Taken By The Mafia Lord

759 Trusting Eric

“Put me on the commission,” Marcel requested.

“No,” Eric rejected right away.

“Why?”

“The Luciano are no good there and I have worked so hard to put things together, I wouldn’t watch my efforts crumble right before my eyes.” He said firmly.

“It’s me, not my father.”

“Yes, I know, Marcel. You are a fair, ambitious, and hardworking young man and though your father might not control you any longer, the consequences do.”

However, Marcel would not give up on this and was set to convince him, “I deserve that position. I have worked hard for it.”

“I’m sorry, Marcel. But you would have to request something else.”

“There’s nothing else to request but the both of them,” Marcel reminded him,” It’s five lives versus two requests, Eric and from what I see, you are the one gaining. Your brother took lives that can never be returned.”

.....

Eric’s face was set in a frown as he was deep in thought. And when he didn’t answer right away, Marcel told him,

“And let’s be honest here, you need this more than I do. You talk about preserving the commission, but you do know that there would be nothing to preserve when the head of the commission who is supposed to be propitiative is involved in a war himself. Do you think you would be able to keep that position?”

“Or perhaps, I can take advantage of that opportunity and collide with the rest of the crime families and crush the Luciano family once and for all.” His eyes darkened as he dared Marcel, “Don’t threaten me, young man. You might be smart and calculating, but I have years of experience on my side, not to mention the support of the other crime family, unlike your father who has been a thorn in their side. Between the both of you, who do you think would win if we go to war?”

Marcel smiled at him, saying,” Of course, you would win. But then…. “His voice turned serious,” Would it be worth it though, losing Elijah, your brothers, or even…. ” His gaze met his,” Your wife?”

Hearing that, Eric’s jaw was clenched tightly knowing that Marcel was painfully right. He had promised Natalie a safe environment, not to mention his daughter, Rose. The mafioso tends to strike where it hurts the most and there was no doubt both women would be their priority.

His head rate evened out and his pounding heart decreased. He looked at Marcel and said, “I’ll think about it.”

A smile slowly curled Marcel’s lips to the side, the fact that he was willing to think about it meant that the deal was as good as finished.

Marcel bowed his head in respect, “Thanks for seeing me today. I’ll be taking my leave now.” He was close to standing up to his feet when Eric shouted,

“Wait -!”

Marcel halted at once, looking at him in confusion, and wondered what was next.

“What?”

Eric sighed with difficulty. After the threat from the kid, he should be kicking his ass out of here. But then, he could not allow his grudges to cloud his judgment.

He said to Marcel, “Natalie wants to meet you.”

“W-what?” Marcel nearly slipped from his crouching position. He just never saw that coming, it completely took him by surprise.

“Don’t make me regret having her give you a chance,” Eric told him seriously. If Marcel ever does anything to hurt Natalie or her daughter – anything that hurts Arianna hurts her mother – war or not, he would kill Marcel himself.

At once, Marcel’s expression lit up and it didn’t matter anymore if Eric fed him another round of his torturous spicy foods, he would take it all. He finally had a chance to impress Natalie and that alone was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Marcel was so happy that he was close to engulfing Eric in a hug, thankfully he was able to control himself on time. Amid the tension between the both of them, Marcel could see he and Eric were on the path to a great relationship as in-laws.

While Victor should have returned, he insisted on going with him. His dear cousin still had those claims that the small fly Richardo or whatever he called himself, was after him.

Not to mention that after such a tense negotiation with Eric, Victor wanted to make sure that this wasn’t a trap by Eric to end him once and for all. Marcel let him do his job anyway considering he can be quite careless when it comes to matters concerning Arianna.

Hence Marcel didn’t get into Eric’s car and followed after him instead in their own ride.

“Do you think we can trust him?” Victor asked him on their way to Eric’s place, trailing after his car.

“I don’t trust him,”

Victor frowned, “Then why… ?”

“But Eric is an honorable man. If he’s going to get rid of me, it won’t be like this. And not while using Arianna to lure me because she would never forgive him. Perhaps, it’s in my favor that he ended up with Arianna’s mother as a wife. Whatever happens to Arianna would affect Natalie and he loves her so much he wouldn’t dare to incur her wrath. The both of us are similar in that way. ” He said.

“Yeah, lucky you,” Victor joked.

After some time, they arrived at their destination and for the first time, Marcel was let in through the gate under Eric’s directive. Victor followed their actions by packing in the open space before he and Marcel stepped out, only for one of the soldiers to walk over to them and said, “Surrender your weapons.”

Victor turned to Marcel for direction, were they really going to trust Eric blindly? Without their weapon, they were defenseless and as good as dead.

Eric stepped out of his car, saying, “It’s a compulsory procedure. I can’t allow an outsider to possess weapons while being in close contact with my family.”

“And what about your brothers?” While Marcel might trust Eric a little bit, the same couldn’t be said for his brothers.

“You are my guest, they won’t lay a hand on you.” Eric gave him his word.

Marcel gave up his weapons and hoped to God that he was right about him.