Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
“No, they didn’t and I’m sure if the head of the committee made time to be here today, he would have announced the news himself, ” Lukas answered calmly.
“What?” Robert was still talking when his overdramatic brother stole his limelight.
“What do you mean by that?!” Robert stood up, banging his hand hard on the startling the others, and continued to rave, ” This is why we shouldn’t have put you in charge of this case -“
“Correction,” Lukas cut him off, “You made Daniel head of the committee, not me,” He said so sweetly that one would have been deceived by it if it wasn’t for the darkness gleaming in his eyes.
Benjamin was taken aback by Lukas’s comment, however, he quickly recovered and went on to scold him on how to do his job, “But then you are the Don of this family, you should have made sure that Eric didn’t leave without giving us, Elijah! This is why children shouldn’t be given this position! It gets into their head and they can’t do anything right!”
“That includes your son, right?” Lukas said
“Yes, of course… !” Benjamin recovered at the last minute and came to realize that Lukas just tricked him. He tried to rephrase his words immediately, “No, I mean -“
…..
“Sit down,” said Camille who had been quiet all this while and watching the events unfolding before her.
Hearing that command, Benjamin was dumbfounded and looked to his brother for help. There was no way that he could obey that woman’s command just like that. She was a woman for crying out loud and had no right to tell him what to do.
However, when his brother Robert didn’t defend him and everyone gathered around the table was giving him looks, embarrassment washed over him. Benjamin cleared his throat awkwardly, “Old age must be getting to me that I need to sit now,” He said in a bid to cover his shame as he sat down.
Seeing that he was seated, Camille turned to Lukas, and asked, “How does the Draven family intend to go about this? Surely they don’t expect us to forgive them and move on just like that?”
“Eric wants us to negotiate,” Lukas added, “Of course, without the trial of course.”
“That would be an insult to our men who lost their lives because of him.” Robert insulted.
“Insults can always be remedied with a sincere apology,” Lukas answered him immediately.
“We can’t be looked down on,”
“This is business, not looking down. Your ancient laws worked in the past, not now.” Lukas looked at him firmly.
“Or maybe you’re just scared of a war breaking out between both families. You’re just being a coward about it,” Benjamin accused him and the whole place went dead silent.
All eyes fell on Lukas as they waited to see how he would react to that insulting comment. They knew that he had a temper – they all heard what happened between him and Daniel in the last meeting.
They must have waited for Lukas to explode or something, so when he said, “Fine, let’s go to war with the Draven family then,” It came as a shock to them. It wasn’t like Lukas to give in to them like that. He couldn’t have grown so weak. After all, he was Daniel’s son and they had been expecting more.
At once a smile lit up Benjamin’s expression. He was right, all Lukas needed was a little push and he gave in just like that! There was a very good reason why he wanted the war. When both sides war against one another, it could easily be resolved with the death of one of the Dons.
Unfortunately, Daniel had only one son and Adele was the next in line to the throne and a woman. They could easily remove her from the position and have his son Gabriel replace her. Only his competition then would be his brother’s son, especially Arthur. But then, that was a problem he would think about in the future. For now, his enemy’s enemy is a friend.
Unfortunately for Benjamin, his brother Robert was thinking about the same thing. Unlike him who believes Gabriel would be the one to take the position after Adele’s kicked out, Robert felt that the position was his son’s Arthur, birthright.
If it hadn’t been for his father getting banished for killing Albine, that position would have gone to him as the firstborn son and Arthur would have naturally been his heir. But then, Daniel and his family had to come over and steal his position (even though they were honestly the rightful owners when traced back)
“You made the right decision,” Benjamin praised him, “The war may be long and gory but it would restore our family’s reputation that your great grandfather, Fergus, strived to build.”
“Yeah, you’re right, considering your son Gabriel would be at the frontline of that battle, building it.”
“W-what?” Benjamin was dumbfounded, looking at Lukas for an explanation, “What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it right that the person who wants the war so much should stand at the front line, uncle?” Lukas asked him innocently.
Benjamin blinked at him, his mouth opening to say a word but nothing came out and Lukas went on to say with an endearing tone.
“But then uncle, I know that you are too old to fight the battle, so that’s why your son would take your place, isn’t that amazing?” Lukas smirked at him devilishly.
“Lukas!” shouted Gabriel in question who couldn’t take it anymore. He can’t just sit there and watch his head being served for breakfast. If he led the war, there was no guarantee that he would survive. He doesn’t want to die yet.
Restoring The Family’s Glory
“Aww, that was so loud,” Lukas looked down at the chihuahua and then back at Gabriel whose eyes were red with emotion, and said, “You scared Redhead. Lower your voice please, animals are sensitive to noise.”
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Gabriel fired at him, angered by his nonchalance. Does he take him for a fool?
“What do you think I’m doing? I’m a bit lost here, can you remind me a little?” Lukas pretended to be oblivious to what he was talking about.
He glared at him, “Don’t play games with me, Lukas!”
“Oh, is it about the war? You don’t need to worry about that, after all, your father volunteered you to lead the way.”
Gabriel looked at his father and the man opened his mouth to defend himself yet ended up stammering instead because of the tension,
“N-no… it’s not… that… I – I “
Lukas continued, “And did I forget to mention that your family would be recognized for taking an active stance in this war we are preparing to embark with the Draven Family,”
“That is not right! My father did not promise you anything!” Gabriel retorted and Lukas faked a dramatic gasp.
…..
“Is that so? Had I been misquoting his words all along?” He reminded him of his father’s words, “The war may be long and gory but it would restore our family’s glory that your great-grandfather Fergus strove to build,”
He didn’t miss a word.
“Aren’t you confident of leading this war or are you just being a coward about it?” Lukas repeated the same words that Benjamin used on him moments ago and that was when everyone realized what was going on.
They had thought that Lukas had swallowed up the insult, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. This was Lukas having his revenge on them. And Camille who had been quietly watching the drama threw her head back and burst into boisterous laughter.
Daniel should have been here to see his protégé in action. Her stupid brother thought that his son was weak and unworthy of his reputation, but he was wrong. Lukas was slyer and possessed the empathy his father lacked.
At this point, not even Gabriel could speak against Lukas because he just tricked them into a position where they couldn’t even go back on their words and be shamed.
“Also,” Lukas told him, “As much as you are older than me, I am still the boss here and I would love that you address me with respect next time.”
Gabriel swallowed when he saw the cold dark look in Lukas’s eyes and he found himself nodding his head and sitting his ass back down on the seat without being told to do so. Lukas looked like he was going to murder him.