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“Mrs. Rosania, with all due respect, Mateo agreed with Dante after yesterday’s attack.”
So, my dear husband not only went behind my back to order my own men around, but he’d gone to Mateo as well? Gritting my teeth, I had to hold myself back from unleashing my anger on Vincent and Ralph. It wasn’t their fault I had a sneaky husband who liked to overstep boundaries.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Take me down to the docks.”
They said nothing as I slid into the back seat. Vincent took the front, with Ralph getting into another black Lincoln behind ours. It seemed I’d have the full royal treatment today. The men stayed silent all the way to the docks, which was just fine with me. I scrolled through emails and the damage report Mateo had sent last night. From his calculations, we would be out not just thousands, but millions. The loss of the weapons and shipments in that warehouse alone would set us back by a few years, not to mention I now had a few warlords and drug dealers to placate.
I frowned. Why had all of the stock for our biggest customers been in one warehouse? Even without a psycho on the loose hell-bent on destroying my family, that didn’t seem smart. It didn’t seem like something my father would ever do. If those shipments had been evenly spaced out among the other warehouses and shipping containers we had, this loss could have been managed. But now…
When I got to the office, I would have to check who approved all of this. There had to be documentation of when those shipments had arrived, where they’d been stored previously, and how or when they ended up in that specific storage unit. If we really did have a rat inside the family, then that would be one way we could flush them out.
And then there was the problem of the attack itself. Clearly, this Snake wasn’t going to stop any time soon until my family was destroyed. We were lucky that there hadn’t been any workers inside that warehouse when the fire happened, but what if there was another attack and we weren’t so fortunate? I couldn’t have the death of my own men on my hands. There had to be something I could do to limit the body count.
One thing I knew for certain was that things were getting even more dangerous. Before, it had just been about my immediate family. My father had known the risks. He’d been aware that his time was limited, as did my mother and I. But to bring my own people into what felt like a personal crusade against the Rosania? I couldn’t let them die just for someone’s need for revenge against my family and me, even if this was exactly what they’d signed up for.
“Are you insane?” Mateo stared at me from across my desk. I’d told him my plan as soon as I’d arrived and shaken off my babysitters. “You can’t shut down the business. Not now.”
“And why not?” I asked, frowning. “We’ve already taken a hit. We would need to at least slow the imports and exports due to losing an entire warehouse anyway.”
“That’s exactly why we cannot just put everything on pause,” Mateo replied. His fingers pinched the bridge of his nose. “We need to be working harder than ever right now to make up for the loss.”
“I’m not placing our workers in danger. And that’s exactly what I’d be doing if we stayed open, business as usual.” Opening my laptop, I hurriedly type in the password. “These dock workers aren’t all involved with the family business. Nearly half are just civilians.”
“Oh, please. You really don’t think they know what’s going on? Or at least suspect?” Mateo scoffed. “And besides, they’ll be even more upset when they lose their jobs because we won’t be able to afford to pay them.”
I caught his gaze, holding it for a moment before replying. “My decision is final. Right now, it’s too dangerous for our docks to stay open.”
Mateo stalked closer, leaning over my desk, his hands firmly planted on top. “Is your plan to completely destroy this family?” he hissed. “Because that’s exactly what will happen if you shut us down. Not only will we lose the big contracts, but our name will be tarnished, and we’ll never have business again.”
My chair rolled back, hitting the cabinet behind me. “We’ve been operating for decades,” I told him coldly. “Our customers will understand the issue, and they will understand. If not…make them.”
Mateo’s chest heaved as he scowled. I could see him trying to reign in his anger just as I was trying to control my fear. I’d never seen Mateo like this before. He’d always been so calm and collected, dealing with problems with a cold distance that my father respected him for. And he’d never, ever yelled at me in my entire life. But now, looking at his reddening face, his eyes blazing, he looked like a stranger to me.
“You’re going to regret this, Sienna. Your control is already shaky solely based on the fact that you’re a woman. And now your first power move is to shut down our operation and cost us more money? Many will not be happy with that.”
I straightened slowly, my eyes never leaving his. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s a warning. And the only one I will give you.” Mateo pulled back, adjusting the tie at his throat. “Your father would not be happy with this.”
His words were meant to hurt. I knew this, and I let them hurt me anyway. Flinching, I turned away. “My father isn’t here. I am. And what I say goes.”
“Sienna, you need to think this through longer than just twelve hours. Your decision will cost us a great deal.”
“But it will save lives,” I said vehemently. “And that’s more important than money.”
Mateo eyed me, a disapproving look replacing the angry red. “I just hope you won’t come to regret this.”
“I won’t.” Turning away, I focused on taking out more reports—a clear dismissal.
Mateo sniffed before I heard his footsteps retreating towards the door. He mumbled something on his way out, a familiar voice answering him. I whipped around, catching sight of Dante leaning in the doorway, arms crossed and a serious look on his face.
“What were you just arguing about with Mateo?” he asked quietly, closing the door behind him. The glass was opaque and thick, making it difficult for anyone in the office to see or overhear us. Dante must have been right outside the door when he heard Mateo and me.
“Nothing.” I tried to ignore the small thrill that went through me when he closed the distance between us. “I was just telling him that I’m freezing operations until this whole thing blows over.”
Dante paused, surprise flashing across his face. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I wouldn’t have ordered it if I wasn’t. I already have Mateo second-guessing my decisions. I don’t need it from you, as well.”
