Saving the Villain

When Conrad opened the door and stepped in, his eyes searched the room. It didn't take long before he spotted someone sitting on the windowsill. The person had his feet up on the windowsill while his other foot was on the floor to watch his weight. The man had a stick of lit cigarette in between his lips, blowing the smoke outside the open window.

"Isn't that dangerous?" asked Conrad when the man didn't move after several seconds of Conrad and Maxen's arrival. "I heard you have many enemies. Idling there makes you a perfect target."

The man by the window arched a brow before turning his head in Conrad's direction. His lips turned up into a smirk, eyes glinting in delight.

"Haha! Conrad, nice to see you again!" the man welcomed, retrieving his foot from the windowsill down. He casually stood, pushing himself from the window after throwing the cigarette out of it. "How can you still be that strange even after decades?"

Rocco, a middle-aged man, who just like Conrad, seemed to have aged like a fine wine. His physique was neither lean nor robust, just enough to call him fit. His hair was neatly brushed back, with a few strands of silver on the side of his head. If not for the deep scar across his cheek, he could compare to Conrad, or even to Maynard. Not that Rocco looked terrible with that deep scar across his face. If anything, it suits his mien and personality.

Rocco approached his guests with open arms, stopping one meter from Conrad.

"It's been a while, my only friend." Rocco smiled until his eyes were squinting. "I appreciate that you accepted my invitation. I bet all your people were pacing back and forth nervously while biting their thumbs while others were staring at the entrance with bated breaths -- haha! How hilarious!"

Conrad, like usual, kept his stoic countenance. Maxen as well, watching Rocco laugh as he guessed what was happening outside. Rocco seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

"Are you done?" asked Conrad coldly, interrupting Rocco's waves of laughter. The latter snapped his eyes at Conrad.

"Ahh... right. Come sit down." Rocco tipped his head to the set of couches, grinning.

Conrad didn't answer immediately, staring at Rocco's annoying grin. He said nothing, turning on his heel to sit on the couches. Following behind him was Maxen, keeping quiet and keeping a close distance from Conrad.

As the two approached the set of couches, Rocco quirked a brow. His gaze landed on the young man behind Conrad, and his squinting eyes cracked open. Rocco's smile lines faded, but no one could tell what was inside his head because his expression returned to a jolly one in a snap of a finger.

Maxen and Conrad sat down on the long couch, having a good gap between each other. Sitting on the one-seater armchair across from them was none other than Rocco, one of the most dangerous wanted men in the world.

Rocco darted his eyes between Conrad and Maxen before his gaze lingered on Maxen. The latter stared back at Rocco coldly.

"Haha..." Rocco chuckled after a moment, shifting his eyes to Conrad while pointing a finger at Maxen. "Conrad, why did I feel like he is your son? He has the same stare as you -- so cold!"

"He is my son," Conrad remarked without a second hesitation. "Stop beating around the bush, Rocco. We only have twenty minutes. If we didn't leave in twenty minutes, my people will force their way in."

"I bet the general is itching for that mark since bringing my head back to their headquarters is a guaranteed promotion." Rocco showed a thumbs up as if he was proud of what he stated. "I'm so valuable."

'In a terrible way' was what crossed Maxen and Conrad's heads, but kept it to themselves.

The two of them came in here to hear what Rocco had to say. The agreed time limit was twenty minutes, but it had been five minutes since they entered the establishment. Yet Rocco wasn't saying anything important. Everything that was coming out of Rocco's mouth was utter nonsense and endless gloating, as if he didn't care about how precious and short this twenty-minute meeting was.

"What do you want?" asked Maxen, cutting off Rocco's ramblings. "Why did you want this meeting? If your reason is to just gloat about things no one cared about, then I guess we should just leave. You already saw me and I'm perfectly fine -- better than the last time you showed up on my face."

To be honest, this was the first time Maxen had seen his father's face so clearly. The last time, he didn't get to see him properly before Rocco would always talk to him with his back facing him or it was nighttime. Rocco would always wear a hat that would shade his eyes, so Maxen barely remembered what he looked like.

The smile lines on Rocco's face faded, assessing Maxen's face and mien.

"That's right," he muttered with a half smile, nodding. "You are, indeed, better than the last time I saw you. You're not as pathetic as you were back then. Now, you look like you can fight back. I like it."

Rocco faced Conrad and showed him a thumbs up. "Conrad, you're really good. It makes me wonder if I accepted your offer back then, I wouldn't be in this position in life. Maybe I'm living a far more decent life."

"Do you regret it?" asked Conrad without a second hesitation. Since the topic was brought up, Conrad took the chance to ask Rocco a question. After all, it seemed Rocco already got what he wanted, and that was to make sure Maxen was alright.

"Do I regret refusing your offer that night?" Rocco cocked his head to the side. "It would sometimes cross my head, but I don't. I wouldn't meet the man who gave me this opportunity and handed me this organization if I wasn't behind maximum prison, after all."