Chapter 1: The New Boss

 Chapter 1: The New Boss

Eltan Storm

It had been two years—two fucking years since my parents were killed in a bomb blast. Their funeral was something I would never forget; not that I would ever want to. I needed to remember exactly what I felt when I was standing in front of my parents' burned corpses so that the fire of my vengeance never dimmed.

I was their youngest child—the most adored and spoiled one. I used to be the goofy troublemaker among my siblings. I had been the only one who didn't go down the family business path. That's why my parents were protective of me and almost never let me out of their sight. Not like they would restrict me a lot. In fact, they would let me get away with stuff that they normally wouldn't allow Elian and Lance. Even when they sent the two of them out of the city, Mom and Dad made sure I was always within their hands' reach, whether it was their impromptu dinner plans or dragging me to their boring business parties.

Mom and I were like besties; we loved chatting. She loved art just as much as me. She may not have been the most skilled artist around, but she was always my biggest fan, who actually understood my art and appreciated it. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for Dad. Although the two of us would often bond over our shared love of chess. I always let him win, and that's not a brag. Because back then, I was afraid to have him discover my wits. But now that I thought about it, he probably always knew. And yet, he never pressured me into the family business.

I loved the two of them so much. I have spent twenty-two years with them, and not a single day I pictured my life without them. That's why when the news of their death came, it hit me harder than anything I could have ever expected.

However, that wasn't even the worst part. Worse was, I was the only child attending their funeral.

Elian got stuck on a business tour in France, which demanded his urgent attention. His wife, Alena, insisted on coming with their baby, but it wasn't safe to bring Xian, so I told her not to risk it. At least, I was rational enough to make sure the heir to our mafia empire was safe. Meanwhile, Lance had left the country for the love of his life, Ember, thus it wasn't safe for them as well.

In short, I watched over my parents' last rituals all alone with no one to put a hand over my shoulder and assure me that things would be alright eventually. There had been no one to calm the fire in my chest that was growing from the loss of the two people who meant the world to me. At that moment, it was hard not to blame the entire world for my misery. So I directed all that rage and hatred toward the two people who orchestrated my parents' death. I made their downfall the aim of my life.

Currently, the entire responsibility of the mafia 'Thunder' was on my shoulders now. I, Eltan Storm, ruled the underworld. I was the king of the world's most dangerous and feared gang.

It was funny how I never thought of becoming what I was today. I thought I would dedicate my entire life to painting. But as wise people say, you can't have everything you want in life. I couldn't manage my gallery and the gang at the same time. So I had to make a choice.

No one forced me to choose the gang, but if I hadn't taken over it, all of my dad's hard work would have gone to waste.

My brothers couldn't continue being in the mafia for their respective reasons, leaving no one to handle it after Dad. That's why I had to be the responsible one back then after spending my whole life being the pampered one, which meant shutting down my art gallery forever two years ago.

Life had been a mess for these two years. Nothing seemed to be working out. I felt so alone living in Vegas, almost every day I wished I could be in California, close to Elian and his family, especially my nephew. I was missing out on so much of Xian's childhood; it sucked.

But all of that sacrifice would pay off tonight.

It was the day of my revenge.

I was walking into the most famous casino in Las Vegas, which Lance formerly owned, but now, I was the owner of it. I had never come to the Berserkers Storm Corp. before. Today was my first day, and hopefully, my last day after I blew up this casino with my parents' killers in it.

I continued walking with my hands in my pocket with a subtle smirk, knowing the remote of the bomb was in there. Once I would press the button, everything here would burn into ashes.

The casino was filled with people. Even though the crowd never bothered me, it would be risky for anyone to bump into me and accidentally press the trigger. So I decided to go to the bar and sit there till the two people I had been waiting for arrived.

Once I pulled out a chair for myself, a cheerful voice spoke up, "What shall I serve you, Sir?"

I looked up at the woman behind the counter. She had an adorable smile on her face—her dimples popping out. Her auburn hair was tied in a fishtail braid.

"Anything," I replied curtly. My eyes were glued to the entrance, waiting for those people to arrive.

"Here, take this," she said and handed me a red-colored drink. "This was the former owner's favorite drink, so I figured you would like it too. It's called Faith's Special."

This time I looked straight into her amber eyes.

"Faith's Special?" I arched an eyebrow and asked, "How can you be so confident that I will like this?"

My question blew away her confidence, making a look of hesitation appear on her face. "Uh, I guess you can call it a bartender's instinct or experience. But if you don't like it, please let me know and I will serve you another drink. But a gentle reminder: it will taste the best on the third drink."

I didn't know why, but it felt like she was the sort of person who is carefree about what she says at first, but the moment someone questions her, she fumbles and struggles to believe in herself.

I accepted the drink, my fingers brushing lightly against hers. She simply ignored my touch and continued to make another drink. She seemed to be putting extra attention on that drink.

I tried to hide my chortle and took a sip of the drink. It was bitter at first, but at the third sip, as she said, it tasted better. I inquired, "So how well do you exactly know the former owner?"

A genuine grin appeared on her lips almost immediately. "Lance was my soul brother. He helped me through the hard times and treated me like a sister, so you can say I was pretty close to him."

I raised my eyebrows after hearing her.

Lance was close to this woman, then why didn't he ever tell me? Then again, maybe I never paid attention to his words that deeply, assuming back then I wouldn't have to lead this life.

I looked at the nameplate on her modest bartender uniform. Faith Mabel.

"Do you still have contact with him?" I asked curiously to see how close she really was to Lance.

She nodded her head. "I even talked to Ember last week. Oh, Ember is his wife, by the way. They are away right now for some reason, but we are in regular touch."

"Wow," I mumbled under my breath. When another question came to my mind, I decided to add, "What about the current owner? Are you close to him as well?"

"Oh, I wish. That man has never bothered to show his face around here," the complaining words tumbled out of her mouth almost immediately, but once she realized she was saying it to a random customer, she gathered herself and said, "No, I mean, I am not close to him. But I heard the owner is Eltan Storm, Lance's younger brother."

I suppressed my smile. Little did she know she was talking with the owner. "What else have you heard about him?"

I watched Faith cleaning the bar as she spoke up after a sigh, "I haven't heard much about him and others' opinion really doesn't matter to me. However, when I learned he was Lance's brother, I thought he would be just like him—a good-hearted and responsible person. But much to my dismay, the owner didn't even visit this casino once, which makes it clear that he is not responsible."

"Maybe he is busy?" I tried to reason out.

Faith rolled her eyes and let out a huff. Seems like she was in her comfort zone now with me now. Just a few minutes ago, she was still trying to maintain professionalism with me. But now, everyone would think I was her regular customer.

"That guy had one job. If he's that busy, he can just visit once every two or three months. He is irresponsible, mark my words. He is definitely busy with his personal life. So Mr. Busybody doesn't even bother to check up on his employees." She shrugged her shoulders. "Never mind. Nothing matters as long as I get my paycheck on time."

She seemed simple and smart. It piqued my interest. She didn't even wonder that there might be a slight possibility of the owner sitting right in front of her.

"Suppose, the owner comes here. Once you meet the new owner, will you serve him like you used to serve Lance?" I crossed my arms against my chest after finishing my drink.

Faith's lips pursed. "I think I will, but won't give him as much priority as I gave Lance."

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"Because I gave the brother position to Lance already. No one can replace him." She took the glass I kept on the bar table.

I chuckled this time. "I am okay with that. I wouldn't wanna be the brother of a cute girl."

As soon as I said that, the glass slipped from her hand, breaking into small pieces. The warm smile, which was on her face, disappeared within a few seconds as the realization hit her like bricks.

She asked hesitantly, "Are you Eltan Storm, the new boss?"