𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈

~Blood Oath~

The Italian men gave Blade a pointed look, knowing what they were going to have to do. Blade just shrugged and pushed his yellow-blonde hair back.

"Protocol. No weapons. The King's order," he retorted. They knew that they weren't going to win, simply because they were on their grounds and had to follow their rules. They had a lingering feeling in the back of their heads that this was a trap, but they couldn't acknowledge it. They were on their territory and had to play by their rules.

But there were no rules against cheating.

So they reluctantly took off their guns from their waistbands along with their silencers and placed them in the wooden box.

The man who was holding it walked away and disappeared behind the double doors.

Another man came in. Russet hair, and sharp green eyes. Wavy hair fell in his face but still made room for the light stubble that grew on his square jaw. There was no uncertainty that he was a lady's man with his jaw-dropping looks. He stood tall like the other men and gave off the same dangerous aura as everyone else.

He was as tall as Blade, Matteo, and Antonio.

6'4.

But Luca stood taller than them all at 6'6.

His name is Oscar Noe Adair. A French weapons dealer, and one of the most skilled of them all. If Blade wasn't the left hand he would take the position.

Luca has tried to get him to work for him but his loyalty is strictly pledged to the King. It was another benefit when the King was dead: all of his staff would need employment and Luca would be there to give them what they needed. 

Oscar walked up to Blade and whispered something in his ear. He nodded curtly as Oscar left the room.

As Oscar left, someone new came into the room.

It was a woman.

The Italians didn't pay attention to her as she walked to the table to the side of them. Her back was turned to them as she set down a crystal decanter filled with whiskey. She took longer than normal to lay out four glasses and set them down on the tray.

The second Blade caught eyes on the woman, his eyes went wide but were quickly masked in a monotone emotion as if he'd never seen her. The Italians continued to pay no mind to her as she set down the tray and the decanter at the middle table in front of the Italians and Blade.

Luca looked up as the tray was placed down, seeing the woman for the first time since she walked into the room.

Her back was turned at an angle as she began to walk out of the room, but Luca still saw the side of her face but not much.

She had long, thick black hair that fell around her shoulders and pale skin. Her hands were bruised. That was all Luca could see before she left the room. He looked away, dismissing her from his mind.

"Alright, back to business. What do you want?" Blade remarked listlessly, completely straightforward yet bored at the same time.

Luca rolled his eyes underneath the sunglasses with a scowl.

"I want a deal. No more rivalry," he stated.

Blade smirked at his...bravery.

"What makes you think that the King will agree?" he responded with his tone fading of jokes. He was genuinely curious as to why he would be dumb enough to propose such a deal. There was no way in hell that they would ever trust them.

"It would benefit both of us. You would finally have control over Italy, our regions would expand, and both of us would only become more powerful," he retorted.