Into the Lion's Den (96 page)

“I must see to your domestic service, but I assure Mr. Lacroix, that I'm more than qualified to look after your son.”

“I would prefer that Guntram sees a more cosmopolitan environment that the one he normally lives in.”

Michel only said. “Fairuza has been looking after him almost like a mother; a bossy one, that's,” he clarified and Guntram chuckled, “but a very dedicated one. She has been with me for seven years and will return to Brussels once Guntram decides to return with the Griffin.”

“Very well, sir,” Friederich mumbled and left the room, leaving Guntram showing the pictures to his father till the lawyer had enough of the babies and asked his son to be quiet as he needed to work on a case.

The chauffeur was clever enough as to move aside before his Duke would have hit him with the door, while Hartick did his best to run to open the other door for Goran. Without waiting for him, Konrad climbed up the stairs from the entrance very fast in his haste to see Guntram.

“Is he here?” He asked Friederich, gloomier than ever standing at the front door.

“Mr. de Lisle is in the living room with Mr. Lacroix, Sire.”

“Excellent,” but Friederich continued to block the door. Konrad coughed, but the man still looked at him very crossed. “Something wrong, Friederich?”

“There's a Muslim in this house, Sire and she plans to stay. She says she takes care of the young sir. I have no place for one of their kind.”

“Of course not!” Goran growled, ready to remove the woman from the house.

“One moment, please. Why is she here?” Konrad sighed, remembering her from yesterday and how much Guntram seemed to like her.

“Mr. Lacroix brought her. He says that she has been taking care of the young sir while he was living with him, almost like a mother.” Friederich said and Goran nearly threw up.

“I'll get her out!” Goran said. “No Muslim will be near Guntram, my Griffin.”

“No, the less I need now is Lacroix yelling that we are a bunch of fanatics and taking him away. Let her be, but rent a room for her in a hotel nearby. I will not have a Muslim sleeping under my roof,” Konrad was again becoming enraged with the man. 'That Guntram speaks with one of them, can be blamed on his deficient education but that Lacroix does it, is inexcusable! He's perfectly aware of the rules!' He stormed toward the living room and jerked its door open, truly furious with the man, once more doing what he pleased, now under his own roof.

“Hello, Konrad,” Guntram smiled shyly from his place in the couch and rose to greet him and Konrad's fury vanished to really see his kitten, once more, waiting for him. He returned the smile, without caring about Lacroix's presence in the room.

“Did you have a nice trip?” Konrad only took Guntram's hands and briefly squeezed them, fighting his desire to kiss them when he saw Michel standing behind his son and glaring at him.

“Yes, thank you,” Guntram blushed under the intense looks from Konrad and shouted happily “Goran!”

when he saw the dark haired man standing at the entrance. Much to his father's horror, his own child went to hug the assassin, who returned the gesture with brotherly affection and lightly slapped Guntram on the head with a “next time you do something so stupid, little brother, you will not like your punishment. If you fight with the Griffin, come to me. The Russians were after you and still are.”

“I know, Goran. I wasn't thinking at all. I just wanted to leave,” Guntram muttered, very ashamed of his own idiocy. “I said no twice to Repin.”

“Guntram, that will not stop him. He only understands one language. Now, introduce me to the person who protected you all this time,” Goran said and released the boy.

“This is Michel Lacroix. The Godfather. You didn't meet him back in the 80's,” Konrad said dismissively and Michel fulminated him with his glare. “Oops, I mean, Guntram's Godfather,” he corrected himself with a smirk.

“How do you, Mr. Lacroix?” Goran said, extending his hand, after all, the man was no part of the team who had killed his father and the old bill had been settled in December by someone of his own blood.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Pavicevic,” Michel shook the hand.

“I will be in charge of your security as you're the new President of the Lintorff Foundation.”

“Not yet, in several months time.”

“We must discuss your new residence and staff anyway. The sooner this will be settled the better for Guntram.”

“I understand.”

“It seems you have already brought your own domestic service for Guntram. Rest assured, sir, that Friederich can look after him perfectly well as he has done in the past. There's no need to leave your maid here. She can take a flight back to Brussels tomorrow,” Konrad said.

“Fairuza stays till the 6th, my Griffin. She will oversee that Guntram takes all his medications and she has grown very attached to him.”

“My own doctor will asses his condition tomorrow. It should be fine.”

'This is worse than a divorce trial,' Guntram thought. 'Will they establish a visitation schedule now?'

“Guntram has his own doctor in Aschaffenburg.”

“But he will live in Zurich. Far away from Bavaria. Dr. Wagemann will visit him tomorrow,” Konrad slightly rose his voice, but the French didn't seem to be intimidated a bit and only rose an eyebrow challenging to continue.

'Well, the Duke finally met his match. Speak of hellish fathers in law!' Goran thought very amused. 'Ten to one, this man doesn't let the Duke touch one single hair of Guntram till he's in Zurich and fifty to one that he moves to the castle within two months, no matter what the Duke thinks. I should not worry to move people to Brussels.'

“Dr. Wagemann is an excellent physician, Michel,” Guntram said, hoping to stop the upcoming confrontation and his father backed off only mumbling that it was all right to see him. “Thank you very much Konrad for bringing Mopsi here. I really missed her.” He took the tall German to the other side of the living room with the dog coming with them. “Is Jean Jacques here too?”

Much to Konrad's secret joy, Goran was clever enough as to remove Lacroix from his presence with the excuse that he wanted to discuss some security issues. Both men went to the library, where the lawyer also announced that he was going to remain, working.

'Strange he's giving up so easily. Must have something nasty under his sleeve.' Konrad thought but decided to use the opportunity to spend some time with Guntram alone and perhaps improve his own value in front of the boy. He took out his mobile phone from his pocket and searched for the new babies' pictures. 'Again the bloody de Lisle is right, show photos and be quiet! Bloody lawyers!'

“Guntram, would you like to see new pictures? They're less red than before,” Konrad asked taking the big sofa near the window with the excuse that the light was better there and Guntram should sit next to him and very close if he wanted to see them.

“That would be nice, thank you,” Guntram answered and sat exactly where Konrad wanted, taking the phone from his hand and starting to look at them.

Konrad could feel how the boy was slowly becoming more receptive to him (not only to the children) and decided to make a move. 'Gosh, this is worst than when I was 16 and wanted some fun! What's next?' he briefly thought before he would put his arm around his kitten shoulders.

The door burst open and when Konrad was going to shout the impertinent who had dared to interrupt him in his own private library.

“Guntram! Time for your nap! Hurry up, boy!” Fairuza shouted from the door, glancing fiercely at the

“antiquity” already trying something because he was almost on top of her child.

“Fairuza, it's really unnecessary!” Guntram complained in French without rising his voice, but crossed that he was once more “sent to bed” and in front of Konrad. He was not a baby!

“Your doctor said so. Go now or I tell your father!” Fairuza crossed her arms and looked defiantly at him. “Move now!”

“The young man has already expressed his desire to remain here,” Konrad said in a very low tone in French. 'Learn bitch, I understand each word you say.'

“I take care of him. Not you. Guntram goes to bed now! You go somewhere else!” Fairuza was not a woman to be scared so easily off and much less by an infidel.

The minute Konrad was going to give her a piece of his mind and explain how his ancestors dealt with her “kind”, Guntram interfered to avoid the clash. “Yes, Konrad. The doctor ordered it. My heart was not working very well during the past month and after that time in the hospital, I take it more seriously. If you would excuse me.

I'll see you at tea time, if you're still here,” He rose from the sofa and gave the phone back. “Your children are certainly cute.”

“Thank you,” Konrad answered mechanically, still engaged in his battle of looks with the woman. He could only witness how his planned afternoon with Guntram had just been cancelled. 'Bloody Lacroix! This is why he let me alone with Guntram!'

After Guntram followed the woman and closed the door behind him, leaving an enraged man behind, Konrad needed to count up to thirty before storming out of the living room in direction to the library. Without bothering to knock, he burst into the room to find Goran and Michel sitting in his desk. Of course, Lacroix had his place and Goran was taking notes. Konrad coughed loudly, expecting that the Lacroix would vacate the seat but the man only raised an eyebrow and remained where he was.

“Good you could finally join us, my Griffin,” Michel said, slightly moving his head toward the empty place next to the Serb. “When was this photo taken?” He took the silver frame from the desk and showed it to the Duke. “It looks like Italy.”

“It's San Capistrano, a family residence. That's the courtyard,” Konrad mumbled, sitting and glaring to the man.

'Two months? No way, one month before he's installed in the castle. I really should not bother to move people to Brussels. Perhaps send Mirko for appearances' sake. He always wanted to visit the place,' Goran thought after seeing the brief exchange.

“Ah, yes. Guntram told me when you were together there. He enjoyed it very much. Your Art collection, I mean. He spoke about it lengthy.”

“Indeed,” Konrad growled already furious with the man.

“Mr. Pavicevic and I have started to discuss about my security after Guntram moves back with you. I was telling about my own resources.”

“I would be interested to hear this, if you don't mind, Mr. Lacroix.”

“No, of course not. Honesty is crucial among… how would you describe this? Business partners, my Duke?”

“Guntram is my consort and the tutor of my children. He's part of my family now and has been accepted for most of them,” Konrad said, feeling very miserable because…

“By transitive character we should be family too,” Michel smirked and returned the picture to the table.

“No, that would be too much for both of us. Business partners is fine. That Guntram likes you is a mystery beyond reason. It's a test for my faith.”

“You were telling Pavicevic about your ventures.”

“Certainly. I have a law firm with an old classmate, Nicholas Lefèbre. Perhaps you have heard about us; Wolfensohn and Partners. Nicholas and I bought it in 1994, and we have offices in Brussels, Paris and Geneva. The old Wolfensohn was getting too old and decided to sell. We employ over one hundred fifty people and specialise in corporate law. We have among our clients several banks and industries. Last year, our bill to Mr. Repin was over forty millions and from people associated to the Order another…”

“You costed me seventy-four million euros! You had absolutely nothing! Did you bribe the judge?”

Konrad shouted, making Goran flinch as he was deeply engulfed in the talk with the lawyer, horrified at the thought of

'our associates as his clients too?'

“I'm flattered that you still remember the Banksy case,” Michel answered simply. “As I was saying before the interruption, we also have some members of the Order among our…”

“Those were Jews! You have a Jew firm!” Konrad roared, hitting the table with his fist.

“Law has no religion, sir. Madame Bansky only claimed a part of her legitimate inheritance. Her family deposited several valuable paintings in your vault before the war. Somehow you forgot to return them. It was my pleasure to work on her case pro bono. Personally. I left many of the other clients in the other lawyers' hands. This has nothing to do with religion but with justice.”

“You had nothing but a few old photos! Not a single document proving her ownership of the paintings!

Do you think I will open a safe box to the first who comes with a tearful story to me? You raided my own office for that case!”

“I did not! The police served a Court Order. Just adding a little pressure on you to negotiate. Your lawyers were very disagreeable to us and refused to talk. She was almost eighty years old and to go through the whole process could have lasted over ten years. The poor woman deserved to enjoy her money. As for documents, people don't pack when they're running for their lives. Don't complain so much. It was a good settlement for all of us. In 15

years, you can check what's inside of her safe box and sell it as it belongs to you know. The appraisals were over one hundred thirty-five million, if I remember correctly.”

“You have broken one of our rules! You sided with the enemy! We have no contact with such people!

You helped one of them against me!”

“I was no part of the Order and I choose my own clients. The poor woman was living in an old people house without her children's support. Now she's very happy with her money.”

“And you too,” Konrad said very irked.

“Of course, my Griffin. We shared: thirty-five percent, although she wanted to give me fifty percent and leave nothing for her children. She bought a very nice villa in Cannes. She invited me several times and I guess she will live up to her 90 years.”

“De Lisle, this is…”

“Lacroix, if you please,” Michel abruptly cut the Duke's tirade. “As I told you in our previous meeting, I have access to many of your brothers' new dirty laundry and some of yours too. Do not try my patience because if you fight with me, those seventy-four millions, legitimately belonging to someone else, will be nothing compared to what I can do to your finances. We agreed for Guntram's sake to disarm, but I will not tolerate one single word out of place from you. You still owe me my entire family's lives.”