When Max had gotten the invitation he was worried that there might be something more behind it. But the Black Houndgang was big enough and had enough legacy to work through things in different ways, not just through brute force.
This was why Max was more so confident about appearing now in front of them, because he thought that he might be able to settle some of the bad blood between them without fighting. The Billion Bloodline group had already gotten out of one tricky situation and had come out stronger after beating the Rejected Corps, but that wouldn’t always be the case after every fight.
Although Max did want to get his money back and more from what he had lost due to the stupidness of the Stable family, he didn’t want to start a full-scale fight just yet. The costs were too high.
’The fact that both of them are there, and that they placed us on this ship as well, was I wrong with my thoughts, did I get it wrong?’ The presence of both Jett and Darius Vale, the leader, on the isolated ship made him second-guess his assessment of the risk.
In the middle of his thinking, he saw Jett hook up with Darius, and now the two of them were walking together.
Heads turned as they walked past, and people were noticing that they were heading right toward the sofa where Max and the others were seated. The deck fell silent around them.
"They’re not heading here, are they?" Stephen whispered, his tension clear. "Why are they heading here, please don’t say they are heading here."
"I can say they’re not, but it’s not going to change anything," Darno added, bracing himself for the inevitable confrontation.
Just as Darius and Jett had gotten there, Max stood up from his seat, and so did Darno, a show of respect and caution.
"Sorry about the mask, but I have my reasons for doing this," Max said, extending his hand for a shake.
Immediately, Darius did the same; he didn’t hesitate or look at it in disgust. The handshake was firm, a meeting of equals, or at least two powers acknowledging each other.
"My name is Darius Vale, although some call me Grimm Vale but that’s put behind me," Darius said, confirming his identity. "I am the leader of the Black Hounds and the one that organizes all of these events, and I’m also the one that invited you. Do you mind if we sit with you, I would like to have a talk."
"This is your ship, right?" Max said, deflecting the formality as he opened his palm towards a few empty seats. "If we said no, I think if you asked everyone to help chuck us overboard they would all be willing to."
Darius chuckled at the dark joke, acknowledging Max’s awareness of their situation, and then sat at the side of the three. The seating arrangement had changed slightly.
For one, it was Stephen, Darno, and then Max, facing toward the ring. Then, on the side extension out, so they were at an angle, Darius and Jett were sitting together, creating a tense semicircle.
"I wanted to have a straight heart to heart conversation with you," Darius started, getting immediately to the point.
"I was interested in inviting you when you had taken over the Rejected Corps, but learning that you have an entire VC company behind you, and with the recent scuffles of our two groups I thought it was time for the two of us to talk."
"I agree," Max replied, keeping his tone measured. "Which was why I turned up, with no intention to turn this into a fight."
"Right, however it’s unavoidable with what you have been doing and I guess that’s why I wanted to talk," Darius continued, maintaining his focus. "The Billion Bloodline has been making large waves. A group that has come out of nowhere, doing big things in the underworld and it seems moving elsewhere as well, into the business world."
Darius leaned forward, his experience speaking. "But I don’t know if you know, but the higher you go, the more those two things are connected. You go too high and ruffle the feathers of the business world and you will find a large-scale gang behind it. And in our way of life, you will quickly get into trouble soon. Right now you are a nail that’s sticking out, and do you know what happens to a nail that is sticking out?"
Darius then slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, a sharp, metallic sound emphasizing the threat.
"It gets hammered down. I’m sure we don’t want that to happen, and I’m not saying it will be us that will be the one to do it either." He spoke as a warning, not just a threat. "So why don’t we start a fresh state with the event that is going on today? You can see this as a peace treaty to make up for what has happened to our two groups."
Max smiled and then chuckled, relaxing slightly at the mention of a treaty. "That’s what I wanted in the first place, honestly I am quite the gambler so I am looking forward to the event and scoring quite big."
"Right, however I still don’t think there is a complete resolution to our troubles," Darius said, pulling the conversation back to the underlying tension. "So why don’t we have our fighters deal with it? They will be the ones that will be fighting on behalf of our groups and put the aggression behind it. There is no drama between our two groups, but just pride based on our fighters today."
Before answering straight away, Max waited a while, considering the proposal, before he asked something that went straight to his core issue.
"I can agree to that, but what I would also like, is if the bets we make today, and the winnings, if they were transferred instantly rather than at the end."