Never Judge

As Cedric got into his car he slumped back on his seat and closed his eyes to calm himself.

"What happened there?" Ian said as he had noticed the visible expression of irritation on Cedric's face as he walked out of the room.

Most people would have thought Cedric was calm and rational, but Ian had worked with Cedric long enough to know when something was bothering him. 

"Well for one we were right." Cedric said with a sigh. "I really didn't want to be right this time, but the mayor is corrupt. He offered that he could change the mind of the property owners if we paid him."

"Cedric, we both knew there was an extremely high chance of this being true." Ian said as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What do you want to do now?" He asked.

"We've only seen one half of the puzzle." Cedric said, shaking his head. "I think there is more to this matter than a simple bribe." 

"It's rarely simple when you are involved." Ian said with a sigh as he took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Any progress?" Ian asked in a deep voice. 

Cedric immediately knew that Ian had to tap deep, connecting with old contacts. Those that belonged to Ray's world, to the underbelly of society.

Ian's past was far from clean, but his connections had come out to become quite an asset for his job and his goals.

"Give me a call tonight." Ian told the person on the other line. "It's not exactly safe at the moment."

With that Ian dropped the call and simply nodded at Cedric, it meant that his people had found something.

"Remind me again when you became some bad ass gangster?" Cedric asked as he laughed at his friend.

"I wasn't a member of any gang." Ian told his friend as he rolled his eyes. 

"Riiiight." Cedric said. "You just worked for one of the gangs or is it the mafia that reports to the Laurence family."

"The mafia." Ian corrected. "It was right after I started working for the Reyes Group, after the whole fiasco with Jas." Ian grumbled, he was unwilling to speak about that part of his past.

"You might not like it Ian, but it is a part of you that has helped you to grow. It has made you into the man you are now." Cedric said with a nod as he recalled his own trials. "Plus it doesn't hurt that we don't need to go to Ray all the time."

"He could get better information." Ian reminded Cedric.

"But the moment people find out that the king of the underworld is looking for something, all hell breaks loose." Cedric said with a sigh as he looked out the window. "I want to do things quietly for now. It seems to me that the Barons might have more connections than we anticipate."

"Do you think they are dangerous?" Mae, who was seated at the front asked.

"Families like the Barons are always dangerous." Cedric told the young assistant, with Ian nodding in agreement next to him. "The only question now is, how dangerous are they, and how powerful are their allies."

"You don't think they could somehow be connected to Lucius Ting, how could they?" Dave asked from the other end of the car.

"We don't know." Cedric said, shaking his head. "I don't want to underestimate Lucius Ting the way I did with Aiden." 

"And what about overestimating him?" Ian asked as he gave his friend a curious look. 

"I'd rather be safe than sorry." Cedric said with a frown. "The cost of underestimating an enemy is way too high for us."

Everyone in the car remained silent as they recalled the cost Cedric had to suffer last time. He had lost his mother and a close friend. 

He had also suffered mentally and physically from Aiden's attacks. 

The drive back to the hotel was done in silence. As they arrived at the lobby, Ian instructed Mae and Dave to come join them in an hour in Cedric's room.

Ian still needed to make that phone call to his old associates before briefing the other assistants. He believed it was for the best if they didn't know where the information was coming from.

As they arrived at the presidential suite of the hotel, Leon, who was always standing behind Cedric nodded at the guards who stood watch outside of Cedric's room.

"I'll have the place sweeped first." Leon told Cedric as he gestured for four guards, who had gone up with them, to enter the room. 

Cedric and Ian followed, making themselves comfortable on the couch.

"Coffee?" Ian asked as he soon became impatient. 

With the guards looking for any bugs or threats to Cedric, it would take a while before they could discuss anything meaningful.

"Sure, why not." Cedric said with a nod as Ian walked over to the coffee machine.

"Has this been checked?" Ian asked one of the guards who simply nodded. 

As soon as Ian finished brewing the coffee, the guards who had been checking the room returned to the main receiving area where Leon was waiting for them.

"Clear." They each said with a nod, signaling that no foreign items were detected.

"Sweep Ian's room next." Leon ordered as he allowed the men to go.

The men nodded and bowed towards Cedric's direction before finally walking out of the room and closing the door behind them.

"Are you sure you want to be around for this?" Ian asked Leon as he handed the bodyguard a cup of coffee as well.

"I'm not that lame Captain Park." Leon said, rolling his eyes, as he referred to Ian's childhood friend who worked as a police captain. "I can handle you talking to people on the other side of the law. I know about Raymund Laurence."

"Alright, alright. No need to get so emotional, Leon." Ian said with a laugh as he picked up his phone and placed it on the table. "I was just teasing."

"Just make the call, Lim." Leon said as he rolled his eyes at the assistant, making Cedric laugh.

It was rare to see Leon and Ian both be in such light and good moods. Both men often had to be serious because of what their jobs demanded of them.

They only acted this way in private, behind closed doors. To the public, like Cedric, they were very serious men.

It didn't take long for the phone to ring as Ian switched it to speaker mode.

Soon a deep and rough voice answered on the other end.

"Is it secure now?" The voice asked.

"Yes, Seth, you can speak. I'm with my boss and his bodyguard. It's clear." Ian said as they waited for news.

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