CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

When Aric returned from hunting and saw the stack of papers on his desk, he swore at the heavens.

After only a week, the pile of work on his desk threatened to topple over.

Taking a seat, he mentally played Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe to decide which stack to attack first.

He chose the stack on the left and prayed for the energy to go through the long day managing his family's business empire.

Even though Aric understood his father could delegate much of the work—allotments for slaves, control over outlying areas of the city, demands extra blood allowances from the Carthage Faction—he still felt compelled to keep his son pinned down beneath its weight.

Aric sat back, drinking from an empty cup. He considered getting more, but he wasn't that thirsty.

Aric decided to take care of one more file before leaving for the day, but his heart sank as soon as he opened it.

He had to read it repeatedly before comprehending what he was seeing.

After reading that his father had renewed his engagement with