His plump mate (Rebel and Austin) by Buchanan novel Chapter 385

Rodrigo POV

Last night, Julian and I had a long conversation. At first, I didn’t want to hear him out at all. He was with Armando and after everything I learned about my father and then about Armando from Thalia, being in an alliance with Julian seemed like a terrible idea.

That was until he told me how he was prepared to go through a hostile takeover of the family business if I refused the alliance. I told him I needed time to process everything with my family and to give me a couple of days to be clearer headed to hear him out.

Honestly, what I was trying to do was buy time. I wanted to go through all of the company records and see what kind of liquidity there was before meeting with him. If we are bigger and stronger financially, then I could tell Julian to kick rocks. Unfortunately, however, our ledgers are in the red.

My dad really was an asshole. It all makes sense now. He wanted the marriage alliance with Thalia and Armando to work because it would have given him access to funds while he would have forced Thalia to infiltrate the Reyes family. Then if he forced Mia and Julian to get married, then he would have been able to pull the business out of financial ruin.

I don’t even know if my father knew or cared that Mia and Julian were cousins. What do I do? I could let the company go through a hostile takeover. I mean I have an open ended invitation to join Crossfang and Blackstone. But what would I even contribute there? I have no wolf. Everyone there has a wolf. My mother gets a pass because she is Thalia and Mia’s mother. So, from what I have learned, she is the previous generation and gets to live comfortably. It’s different for me because I am a sibling. I would need to contribute and without a wolf, it’s highly unlikely I will do anything meaningful in either pack.

As I’m deep in thought, I hear yelling outside the office door. When I stand up with the intention of finding out what is going on, the office door swings open hard, and Don Arnaldo comes barreling in the office.

“WHERE IS DIEGO!?” He yelled.

I look at him calmly, “My father is dead, Don Arnaldo.”

“Dead?! Where is his whore of a daughter, Thalia?! Someone will pay for my son’s death!” He demanded.

“Unfortunately, Thalia has moved away with her husband. I’m afraid she will no longer come back to this city. Same for Mia. She is married now as well.” I said.

“Then that leaves only you!” He said. He looked at his guards, “GRAB HIM!” He ordered.

The guards he brought grabbed me by my arms and my eyes went wide. “I have nothing to do with Armando’s death. You can ask Julian Ortega!”

“Your family killed off my only son! My heir! Now I am going to kill off their only heir!” He yelled, pointing a gun right in my face.

A voice from behind calmly speaks up, “That would be a mistake, Don Arnaldo.”

Don Arnaldo stops, “Who the fuck asked for your opinion?” He said facing the person at the door, who turned out to be none other than Julian.

“First, Rodrigo is my cousin. Kill him, and you start a war with the Ortega family. You already know you’ve lost before you begin if that happens.” Julian started, “Second, Rodrigo is correct, he wasn’t responsible for Armando’s death. It was Thalia’s uncle who finished him off. Third, I have a much better plan, and you could benefit from it too. It only works if we work together.”

Don Arnaldo looks skeptical of Julian, but Julian maintains his control and expression. Finally, Don Arnaldo relents. “Let the little prick go.” He says to the guards.

“Wise decision.” Julian says.

“In exchange for what?” I asked.

“Help me get your sister Mia here. She is key to everything, and you know it as well as I do.” He said.

I sit back and try to weigh my odds. I am not helping him get Mia. That much is certain. I could get a shadow maw wolf and get the company back in good standing financially. Maybe I could say I will help but not really. I’m trying to think of a downside of agreeing but not actually doing anything. I could maybe find a mate too. That would be nice.

“Fine. I’ll help you.” I said.

“Good choice.” Julian said. Then he looked at Don Arnaldo, “It will take time to turn everyone. I can start with Rodrigo, you and both of your top men. It needs to happen at the beginning of the next full moon. After that, I will start turning everyone at the beginning of each full moon until our pack is complete. During that time, everyone trains and everyone reports to me. Understood?”

“Why should everyone report to you? You just said that I could sire another heir to take over my family business.”

“Yes, but it will be under the Ortega umbrella. You will retain your position, but you will report to me as the leader of the shadow maws. Your ‘human’ side will still be in charge of all the ‘human’ stuff though.” Julian said.

Don Arnaldo sat back and smirked, “Fine. You have a deal. The three of us will work together. I want to be clear though, I demand blood as repayment for Armando’s death when the time comes.”

Julian smiled, “When the time comes, you will have your pound of flesh, Don Arnaldo. First, we prepare for war.”