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My phone call to Reece and Trent might be the answer to the Las Malvinas situation, but unless I get down to the site and make my presence felt, I fear that I could have a construction crew walkout on my hands to deal with.
As I pull out of the final pocket of the hills, I’m suddenly on a mission to break the speed limit and fly through more red lights than I’ve ever done.
With the engine roaring and my adrenalin pumping, I know I’m in danger of taking things too far and exploding in rage when I see Nico and his gang of big city assholes.
I need to stay at least someway calm.
Taylor will be at the site, and the last thing I want is for him to witness me absolutely lose my shit. I pride myself on being a tough businessman, but a real tough guy doesn’t lose his cool – that’s when mistakes happen.
I know that in a situation like this, where the stakes are about as high as they could be for me reputationally, I have to handle this in the right way.
So while the temptation might be to pick Nico up and toss him into the nearest rock crusher, I know that I need to show some control and set him straight as clearly and calmly as I possibly can, no matter how hard that might seem.
I’m about ten minutes away from the site.
If I have a clear run with traffic, I might even make it in seven minutes.
Whatever the timescale, I know that by the time I arrive I need a fully formed idea in my head for what I’m going to say andhowI’m going to say it.
Hopefully both Reece and Trent won’t be too far behind me either, and I know that when everyone hears what the three of us have to say then it will become clear that from now on, Los Torros is a city thatno onewill mess with – especially not shark investors like Nico and his employers.
* * *
I pull up at the Las Malvinas site and turn the Maserati engine off.
‘Breathe, just breathe,’ I say, my blood pressure rocketing and my heart thumping inside my chest.
I look around and can’t spot either one of Reece or Trent’s cars.
I guess they must be on their way, potentially stuck in traffic having come over from the opposite side of Los Torros to me.
And my suspicions are immediately confirmed when I look at my phone and see a message from Trent…
Yo, I’m in the car with Reece. Traffic is out of control. But we’ll be there soon. Don’t do anything crazy before we get there, bro. TRENT.
‘I’ll try,’ I mutter, getting out of the car and shutting the door.
It doesn’t take me long before I spot the hubbub over on the westerly side of the site. I can make out an exasperated looking Xander, surrounded by his crew who don’t look too impressed either.
As I stride towards them, I’m scanning my eyes and looking for one person and one person in particular…
‘Nico!’ I roar – so much for staying calm. ‘Nico, you sneaky sonofabitch. What the fuck do you think you are doing?’
Nico begins to tell me all about how I’m in a non-win situation.
Frankly, I’ve heard it all before.
My upbringing was tough, and I had to battle the odds to make a success of my life. I know what it looks and feels like to be the underdog, so I’m not about to collapse like a house of cards the second that an opportunistic grifter like Nico tells me to.
And the way that Nico is trying to tell me to simply give up and walk away is pushing all my buttons in a way that Nico might live to regret too…
I step toward Nico and find myself towering over him. The fact that he’s smaller than me means nothing right now. He betrayed me back in the city, and it seems more than clear that he’s just as twisted and amoral now too.
‘Come on, hit me,’ Nico smirks. ‘You can use the money you get from the sale of this site to pay for your legal fees and my compensation payout!’
‘Daddy, no!’ Taylor calls out, pushing out from the crowd and putting his body directly between me and Nico just as it looks like I might be about to swing for him. ‘Don’t let this horrible person push you into lashing out. Remember, that’s when mistakes happen…’
Taylor’s right.
