“I’ve been expecting you, Mr. Lagnar.”
Dante didn’t know how the man could have been, as he’d never seen the balding reptilian shifter before.
The man sat in a large chair behind an immaculate walnut desk and smiled politely, straightening his brown jacket, his vertical pupils roving to assess Dante. “Please take a seat,” the banker said, gesturing to one of two polished leather chairs meant for his clients.
The Royal Bench was only a few blocks from the castle and was guarded by the royal guards. None of the men or women gave Dante a second glance as he entered the large stone building accented with gold, recognizing him as one of their own by the navy uniform he wore.
Dante had passed through the security check of the entry room and looked over the various desks with bankers and clients that lined each side of the large marble hall until he spotted a banker without a client and said he had some questions about Sol Somanti. The woman’s eyes had widened, and she quickly led him to a guarded and locked stairwell, depositing him before the reptilian’s open office door on the floor above and rushing away.
“How do you know who I am?” Dante asked, lowering himself into the chair and crossing an ankle over his knee.
The man’s polite smile remained fixed. “I make it my business to know all of my most important clients.”
The office reminded him of Sol’s. Unlike Sol’s office, there was a window that allowed in the afternoon sunlight and it was clean, but something about it plucked at Dante’s memories, striking a sick feeling in his stomach. He kept his face blank as he always had when in that office. “I’m not your client. I’m here to get some information as a member of the royal guard.”
The man’s smile faltered. “You don’t wish to survey your inheritance today?”
Dante only had a moment to determine if he should feign cognizance of the inheritance the man spoke of or ask him to explain. He decided to ignore it all together. “I’m here on orders from the castle to find out who Somanti left his fortune to and if there’s anything of interest in his vault.”
The words hung in the air as the banker stared at him, and Dante realized what he had meant by his inheritance.
“He left it to me?”
The man chuckled. “He never was one to share information, was he? He left half to you. The other half to Mr. Rama. Though his paperwork hadn’t been updated in years; there were actually five beneficiaries listed to split it but you two are the only ones still living.”
Blukke was going to lose his shit when he found out. Even with only half of Sol’s money, he was now rich. Shit, Dante was now rich. He sucked in a breath. Delle and Marnie would be set for life. Everything he ever wanted had just been dropped into his lap.
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All thanks to Sol fucking Somanti. How was he supposed to feel about that?
The man’s smile was no longer one of politeness, but amusement. “Well, you can rest assured you found the first answer you sought. If you’d like to see his vault, that will not be a problem, as it is now yours. I will ask you to not take anything yet, as we must inform Mr. Rama and work out the split.”
Dante forced himself out of his stupor. “Of course.”
The reptilian led Dante down a different staircase, this one further into the interior of the building but also locked and guarded. They followed the circular staircase down so many stories Dante began to get a bit nauseated, but they eventually exited through a door marked 13 into a hallway with more numbered doors and a guard. The banker nodded at him before unlocking door 7 and lighting the wall sconce inside.
The room had so many chests and bags filled with gold that Dante didn’t even attempt to count them. It wasn’t just coin, though. There were all kinds of jewelry and even loose gems. Armor and weapons. Fancy clothes, simple clothes. Paintings and dishware. And one chest full of parchment.
But no vials of blood. No vials at all. Dante had thought that perhaps Sol had kept that kind of payment here, too, but he appeared to be wrong.
He bent low, scooping his hands into an open chest filled with jewelry. He brought up the handfuls of silver and gold and jewels and let them slide through his fingers, the chain of a necklace getting wrapped around his pinky in the process. He extracted it, intending to toss it into the chest, too, when he noticed a ring was threaded on it.
The ring had a delicate, twisting silver band with a large round sapphire in the center. It reminded him of Prim, with her ash blond hair and blue dresses.
He turned to the man. “Can I take just one thing? Just this ring. I assure you, Blukke won’t mind, and I’ll tell him myself when I see him in a few hours. You can write it down and put it against my split.”
The banker seemed to consider it. “I don’t see why not.”
Dante thanked the man and padded to the chest of parchment. He picked up a handful, shuffling through the papers. Some were documents showing who owed Sol money. Some were receipts. Some were job offers--the same kind Dante had found in Sol’s locked drawer. The same kind Dante had himself looked over time and time again when sitting across from Sol, looking for work. These, however, were original copies between Sol and the client. They included more information and they all included a signature.
Dante had no idea his master had been so thorough. He had no idea people were so stupid as to give so much when ordering a fucking assassination. The information in this trunk had the ability to ruin countless lives.
But if the original order for Kallia’s targeting was in here, that would save lives. Not only Kallia’s, but his and Blukke’s, too.
He stood. “I’ll be back with Blukke soon. This vault is secure?”
“No place in Wassalia is more secure, Mr. Lagnar.” The reptilian had remained just inside the door, watching Dante.
Dante nodded then exited the room, watching carefully to make sure the banker locked it properly. “Before I go, I’d like to set up my beneficiary.”
The man smiled approvingly. “A man with forethought.”
They returned to his office and Dante signed all the paperwork to ensure his half of Sol’s fortune would go to Marnie if anything were to happen to him. She’d make sure Delle and Tamar were taken care of. He would have left some of it to Prim, but he knew she would never want for anything as a royal handmaiden. And of course, Blukke now had his own fortune.
As Dante left, he thanked the reptilian, though he knew who he should really be thanking was the man he’d watched die in the dungeons without feeling a shred of remorse.