Dante was the head of the armed forces in charge of protecting the Lucas family, and he knew that this was the perfect moment for an enemy to come and take out the entire family in one sweep. Every single member of the main family was present in the house now, and they weren't on high alert since they were still grieving, so they would also be defenseless while listening to the will. Dante had to be on high alert for any danger at all!
"Hey, boss. We've got an update about the shipment."
A voice suddenly came from behind Dante, and Dante turned around to see another man wearing a black bulletproof vest over cargo pants and a military-style shirt. The man was well-built, with a tall stature and a mature-looking face. His hair was brown, and he also had dark yellow eyes that were hardened from years of conflict. There was a long scar going over the right side of his face, and it only served to make him look even more imposing.
——
Name: Philip Green
Affiliations: Lucas Family, Dante Lucas
Title(s): Arctic Soldier
General Skills: Weapons Proficiency, Pain Tolerance, Situational Awareness
——
This was Philip Green, the second in command of the cleaners and Dante's right-hand man. Philip had once been a member of the military, but after he got out, he had fallen in with the wrong crowd while trying to make money for his family. Dante met Philip during one of the raids that the Lucas family carried out on the small gang Philip was a part of, and after a lot of things happened, Philip was taken in by Dante and became one of the cleaners.
Philip worked his way up the ladder while slowly gaining recognition and trust, and now Dante could say with certainty that Philip was one of the most dedicated members of the Lucas Family cleaners. Dante nodded toward Philip in a silent greeting and asked him what was going on. Philip handed Dante a tablet that had a delivery receipt open on it. The delivery receipt was for a cargo of ammo that the Lucas family had smuggled into the city a few days ago. The cargo was currently on its way to the second district, and Philip was in charge of making sure none of the authorities or civilians got any wind of what they were doing. Dante looked through the receipt and made sure all the details were in order before he handed the tablet back to Philip.
"Good work. Have you prepped the warehouse for the new imports?"
Philip nodded.
"Yes, boss. Just need to finalize one last-minute payment, and we'll be able to get the weapons stored away. But I'm wondering if you'll be available to have a sit-down with the boys later. Some of the boys want to have a few drinks for the late boss, so it'd be nice if you could make it. If you can't, then it's fine—I'll tell the boys you're busy."
Philip looked at Dante seriously, and as Dante's face squeezed into a frown for a second before he sighed and nodded calmly. Dante didn't usually like to spend time drinking for no reason, but he could tell that Philip wasn't inviting him just for them to drink pointlessly. This was something that the Cleaners did for every member who died too soon, and it was a tradition that Dante respected.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll come out after the reading of the will. Fredrick should have a few words for the family after he's named as the new boss, so we might have a gathering in the courtyard later."
Philip nodded in confirmation and thanked Dante for his consideration. Even though Philip was loyal to the Lucas family, he knew there was a special place in his heart for Dante in particular. Unlike the rest of the family that barely bothered to spend time with those working under them, Dante was not only a good leader, but he was also considerate at times like these. Dante would take time from his duties to make sure that he mingled with the other members of the cleaners and other workers, and even though Dante didn't think it was that big of a deal, it meant a lot to the lower-ranked boys. It showed them that Dante didn't just see them as collateral or numbers that he could send out into a war for his benefit. Dante actually cared about them.
If Philip had any say at all, then he would have preferred it if Dante were named the next boss instead of Fredrick. At least with Dante, Philip could run into danger knowing he was risking his life for someone who would mourn his death if he passed away. He could put his life on the line and be sure that his leader would be standing right beside him every step of the way, rather than hiding behind him in a fucking mansion. But Philip would never dare say such a thing out loud. If he did, then he was as good as dead.
"Boss Dante!"
A young voice suddenly called out from the side, and Dante turned with Philip to see a young boy running up to them! The boy had white hair that was cut short and dark red eyes that were wide with childlike innocence.
——
Name: Tim Duncan
Affiliations: Dante Lucas
Title(s): Paragon of Destruction
General Skills: Explosives Proficiency, Vehicular Proficiency
——
This boy was named Tim, and he was the explosives expert for the Lucas family. Dante looked up at Tim's tab and was surprised to see the affiliation that Tim had. Why was Tim only affiliated with him? Tim had been in the Lucas family for more than ten years, longer than even Dante. Tim started off as a common errand boy for the Cleaners, but as he grew, Dante realized that Tim had a talent for explosives and made him their chief explosives engineer. Even at the young age of sixteen, Tim already possessed more knowledge about explosives than nearly anyone in the city. Whether it was small C4 explosives for destroying cars or large military-grade TNT explosives for blowing up warehouses, Tim was the go-to person for the Lucas family. Tim was also in charge of finding and defusing any bombs that were placed on the Lucas family property, and even though Dante thought it was a dangerous job for someone who was so young, Dante also knew that there was no one in the city who could do Tim's job as well as he did.
Once Tim came close to Dante, he smiled up at him happily! There was a single tooth missing in Tim's mouth, and it gave Tim's smile even more of a childlike innocence. Tim lost the tooth from a fight he had been in before joining the Lucas family, and even though Dante had offered to help Tim replace the tooth, Tim refused since he believed it was part of his character. Tim barely reached up to Dante's shoulder, even at his full height, and Dante hummed while putting his hand over Tim's head with a smile. Tim cried out at the contact, and Dante just grinned wider as he ruffled his hair. Tim's height was a sore spot for the boy since he was still very short for a sixteen-year-old, and he had been eating a ton of food recently to try to gain more height.
"Hey, you'll ruin my hair!"
Tim cried out in protest, and Dante chuckled.
"Little Tim, what do you need?"
Dante took his hand off Tim's head after ruffling it, and Tim mumbled that Dante shouldn't call him 'little' while trying to fix his hair!