𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 || 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐦 𝐃𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞

𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 | 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜..

"𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐍, 𝐃𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐄." Cole Stone shifted slightly in his seat, feeling Ransom's harsh glare on him. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but desperation had driven him to cross Ransom, and now he faced the consequences, "Don't you think you're being unreasonable?"

In a dimly lit backroom of Ransom's lavish casino, the air hung heavy with tension, thick enough to suffocate. Ransom's voice was low, a dangerous rumble that filled the room, "Oh, I'm the one being unreasonable, huh? I think I'm being more than generous, don't you?"

The mobster glanced over to two of his most trusted men; Danny and Monty. Both cut throat and ruthless when they wanted to be, each having their own unique abilities when it came to working in the mob.

Danny was the first to speak up out of the two, nodding his head as he leaned back in the chair, "A lot nicer than I'd be, boss. If it were me, he'd already be getting fed from a tube."

Cole's jaw tightened, his resolve flickering like a dying flame as his gaze caught Ransom's, "Be fair. You're asking for way too much from my company."

"Be fair?" Ransom recoiled as though the words were like pure venom, "Now why on earth would I be fair? I'm the one in charge here and you're not going to tell me what to do, understand?"

"Besides," Ransom sat back, crossing his arms as a wicked grin spread across his lips, "It's not like I'm asking for much from your company. It's not like I'm asking for you to give me everything you have, all I am asking for is a small percentage. Is that really such a big thing to ask?"

"I wouldn't say ninety percent of my company is a small percentage," Cole's jaw felt like it was going to snap, he tensed up that much.

"You don't like that arrangement?" Ransom challenged with a calm tone, his eyes locked firmly on Cole as he spoke. His expression was cold and unchanging as usual. If anyone were to be described as a machine, it would be Ransom.

His demeanour never changed, no matter the situation, "You stole from me and I'd be a fool to just let that slide. This isn't charity, we're not some nice little fairy-tale world where people just have their fucking money taken from them and let the prick who stole it, get away with it."

There was a pregnant pause as the weight of Ransom's words settled over them, suffocating any hope Cole might have clung to. He knew there would be no mercy, no second chances. Ransom's reputation as a ruthless enforcer of his own brand of justice preceded him, and Cole was about to become another cautionary tale.

"Look, I know what I did was fucked up," Cole said quietly, attempting to not look as intimidated as he feels right now, "But you can't take most of my company. My family built it from nothing."

"Clearly your family were dumb as fuck to put you in charge of it," Monty spoke up with a dangerous look in his eyes, "You were running your family's company into the ground long before this meeting right now so if anything, we'll be the ones saving it."

The Stone distillery was established back in prohibition times and its legacy has been carried over for generations. The previous owner of the business, Matthew Stone, took ill and all responsibilities fell onto his only child.

Cole was already spoiled, blew all his trust fund on drugs, alcohol and women. His business has been working with Ransom's for several years now and though Ransom was as ruthless as they come, he treated his associates with respect. That is until one of them crosses him.