Dark Desire

Chapter Six

Andrew went straight to work the next day figuring out a strong budget for Fredrick. He immediately headed over to his place as soon as he had a plan for him. If what Jin said was true, then Fredrick wouldn't be able to argue with him. As he was creating the budget, he suddenly felt powerful, Fredrick's life was now in his hands. Fredrick who helped kill his father, and possibly had a hand in killing Merinda. The man who helped threaten his family. If he couldn't touch Jin, he could certainly make the Mayor's life difficult. Though, he needed to play his cards right. He mustn't forget that Fredrick was in fact a figure head here. It was his name that would be placed on the letters to increase trade between this town and others. Replacing him would make things more difficult and slow everything down. The situation was the perfect way to stretch out his new power and see how far he could stretch himself. When would they push back against him? He wondered to himself.

He knocked and he heard Fredrick tell him to enter. Andrew shut the door behind him and headed into his study. The man looked up at Andrew when he walked in and singled for him to have a seat across from him. Andrew chose to stand, not wanting to be put in another threatening situation so soon despite what Jin told him, he was still on edge with the whole thing. "I suppose you are here to control my spending." Fredrick stated. "Jin warned me that you would be by soon."

Andrew nodded and pulled out the paper outlining what the man could use. "You will be going back on a payment system like everyone else. You can choose to receive a paycheck every week or every two weeks. Your choice." He handed it to him.

Fredrick snatched it from his hands with irritation and started looking it over, which Andrew stood there trying not to be nervous. "This is ridiculous. I will not accept it." He told Andrew and threw the paper down.

"That's all we can do for now. You shouldn't have spent the budget that was necessary to invest in other trade options." Andrew told him.

"Then we will raise the taxes across town." Fredrick stated.

Andrew shook his head, "We can't do that right now. We need to be inviting more businesses here to increase our profits, not pushing them away. Our taxes are in the perfect position to do just that."

"I can't live off that kind of money. It's not enough to support me." Fredrick glared at him.

Taking a slow breath Andrew kept himself calm, "Then figure out a way to make it work. There is no reason you need to be living off of a King's income. You are not a king; you are the town's Mayor. As such your life should reflect what this town is about." He told him.

Fredrick stood up and slammed his fists down on the table, "Who are you to tell me what to do?! Don't you forget that we control you, not the other way around!" His face was starting to get red.

"I was informed that I was to make all the decisions for this place moving forward. Jin is the only one who can threaten me." Andrew stated. "If I am to complete the task given to me, I need the budget under tight watch, and we have to start saving money immediately." His eyes locked with Fredricks, "You know nothing about how trades work. There are a lot of big interests in the market right now. There are lots of businesses starting up and there are lots of larger businesses looking to expand. They will be more than willing to set up business in this town if we can buy them over. If you cannot control yourself and your temper you will only hold us back." Andrew was surprised that the words so easily slid out of his mouth.

"We can find someone to replace you." Fredrick said to him with a smile. "I wonder how Gwen will feel when she finds out that you have been putting their lives in danger. How the baby will react..." His tone was threatening.