Chapter 14

-[Liam]-

Barely two days after he went out with Artemis, he leaned on the wall in an empty alley, hidden by the darkness of the night. 

Paying attention to his surroundings, his eyes glanced over his phone. At the text that made his heart race a bit. 

'Cobblepot wants to meet with you.' Kevin had texted him that. 

He knew it would happen sooner or later but it didn't mean he wasn't surprised. One thing he knew was that no one kept Cobblepot waiting. 

The man's skewed ego and pride made him quite irritable in more than a few eyes. Still, if everything went well, he'd go to bed tonight as a somewhat rich teen. 

Just up the street was the Iceberg Lounge, Penguin's front for his illegal operations as well as his main base.

Peeking at the time on his phone, he steeled his nerves before making his way towards the building. 

Xx-Xx-Xx

Just because the Iceberg Lounge was a front didn't mean that it was any less successful. The club was packed with people dancing, drinking and overall just having the night of their lives. 

He turned his gaze away from a couple that were having a little too much fun, barely moments away from tearing each other's clothes apart. 

Weaving through the crowd, he was just another face but as he went deeper into the club, the numbers went down until he was now in front of a door with bouncers in front of it. 

The hidden bulge at the waistline of their pants already hinted that these weren't just bouncers. 

"Scram kid. Nothing to see here." One of them snarled at him dismissively. 

Ignoring the blatant rudeness, Liam spoke. "I'm here to see Mr Cobblepot. He and I have an appointment scheduled for right now."

"He said scram kid. We don't have time for some lousy prank." The second one said, clearly not listening or believing. 

Unlike with Kevin, there was no one to usher him past the guards. Fortunately, the problem solved itself before the situation could escalate further. 

The device in their ears crackled to life, the men freezing after a few moments. Their faces went through a myriad of emotions before they stepped aside. 

"Right this way. The boss is waiting for you." The first one said, failing to hide his nervousness as he ushered him in. 

He wasn't afraid of Liam, he was afraid of what Penguin would do if he ended up ruining a potential business deal. 

He stayed silent as he was led through a hallway, stopping as a woman with short blond hair met them halfway. 

"I'll take it from here you bonehead. Get back to guarding the entrance." She ordered, the man immediately shuffling away. 

"So you're the one he's expecting." She said, turning to him with an unimpressed look.

He wasn't exactly impressed with her either but he held his tongue for now. He simply settled for a nod. 

As she took charge of leading him with a small frown, he knew that his refusal to take her bait annoyed her. Cobblepot probably sent her to get a read on him. Perhaps to see if he could be provoked into making impulsive decisions. 

Not bad. 

Soon enough, he was in front of a door which the woman, Tracey Buxton as revealed by Appraisal, opened after a short knock. 

Stepping in, he immediately felt the difference between this and Kevin's office. While the latter looked like a simple but dignified office, this place screamed luxury. 

Even the wood of his desk looked like it cost a lot of money. 

"Well if it isn't Gotham's latest upstart. I take it you didn't have trouble finding your way here." Cobblepot, the short plump man behind the expensive desk, said in a questioning manner. 

"Not at all, Mr Cobblepot." Liam answered, forcing himself to feel comfortable. 

He was easily the strongest in the room but Cobblepot had other methods of power that didn't involve brute strength. 

The man narrowed his eyes before waving Tracey away and out of the room.

"I've been in this business for many many years and it's not often I find myself surprised by something new." He said, taking a brief pause before continuing. 

"Euphoria, I find myself intrigued. So, here's my offer, kid. I'll give you five hundred grand in cash for the formula and how to make it."

Five hundred grand was a lot more than a lot of people in Gotham had even dream of getting. 

"I'm afraid I'll have to reject your generous offer." Liam said with a calm smile, Cobblepot's eyes narrowing further. 

"Is that so?" He questioned. 

"Sure if I sold it to you I'd make some quick cash but in the long term, I'd lose a lot of money. I'm not interested in that kind of offer." Liam explained, watching as the man rolled a cigar in between his fingers. 

"You realize that you walked in here all alone. If I wanted to, I could keep you here and force it out of you. I doubt you'd enjoy that." Cobblepot warned, a nasty smile on his lips. 

'I see. Your scare tactics might work on others but you'll have a tough time with me.' Liam thought, seeing the situation for what it was. 

"You're right, I wouldn't enjoy that. You're welcome to try, though I can't say you'll be happy with the outcome." Liam shot back. 

Leaning onto the table, Cobblepot ground out. "Are you threatening me, boy?"

"Far from it. We're just having a peaceful negotiation." He said with a toothy grin. 

For a moment, he saw a strange emotion flicker through the man's face before he hid it. Too fast for him to identify it. 

"Well then, in the spirit of this peaceful negotiation, I'll make you another offer. I want sixty kilos of Euphoria."

"I'd be happy to take that offer as long as you're aware that the price has gone up." Liam said, chuckling. "Fifteen grand per kilo."

He felt and saw the short man tense at his words. 

"Don't think I don't know that you sold to Kevin for five grand per kilo." Cobblepot said in an accusatory manner. 

The man could easily pay five times the amount but it was a matter of principle. 

"I'm sure you know all about that. Kevin was a stepping stone to spread the word. If anything, he practically paid me while doing me a favor." He retorted, watching Cobblepot's grip on his still unused cigar tighten. 

"You've got balls, kid, admitting that in front of me." 

Liam simply smiled. "We both know how valuable Euphoria is. If not, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

The room was silent for a few moments, both of them watching each other carefully before the silence was eventually broken. 

"Fifteen grand per kilo." It was Cobblepot who broke it. 

"Pleasure doing business with you. You'll have it in two days."

-[Cobblepot]-

As Tracey led the boy out of his office, he barely suppressed a frown that covered his face. This whole meeting could have gone better. 

He expected it to be an easy negotiation. Strongarm the kid, place in a few threats and he'd send him off on his way after getting what he wanted. 

He was wrong. 

For a moment, he thought he saw the boy's eyes flicker into something else, sending a fearful shiver down his spine.

A trick of the light.

After spending so much time in this life, he'd learnt how to get a good feel for people. This kid had a look in his eyes as if everything was in control. 

As if Cobblepot wasn't a threat to him and not once did that change throughout the meeting. 

For all he knew, he had someone powerful backing him, giving him that level of confidence because he was sure he hadn't heard of the boy before this week. 

He didn't get so far by not being cautious. 

Taking a puff from the cigar in his hand, he nursed his wounded ego at being caught off guard by a child.

He'd play the long game and figure out what made him tick. Once he got that, the sale of Euphoria would be solely under his control. 

It was just a matter of time.