Once they were inside, Dante turned to Fredrick and spoke seriously.

"Did you find out what the Rogue wanted?"

Fredrick folded his hands and leaned back against a table in the room before shaking his head.

"He didn't say anything more about what he wanted to talk about. He was just drinking and mingling all night before you came. He's still out there right now."

Dante narrowed his eyes while wondering what this was all about. The Lucas and the Rogues weren't in business together, so Harold shouldn't even be here at all! Dante ran a hand through his hair with a calm sigh, and he nodded before he said.

"Alright, I'll talk to him. If he came all the way here, then it has to be something important. Is there anything I need to know about him?"

Fredrick shrugged as he pushed off the table and made for the door, and Dante told him to stop.

"Wait, Fredrick. There's something I want to talk to you about."

Fredrick turned around with narrowed eyes and faced Dante before motioning for him to say what he wanted. Dante put his hands in his pockets and said:

"I want you to become my consigliere."

It was like a jolt of shock passed through Fredrick, and his face scrunched up in complete disbelief! What the hell did Dante just say?

"You want me to become what?"

"I said I want you to become my consigliere. Become my lawyer."

A beat of silence passed over the room as Dante and Fredrick stared at each other, but then a strange laugh echoed out from Fredrick's mouth. The laugh turned into something mocking and loud, and Fredrick put his hand over his face and hunched over as his laughter became too much to bear! Fredrick almost looked like he had gone mad! At the side, Risa was standing as still as possible to not interfere with their conversation, but she was ready to get involved if Fredrick even looked like he was about to hurt Dante!

The laughter continued for a few more seconds before Fredrick suddenly yelled out a scream that shocked both Dante and Risa!

"Stop fucking around, you bastard! You want me to what!? Become your consigliere! Wasn't it enough for you to take everything from me!? You took everything from me, and this is all you have to fucking say!? You know, I always knew you were a self-centered bastard, but I didn't think you were also a fucking tool! This should have been mine! This hall! These people! They should have been looking up at me! But instead, you got all of it! And instead of thinking about how it made me feel, you took it and rubbed it in my face! You sent me here as a fucking spy to mingle with them like some fucking sacrifice! Are you a demon or something!?"

Fredrick had somehow gotten very close to Dante in the time since he started shouting, and his hands were tightened into fists! Dante could see pure anger in those eyes, and he wouldn't be surprised if Fredrick swung at him! And honestly, Dante wouldn't care at all. Dante didn't care about how people felt in situations like this, and all he thought about when completing a job was how best to use everyone at his disposal! He was a master of efficiency! So when Dante spoke next, he had no idea that what he was saying was something that would increase the anger in Fredrick's heart.

"You aren't suited to be the boss of the family, Fredrick. You are too emotional. We both know that, and Father knew that."

"RARGGHH!"

SLAM!

A massive punch struck Dante across the face once he said that, and Risa was already moving to incapacitate Fredrick, but Dante raised a single finger to tell her to stand back, and she hesitated for a moment before obeying and staying back. Dante touched his cheek, and he felt how it was throbbing slightly before he looked up at his brother. Fredrick's eyes were bloodshot, and there was pure anger on his face! He was breathing heavily, and he looked like he was one moment away from killing Dante right then! But Dante didn't care! Dante knew that the only reason why Fredrick was this angry was because his words had hit too close to home! They both knew that Dante was right!

"Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted? To punch me in the face for taking your position from you? Are you happy now, big brother?"

"Don't you dare call me your brother! This... This farce of yours! This bullshit calmness you have in the face of all this nonsense is what pisses me off the most! You think the entire world is some game that you can play with any setting you want!? You're a monster, you bastard! You take people and reduce them to numbers and statistics, and you move them any way you think you can use them best! You're only going to end up alone and lonely like that old bastard that calls himself our father! You think I'm too emotional!? Well, fine! I'll accept that insult! But you're not different from me, you emotionless husk! This is what caused our father to die alone, and I can see you going down that exact same path!"

Fredrick pushed Dante back with anger, and Dante finally lost his cool and shouted back in Fredrick's face!

"Then teach me, goddammit! Instead of complaining about everything, I want you to become the voice of reason in my motherfucking ear! I'm giving you a chance here! Become my consigliere and help me take this family back to where it's meant to be, because if you leave it to me, I'll use each and every person in the family as pawns! I need you to help me stay within the law so I can save us for fuck's sake!"

Fredrick could only look at Dante with surprise on his face after his rant. Both brothers were breathing heavily, and there was an intense tension in the room that made it seem like anyone could lash out at the next moment! But even in the midst of his anger, Fredrick could also feel that Dante was correct. Fredrick had always known that he wasn't suited for the position of boss, and Fredrick knew that his father didn't see him as the proper heir to the company's top position either. Fredrick just thought that his title as the eldest son was going to allow him to get that position, even with all the flaws he had! So Fredrick wasn't surprised that Dante had also noticed the flaws in him. Fredrick was just far too emotional to carry out the more twisted things that you needed to do if you were the boss of a family like this!

But there was something that Dante said that really stuck with Fredrick, and Fredrick asked in a low tone.

"What do you mean I should help you save the family? You sound like we're in trouble."

Dante let out a calming sigh, and he ran a hand through his hair before he moved to lean against the table opposite Fredrick, and he spoke.

"Things aren't looking good financially. We just found out that dad wasn't telling us everything about the finances, and we're missing a lot of receipts from purchases that he made. Our stocks are overinflated, and at this rate, we're going to form a bubble that bursts pretty soon. We need to revive our company somehow."

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