meeting Raz's gaze, the board member slowly nodded as tears streamed down his face.

"Perfect," Orazio stated as his ice-cold gaze swept over the men seated around the table, daring anyone else to challenge him. "The next person who interrupts the meeting will get two bullets. Understood?"

Heads jerked up and down.

"Let's continue," Raz stated, noting that Leo had just slipped out of the room. "We're here to discuss the company's future and whether our current president should remain in his position or not. I'll start by saying, fuck you and your votes. Fuck your thoughts on the president. Fuck this entire meeting."

Cas chuckled as Rome's fingers flicked over his keyboard.

"Let's get one thing straight," Orazio began. "If there's to be a change in presidency within Cattaneo Corporation, it will be on our family's terms. Not yours."

His gaze cut to his uncle Patrick, a silent demand for confirmation hanging between them. But the older man didn't respond. He just kept staring ahead. Following his uncle's line of sight, Orazio realized Bryce was still aiming his gun at Patrick.

"Bryce, lower your weapon," Orazio commanded.

A pause stretched with neither Bryce nor his father looking away from each other. Neither man moved. Neither man blinked. Something must’ve happened between these two recently because Raz had never seen Bryce look that ready to kill his dad.

"Bryce," Raz started. "Let's show these gentlemen that we can be civilized too."

For a second, Raz didn't know whether Bryce was going to lower the weapon or pull the trigger. Finally, Bryce's arm began its slow descent.

---