E r o s

Francis.

That name was beginning to irk my soul to the very depths of hell. I had tried to be calm about this whole thing so as not to worry the others but I could feel my resolve slipping with each and every problem that man has caused me.

What gave that fucker the right to play god and decide my fate for me? For the others as well? To die by his poorly organized ambush?

Not even just me, but my other members were there, surely he had to have taken that in to account and decided that he didn't care about their lives. That their lives were beneath his desires, just thinking about it had my fingers itching to pull the trigger and lay a bullet right between his greed-filled eyes

"Eros" hearing Cole's steady voice forced me to bring myself back to reality.

"We found the kid. A young boy, Isaac, he can't be much older than ten" Cole said.

"Parents?" I asked and Cole shook his head.

"He isn't giving them away. As scared as he is, he doesn't want to see anything happen to them" He said and I sighed.

"Bring him here" I said and Cole nodded before leaving.

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up in my chair. If this kid refused to crack, then I guess a few scare tactics won't hurt to see how long he can hold up. If he cared about his parents enough, he'd be smart to give them up and their reasons for their actions.

My office door opened once more and in came Cole with Isaac who was struggling against Cole's grip. So he's a brat? No problem.

"Let me go! I'll kill you!" Isaac cried as he tried some more to get out of Cole's grip. I was ready to reprimand the kid but Cole seemed several steps ahead of me on this one.

"Either you sit down of your own will or I'll strap you in that chair and leave you there. You won't be allowed to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. Not only that, I'll turn you upside down and let the blood rush to your head until you die. Do you want that?" Cole's voice was sharp and stern as his eyes glared down at Isaac who had shut up immediately upon hearing the tone in Cole's voice.

Well...Cole surely has a way with his words.

Taking a seat, Isaac refused to meet my gaze completely. So I started the conversation with something that would grab his attention very quickly.

"Your parents are going to die because of you" I said simply and that was all it took for Isaac's head to snap up to me, eyes widened in fear.

"They are going to die because you sat here and chose to have sealed lips. Did they tell you not to tell anyone about what you did? Especially me?" I asked and Isaac did nothing but stare though I could sense the hesitation coming from him.

"Well, it's admirable that you're willing to keep such a big secret but you see, you're keeping information from me that I need in order to bring justice to a man who tried to kill me and my friends. And if I can't have what I want, then neither can you" After finishing, I waited for a few seconds to see what Isaac was going to say.

Truth be told, if the kid did give away his parents, I'd gladly let them live. On the condition that they leave the group and never come back, as that is the best deal I could possibly offer them. All the others end up with at least one of them dead.

Thankfully my words were enough incentive and Isaac seemed to finally want to speak as he sat up a bit.

"My brother...he's sick" he started.

"We don't have the money to cover all of his hospital bills and that man said he'd take care of all of it and all I had to do was give those guys the cookies. Mom and Dad said I had to or else Henry won't get better..." Isaac admitted, his eyes getting watery towards the end of his explanation.

Though I was their leader, I was not responsible for the finances of every single person in this group, that would just be absurd so it's not surprising to hear of their struggles. How they handled the money they were paid was on them, but I wasn't opposed to helping cover their sick child's medical needs. I wonder if they had even thought to take it up with me before resorting to such underhanded methods. Or perhaps they were embarrassed?

Though the reason didn't matter anymore now.

"Who are your parents?" I asked.

"Michael and Gina Morris" Isaac said and I wrote their names down in my book.

"Thank you for cooperating. Mikhail is waiting for you outside, please go with him and he will give you further instructions" I said and Isaac just nodded.

"Mom and Dad are going to be okay?" He asked before leaving and I simply nodded.

"Yes, they will" hearing my confirmation was all Isaac needed before leaving the room.

"What will you do with his parents?" Cole asked after he was gone.

"I only want one man's blood, and that is Francis'. I have no interest in that kid's parents" I said as I sunk back in my seat, loosening my tie in the process.

"...you're tired" Cole said and I looked to him only to be met with those sharp green eyes. He truly was observant, I thought I was hiding it pretty well but maybe not as well as I thought.

"Yes" I said, not seeing the need to deny his accusation as it was true.

"You should rest" he stated and I shook my head.

"It's sweet that you're worrying about me, but unfortunately, I can't. There are still things to be prepared, such as our meeting with Mr. Adler" I explained.

"Is that the Silver Fangs' Boss?" Cole asked, tilting his head a bit in curiosity.

"Mhm. He surely has caught wind of what has been going on by now so the timing is better than ever" I said.

As I sat, I couldn't help but think back to Isaac and thinking about him, aroused a question from within me.

"Cole, is it alright if I ask you a question?" I said and Cole seemed taken aback for a moment,

"...you're actually asking before saying your question which tells me it's something that even you find invasive" he said and I let out a small smile.

"How do you feel about your family?" Hearing my question, Cole's expression became neutral for a few moments, not allowing me to read anything from him.

I hadn't forgotten my original objective of asking Cole to join our group but you could say I had been a bit distracted. However, this question had been in my mind since my first mentioning of his brother to him. The way Cole was so calm about it had honestly alarmed me but I guess not all siblings got along.

"Do you hate them for what they've done to you? When I told you I wanted to kill your brother, you hardly batted a lash" I said, hoping to knock him out of whatever trance like state he had been in.

Cole's eyes focused on me as his lips opened a bit, no sound coming out for a few moments but then finally, he answered.

"If you were to have killed Noel, I don't think I could grieve him. Nor my parents, if they were to somehow die, I wouldn't mourn any of them. They've given me no purpose to do so, I am not attached to them in any way shape or form. But back then, I was hesitant because they were all I knew. Living that life, was all I was ever allowed to know" As Cole spoke, I could see the many flickers of emotions dancing in his eyes but the one most obvious was resentment.

"So in a way, yes, I hate them. I would never wish death upon any of them, but karma takes it's course in many ways and if death ends up being one of them than who am I to question it?" He finished, leaning his back on the wall.

I see...it'd honestly be pretty hard not to hate the very people who exploited you simply because you had similar features to someone. But that part still didn't make sense to me, they were brothers how could they just deem Cole the lesser of the two and treat him the way they did?

"I hated my parents. I hated them so much but luckily for me, they wasted themselves away. My father drunk himself to death and my mother took the easy way out. Unlike us who hates our family, that boy..." I trailed off with a sigh.

"What that kid was willing to do for his family, what he did do for them, that is the reason I don't want to kill his parents. They wanted to save their sick child, by any means necessary despite an easier option existing though they hadn't thought of it" I said.

"But...so has it, I can't be too lenient"

"So you're going to kick them out?" Cole asked and I nodded.

"Yes, they will no longer have a right to be near Azure Dragon territory" I stated. Cole didn't seem too surprised at my decision which means he probably figured that this would be the alternative.

"I suppose that's as much mercy as one can show for someone who allowed their almost murderer to escape" he said.

"Yes, let's just hope that after this meeting with Mr. Adler, we can finally put all of this behind us" I said.

I really did hope that Adler would be more compromising than his subordinates, I honestly would hate having to fight over some pig.