He was about to crash another Louvardis function. This time, a party instead of a funeral.
His negotiators, emissaries and go-betweens had failed to resolve this current situation, the most potentially catastrophic of their business interactions. The Louvardises were no longer trying to wring him dry in negotiations. They were trying to take an ax to his throne in the shipping world. They’d left him no doubt that they would go kamikaze if it meant taking him down with them.
So he was here as a last measure. To find out just what had instigated this extreme stance. He owed it to their father—and to Selene—to give them a chance to reach a compromise, to back off, before he employed his heaviest artillery and gunned them down.
The emotional ferocity, the lack of a logical core at this last attack had made him wonder if it was Selene’s doing. But he’d dismissed that wishful thought. She wasn’t a woman scorned. She was the one who’d walked out.
Whatever it was, it had to end now. One way or another.
He moved at last, passing through the gates. Good thing the man who asked for his invitation recognized him and decided to not make an issue of it. He wasn’t sure how he’d have dealt with anyone coming between him and his objective, which he had to achieve with as much economy of time and hassle as possible before getting the hell out of there. This time he fully intended never to return.
He strode to the mansion’s open massive oak double doors, feeling bombarded by the curiosity of those who were wandering out, cocktails in hand, to enjoy the beauty of the immaculate grounds. His ire rose with every intrusive glance. He was in worse condition than he’d thought if the violation of privacy he’d long grown an impervious shield against could rile him, and this much.
He’d better find one of the Louvardis clan, and quickly—
“I can kick you out this time, Sarantos.”
Nikolas Louvardis. The one now steering the Louvardis ship, so to speak. Probably the one responsible for the current escalation in hostilities. Good. He always dealt with problems at the source.
He turned to the man the media called the “other” Greek god in the shipping business.
“Louvardis.” Aris met Nikolas’s brilliant blue glare head-on, not even thinking of extending a hand he knew wouldn’t be taken. Not now. But he would end this confrontation by forcing Nikolas Louvardis to put his hand in his. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
Nikolas’s eyes filled with feral challenge. “Turn around and walk out under your own power, Sarantos. If you don’t, I’m sure plenty of the attendees will capture what will happen on video and sell it to the highest bidders.”
Aris huffed a mirthless chuckle. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of propaganda, Louvardis. But I hear you’re a piano player. Surely you won’t risk your precious hands.”
“Only for your jaw, Sarantos.” Nikolas raised him a taunting smile. “But then again, maybe not. Your being here speaks volumes. It’s actually priceless. You’re scared.”
Aris gave him a serene look. “Go ahead. Revel in spelling out this fascinating theory.”
“Who am I to disappoint the great Aristedes Sarantos?” Nikolas bared his teeth in a smile Aris was sure would have had lesser men cringing. “So here it is. You’re at the level where you have to become the biggest shipping mogul around, not one of a handful of kingpins, or you risk losing everything to mergers or worse. Only one thing is standing in the way of realizing your goal. Louvardis Enterprises.”
“You’re not the only technological-outfitting empire around, Louvardis.”
“But we’re the best,” Nikolas countered. “With a capital B. If we weren’t, if you had an alternative, you wouldn’t be here.”
“This is a two-way street,” Aris said. “Now more than ever, it’s vital to team up with only the best. You may be the best ship-and-port outfitters, but I’m the best ship-and-port builder.”
Nikolas shrugged. “We’re looking to give someone else the chance to take that position. Want to bet whomever we choose will soon become the best?”
“Still a two-way street, Louvardis. Whomever I back, I can also make the best.” Aris suddenly let the seriousness of this situation reflect in his expression. “But I’d rather not look for new collaborators. I didn’t get where I am by fixing what isn’t broken. Any reason you’re trying to break it? Even your father, who cited ‘irreconcilable differences’ in business practices and moral standings as his reason for fighting me every step of the way, never went so far as to make it a stipulation that I be out of the picture before he agreed to sign a contract. We always managed to reach agreements that satisfied both sides. So what brought on your sudden Samson tactics?”
Nikolas scowled. “My father always fought to oust you from every major contract that involved us both. That he ended up buckling wasn’t due to the power of your negotiations, but when your terrorist tactics scared his shareholders and board of directors into screaming for him to do it. And that’s something we intend to rectify. You’re done twisting Louvardis’s arm, Sarantos.”
Aris took a step closer, his stance echoing Nikolas’s confrontation. “You talk as if Hektor never twisted mine. It was a draw, with me losing to you as much as I won. Especially since you and your…siblings started to pop up in the picture.”
“Father recruited us—unwillingly and against his better judgment, I might add—when he felt he needed what he called ‘a multipronged retaliation fueled by the fervor of new blood, the zeal of youth and the creativity of the newer generation.’”
Aris’s eyes narrowed, his every sense prickling with Nikolas’s barely leashed bitterness. So not everything had been picture-perfect in the family that had seemed so to him. Nikolas held the same futile resentment toward Hektor as Aris did for not appreciating his abilities, for being loath to make use of them.
Who would have thought he and Nikolas Louvardis had anything in common? And something that…essential, too?
Aris felt something yield inside him, the aggression Nikolas’s baiting had ignited defusing.
His lips twitched. “But he did recruit you. And you did prove to be bigger headaches than even he ever was, taking the game to a whole new level and forcing me to be a far better player. But you, like him, know it’s not in your best interest to alienate me.”
“Alienate you?” Nikolas, back in top taunting form, barked a harsh laugh. “Try break you.”