Never Judge

"This way." Ray told his son as they arrived in what was the unknown headquarters of the King of the Underworld.

The location was so secret that only the head of each Mafia family and Gang knew the exact location.

There were also those, of course, that worked directly for the king of the Underworld, they knew where the headquarters were since most worked and lived in the area.

The arrived in Ray's office where Al saw his uncle Seth standing, waiting for his father to arrive.

"Seth." Ray greeted with a nod as he walked over behind the desk and sat on the throne like chair behind it.

One of his men pulled up another seat next to Ray for Al.

"Uncle Seth." Al greeted with a smile as he took his place to his father's right.

"Where is Ian?" Ray asked as he looked around the room.

"Your brother-in-law needed him. There are problems with the Reyes Group and Cedric could use the additional help." Seth explained as he sat straight.

Out of all the Mafia Family heads, Seth was the most comfortable around Ray, but he still feared and respected the other man.

Seth had worked with Ian in the Reyes Group when they were younger. He tried to escape being the Don of the Dean Family Mafia, but it was a calling he couldn't run.

"I'm surprised you are here, Aldrich." Seth said as he looked at the young man. "I thought you weren't interested in all of this. You never showed any signs of wanting to be part of this world."

Ray smiled and chuckled.

"We thought the same. I was surprised to find him looking up the Underworld one night." Ray explained. "From now on he will be shadowing me. He will meet the other Dons and Donas as well as the gang leaders. He will know their names and they will know his."

Seth nodded, understanding the implications of what Ray was saying.

The title of King of the Underworld will remain with the Lawrence family for another generation, if Al could prove himself worthy of the title.

"Moving on." Ray said as he diverted the discussion back on topic. "Why are you here, Seth. Of all the Dons you are the last I expect to come to me for help."

"I came to inform you about an incident in the Dean Family Mafia." Seath began to explain.

"Couldn't this have waited for our monthly meeting?" Ray asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, no." Seth said with a sigh. "A few months ago we discovered a traitor in our ranks. He was behind every failed project that we had for the past 3 years."

Ray frowned as he listened and to what Seth had to report.

"We thought at first he was working for one of our rival Mafia families or Gangs, you know how competition can get." Seth grinned as if to say he always won those contests for power and influence.

"But it wasn't?" Ray asked as he picked his coffee mug up and took a sip.

Seth nodded, confirming the king's question.

"Do you know who he works for?" Ray further questioned.

"No, unfortunately we are still trying to figure that part out." Seth frowned. "We have people watching him and his family."

"Does he have children?" Ray said as his head suddenly snapped up. It had been his policy never to involve children, in his eyes, they were innocent.

"He does, a daughter." Seth confirmed.

Cara.

Al couldn't help but think of his friend. He already had a hunch when his Uncle Seth spoke of a traitor that managed to get away he was talking about Cara's father.

"I don't want her harmed or used in this mess." Ray warned Seth. "You know my bottom line. If I harm children, then they will come after mine as well."

Ray looked at Al who frowned.

"They don't have the same moral standards as you, dad." Al reminded his father. "There is a reason why my identity is still a secret. Because aside from learning, I could be used to threaten just not you, but Uncle Cedric as well."

Ray smiled proudly at his son and nodded.

"He is built for this." Seth said as he looked quite impressed at Al's words.

"Just keep tabs on them, make sure this man knows that we are searching for him. He shouldn't suspect that we already found him." Ray instructed Seth.

The other man nodded, acknowledging his boss' words.

"In the meantime, we will need to work with Ian to find out who would want to attack the entire underworld from outside." Ray said as he processed his plan out loud. "An attack on the Dean family is practically an attack on all of us."

"We'll keep investigating. He left some documents, we need to figure out if they were planted or they are real." Seth informed Ray.

"Is there anything else?" Ray asked Seth.

"Nothing that can't wait. I'll take my leave now." Seth stood up and shook Ray's hand.

The then turned to look at Al and smiled.

"I'm glad you decided to enter the family business. It's a good sign." Seth said as he left the father and son duo alone in the office.

After a few moments of silence, Al decided to speak to his father.

"Dad, what do you expect me to learn for simply sitting in an office?" He questioned. He knew from experience that the real action was in the field.

"A better understanding of why we do what we do," Ray confidently answered. "When your grandfather first sent me to join the Mafia, I wished that he had let me understand the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?" Al asked, confused by his father's words.

Ray took a deep breath and nodded.

"Out there all those that work for the mafia and the gangs all they see are the small plots, the stealing, the killing, nothing more. I don't want you to become a brute, I want you to understand what drives us to do everything." Ray explained to his son,

Al nodded as he processed his father's words, he hadn't expected that answer from his father.

"Dad, there is another thing I want to ask." Al hesitated at first, worried that he would be rejected by his father.

"What is it?" Ray asked him.

"If I made a friend and was invited to go over to her house for dinner with her family, is it safe?" Al asked his father.

"She? Do you have a girlfriend Al?" Ray asked with a cheeky smile.

Annoyed that his father immediately assumed that he and Cara were more than friends, Al rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"No dad." Al grumbled. "Just a friend. I just want to know in case her family looks me up or something."

Ray laughed at how his son reacted and shook his head.

"Don't worry, Al, it would take someone truly exceptional to find out who you really are." Ray said with a grin. "For the record, your mom and I would never stop you from getting a girlfriend."

"Speak for yourself." Al grumbled knowing that his mother would cause a scene if he did find a girl he liked.

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