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So, he endured it.

Even when the veins on his forehead were prominent and the sweat which was evidence of the torture that he was going through rolled down the sides of his face, Marcel endured it all.

His grip on the table tightened and the veins in his hands were close to popping out, but he still did not give up. If Marcel had supernatural strength, he could have crushed the table already with the way he was holding onto it.

However, his strong grip lessened with time as the potency of the spicy burn lessened to an endurable degree Marcel could work with. After a while, he was perfectly fine and Eric’s applause broke the silence.

“You are quite an admirable young man,” He said, looking down at his watch, “Fifteen minutes done.”

Although Marcel lifted his head with pride at the compliment and for having proven himself to the man and earning his respect, annoyance still shot through him and he asked Eric,

“What was the point of this though? What were you hoping to achieve with this? What was the lesson?” He wanted to know. Was this a test of strength? Endurance? What’s the prize?

“Nothing,” Eric shrugged nonchalantly, giving Marcel the shock of his life. All of this had been for nothing?! Marcel’s temper gradually began to rise.

.....

Eric continued to say, “You are just so arrogant that it’s annoying and I decided to bully you a little.”

“Hey!” Marcel stood up abruptly before he could control himself, pointing accusing hands at Eric with his jaw ajar from the shock as he was unable to believe that the man would trick him this cruelly.

“Hey?” Eric scoffed at the disrespect in his tone and said, “Is that the way you refer to your future father-in-law?”

As if the gears in Marcel’s head began to work again, he quickly made the connections and in the next minute forced his ass back down on his seat with a flattering smile on his lips.

“Of course not, it was just my way of expressing the shock of your magnanimous kindness.” Marcel lied through his teeth. Magnanimous kindness, his ass! He couldn’t believe Eric would use this card on him.

With Natalie marrying Eric, that means Arianna was now a Draven, at least half of it. In one word, Eric had a huge role to play by influencing and convincing his wife Natalie to give him a chance to prove himself to her. Not to mention that if things go right between them, he would have to call Eric, father-in-law?!

Marcel gritted his teeth because the thought never crossed his mind until now. He had to be careful in his dealing with Eric since it could affect his marriage plans with Arianna. Well, if push comes to shove, he had the other option of kidnapping her once again and taking her to a place where they would get married and no one would be able to stop them.

“Fine, let’s hear it now. What’s your conclusion? What does your family want in exchange for not going to war?” Eric was down for business.

Marcel didn’t answer immediately, rather he poured himself a drink and swallowed it down before placing the glass on the table.

Lifting his head, he said to Eric,

“The East End Waterfront,”

The instant Marcel mentioned the name, Eric’s brows slightly arched, disturbed. He had a feeling that Marcel would set his sights on the port and he didn’t prove him wrong. The young man had an eye for lucrative business ventures.

“Your family runs the docks and controls the port, we want in as well. A share of the ownership. You can think of it like a partnership. With the Luciano family also working as its caretaker, who would dare to cause trouble for you?” There was a glint in Marcel’s eyes as he proposed business to him.

Aside from his affection for his loved ones, the second thing close to his heart was making money, and would never give up on such a lucrative opportunity.

Eric didn’t answer right away and poured himself a drink too, gulping it down before asking, “Is that all?”

“There’s one more.”

His eyebrow quirked, “What is it?”

Marcel leaned closer to the table and holding Eric’s gaze with him, he announced, “I want a seat in the council.”

“What?!” Eric’s expression shifted.

Even Jason, his second in command, wasn’t able to control himself and shared in his shock.

“That’s impossible.” Jason turned it down right away even before his boss could make the decision.

Victor answered him, as both men face off, “While each crime family has its own territory and operates independently, nationwide coordination is overseen by the Commission, which consists of the bosses of each of the strongest families. The Luciano family is one of the five main crime families yet we don’t have a seat in the crime family. Doesn’t that sound prejudiced?”

“And whose fault is that?” Eric asked him calmly yet Marcel could see beyond that facade. His future father-in-law was not calm at all.

Of course, it was all Daniel’s fault. You don’t go about causing trouble and expect to be acknowledged by the higher-ups. While Daniel could have been offered a seat in the commission after his grandfather’s sacrifices for this family, his callousness and impetuosity were considered a liability. Daniel was a ticking time bomb and they couldn’t wait around to see it explode right in their faces.

Thanks to him, the Luciano family has been operating independently and misses out on some of the privileges other families enjoy from being part of the commission. Although Marcel has answered a few summons in his place from the commission over the years, it was still not enough to earn him a seat there until now.

Marcel can’t let go of this opportunity now.