Never Judge

Cedric had contacted the Esteves family and was currently waiting for them to call him back.

He hated being in this position, he knew that in his own country people had to be cunning and much more powerful to go against him. But on the international stage, the Reyes family was not at a top position.

While he had many connections, he knew that his family's expansion internationally would still pose some difficulties.

They still needed to get a better foothold in the international market as well as to build their connections with families such as the Esteveses.

Cedric considered maximizing his predicament, by using this first interaction with the Esteves family to build a partnership, one that would benefit them both.

It seemed that on the legitimate side of things, it was the Esteves Family that may need them.

As he drummed his fingers on the table, his phone began to ring.

Cedric picked it up and took a look at who was calling. 

He had strict instructions to keep his line open. He didn't want to miss the call coming from the Esteveses, but it was still possible for someone to have completely missed the memo, especially his family.

As he looked at the screen, it was an unknown number, most probably a call from Spain.

"Hola." Cedric greeted in a calm and flat tone. He didn't want to give anything away so he tried his best to remain as calm as possible.

"Mr. Reyes, you called?" The man asked.

"Yes, I may have information on the man you are looking for." Cedric informed him. 

"And?" The man asked.

"How can I speak to you, sir, without knowing your name?" Cedric said as he tried to get the most from his conversation. 

Knowing the name of the head of the Esteves Group's head would put him ahead in a lot of aspects, this he knew.

"You are a smart one, Mr. Reyes." The man said as he chucked, clearly amused by what Cedric had said. The question now was, did he see it in a positive light or in a negative one.

"I wouldn't have come this far if I wasn't." Cedric plainly stated.

"You are lucky that I actually like you." The man said over the phone. "What is it that you want and I will see if we can trust you."

"We have a mutual enemy, you can trust me." Cedric responded.

"We have a mutual enemy, for now." The man pointed out. "What if we end up on different sides in the future, Mr. Reyes?"

"Then we will decide then." Cedric said casually. 

"You are quite calm for a businessman. Normally they tend to get quite distressed when they know the person they are talking to belongs to the Mafia." The man said. Cedric knew that he was carefully studying Cedric. 

"People are afraid of things they don't understand." Cedric said.

"Hmmm. . . I underestimated you, Mr. Reyes." The man told him over the phone. "I expected to find some by the book businessman. I'm assuming you know people that belong to my trade."

"The world is a big place. You meet a lot of people." Cedric answered as vaguely as he could. He needed to prove himself trustworthy while still letting the man at the other end of the line pick up that he was aware of how the underworld worked.

"Interesting." The man said. "I will consider a deal between us, as good faith you can call me Tomas."

"Nice to have a name to call you, Tomas." Cedric responded.

"You have information for me?" The man asked.

"I know who you are looking for and where he is." Cedric said.

"I sense some hesitation in telling me. Is he a friend?" Tomas asked Cedric.

"No, no, it's actually the opposite. He is someone I consider to be a thorn on my side." Cedric explained.

"Then why not hand him over to me?" Tomas asked. "My men and I can deal with him for you."

"There are people around him who are innocent that may be affected." Cedric pointed out as he leaned back and considered the effects of jumping into a deal so hastily. 

"Like?" Tomas asked, clearly he was starting to get impatient with Cedric.

"The man you were after, what was his name?" Cedric asked. He had suspicions, but he needed to hear it from Tomas himself. He couldn't just go by a guess.

"Aiden Ortiz." Tomas answered immediately. 

Cedric was caught off guard, he thought he would need to convince Tomas to give him that information, but it seemed the man was already willing.

"Are you still there Mr. Reyes?" Tomas asked.

"Yes, I am." Cedric said as he shook his head. "I thought I would still need to convince you to tell me who it was."

"I believe in building a trustworthy partnership. Do you know anything about Aiden Ortiz?" Tomas asked Cedric. "We've been looking for him."

"He is dead, I killed him." Cedric flat out admitted.

"I appreciate your honesty, Mr. Reyes, care to explain why?" He asked.

"Aiden Ortiz was responsible for many unfortunate incidents in my family, one even resulted in my own mother's death." Cedric explained.

"My condolences, Mr. Reyes." Tomas responded in a genuine tone.

"I assume you are planning on going after all of his known conspirators and his family?" Cedric asked.

"I do." Tomas admitted.

"Those that must be held accountable for helping him are dead." Cedric explained.

"Not his brother and his grandfather. I heard they still lived, I assumed he had abandoned them, but knowing that he is dead means that they have what I want." Tomas said in a poisonous tone.

"It was the brother that helped us take him down. I'm sure he will willingly give you what belongs to you." Cedric insisted.

"Someone needs to pay." Tomas hissed.

"Lucius Ting will." Cedric said in a serious tone. 

"And how is this man related to Aaron Ting?" Tomas asked in a slightly amused tone.

"They are the same person.." Cedric finally revealed.