"Well, I'm not a saint like you. So I won't be following in your footsteps," Nicholas said.

"Nicholas! Stop with this nonsense, you cannot cross the line, otherwise, the outcome will not be good," Dimitri stated.

Nichlos let out a laugh, "What will you do to me? You can't touch me. I've worked all these years to strengthen my roots, so nobody can shake me. You can try."

"Huh! You barked at the wrong tree. The Santoris has deeper roots than you do. We have more resources than you can imagine, so don't tempt me." Dimitri warned.

"Dimitri, I've heard about you a lot, and even though our families are business rivals, I would like to put that behind us, I want to collaborate with you," Nicholas said.

"Too bad I don't collaborate with people I dislike," Dimitri replied.

"Ouch! Saying that to my face hurts a lot, but don't worry, I think sooner or later, you'll eventually come around. I promise," Nicholas mocked.

"I know you fooled those people to collaborate with you, but you will never touch the Santoris subsidiaries," Dimitri stressed.

"We'll see about that," Nicholas smirked, "You haven't seen everything I can do, this is just the tip of the iceberg."

Dimitri stood up and spoke, "Well, it seems like there is no point continuing with this conversation. You have challenged me, prepare to lose."

Nicholas stared at Dimitri's retreating back and clenched his fists. He cannot attack him now. Dimitri was not an easy opponent to beat, he knew that if he tried to kill him now, he would not win, he was trained in man-to-man combat all his life, and nobody would be able to beat him, even when he was unarmed.

He had tried taking businesses from under Dimitri's feet, but the Santoris family seemed stronger than he thought. It was true that their roots went way deeper than his, but he will never accept defeat. He had not come this far to give up so easily.

-=-

In a club somewhere in the city, Gabriel was having a good time. He had invited a few of his friends to hang out, it had been a while, ever since his accident he had been staying at home most days and spending more time with his new nephew.

But it was time to get out again and have fun. Before his accident, they rarely saw him at home. He would go do his work and head straight to the clubs with his friends. Sometimes he felt empty sitting here, pretending to enjoy himself, but this was the only way he could forget those haunting memories.

He touched the scar on his palm, it was still visible, and there was no way he was going to remove it, it would serve as a reminder. It was the price he paid because of his vulnerability. But he will never make the same mistake twice. Other than his family, nothing else mattered. He just wanted to be someone Dimtri can count on.

A pretty woman with a very skimpy outfit came to him and sat on his lap, he was inebriated, but not enough to render his junior useless. He can still enjoy this morsel that had a very tight-fitting top sitting on top of him. "Hmm...," he moaned as he started kissing her, his hands snaking up under her shirt, he needed to touch those globes that were enticing him. The woman didn't even flinch or protest so he just had his way with her right there on the sofa. Touching and squeezing her breasts while she rubbed herself on him.

"Uhh...let's go somewhere else," he whispered to her, and she nodded. He was very aroused and did not want to make a spectacle of himself by coming here in front of his friends. He stood up with her legs wrapped around him, not even breaking contact with her mouth as he took them upstairs to one of the private rooms. "This woman is a vixen," he thought, "I'm going to have so much fun with her."

After a whole night of fornication, where they both got equally as good as they gave, they fell asleep in each other's arms. This was the first time Gabriel had lost control, he never had anyone stay the night before, and he felt disgusted. He pushed the woman away from him and tried to get a hold of himself.

His head was throbbing, it felt like a jackhammer was permanently settled in there to drill his brain. He was cradling his head at the foot of the bed when the woman woke up and hugged his back, rubbing her breasts against him to entice him back to bed.

"Don't go. We can have more of this," she said sexily with hope in her voice.

Gabriel unhooked her hands and got up, finding his clothes and putting them on. The girl unashamedly stood up naked in front of him to remind him what he had last night, "How about one more round before you go?" she asked suggestively.

He pushed her to the bed very roughly, where she tumbled into the sheets, "Piss off," he said harshly.

"Can you be a little more gentle? I'm a woman," She said angrily. How dare he shove her after last night.

"Well, I don't do that after I fuck someone," he stated.

"Can't it be more than that? You don't know what you're missing," She shamelessly said even after being humiliated. The reason why she slept with him was that she knew who he was, and she wanted to be a Santoris bride.

He bent down over her, and she thought that he had changed his mind, there was hope after all. Tracing his finger on her face, she got so excited, she blushed, finally, she was getting her wish.

But all of a sudden, he grabbed her face with his hand. "Don't get your hopes up. This will be the first and last time you will see me. So don't even bother coming after me," He said as he increased the hold on her face.

"Oww! Oww!" she screamed as she tried to pry his fingers off, and slapping the arm that was holding her face.

Gabriel pushed her back and looked at her with disgust before he walked out the door.