Page 55 of Bound to Him

“Love you too, bro.”

25

Huxley

“Christian, my man!” I walked out our front door and greeted Christian with a handshake as he came up from his car. His driver stood back with his hands clasped in front of him. A second car pulled up behind them with four men in black suits emerging. He turned around and held a finger up, indicating that he would allow one bodyguard to accompany him. The tallest of them all stepped up, following him.

“Huxley, you dog!” Christian laughed, taking my hand and pulling me in for a hug. “I am so glad you’ve set this meeting up. You are true to your word, after all!”

“Eh, I do what I want, Christian. Don’t get me wrong!”

We laughed together. I had to sell this, and in order to do that, I had to keep up this dickbag persona I created with him the other night. Antonio was waiting inside. I told Christian over the phone to meet us here, at our house. That way it was more of a friendly meeting, and Christian would feel as though he had us with our guard down.

“Come on in.” I put a hand on his shoulder and led him inside. Vinnie stood at the door and nodded as we entered, keeping a keen eye on the guard following.

“This is a beautiful home you have here, Moretti,” he said, removing his coat and looking up at the double volume lobby with the symmetrical double staircase. We had a long, sharp chandelier hanging above the lobby, eye level with the next floor. It was some kind of scare tactic our father thought was clever, and it certainly worked. The long shards of glass looked like spears that could fall on you at any second, slicing your body in half. I loved it.

We turned right, and I knocked on Antonio’s office door before opening and gesturing Christian inside. Antonio was at his desk, but stood up when we arrived, pushing his seat out and walking around to greet Christian. The guard remained outside the office door.

“Ah! Mr. Reyes!”

“Christian, this is Don Antonio.” I introduced them. Christian smiled widely, like a fucking cat that got the stupid cream, or whatever. I couldn’t wait to slap that butt-ugly grin off his face.

“Don Antonio, how wonderful to finally meet you, officially.”

“Yes.” Antonio squinted and pointed at him. “I do recognize you from the Romano party.”

“Yes! I’m sure you saw me there with my beautiful fiancé.” Christian looked between us with a smug smile. “But you would know, Huxley, since you were there with yours!”

I laughed with him, faking it entirely. Antonio asked us to take a seat at his desk. He sat down and clasped his hands together on the desk.

“Alright. Let's get right to it.” Antonio knew how to play this just right. While I was the fun guy, the friendly one Christian joked with, Antonio was the no-bullshit boss. It made for quite a convincing play. “My brother has told me that you’ve expressed interest in doing business with the Moretti family. He also presented me with your product. I won’t lie, it was quality.”

Christian put his fingers to his mouth. “Only the best, always. Straight from Colombia.”

“You have farms there?”

“I have a lot there, Don.” Christian smiled, thinking he was impressing us.

“I assume you know that we don’t deal drugs on our territory,” Antonio said, not asking, but stating the facts that Christian would have found out on his own. He was giving Christian the credit of being capable enough to do his research before expressing interest. He was also creating an assertive balance, letting him know that what he was asking for was no easy thing.

Christian nodded once. “Yes, I do know that. I also know you’ve been struggling with a bit of trespassing, no?”

I couldn’t believe it. This guy was truly creating cards and playing them as if we couldn’t smell his bullshit a mile away. Antonio played it cool, frowning, and sitting back as if he was mildly surprised Christian knew that.

“We have. Nothing we haven’t had to deal with many times in the past as well.”

Christian looked at me, then back at Antonio. His face showed that he had a surprise for us. “Don Antonio, this is why I am here. I see problems, demands, and I find solutions. Why do you think I am as prosperous as I am? Because I develop strategies, and I carry them out perfectly, ruthlessly, without fail. I get results.”

Okay, Mr. Salesman.

Antonio nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“You have a problem with the control of drug sales in your district. I can solve that by stepping in and controlling the distribution. I handle the supply, the sales, I take my cut. You get a percentage, and you get control over your land and your people, without lifting a finger.”

Antonio didn’t give in just yet. “And you have this deal with Don Enzo Romano?”

Christian looked slightly embarrassed; he didn’t intend to discuss that. “Ah, yes. I do.”

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