His mouth opened and closed a few times before he was able to speak, “You can’t do that. You can’t fire me. You can’t.” He spoke, his voice cracking with anger and despair.
“I just did. Get your shit and get the hell out of my home.” I turned on my way back to the decanter. “In fact, all of you get out. I don’t care what the board thinks of me or who needs to be fired. I’ll run this company any way I damn well please.” I turned my back to everyone in the room, and I could hear them all quickly filing out. I took another drink, the roar of my anger slowly dimming in the background of my consciousness.
“Sir, I understand you need to instill respect in these men, but do you think it wise to have fired Mr. Daniels?”
I turned to look at Moses, “Oh, was that his name?” I chuckled as I took a step in his direction. My feet were getting heavier, any ache I had in my body from sleeping so long was gone. All of me felt loose and relaxed. It was a wonderful feeling.
“Sir, that man has worked for your family almost as long as I have.”
“What’s that supposed to mean to me?”
“Have you no appreciation for loyalty? His sacrifice for your family?”
“Loyalty?” I drained the glass in my hand and quickly poured another. “Did you know wolves are loyal to the Alpha of their pack until they sense weakness, and then they will fight for dominance? So no, loyalty means shit to me. He can find his way to the bread line and be happy about it.”
I watched as Moses stepped back, shaken. I was sure he thought I’d fire him if I needed to, even though he’d been more of a father to me than my father by blood. He was right. I would send Moses down to the unemployment lines quicker than anyone in history if I for one second thought he was stopping me from reaching greatness.
“Would you like me to fix you some supper?” He asked, the mask of the butler firmly planted on his face. He would never admit to me that his feelings were hurt.
“No, I’m getting the hell out of this house. I’ll be back in a few days. I need a vacation.”
“As you wish, sir.”
I took another drink and went back to my wing to grab a few things. There was no way I was going to stay around here for the night.
My bedroom was exquisite, suitable for a king, and it was stock full of hiding spaces for my favorite bottles of liquor. I reached behind my sitting bench, and pulled out the bottle of Magnum Grey Goose, pressed the sweet liquid to my lips, and guzzled it. I did my best to ignore the burn and pain in my throat as my reward was worth all the pain. I closed my eyes and let the wave of peace wash over me. My feet had long ago become heavy pieces of lead that were desperately trying to keep my body rooted to the spot. The hell with that, there was fun to be had and women to fuck.
Chapter Two
“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”
Hunter S. Thompson
I put the straw to my nostril and snorted the wonderful dust into my nose. I wasn’t really big on coke, but there was always a large supply at these parties I went to. “Come on, baby, save some for me.” A woman cooed by my ear as I let the tray fall back to the table and leaned back into the supple leather couch. I watched as she snorted a large line off the tray and then fell back to where I was sitting. She giggled sleepily as she tried to pull herself up and into my lap.
“Get the fuck off me and get me a drink,” I growled at her as I closed my eyes and tried to get a grip on the chaos rioting in my brain. All I needed was something to even me out. I watched as the woman tried to get up off the couch unsuccessfully. She fell sloppily to the floor, annoying the hell out of me. Stepping over her body, I opened the door of my VIP suite, and the grating pulsing bass of Avicii blared through the air. I walked quickly to the bar swarmed by club-goers and pushed a man who was trying to get the bartender’s attention.
“Hey man, watch where the fuck you’re going.” He turned and pushed me back. The man was huge and clearly spent most of his time in the gym. Any other man would be intimidated by his strength, but the alcohol and the drugs floating through my system made me brave. I smiled at him as he slowly swayed in my face. Something inside me told me that it wasn’t him swaying, but my mind giving me more of an obstacle.
“And if I don’t?” I spoke lowly, the music completely drowning out my words.
“Fuck out of here.” He turned around, clearly looking to ignore me, but that wasn’t going to do. I was going to have fun today.
I picked up the glass sitting on the table, and with all the power I possessed in my body, I swung it down onto the side of his head. He screamed and turned to hit me. The drugs and the alcohol caused my reflexes to slow, so he was able to land two punches before I could get my defense up and strike back. My knuckles cracked hard against his sharp cheekbone. I groaned internally as the pain vibrated through my hand, and I swung again, hoping to cause the same reaction. I saw a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the bar, and there was a clear smirk on my face. Apparently, I thought being beat on by this behemoth of a man was funny. He blocked a shot from me, and a straight jab hit me directly in my face. My head snapped back, and I cackled loudly as the blood began to pour from my nose. That was enough to stop him.
He glared at me for a second, stepping back from the fight I had no problem continuing, “What the fuck is your problem, man? You’re fucking crazy.” The man shook his head and pushed his way through the crowd.
“Pussy!” I screamed at his back as I used the sleeve of my three thousand dollar shirt to wipe the blood from my face. It was such a shame. The pain was one of the very few things that could break through the numbness of my life.
When I turned back to the bar, there was a large space around me, but everyone else seemed to be going on about their business, and no one would look me in the eye. Maybe someone else was bold enough to finish what the man started. Unfortunately, no one took the bait. I grabbed the lip of the bar and pulled myself up and over and snagged a bottle of vodka, twirled the cap off, and drank straight from the bottle. The bartender held my gaze, and I dared him to say something to me, not that he would. I owned the place and could take every single one of these bottles and pour it down the drain, and he couldn’t say shit.
When I jumped back over the bar, I stumbled and ended up falling straight to my knees but managed to keep the bottle from hitting the ground. Priorities. I got to my feet and had a hard time keeping my balance, but once I did, I walked back over to the VIP area. The security guard moved out of my way quickly, making sure to push open the heavy door before I reached him. I walked in to see the woman who’d been pawing at me earlier still on the floor, out cold. The steady rise and fall of her chest indicated she wasn’t dead. Not that it would matter if she were. It wasn’t the first time one of the women in my circle just couldn’t handle how hard I liked to party.
The door closed, and the music that had been unbearably loud dimmed to a soft hum. I glanced around the room and could see the plethora of women and a few men I considered associates. Most of them just sniffed around for a handout. I had power, wealth, drugs, and booze at my disposal. There was not one person in this room I respected or even liked enough to hang around with when alcohol or drugs weren’t present.