Killed at Eighteen, Billionaire Alpha at Dawn

Chapter 2

Death was a funny thing. 

Arashi had expected fire and brimstone, but it began with a bunch of nothing. No sounds, no sensation. He just drifted as if he was in an endless void. 

Then…

White light. The smell of chemicals. Something beeping. Beep. Beep. Beep. 

His eyes snapped open. 

Arashi tried to move and he couldn't.

Panic hit immediately, gripping his ribcage like chains. His arms were restrained. Legs too. He was lying flat on something cold and firm, tilted slightly upward.

His vision blurred, head pounding like someone was hammering nails through his skull. What the fuck? He wasn't dead?

He jerked against the restraints. They didn't budge.

"He's awake."

The voice came from his left. Male.

"Vitals are stable. Neural integration at seventy-two percent. Better than projected."

Arashi's vision cleared enough to see ceiling panels. White coating. The single lamp glared like the eye of an angry god. 

"Where…" His throat was raw. "Where am I?"

"Secure location." Different voice. Also male, but warmer. The voice belonged to one of those people that liked talking. "You're safe, Arashi."

Safe? He almost laughed. He hadn't been safe since he turned 5.

"Let me go."

"Not yet."

Footsteps. Two figures moved into view. One was younger, maybe thirty, wearing a white lab coat. The other was older, fifty-something, dressed in a dark suit that probably cost more than Arashi had made in his entire life. Bro had to be swimming in money. Buttloads of it. What did the geezer want?

The older man smiled. "My name is Rue Giodanzo. We need to talk."

"I don't need to do anything." Arashi pulled at the restraints again. "Let me go or I'll—"

"You'll what?" Rue's expression didn't change. "You were shot in the back seventeen hours ago. Three inches from your spine. You should be dead or paralyzed. You're neither. Curious about why?"

Arashi stopped struggling.

He remembered the alley. The gunshot. Going down. His mouth fell open. 

"You're saying I was shot."

"Yes." The man's eyes didn't leave his. 

"And I'm alive."

"Obviously." The geezer didn't elaborate.

"Then take me to a hospital."

Rue shook his head. "Hospitals keep records. Records create problems.” He sounded like he was reciting a mantra. “You don't exist anymore, Arashi. Officially, you died in that alley. Gunshot victim, no ID, body processed through the county system. Cremated three hours ago."

Arashi's stomach twisted. "You're lying,” he hissed, snarling with his lips pulled back. 

"I'm not." Rue nodded to the medical bloke. "Show him."

The doctor tapped something on a tablet and turned it toward Arashi. News article. The headline blazed like a fire brand. Unidentified Male Found Dead in South Loop Alley. Police Investigating.

The photo showed a body bag on a stretcher.

Arashi went cold. 

"That's not me," Arashi said.

"No. But it was reported as you. Your DNA, your dental records, everything matches. We're very thorough."

Who the fuck were these people?

"Why?"

"Because you needed to disappear." Rue pulled up a chair and sat. He let out a sigh. "And because your father is dead."

Arashi stared at him like he'd just heard the most stupid thing in his life. "I don't have a father."

"Everyone has a father,” Rue said, rolling his eyes. 

"Well, mine was a deadbeat git who didn't stick around. Bloke didn't want a single thing to do with me.” The thought hurt, but sit eighteen years with the same pain, and it became second nature. 

"On the contrary." Rue leaned forward. "Cassian Giodanzo knew exactly where you were. Every day of your life. Every group home, every school, every fight. He watched you."

Arashi blinked. "I don't know any Cassian. What the hell are you on?”

"You wouldn't.” Rue leaned back. “He made sure of that." Rue's expression shifted, and steel entered his eyes. "Cassian was one of the wealthiest men in the world, boyo. Controlled banks, infrastructure, entire governments. And he had no legitimate heirs. That is, until you."

Arashi laughed. It hurt. It hurt so much. "You're insane. Is this some rich geezer prank? You can let me go. I won't tell anyone.”

"Your mother was named Keiko Tanaka.” Arashi froze. “She met Cassian in Tokyo in 2007. You were born nine months later. She died when you were six months old. Cassian placed you in the foster system under a false name to keep you hidden."

"Hidden from what?”

Rue smiled. There was no mirth in it, but he knew he'd hooked Arashi. "From everyone who would kill you to prevent this conversation."

The beeping from the monitor accelerated.

Rue noticed. "You don't have to believe me yet. But you do need to listen. Cassian died four weeks ago. Heart attack. And his will names you as his sole beneficiary."

"That's impossible."

"It's verified. DNA samples were collected from you three years ago during a hospital visit for a broken arm. We've been preparing for this moment." Rue sounded bored. “Don't insult us, if you can manage that.”

Arashi's head was spinning. "I don't want his money. I don't know who the bloke you're talking about is, and I. Don't. Want. His. Money. Let me go.”

"It's not about what you want." Rue stood. He had a frame that screamed danger despite his age. "There are people who believe Cassian's empire should be divided among his business partners. There are others who think it should go to the state. And there are a few who simply want it burned to the ground. All of them have one thing in common."

"What?"

Rue met his eyes. 

"They need you dead."

The doctor was checking something on the machines. He didn't look concerned.

Arashi forced himself to focus. He swallowed the painfully hard lump forming in his throat. "So you faked my death."

"Yes."

"And now what? I hide forever?"

"No." Rue straightened his jacket. "Now we find out if you're actually his son. Or just a very expensive mistake."

"You just said you verified—"

Rue cut him off. "DNA tells us biology. It doesn't tell us capability." Rue moved toward the door. "Cassian didn't leave his empire to you because you share his genetics, boyo. He left it to you because he believed you could protect it. We're going to test whether he was right."

"And if I fail?"

Rue paused at the door. "Then we find someone else. And you go back to being dead."

He left.

The doctor checked one more reading and followed.

Arashi was alone with the beeping machines and the restraints and the impossible story echoing in his head.

He tested the straps again.

Still locked.

Holy bloody fuck.