If this is the day that I die, at least I look good. I will make a handsome corpse if I do say so myself, that is if they don't shoot me in the face.
The door opens again and I get to my feet when the one and only Fernando Luiz walks through the door, looking like he owns the whole universe. Which he probably does. The man is a legend in the underground business world. For decades, he's been untouchable, making money moves that are downright admirable.
"Mr. Luiz, it's an honor." I meet him halfway to shake his hand.
He still looks very good, regardless of his age. I know he's pushing past sixty now, but his physique is still trimmed, his suit tailored to perfection and the grey hair at his temples stylishly slicked back.
"Aahh mr. Rossi, the pleasure is mine." His grip is strong in mine, and if he is planning on killing me, then at least his good-looking smile would have been the last thing I see.
"Please take a seat," He motions to the chair next to the head of the table and I oblige. "Would you like anything to drink, a glass of champagne perhaps?"
"Are we celebrating something?" I ask sceptically.
"You see, this is why I like you." He shakes his finger at me. "You have a great gut feeling."
He likes me. That means my death won't be happening today. At least I hope not, there's still that bottle of scotch that my father was so holy over that I have to drink.
"Not to be forward mr.Luiz, but why am I here?" I ask, I've never been one to beat around the bush. Lay your intentions on the table, I believe.
He chuckles richly. "You're a man of action, I like that, but please call me Fernando."
I raise my eyebrows. "Word on the street says nobody calls you by your first name."
"Ahh, one should never believe everything one hears, no?"
I see it then. That look of malice in his eyes that he's famous for, the look that takes over drug empires to make it his own. He's definitely not an old man, he looks as fit as a fiddle. Is this why I'm here? Does he want to take over my business too?
I don't deal drugs. Sure, my clubs are full of it, but I have a standing deal with my cousin who rolls it out. As long as my clubs don't get raided, I allow it. It brings more business to me, so who am I to complain?
My real business is weapons, and not the street kind either. I've built what my father left behind into an international conglomerate, providing rebels with the stuff that they need.
"Only people real close to me feel comfortable using my name," He continues, a slight smile on his mouth. "And I was hoping you and I will get to that level of familiarity."
I tilt my head, seems like my suspicion was correct. "Do you want to do business with me? I didn't think my type of trade is of any interest to you."
"Oh, of course not." He laughs jovially and gets up from his seat, going over to a drinks table set up in the corner. "As you know, my business is a very successful one. I think we will have a drink, no?"
I prefer never to drink when negotiating a business deal. Only after my deals are set do I allow myself to have a little bit of fun. And never in the company of business associates. I deal with dangerous people, I prefer to always be clear-headed.
Yet I accept the drink he holds out to me, taking a small sip of the amber liquid. "Thank you."
He inhales deeply as he takes his seat again. "You see, I've built all of this, I have billions stored away in off-shore accounts, but I'm an old man now."
I would definitely not call him that, the man seems to have lots of breath left in his body.
I raise my glass to him. "You sure have, Fernando."
He seems pleased that I've called him by his name, I'm entertaining him because I'm very curious as to what he wants from me.
"And a man such as myself, would like to retire peacefully with his wife, you know."
I almost spit the little bit of alcohol that I do have in my mouth out. Never have I heard of Fernando Luiz having a wife. He's never been seen with women of any kind.
"Surprised?" This time he tilts his head at me, his eyes gleaming. "In this life you have to keep your enemies close, and your family out of the business. It's all about protecting your assets."
He has a family? Color me surprised, Luiz is a ruthless man, I don't see him having kids.
"This is why I cannot let you leave here today without you making me a promise, Silk." The malice is back in his voice, the real Fernando Luiz coming to the surface.
"And what promise would that be?" I'm almost too scared to ask, but I'm already in the lion's den, so at this point it's a matter of fight or flight.
"You are to take over my business, of course."
SILK "Sorry, you want me to what?" Out of all the things I thought he was calling me here for today, I could never have fathomed that would come out of his mouth. I thought maybe he'd ask to get into the arms industry with me, or ask me to join the cartel or something, but to take over his company? He chuckles as if he didn't just said what he said. "Are you shocked? I told you I'm getting old, and I would like to enjoy the time I have left with my exquisite wife." The man is just full of revelations today and this time I swallow a mouthful of the liquor because I must be dreaming and soon I will wake up and laugh at myself at the absurdity of it all. "You don't even know me." I must be really funny to the most successful Capo ever known, because he throws his head back and laughs heartily. I take another swig of the alcohol because he must be joking. The Luiz cartel stretches over continents, it's connected in ways even I cannot imagine. "Do you really think I would
SILK I must look at Fernando Luiz like he's crazy, my mouth open in shock. Just this morning my best friend and I discussed how we can pick up chicks tonight at the hotel we're staying at. Now this man is telling me I should marry his daughter. I don't even want to get married. And I don't even know who the hell his daugter is. She could be ugly for all I know and he said frolicking and fornication are out of the picture now. How the hell am I supposed to just agree to take on a wife? "No, that's not going to happen." I shake my head. "As you know, I live a certain lifestyle, a wife doesn't fit into that, I'm sorry." "But we just agreed that you will leave that life behind!" Luiz says jovially. "And I can't just give my company over to you for fun." "I never asked for your company." I remind him. "I admire the legacy that you've built, I think you're a great businessman and maybe I came over here to somehow do business with you, but a wife? That's out of the question for me." A
PRINCESS "We fly out in two days, you have the photoshoot with Gabriel for the new perfume on Monday." Rachel types away on her laptop. I scroll through my IG feed and take a selfie for my daily update. "I haven't seen Gabriel in a while, ask if he's available for lunch on Sunday." The tabloids have been speculating for months if Gabriel and I are dating. He's hot and single, and I use him exclusively when launching a new product. But we're just friends, I told him a long time ago I'm not interested in more. "On it." Rachel types some more before shutting off the laptop. "We're to meet your father in a few minutes." Today is the day I'm meeting my future husband. I've been bugging my father for months to find out who he's chosen, but he's been tight-lipped about it. Of course if won't be anyone in the entertainment industry. I know the man he chose would be in business. I just hope it's not someone who's too old. Rachel gets up from the couch and looks through the window towards
SILK My head is pounding and I groan as the sunlight hits me square in the face. Reality crashes down on me and I cover my face with a pillow. I'm an engaged man. Not officially yet, but engaged nonetheless. I lost my most lucrative business. My entire life changed in a matter of hours and now I'm hungover and horny as fuck, and there's nothing I can do about it. If I do, my balls might get cut off and sent to my mother as a Christmas present. Maybe if I refused to meet Luiz I wouldn't have been in this position right now, but I'm not stupid either. I know for a fact that man would have made a plan to get me to do his bidding. For reasons I can't fathom, he chose me out of all the men in the world to marry his daughter and run his company. And his daughter is Olivia fucking Carter. One of the most famous women in the world. Out of everything, that was probably the biggest shock. She is the face of various brands and a little over a year ago she started producing her own beauty
PRINCESS My mother smoothes my dark locks, kissing me on the cheek. I always wanted to look like her, when I was little I thought she looked like a Disney princess. Blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful. As I grew older, I realized I got the best of both of my parents. I'm tall, but I have just the right amount of curves. My hair is dark, but I inherited my mother's blue eyes. My mother is soft and my father is hard, I can be gentle when I need to be, but I can pull out my gun and shoot if I have to. "Now be nice to the boy." She points her finger at me. I snort. "He's hardly a boy!" I'm still upset my father chose that idiot for me to marry, but at this point it's a done deal. My fate has been sealed and there's not much I can do about it. We're being photographed today, we're supposed to have a fun day out with our friends. Not that I have any friends. My "friends" consists of Rachel, who is more like a sister to me. One of my mother's organizations rescued her from a human traffi