Page 72 of Heir of Fire
The valet grabbed the keys from Dante and soon the three were walking through the front doors. Despite how early it still was, the building was bustling with people moving around, talking on their phones or with other colleagues, cups of coffee in their hands. This looked like a legit business and less like the illegitimate shit their fathers had been running for so many years.
Finn followed Dante and Allister into the elevator. The button for the top floor had been pressed. The elevator was surrounded with tinted glass, meaning that as they rose up the many floors of the building, the skyline of the city with the rising sun came into view. It was breathtaking to see and felt oddly motivational early in the morning like that. Maybe there was some psychology between hope and sunlight.
The doors opened and they exited, grabbing coffees that were waiting at the receptionist’s desk for them. Everything was so organized and pristine; it kind of freaked Finn out. He knew that Valerio was set in his fucking ways, but this level of control was over the top.
Or was it because he had no structure in his own life? Fuck, how was he supposed to know?
The bitterness of the coffee immediately hijacked his senses. It was plain black, no sugar or milk anywhere near it. God, Valerio seriously was as bland as they came.
The three of them walked past a couple of cubicles that were lined on the sides of the walkway.
Finn cleared his throat. “Do either of you have offices here?”
“We both do. They’re next to Valerio’s though for obvious reasons. Up here are the more important staff members that work with him directly, and then those people usually delegatethe work down to the floors below,” Allister said. “He has a very organized way of doing things.”
“I think that’s pretty obvious.” Finn snorted.
“I wish I could have gotten some of his organizational genes. My life is a fucking mess,” Dante said, huffing.
Finn couldn’t have felt that on a more personal level.
They reached his office finally and Allister knocked on it, waiting for the voice on the other side to let him in. Immediately, Finn could tell that Luna had a lot of influence on the space. The entire room felt like an old librarian’s office with the mahogany desk, the floor to ceiling bookshelves filled with law and business books, and even the dark brown leather couch that had a white throw blanket on it. It all felt so homey and unlike the rest of the building, which was what immediately gave it away.
“Finally, you’re here,” Valerio said, looking up from his stack of papers. “I thought that when we had agreed on a time, you would have had the decency to make it at that time.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “It’s still early as fuck. You’re fine.”
“What’s on the agenda today, boss?” Dante asked, immune to any of the tension in the room. He plopped himself down in one of the chairs in front of Valerio’s desk, leaning back in it. “Is it a boring day or a fun one?”
“I never know how to answer that question for you.”
“So it’s a surprise?”
Allister shook his head. “Some of the contracts from the Irish came through last night. I was looking over them this morning, but I didn’t have a chance to finish them.”
“Get that done as soon as you can. I want to have a look and send back my feedback before anything is signed and confirmed,” Valerio said.
Finn stood there, confused about what any of them were talking about. “This isn’t Bring Your Child to Work Day. I’m here so you can show me what you’ve been doing with the Kingsleybusinesses. I’m not going to fuck off and twiddle my thumbs all day.”
“Of course not. Why would you make my life easier?” Valerio said, rolling his eyes. “Dante, help Allister with the contracts.”
Dante opened his mouth to argue but quickly shut it when a look passed between the brothers. Some sort of understanding or something. Him and Allister left the room, leaving Valerio and Finn. Valerio motioned for him to take the seat that Dante had been in, and Finn did. It was silent and awkward once again, the tension rising as neither one spoke for a good minute.
“What do you know about the Kingsley accounts?” Valerio asked, finally breaking the silence.
“What? Like right now?” Finn asked. “Jack shit.”
He let out a deep breath. “What did you know about them? Or how involved in them were you when your father was alive?”
“I wasn’t allowed to touch the accounts or move any money around ever. The most I ever did was any pickups, but that was in cash, and I immediately had to drop the money off to him.” Finn cleared his throat. “I sat in on meetings and met with his men, but he dealt with the money side of things on his own for the most part.”
“Did you ever ask for more involvement?”
He snorted. “Of course I did. I would have fucking killed to know more about the family business, but he hesitated and waited.”
Really, his father had always said that Finn wasn’t ready. The one fucking thing Finn had never believed in his life, but his father refused to backtrack on.
Valerio opened one of the drawers in his desk, pulling out a large folder and set it in front of him.
