darker_london | Cousins (Peter, Aleric)

Having had it confirmed by Johan, who understood the psychology of organised crime, Peter was now certain that the attack on Joe and Jordan Littleton had been a message to him. Nothing had come of the account numbers Joe had given to save Jordan. No one had been taken or killed. And if that had been their motive, Peter knew they wouldn't have rushed away the way they had.

Instead of sending cops Aleric's way, Peter sent himself. He was family and just the mention of his surname was enough to get him past the Little Moscow security and shown to the home Aleric Drescher now shared with his wife, Lily.

The door was answered by a maid, who showed Peter to Aleric's office. He was announced and then admitted to the room in a way Peter felt was ridiculous when visiting one's cousin. But the Kempfs did like their pomp. "Ah, cousin Peter." Aleric fixed Peter with a smile that was all too fake. "Please, have a seat."

Peter arched an eyebrow and remained standing as he watched the rest of the people that had been in the office disappear into the framework. Aleric had been waiting for him. "You wanted to see me?" Peter's voice was dry and unamused, quite the opposite of it's normal and pleasant timbre.

"I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure what you mean." Aleric leaned forward in his desk, the expression on his face indicating he knew exactly what Peter meant, and furthermore, that Peter was right.

"You sent your...is cronies the PC term? Anyway, you sent your cronies to mess with one of my employees. If you wanted to speak to me, I don't understand why you didn't just come to my home."

"And risk crossing paths with your dyke sister? I hardly think so." Aleric sneered and Peter stiffened in anger. "And I still state that I don't know what you're talking about."

"Will you cut the shit?" Peter gave Aleric a tired look. The boy was over ten years younger than him and speaking as if he was somehow Peter's superior. It was grating on his nerves even without the insults on the people he loved. "I know you did it to get me to show up here."

"If that were the case...if someone were to do something like that, they would probably have done it to see if you would show up here." Aleric leaned back, smiling again. "Not everyone would risk a trip into Little Moscow to plead for the safety of his employees. They probably wanted to see what kind of man you are."

Peter arched one eyebrow. "Then watch me not plead." Silence descended over the both of them for a few moments and then Peter spoke up again. "Tell me what you want. I don't care to play games with you. I know far too much about this family-"

Aleric held up his hand. "No more words." He pressed a button on his phone and someone rushed in a second later. Aleric pointed to Peter without a word and suddenly there was a man pulling off his suitcoat and untucking his shirt. Peter glared at Aleric, but he let the man do his job. They were checking to make sure he wasn't wired. He stood silently as the man bared his chest, which was clean. Then the man disappeared, leaving Peter to put himself back together again because he didn't like to be unkempt. "Those are some impressive scars, Peter." Did Aleric look slightly disturbed?

Peter pulled his suitcoat back on and he watched his cousin carefully. "They didn't feel quite so impressive when they were happening."

"Did one of them say, 'Judas'?"

"Are we really here to talk about past wounds?" Peter gave Aleric a withering look.

"My bad." Aleric raised his hands as if to indicate peace. "I'm impressed you came in here clean."

"I wanted you to talk to me. So talk. Did you really want the hospital accounts, or was that all part of the ploy to get me here? This can't be about money." The Kempf family fortune alone would have doubled the net worth of Little Moscow easily.

"It's not about taking your money, no. Though trust me, Peter, we could make things very difficult for you. This is about a partnership. A business offer. It's not exactly obscure knowledge that hospitals tend to spend more money than they make. You have to be losing a great deal of profit on that hulking monstrosity of yours, even if it is a private hospital."

Peter put his fingers to his lips, looking thoughtful, but he still didn't understand where this was going. "We recieve grants and there's a board of direct-" Peter stopped. "Partnership?"

"A Kempf family business! We want to buy in to your hospital. Wolfgang was there to visit Bertolt during his sorry business and he said it was quite the institution. We want to buy into it. Just 30%, which isn't a controlling interest, as you would know. You could continue on with business like you do, though someone from the family would be on the board. Possibly two people. And you'd never have to worry about money again."

Peter's eyes flashed. "And you'd use my hospital as a front to order your drugs. Is that it? You want a legitimate business here because everyone can see right through Little Moscow and without one you'll always be a tiny slum selling downmarket street drugs." Peter shook his head firmly. "I won't have you staining my hospital with your filth."

"Peter." Aleric's voice changed now, as if he were speaking to a two-year-old. "I know I don't have to tell you that this decision will come back to haunt you. You should say yes to this. You'll be sitting in security for the rest of your life, and your beloved hospital will be safe too. You're gaining the protection of the Kempf family. Nothing will be able to touch you. We could even handle malpractice cases. Anything. If you say no, you realise you're gaining one hell of an enemy. That hospital will be ours somehow."

Peter glared at Aleric and then he reached into his pocket. "You're going to have to take it from my cold, dead hands. Metaphorically speaking. And, Aleric? Good luck with that." Peter threw his business card down on Aleric's desk. "The next time you want to speak to me? Use a fucking phone." And he turned on his heel and left Aleric sitting there by himself.