Dolce Dissonance // 'Sweet Dissonance'

Chapter 19

File Source: Voice Memos

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"Son?" Hades blinked up at him from behind his obsidian desk.

"Don't call me son," Nico scowled, "You lost that privilege eight years ago."

"Nico," Hades tried again. "I don't appreciate you barging into my office, I have a meeting in a minute. If you'd like to schedule a meeting with my assistant-"

The office was the embodiment of sleek, ruthless efficiency. Everything adhered to a strict palette of black and grey. The walls were panelled in glossy black lacquer, sucking in the light from the window overlooking the streets below, giving the room a claustrophobic feel despite its large size. At the far end of the office stood a massive desk, a monolith of polished black granite. It was imposing, its edges sharp and uncompromising, much like the man - his father - who sat behind it.

There were no personal touches, no family photos or mementos adorning his desk, no sign that Hades had kids or was anything more than a heartless robot.

"You have a meeting with ANGEL, correct?" Nico confirmed.

"You should know better than to pry into my schedule Nico, you insolent-"

Nico scoffed, "Look, I don't want to be here. But my manager said this meeting was non-negotiable. So, if you've only called me here to call me insolent, I've got another album to release..."

It was true, Reyna had given an earful when he had suggested skipping this meeting with his father. Apparently she'd put it off as long as possible, and if he denied the CEO any more, he'd very quickly find himself without a studio until he rectified the situation.

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Nico wasn't even surprised. "I'm ANGEL. I would have thought the name was a dead giveaway: di Angelo is your surname too." Nico said dryly. "And you would have known if you'd even checked my file before this meeting."

"I am a very busy man-"

"And I'm the company's biggest artist. That's what this meeting is about isn't it, it's a check in to make sure I don't break my contract and run off to a rival company. I know your protocols."

"You're correct." Hades obliged.

"Great. Well I currently have no intentions of breaking my contract. Are we done here?" Nico hadn't even sat down but if he had, he would have stood then to signal his impatience. Instead, he just turned for the door.

"Son, wait."

"I'm not your son."

"Nico," Hades stood from his desk. "We are not done here."

He shuffled through Nico's file then, which had been sitting among a tall pile on the edge of his desk. He read out as he went "You've won many awards: AMAs, lots of collaborations, multiple major GRAMMYs..."

"Yes." Nico said simply.

"I just...I'm proud of you."

The fucking audacity of this man. And the worst part was that some part of Nico preened at those four stupid words. Gods, how he wanted to believe that his father meant it. But how could he? How could he trust those words when his father had ignored him for so long, as if Nico's very existence was a reminder of everything he wanted to forget? His father, who withdrew into his grief when Bianca died, and acted as though Nico had died in that accident too. Nico's achievements, his struggles - they were all unseen, buried beneath the shadow of his sister's memory.