Johan appeared in the dining room through the archway, and suddenly, all the noise stopped.
It was as if even the hum of the electrical current that passed through the lamps, the air that circulated through the hall, and the air in everyone's lungs, everything had simply stopped making the slightest noise.
All the faces turned toward Erick Vaughn, and Johan saw several expressions on those faces that he had spent so many sleepless nights learning to recognize, while the real Erick Vaughn slept - in the bed in which Johan must have been sleeping, to enjoy his hard-earned money. that he had achieved at that gig -, healing from the stab wound from a few days before.
Some warm expressions, as if they were people who had been waiting for a long time for someone dear to them to finally return home.
Some less friendly but still encouraging expressions, which Johan judged to be expressions of loyal determination.
Others, however, are somewhat more obscure.
Johan saw greed, envy, concealed anger.
But on the faces of some of the people there, around that dinner table, and standing in various parts of the room, Johan saw what he thought was the most dangerous expression of all.
Cold eyes and faces, without any emotion, just watching the host who finally came to welcome the main event.
No one paid attention to a Claudius Clifford who passed right behind Erick, looking at the ground, and then forward, forging a perfect smile, behind an immaculate mask of calm and composure.
'When you introduce yourself to the dinner guests, you must address them as being superior to them...' Johan remembered the words Erick said during the lessons on how to be Erick Vaughn. 'As if you were their boss.'
"Ladies, gentlemen, friends, my family..." Johan began, using everything he had to maintain his composure under the oppressive atmosphere that weighed on his shoulders, coming from welcoming, determined, and cold eyes. "Before we start dinner, I would like to sincerely apologize for not coming to welcome you properly, and for being late. I had some... last minute situations that demanded my full attention." With that, he glanced in Clifford's direction. "However, I want you to know that I am very happy to see you again after these six months."
With an ever so slight bow of the head, Johan finished.
"It's good to be back."
A young woman, appearing to be in her late twenties, with very black hair tied into a very slick ponytail, rimless glasses, and a simple green dress that only accentuated her olive skin, studied Erick for a few moments. moments with his blue eyes, before raising his glass of wine.
Standing up, along with the gesture, she spoke, a firm yet crystal clear voice filling the air.
"To Mr. Erick Vaughn, and how being with family is good!"
Everyone around the table and in the corners of the room imitated the woman's gesture, standing up and raising their glasses and drinking glasses into the air.
"It's good to be back!"
Everyone drank, and with a round of applause, Johan finally approached the table, and one of the servants pulled out the chair at the end of the table for him.
Johan sat down and picked up his glass, raising it to return the toast to everyone.
"Thank you Lilah." Johan said, addressing the woman in the green dress. "It's always a pleasure to receive a gift from you."
The woman, Lilah, smiled at him with an enigmatic gleam in her eyes.
Johan raised the glass to his lips, and used the time to think about his next words.
This was still not the grand dinner that Erick had spoken of, even if Claudius was among the guests, so Johan had no idea why this dinner had been prepared, unless everything had been orchestrated for his welcome. .
However, Johan didn't have to think much more, as one of the guests stood up, politely asking for Johan's permission.
"Say it, Quintus."
Quintus, a short man, but as stout as a rock, with short, neatly combed black hair, a bushy beard, and almost black eyes, like the eyes of a shark, bowed, grateful for the opportunity to speak, and began speaking.
"Sir... I know that dinner is a celebration to celebrate your return, but I can no longer delay the inevitable..."
Johan raised an eyebrow, perplexed by the strangely urgent tone in Quintus Burrough's speech.
"I'm listening..."
'Is there something wrong with the business of one of the companies the Vaughns subsidize?' Johan asked himself, setting down his glass and resting his chin on his fingers.
"Sir... In the six months you were away... The East Side Niners began to feel bolder." Everyone in the room fell silent at the mention of the name East Side Niners, and Johan made a point of noting that detail in his mind.
'Strange name for a rival business conglomerate...'
But Johan had a bad feeling about the direction this conversation was taking, as well as feeling slightly tired, breathing very slightly.
'I need to get used to this quickly, or these business conversations will end up being the end of me...'
"The Niners have killed fifty of my men in the last week alone, Mr. Vaughn... The Burrough's territory has begun to shrink drastically. We need you to take some action, in the name of the Burrough's loyalty to you, sir..."
"Right..." Johan started to say. "The Niners killed-" Johan cut himself off immediately, the words choking in his throat.
'They killed...? Fifty men... Under the command of this guy called Quintus?'
Johan felt the words die in his throat.
His suspicions were that Erick Vaughn was part of some very important and influential corporate conglomerate.
How on earth would a corporate conglomerate get involved in other people's deaths?
Johan had watched a film that enlightened his mind for a very brief moment, which talked about the head of an extremely influential family in...
No.
Johan did everything he could to completely and completely refuse that name.
'It can't be possible...'
"Mr. Vaughn... The hegemony of the Vaughn family in the country's mafia is at stake... What will we do to fight the Niners?"
'Mafia... Did this Quintus really just say the word mafia?'
"Mafia... Ha..." Johan said out loud, without realizing it, letting out a nervous laugh...