Chapter 2

Leonardo Durante loved to party. It was one of the things that he loved to do. But he hated it when he was interrupted from his fun.

He knew he had messed up. He had made a complete mess on his last deal and set their company back. Their loss was almost 16% and he had drank himself to stupor as he tried to drown out the noise of his own failure. He could imagine everyone's reaction, but he knew his grandfather's reaction would hurt him the most.

He also had a lot to handle when it came to his personal business.

His recent withdrawals from his pack had led his Beta to be too over burdened with a lot of work to do.

He would have to go back to the pack house soon and deal with some official werewolf council business.

Leonardo Durante was an Alpha King.

An Alpha king meaning he came from a long great line of successful Alphas who jealously guarded their throne and their heritage.

The Alpha line had existed in the Durante family for centuries and not only did they conquer the whole of Italy and had it under his grasp, they also took London and some parts in America too.

Everyone knew the Durantes and the power they wielded in the supernatural world.

It was impossible to miss, and ever since birth Leonardo had been trained to take over.

He did take over when he was twenty-two.

From his grandfather who passed the succession to him, rather than his father.

The line of succession did not always fall on the first son when it came to the Durante family.

His great grandfather had a saying in Italian that said, if the first is weak, he is undeserving of the throne.

His father didn't seem to mind either, the crown was too much of a burden to bear and Leonardo frequently took off days.

He was very close to his grandfather Gino and he admired and respected his grandfather a lot, but his grandfather had always been very critical of him, of how he ran the affairs of the pack, of his lifestyle and most especially his love life. Leonardo Durante was known to be the popular Casanova from Milan, he had a new girl every week and everyone knew him as an heartbreaker. He was never in serious relationships, because he always found out different ways to ruin them. He didn't care, he had not found his mate yet, so he would keep doing whatever he wanted till he did.

He was just as devilishly handsome and he was cunning. A lot of women fell for the player right before they saw his game and the fact that he was an Alpha made him all the more appealing to the female population.

"Keep it coming." he signalled to the bartender as he buried his face in his hands again, he could only imagine what his family would be thinking of him, he had switched off his phone to avoid any unnecessary calls whatsoever but he knew it was inevitable, he was still going to meet them back at home.

The man passed the glass of bourbon to him and Leo nodded his head in appreciation. He looked around the club and winced. It seemed as though everyone except him was having a good time.

A girl slipped next to the seat next to him and gave him a pretty smile. Leo nodded his head and turned back to his drink. He didn't think he was ready to handle any girl drama. Not that it would help or alleviate his problems.

"What are you drinking?"

She asked as she peered over his shoulder and Leo shrugged.

"Bourbon straight."

"Ohhhh. A bourbon guy." The girl said as she smiled. Leo turned to look at her, she was tall and blonde with beautiful dewy skin. She looked very young, he noted as he looked away. She was also human, he rolled his eyes.

She was most likely underage. Leo had always encountered underaged girls slipping into bars and making moves on older men.

He preferred to steer clear of them, it saved him less troubles.

"My name is Monica."

"Leonardo."

"Nice to meet you Leonardo. Are you from around here?"

The girl asked and Leo nodded his head. People were always asking him if he was from around and Leo always answered in the affirmative just to stop them from asking more intrusive questions. He wasn't born in America but he had an American passport at least and a large part of the pack's base was in America.

The one at home was still run by his grandfather in his absence.

So he was always alternating between America and Italy most of the time but he liked to leave it out of the conversation.

"Oh wow! Nice. What part of California are you from?"

Leo gave the girl a look.

"I'm just here on business. If you'll excuse me, I have to leave. I'm not really in the mood for idle chit chat."

He said as he dropped a hundred dollar tip bill for the bartender and walked away from the bar. He slung his suit jacket on his shoulder and loosened his tie as he took out his phone. He couldn't wait to hear what his grandfather and parents had to say about his incompetence.

At first he was willing and trying to avoid confronting them but he had enough of sulking around and waiting for what his grandfather would say to him

He called his mother first.

"Leonardo! Where have you been? We've been trying to reach you all day."

She asked in a panicked voice and Leo cringed. They must have been really worried about him.

Leo scratched his head as he stepped out of the club and onto the sidewalks. The air was chilly and it was biting.

"I'm sorry. I've been busy at work...."

"Work you say? I called the office and you were not there."

"I even called Loki and he said you weren't in New York."

Leo sighed as he walked closer to his car and brought the remote control keys. He could feel a little headache coming up.

"How is grandpa doing?"

"Oh honey! Your grandfather can't wait to see you. He wants you in Milan right away."

Leo stopped for a while and paused.

Why did his Grandfather want him in Milan? Did he mess up that bad?

"Is everything okay? What happened?"

"Oh everything is fine honey. He just really needs to see you and you know how he can get if he doesn't get what he wants. "

His mothers tone had an underlying tone of frustration and worry and Leo wondered if it had to do with the fact that he messed up in the company or something totally unrelated to what was going in.

"Okay Mother. I will be there as soon as I can. I love you."

He said in Italian as he ended the call.

Milan?

He hoped his grandfather had not learnt of his recent hiatus and he certainly hoped that Loki had not called to bitch about how he was avoiding pack Council duties . That was one of the only reasons he could think of his grandfather wanting to see him right away.

He ran his hands through his head in frustration. He had to do something and he had to do it fast if he ever wanted to redeem himself in front of his grandparents.

After spending thirteen hours on a flight to Milan, Leonardo arrived at his Grandfather's Villa in Milan tired and jet lagged. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as the driver dropped him off at the driveway.

In front of the garden, he met a maid walking towards the house.

He called to her attention and she turned to him sharply.

"Mr Leo! You're here!"

The maid said in surprise as she dropped the tray in her hand.

"Yes. Where's my Grandfather?"

The maid looked at the house unsurely.

"I'm sure he's at the pool. But please, come in, freshen up before you go and see him."

She said and Leo nodded.

She took his suitcase from him and scrunched her nose at how rumpled his shirt looked.

He assumed she must have noticed how tired he looked and how crumpled his shirt was. It had been a long time since he had been to his grandfather's Villa but it still felt like home every time. He spent a large amount of time in the Villa's pool and gardens when he was over.

He walked straight to the guest room where he always stayed when he was over and dropped on the bed the minute he was inside.

He rubbed at his eyed tiredly. He still very much wanted to sleep. But there was no way he could without seeing his Grandfather.

He managed to drag himself to his feet and walked straight into the bathroom. He splashed refreshing cold water on his face from the tap and peeled off his shirt.

He felt much better after that. He briefly looked in the mirror and pulled away strands of his wet hair away from his face.

After he changed into comfortable clothes and shoes, he went to the pool.

Leonardo's Grandfather, Gino Durante was lying on a beach chair in nothing but beach shorts sunbathing in front of the massive crystal clear pool. He had large sunshades on and a tropical drink in his hand.

The old man had greying hair and wrinkly skin but he was as fit as a youngster. He had a personal trainer who came in twice a week and he was very dedicated to his workout routine

So far his grandfather looked fine.

"Grandfather?"

"Leo! That you?"

The old man asked as he took of his sunshades and slowly sat up from his beach chair while Leo ran to his side.

"Yes it's me. Didn't they tell you I was here?"

His grandfather nodded.

"Oh they did. I assumed you'd be resting after such a long flight."

Leo shook his head.

"No, I have to see you first. What is the problem? Why did you want to see me so urgently?"

His grandfather sighed as he put his drink back on the stool.

"I'm sorry to have distracted you from work. I really am. But this was important. And I had no way of telling you through the phone."

Leo was confused. At first he had thought he was being summoned for something pack related, but with the soft tone of his grandfather Leo suspected it was something else as he looked into his crinkly old eyes.