A threat?

A brief overview of why I was absent for so long.

Well, my doctor had cleared me for writing, which I did a lot, but then my hand started to ache again, and when I consulted, he said I was putting too much strain on it. He recommended another break, which I, of course, didn't listen to, but the same couldn't be said for my parents. Like a 15-year-old, they revoked my laptop privileges, preventing me from writing.

I could get into details, but no one wants that, so let's dive back in.

~~

Chapter 21

As I entered the car dealership, I was welcomed by a charming woman in professional clothing. A simple shirt, blouse, and skirt that reached down to her knees.

Being a professional, she smiled and welcomed me, "Good evening, Sir. How can I help you today?"

Unlike in the movies where you would be judged based on your clothing or your age, I wasn't dealt with such prejudice. I simply smiled in return and stated my demand.

Granted, I wasn't an avid car lover like many, many men. But even I liked some taste in my cars, and even my stinginess couldn't change that.

So, I stated my requirements. I wasn't looking for a fancy car that could be used for speeding and stuff. I simply chose an SUV for its space and utility. In the end, after looking at some options, I settled on a Genesis GV80.

While I initially came here to purchase a sedan, I decided to purchase an SUV due to where I was. Back home, it was just my Mom and me, so a sedan was enough. Here, there were more of us, and if all of us decided to go somewhere one sunny day, it'd be more convenient to go by an SUV.

After making the payment, I turned to the saleswoman, who seemed happy with her commission. Of course, I tipped her quite well as well. She toured me around almost the entire dealership. Had it been anyone else, they would have long since considered that I didn't actually intend to buy something and was just wasting her time.

But since she patiently stuck with me, she deserved to have her day made after that.

"Can you have someone bring that car with me? I came alone and in someone else's car." I explained my reason, and she didn't need to hear any more of it. Immediately, she arranged for a driver who took my car along with me.

"Thank you for dealing with us. I hope you had a pleasant experience." The saleswoman said as I left the dealership. I smiled and replied, "It was a pleasure as well."

Before I could leave, though, she handed me a piece of paper that had her number written on it. I didn't need to know any more of it and smiled at her.

She was a fairly good-looking woman. She was tall, blonde, beautiful, and most of all, she didn't seem like a crazy teenager. I wasn't looking for a girlfriend in her either, just like she wasn't looking for a boyfriend in me.

With the age difference alone, she simply wanted to hook up with me. Seemed like my charm was effective in this. I was definitely average before. Sure, girls threw themselves at me for my money, but this one wasn't.

I wasn't buying anything expensive after all. There were cars worth half a million here. If she wanted to, with her looks, she could easily get into bed with someone rich, but she was coming on to me.

That just showed how changed my charm had become. And it wasn't even at the human limit yet.

I left the dealership and arrived at Aunt Elise's place after about an hour. I made my way to the main gate to ring the bell, but Tom was already out on the balcony once again and waved with his hand.

I stopped and waited. After a little while, the door opened automatically, and I made my way inside.

"I see you bought yourself a new car," Tom said as he saw the second car, my SUV, pull up in the driveway.

"Can't inconvenience others when I need a ride," I simply replied. I wasn't much for the conversation with this type of people, especially when they were in politics. Not the actual politics, but politics was what this world was built on. And for a businessman like Tom, politics was a well-mastered skill that could not be any more dangerous.

"I see," He replied before he asked, "What do you think about expanding here?"

Here, as in Pittsburgh. It wasn't a bad idea, but the implications behind his suggestions were as clear as the sky with no clouds. To move here, either I needed support, or I needed to have money to waste, which I did, but that didn't mean I was willing to waste it.

To expand here, I'd need to have an ally here, a proxy, which, in this case, would obviously be Tom. After all, he was a local.

Now, why was it double-sided? Well, if I moved here on my own, the local businesses would be standing in my way, now wouldn't they be?

So, if I wanted to move here, make Tom a proxy of my company and leave it all to him, which I doubted he'd be honest about, or try it on my own and spend an exorbitant amount.

"Quite direct of you," I, of course, didn't back down. I didn't really care how he viewed me or what he thought of me. But one thing was for sure: I sure as hell wasn't going to let him think of me as an idiot.

Calling on to his ulterior motive was a move that'd make things difficult for him as well. I wasn't as gullible as he thought.

He seemed surprised as he said, "So it was true. You're the one running your family business. Not your mother or grandmother."

"Well, being the only child or the man of the house teaches you a few things." One of those things was to make sure no one could take advantage of me. I refrained from mentioning that because that'd make it sound so obvious.

He was trying to take advantage of me, after all.

"Well, I can teach a few more things. After all, there are many more aspects to a business than just… business." He replied, his tone benevolent as hell. I could tell clearly what side he was talking about.

Well, too bad for him, but I already knew of that side. I was a major drug lord in LA, after all.

Did I not mention that?

Anyway, I knew what the dark side of business was, and having many of my competitors taken out of the competition with one phone call wasn't anything new to me.

But doing the same in another city was difficult, and that made Tom a necessary factor in his equation. It wasn't like I wouldn't earn anything by doing this, but the majority of it would be taken by Tom as… payment for his services while the power would also be in his hands.

Many, many birds with one stone. And that stone was simply to make me start a business here as a subsidiary of my main company and give all of that control to Tom, inadvertently.

There would be no talk of who would be the boss because, naturally, all control should and would belong to him.

Well, two could play that game.

I smiled, my smile conveying my complete refusal as I said, "I'm much, much happier in LA. Though I will think about it in the future."

"Well, that's a pity," He replied as if it was a great loss for me, not him, and added, "But, you're the boss."

I was the boss, wasn't I? He couldn't just make me do things. But I had to change my mind when…

"Well, I heard you are having troubles back at home," He said, stopping me from getting up.

Now, why in the world would he say something like that to a person like me?

Was it his confidence from me being his wife's nephew or me being a child? But whatever it was, that sentence of his didn't feel very good to hear.

"I'll excuse you now," He said as he stood up and entered through the main door as he said "You have enough on your plate already."

The only thing on that plate at the moment was Italians. I knew how to deal with them, but with an added factor called Tom, well, that wasn't so good of a thing, now was it?

In simpler words, he knew about my side businesses. He'd done his research. That was his way of telling me that he held some cards as well.

He was waiting for me out here from the start. The glint of greed in his eyes from morning wasn't just his usual one. He was finishing up his plans, polishing them, to put them to use. He was going to use me and take advantage of me as he intended to do.

But…

Didn't I say?

Two could play that game.

I took out my phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Tyler," Betty replied from the other side.

"Hey, Betty," I replied, and after a bit of greeting, inquiring about how she was doing, and a bit of small talk, I asked, "Can you set up a meeting with your grandfather? I wanted to speak to him."