15 A Spade, A Spade

There was dead silence in the room, the air so thick one could cut a knife through it.

Carlos Russo was sitting at the head of the table, with the made men in his cartel sitting around the table. His son Bernal was standing behind him.

They all fell silent after Jorge broke the news of Greco's demand to them.

"We can't give in to their demands," Jorge a bulky man, one of the made men said breaking the silence in the room.

Ben released a harsh breath. "I think I will have to agree with Jorge on this."

Carlos raised a brow, Jorge and Ben never agrees on anything, they are always at loggerheads whenever they had a meeting.

"We can't hand over the North trade lane to them. That is our largest trade lane." Another made man said.

"We control several other trade lanes," Bernal added, wanting them to see beyond the trade lane.

Bernal doesn't like the idea of them giving up rights to the North trade lane but his sister's life is involved.

Ever since those Barbarians called and informed them that they were true with Gemma, Bernal has almost punched through all the walls in the house with his fists.

He was mad. Mad at himself for not taking proper precautions in keeping his sister safe. Mad at Gemma for meddling with their worst enemy and then getting kidnapped. And mad at the Grecos for having an eye for their most lucrative trade lane. Greedy bastards!

The thought of his sister being held by those Barbarians and what they could have done to her drove him so mad, he swore to rip off Miguel's neck when he says him. But first, he needs to get his sister back.

"We can't hand over that trade lane to them. That is our biggest trade lane," another made man said.

"We will not do such a thing," Jorge concurred.

Carlos Russo cleared his throat looking at the men in the room. They all seemed to have forgotten that he is the boss and he gets to make the final decision.

"You know my daughter's life is involved in this right?" Carlos asked, speaking for the first time.

"They threatened to kill her if we don't meet with their demands." He looked around the room to make sure that he had the attention of the men.

"We all know Dreco won't hesitate to make do with his threat. He has kidnapped my daughter and he is threatening to kill her."

Carlos released a harsh breath, as he kept looking from each man's face to the other.

"I'm sure you understand that these men have us by the balls. It's either we give them what they want or my daughter dies."

Ben shook his head. "I'm sorry Carlos, but I will have to disagree with you on that. Giving them that trade line doesn't guarantee your daughter's life will be saved. How can we be sure that they will bring back your daughter after we've handed over the trade line to them?"

"Which we aren't even going to do," Jorge quickly added.

Bernal wanted to say something but his father raised his hand to stop him.

"Why don't we go to wherever they are hiding and rescue her ourselves?" Ben asked.

"We already have our men searching all over for them. It might take a while before we find them. And time is something that we don't have right now," Carlos explained.

"Since we are all shying away from the truth, I guess I will have to say it," Jorge said avoiding Carlos' eyes.

"What do you want to say, Jorge? Go on and say it," Carlos encouraged.

"From the pictures that we saw, your daughter doesn't look like she was kidnapped. It looks very much like she went them on her own accord."

"How dare you!" Bernal growled but his father stopped him from reacting.

"Oh come on, let's call a spade a spade and not a garden fork. Your daughter was seen going into a hotel room with Greco's son. They were kissing. Does that look like she was being kidnapped by you?"

Again, Bernal wanted to react but his father stopped him, and Jorge continued, "if you ask me, I think I suspect a foul play here."

"If you have something to say, then I suggest you say it, and stop speaking in riddles!" Bernal spat. This time ignoring his father's signal to keep shut.

Jorge smiled. "Let's all use our tongues to count our teeth."

The room fell silent again. Bernal was starring daggers at Jorge, if looks could kill, Jorge would have long dropped dead long ago.

"Gentlemen," Carlos said in a commanding tone. "The energy is high, and I understand the reason for this. So why don't we all go back home and ponder on this? We will meet again tomorrow and then we can decide on what we are going to do."

"But we have less than…" Carlos raised his hand to stop his son from talking.

"Same time tomorrow," Carlos said to the men and they all stood up and started leaving the room.

"Why did you ask them to leave without concluding? We have less than 12 hours to meet their demands!" Bernal said to his father when the men had left the room.

Carlos released a breath swiping his palm across his face. "This is a tough one Bernal. I understand their fears. This is our biggest trade lane they are asking for, we can't just hand it over to them."

"We will get it back. Let us hand it over to them so they can release Gemma, and after that, we will take the trade lane back from them," Bernal suggested.

Carlos shook his head. "It's not that easy and you know it. Greco is not so stupid, he won't allow us to get it back without a fight."

Bernal pulled his finger through his hair and started pacing the room. His father was right. Should they go that way, they would be asking for war.

"If it's war, then we will go to war with them. After all, they were the ones who kidnapped our own first."

"They will surely pay for that, I just need to find a way to get your sister away from them. "

"Then let's do things my…." Carlos stopped his son from speaking. "No, we won't do it your way. I'm going to contact Greco and ask for more time to meet his demand."

"And what if he doesn't agree?"

Carlos chuckled. "Of course, he will. He needs this trade lane as badly as we want Gemma back."