Chapter 5

　　The silence in the room punctuated only by the tapping of the pen loosely held between his fingers on the table was beginning to get on Nero's nerves.The silence was making him restless, and he would really hate to get that way right now, because he knew he would have to do some real damage to the imbecile fidgeting and shaking like a pussy.

　　He was just too tired for that.

　　He flicked the pen to the ground and got his feet off the table. He got off the chair with an irritated sigh, and approached the unfortunate man who was staring hopelessly into the computer before him. The latter's jacket was drenched in sweat like a bucket of water had been thrown over him.

　　The black haired don came up behind him, and bent over him, peering into the screen with him— a very serious and intent look on his face. The man froze and dared not to turn around.

　　"Well, I don't know about you,James, but those numbers seem to have disappeared. I can't find them," He said with mock seriousness,and turned his face to look at the whimpering man whose face was close to his.

　　"Can you?"He further asked.

　　James regretted ever thinking he could steal from the devil and get away with it. Nero was so wealthy that he saw no end in sight to the riches of the young CEO. So he thought he could siphon just a little from the fortune of the young man. Being the accounts manager at one of his companies, it had been easy, and he thought he could get away with it—well almost.

　　"P-pl-lease sir…p‐please sir. Have mercy."

　　Nero tutted with a frown. "Come on now, my friend,"he said, pressing down on James's shoulder, making him flinch and wince in pain from the painful grip.

　　"We were just having a conversation about some missing funds from the company account. No need to be so scared. We just need to solve this like gentlemen. Right Nico?"he asked with a charming innocent smile as he turned to Nico.

　　Nico was standing at a corner of the room with arms folded across his chest, an impassive, almost bored expression on his face. Nico would have preferred to just put a bullet in the idiot after they got to the company a few hours ago. That had been the reason they came to the building before flying back home—to punish the thief, but Nero just loved to play his little sick games with his prey.

　　Nico fought to stop himself from rolling his eyes at his boss. Nero chuckled, and turned back to James. "He can be quite grumpy at times," he informed the whimpering man with a smile.

　　"So what happened to the missing money, James?" He inquired calmly as he walked away to stand a few feet behind the shaking man who quickly leapt off his seat and knelt before him.

　　"Please forgive me sir. My wife was so sick,she needed the money for an operation," James cried desperately.

　　"Shut the fuck up. Your wife divorced your cheating ass last year, you imbecile," Nero replied matter of factly.

　　James's mouth dropped open in shock—he had been caught in his lie. He knew he had messed up.

　　"Please…ple—"

　　Nero's face grew dark suddenly, and without taking his eyes off the whining man, he called out to his right hand man.

　　"Nico," He called, extending his hand behind, and receiving the photos which Nico gave him. He threw the photos to the ground, and James' eyes bulged out of his sockets when he picked it up and saw pictures of his extravagant vacation, and spending with his mistress over the past months.

　　"That seemed like a lot of fun," Nero commented, gesturing to the pictures that were shaking in James's trembling hands.

　　And it begins, Nico thought as he noted the lack of the mischievous humor in Nero's rich baritone.

　　James began to cry. He knew he was fucked. "Forgive me,sir. It will never happen again."

　　Of course it would never again,Nero thought grimly as he watched the crying man with a dark expression. He hated liars, but he deeply despised thieves, and would never forgive that.

　　"I've always known you were a rat—and well stealing is in the nature of filthy vermin like you, so that was not a surprise to me too," He began, and slowly got up from his seat.

　　James began to retreat in fear as Nero slowly approached him with the slow deliberate strides of a predator who had cornered his prey. Nico moved across the room, and held James down,pinning him to the ground as he struggled punily to free himself.

　　Nero squatted down in front of the struggling man, with a dark smirk. "But do you know your mistake?"He asked with a faint chuckle, and gripped James's hair, yanking his face up to look at him.

　　"You messed with the wrong person."

　　"Please–"

　　Nico jabbed his knee painfully into his back, shutting him up, as screamed with pain.

　　Nero blinked in irritation. The man's shouting was getting on his nerves. He was already tired and really needed some sleep. He had come straight to the company, after he had woken up earlier that afternoon, and the girl was gone. He was due to fly back to Italy tonight, and he needed to handle this scumbag before leaving.

　　He would have loved to empty an entire magazine into this trash, but the noise would only worsen his headache. He thought of the blade, as stringing him up and carving him like pumpkins sounded like a good idea, but that would make a mess, and take a lot of time and energy.

　　He reached a hand to Nico, and he handed him a hammer. "This would have to do," Nero observed as he held up the tool. The restrained man did not have time to react, before Nero brought down the heavy hammer on his hands which Nico had splayed out on the ground.