Chapter Three

Kade bit back a curse when he stepped into mob boss Rome's office.

There was that unique scent again and he was sure that it wasn't coming from the extremely aggressive bodyguards that had let him in reluctantly, or the towering werewolf that stood ominously. 

No, it was coming from the man seated authoritatively behind an imposing desk.

Just great, he had managed to fuck things up without even trying.

Rome hadn't looked up at him yet and he felt no inclination to move closer.

It would be wishful thinking to hope that Rome didn't recognise him, actually, a large part of him wanted Rome to.

He instead used the time to get a good look at him, he hadn't gotten the chance to when they were on the dance floor.

Rome's head was slightly bowed, his attention riveted on the impressive piece of firearm on his desk.

He could only see his slicked back hair and the sharp slope of his nose.

His fitted turtleneck made him look like a GQ model, well, if you looked away from the holsters proudly strapped across his sculpted chest.

What the fuck? It had to be the air in this place.

He wasn't attracted to men and he had never been, it was probably the alcohol fumes getting to him.

Still, without getting a proper look at Rome, he could tell that he was ridiculously attractive.

Which was pleasantly surprising as most mob bosses were of the greasy sort.

Letting themselves go and caring very little about hygiene or even fashion.

Just as he was about to give in and take a step forward, he couldn't keep standing awkwardly close to the door.

Rome lifted his head and Kade found himself stunned stupid for the first time in his life.

He had already predicted that Rome would be good-looking but it didn't prepare him for all this.

Rome's alluring, bright grey eyes widened briefly when they met his, narrowing almost instantly with an inscrutable expression. 

Kade masked his facial expression extremely well, striding forward. 

He pulled off a perfectly cool front like he hadn’t just had the other Alpha pinned up against a wall out of the blue a couple minutes ago.

Granted, it had resulted in him nearly getting a bullet through the heart but did he regret it? not one bit.

Gracefully taking off his trench coat, Kade slid into a chair, casually, like he owned the place.

Rome’s eyes dropped lower on his face, he hoped that the Alpha sitting across from him would open his mouth and deny that he was an Alpha King.

But no such luck.

"I apologize for my tardy way of showing up." Kade said formally, dominating the chair he sat on.

"I'm Kade, nice to meet you.". He said with a stoic face, watching Rome intently.

Rome silently grinded his teeth, spreading his legs in a relaxed manner to hide the fact that he was on edge.

He had no idea what the Alpha King wanted, he thought he had an idea but their earlier meeting proved him wrong.

He wasn't about to bring up their first meeting though, not unless Kade mentioned it first.

He couldn’t believe that he almost killed an Alpha King.

There were things even Rome couldn't get away with.

It was why he stayed far away from the werewolf nobility, they were always bad news.

"Rome." He muttered stiffly even though they already knew each other quite well, in more than one way.

He wasn't always this stuck up, it was just a particularly irksome night for him.

"Now mind telling me why you're here?" He lifted a brow like he couldn’t care less  meanwhile, curiosity ate at his heart.

Kade mused over this question like it wasn't the reason he had come all the way.

Plainly put, the reason he had come to see Rome personally was because he wanted to establish some sort of relationship between them.

Politically speaking of course.

The Dark Ring only kept growing and was powerful enough to be a city on its own.

But that wouldn't happen, because it was made up of outcasts, they would never accept rules and a ruler.

Rome was the closest thing to a ruler that they had.

His city was the closest to the Dark Ring, it was in his best interest to at least be on good terms with them.

The pros outweighed the cons.

It was a delicate thing to suggest, Kade knew this all too well.

But he couldn't come off as weak either.

"It's simple." He started lightly. "I propose that we be allies, that way I don't intrude on your terrain and you stay out of mine." He stated calmly, dark intent threading his words.

Rome felt his heart rate slow down, he had underestimated the Alpha King.

Kade had made his proposal in such a way that Rome couldn’t outrightly refuse, matters like this were delicate.

Even someone like Rome knew that all too well.

He was trapped, he had to give a response but it couldn't be a negative one.

He could feel his eyes melting to gold, his control was slipping.

Draken straightened at this, he had also been caught off guard by King Kade's words.

He had been expecting some air brained nobility that came here out of bravado.

He became even more alarmed when the scent of bitter chocolate flared, he didn't need to glance at Rome's eyes to know that they were a gold tint.

The thing was that Rome rarely got truly angry, it was often a show.

It was why he could easily flit through a range of emotions, catching his victims off guard.

But right then he was doing a shit job of it.

 "Tell me more." Rome half growled, managing to keep his temper under control.

Kade was unfazed, considering that he had casually walked into a neutral zone without protection. He was terrifyingly unbothered. 

"It's simple as I stated earlier, you lay down requirements for it to work and I do the same."

Rome forced himself to take a couple deep breaths, picking up the gun on his desk and placing it back with a soft thud.

"Very well, what are your requirements?"

"Are you interested?" Kade tossed back, testing the waters.

"We'll see." Rome muttered tightly.

Kade bit back a smile, he was enjoying this far more than he should be.