Chapter 7: Board room

The car pulled up into the compound of a building. It was about four stories high and had the logo of the organization plastered on it, a clean viper forming the V.

The man pulled open the door.

"Mr. Leon, please come with me," he spoke calmly, and I followed without hesitation.

"Still can’t get over the fact that you somehow became rich overnight, bro. You have to share some of your luck with me," Xander said.

"Well, if I could, I would. If there is anyone deserving a share of my luck, that would definitely be you."

"Haha, hell yeah, bro," Xander replied.

They walked into the building, and instantly they were stunned. A lot of young hunters filled the chairs, each one a young prospect that could become great. They all stood in the reception, some managed to get some seats.

"What’s happening?" Leon asked.

"With the growth of the organization, many young prospects now want to join, but it’s not going to be easy as standards are now raised to find the best talents," the man replied.

"Hmmm, I see."

He led them up the stairs all the way to the third floor, down a hallway and towards a room. He pushed open the door and revealed a boardroom.

"Please, my boss and a few others will be here with you shortly. Have a seat and you’ll be attended to."

He walked out after speaking. Leon and Xander walked in, taking their seats on the side of the table.

"Well, this is something. I’ve only ever been in one board meeting that my father dragged me into," Xander said.

"Well, this is a first for me."

"You know they are going to try to get you to sell, right? Their company is growing and you have twenty percent of it. They won’t like that," Xander said all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I know. It is worth two hundred thousand now, but as time goes by it will rise rapidly. They’ll want control over the shares.

But I don’t plan to sell it," Leon said.

"Oh? Seems you thought about it. That’s nice. It’s going to be tough though. They will do everything within their power to make you sell and offer you the best of stuff."

"I know," Leon said and placed his elbows on the table. "I’ll do my best to hold up."

As they spoke, the door opened and a woman in a white shirt and black dress pants walked in.

"Good day, sirs. Please, is there anything that I can get for you?" she asked.

"Water for the two of us," Xander replied quickly. She nodded and walked out.

"Water?" Leon asked.

"First step of negotiation. Don’t get comfortable. My dad taught me, if we took anything other than water, it shows comfort and a sign that we might take whatever they say."

The lady returned a few minutes later and handed them the water. Xander stopped her and asked her a question.

"When are they arriving? We have other things to get to."

"I’m deeply sorry. I’ll inform them," she said and walked out.

"Bullshit, they are in this building biding their time," Xander said.

"Seems you have a bit more experience than I gave you credit for," Leon replied.

About five minutes later, the door opened and three figures walked in, a middle-aged man, tall and in a sleek suit, a woman with crimson red hair, looking like she was in her late twenties, and finally a much smaller man. He seemed out of place amongst them with his frame and size.

He sat at the head chair while the other two sat by his side.

"Good day, Mr. Leon and?"

"Xander."

"Mr. Xander, sorry for wasting your time," the smaller man said. "I am Logan Viper, founder of this hunter organization."

"I thought we were coming to meet a major shareholder. Why the hell are we talking to two kids?" the middle-aged man said. He glanced at Leon and Xander with a certain condescending look.

"Keep quiet, Mark. Mr. Leon is a major shareholder in the company. He has twenty percent, which is much larger than anyone else aside from me," Logan said.

Mark clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. The woman, on the other hand, was quiet. She pulled out a tablet and was operating it.

Logan looked at Leon. "Not everyone can be as lucky as you, kid. I invested a few dollars and now you own two hundred thousand. I’d say you are pretty set for life," Logan started.

"Uhm, first, can you refrain from calling him kid?" Xander asked, causing all three parties to stare at him.

"Listen, we know the game that’s going on here and we suggest you stop it. I am Xander Cage. My father owns the Cage line of businesses and the Xcage hunter organization.

I have been in front of more businesses my entire life than all three of you combined. My friend is also not dumb, and he can smell the plan before you even formulate it.

That twenty percent belongs to him now, so rather than trying to speak to him and manipulate him into handing it over, I’d suggest you work out how business can move forward with your new major stakeholder."

They all froze when they heard the Cage name. Who did not know the Cage family and their greatness?

"To add to that, my father had plans to invest in you. Try not to sabotage your chances here."

Leon was stunned at how Xander handled the issue and completely shut down their route of manipulation. He almost felt like he was looking at someone entirely different.

"I do not plan to remove my shares, nor do I plan to cause any harm to your organization. In fact, I can have a lot of good benefits to you.

But if you choose to treat me rough, I’ll wait in patience until your organization rises to its peak and then pull my twenty percent. That way, I walk away rich and you suffer massive damages," Leon followed up.