Leo looked away from Lionel, his expression twisting with frustration and helplessness.
“Lionel, I thought we were meant to become the top dogs of this city.”
“I thought we had finally started amassing power here.”
“Power?” Lionel scoffed, shaking his head.
“This man has power we can’t even comprehend, let alone compete with. He is the real top dog.”
“He gave me a loaded gun Leo, and dared me to shoot.”
“He didn’t even flinch when giving it to me, and just walked with his back facing me.”
Leo’s face contorted in understanding.
Using a low tone, he said. “He’s not like us, is he Lionel?”
“No,” Lionel replied, his voice low.
“He’s something else entirely.
****
Jackson sat in the Lykan, tapping his fingers nervously on his phone as he waited.
He saw Noah knock out the first guy at the door, but after that, the door slammed shut, leaving him with only his chaotic thoughts as a companion.
“It’s been five minutes…” he muttered, glancing anxiously at his watch.
“Why’s he still not out? Is he okay in there? Should I call for backup?”
He shook his head, trying to remove the bad thoughts.
“No, no… he told me to wait. I will just trust him,” he murmured, trying to calm himself.
But even as he said it, he was gripping the phone so hard his knuckles turned white.
Five minutes later…
“It’s ten minutes now.” He murmured softly.
“Damn it, Noah! You’re killing me!” He grunted, feeling his patience slowly leaving.
“Alright, five more minutes. If he’s still not out by then, I’m calling everyone. If anything happens to you, Noah, I swear I’ll make them pay…” He said gritting his teeth.
Jackson kept glancing at his watch every few seconds, his heart racing with every passing second.
His thoughts slowly tightening the rope he felt around his neck
Finally, after one last look at his watch, he cursed under his breath.
“Screw it. I’m calling everyone. I promise to take revenge!”
Just as he scrolled to his brother’s contact and pressed the call button. The door swung open. He jerked, dropping his phone.
“Noah?” Jackson’s eyes went wide, and he stammered, “Y-you’re still ali— I mean, why did you take so long?”
Noah looked at Jackson, as he stepped into the car.
“What do you mean by that? You sounded disappointed that I am still alive and kicking.”
“Were you hoping I was dead?” he added, raising his eyebrow.
Jackson’s face turned red. “N-no, no! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just worried! You took forever—I was this close to calling everyone I know for backup.”
Noah chuckled, as he put his seatbelt on. “Everyone, huh? I had no idea I meant so much to you, Jackson.”
Jackson huffed, embarrassed. “You’d better! I was already planning out your vengeance. But seriously, what happened in there?”
“Nothing much.” Noah shrugged nonchalantly, a small smirk on his face.
“Just some… business to handle. Let’s just say the Ash Wolves won’t be causing any more trouble.”
Jackson’s eyes went wide, his jaw nearly hitting the steering wheel. “You’re telling me… you took care of them? All of them? Just like that?”
Noah turned on the car and replied with a casual smile.
“Pretty much.”
Jackson’s face turned pale.
“Do you have any idea what that means? The cleanup? The police?”
“Noah, they’ll jail you for life if they find out! We’ll need a whole crew just to cover this up! I can get you out of the country—maybe some island paradise where no one can find you…”
Noah’s laughter cut him off.
“Relax, Jackson,” he said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
“I don’t need to go into hiding.”
Jackson looked at him, stunned. “Are you going to use your connections to get out of it? Who do you have as a friend? The king?”
“You are thinking too much,” Noah replied with a calm smile.
“I didn’t kill any of them, I just spoke to them in a civilised way.”
Jackson’s eyes rolled at his response.
“Oh, yeah, that was very civilized. Especially slamming a guy’s head into the concrete, it is basically like inviting him for tea, right?”
Noah shrugged.
“Depends on the tea party.”
“So… what did you actually do to make them ‘not cause any more trouble’? Hypnotize them with polite threats?” He added in a sarcastic tone.
“Not quite,” Noah replied, as he drove calmly his eyes on the road ahead.
“I gave them two options, disappear or work under me.”
Jackson blinked, then barked out a laugh. “Wait. You’re telling me… you actually got ‘The Ash Wolves’ to submit?”
Noah glanced at him with a calm, knowing look. “You sound surprised. Persuasion can be effective when it’s… properly applied.”
“Yes that’s very persuasive and civilised, I would like to emphasize the verb disappear.”
“I meant it is quite civilised, they used their brain. You could say they saw the bigger picture.”
Jackson strikes back, “Or maybe they just didn’t like the alternative.” He added sarcastically.
Laughing at Jackson’s response, Noah said. “That as well.”
Jackson chuckled his earlier worry disappearing.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to take revenge for you.”
“Though I’ll admit, I wouldn’t mind seeing you sipping tea at your next ‘civilized negotiation.’ ”
Noah smirked. “Don’t worry. I’ll send you a VIP invite to the next one.”
As he dropped Jackson off where his car was parked, he told him about the merging of his group and the Ash Wolves.
Jackson was reluctant at the beginning considering what Ryker had done to his younger brother, but Noah told him that he would make sure they get their payback.
Jackson agreed, but said he would need to talk to his father and brother as he wasn’t the only head of the gang.
Noah nodded and didn’t pressure him.
After dropping Jackson off, Noah headed to his mansion.
“The system was quite generous with the rewards today, I got a vest, a million dollars and most importantly an an intermediate Goldcraft skill.” He muttered, as he sped across the motorway.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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