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“Then negotiate.”
“All right, I’ll negotiate. You give me back Lesley in the next twenty-four hours, unharmed and happy as a clam, or I’ll come to your house, drag you into the ocean, and hold you under until you drown.”
Malcolm sighs. “That’s all you are, isn’t it? Just a mafia thug with no imagination. I’m trying to find a way to work with you and you’re talking about killing me. Where’s your business sense? It’s a big school, Emilio. We can coexist.”
“I left my business sense behind when you kidnapped my friend.” I turn away and start to head back to the house. “Twenty-four hours, Malcolm. That’s all you get.”
“Think about what I said,” he calls after me but I’m already shaking my head. “We split the island. We make it work!”
But there’s no working with him.
Maybe before he kidnapped Lesley. Hell, if he’d slapped her around a bit but let her go after catching her, I would’ve said she got what she deserved. I told her not to go, but she insisted. I knew this shit would happen.
Kidnapping her, though, that’s too fucking far.
“What’s the plan?” Nathan asks, all ice and fire, chomping at the bit for a fight. He’ll go out there and crack skulls without a second thought, and I might need that before this is all over.
“We wait. If he fails to release her, we go and we kill him.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Dom groans.
“I’m very serious.”
Nathan glances at me. “We’re not back home, brother. You can’t just kill someone and expect the family to clean up after you. We can hurt them, break some bones, make them understand—but murder?” He shakes his head.
I grin at him and punch his arm lightly. “I clean up my own messes. Don’t you worry about that.”
“His proposal sounded almost reasonable,” Dom said, looking uncomfortable. “Maybe we should consider it.”
“After Lesley’s back, I’ll think about negotiating. I’m not going to make business decisions at such a disadvantage, no way in hell.” I squeeze his arm and push him gently in the direction of Calico House. “Go make sure everyone’s on high alert.”
“Where are you headed?”
“I have some business to attend to.”
He frowns but doesn’t argue. Dom and Terrence go with him, and I watch as they disappear down the path.
I don’t plan on negotiating, even when Lesley comes home.
As soon as I allow Malcolm to exist, my operation will drastically change. If I let him make his runs, then others are going to start making the attempt. Competition will ruin me, and I can’t allow that to happen.
There can be only one smuggler on this fucking island.
I remain on the edge of campus. It’s beginning to come to life. Students are waking, walking around, getting coffee and breakfast, laughing and living their lives.
The world continues on its path even when it feels like the planet already shattered beneath me.
Lesley saved my life two years ago. She dragged me from the water on one of my early, failed attempts at sailing into the caves. If it weren’t for her, Calico might never have grown as powerful as it has. I owe her a lot, and I’m not about to let some piece of shit like Malcolm hurt her, not even if she brought this on herself.
I don’t have many options. Negotiate and give him what he wants, but that’s not possible. Fight him, but that might make the situation worse.
No, I need to do something drastic, something he won’t see coming.
It’s time to call in a favor.
Chapter19
Emilio
