There were certain lengths that Navid was willing to go in order to remain in the good graces of his father but plotting the downfall of another family was not one of them. Granted, he had always been the eyes and ears of Amir in and about the company, the city, hell even the whole damn continent but that was solely for business purposes. Because at the end of the day, what mattered most to him was the future of their company and he wouldn’t allow anything to come in between.
So when he received orders to hunt down Humberto Dos Santos and talk to him about the nature of the agreement that was birthed between him and Emilio Dos Ramos, Navid knew then and there that is father had reached new levels of insanity. What did he hope would be the outcome of such an encounter and how would his father benefit from it? Only time would tell.
Never have being one to go against his father’s wishes, it wasn’t long before Navid had made arrangements for a flight using the family private jet, which he seldom got to use. Although his better judgement told him to not go through with this, he ignored the inhibitions as he packed his suitcase for what he hoped would be the briefest trip of his life.
A knock came to his door, and he told the person to enter without looking up from what he was doing. “I see that you’ve agreed to go along with father’s request,” Hakim voiced indifferently, leaning against the doorframe.
Navid snorted. “You, say that as though I have a choice, Hakim. You know how he is, it’s either his way or the highway. I quite enjoy my position in the family business, thank you very much,” he sniffed sarcastically and began to zip up his suitcase.
“You could always say you couldn’t find him. Last I heard, Humberto had gone off grid after the falling out with his son. I think you’d be hardly able to find him, given the fact that he’s a rich old fool who doesn’t want to be found. Besides, don’t you think this has gone a little too far?” Hakim asked him and Navid stood up straight.
“So now you decide to have a conscience after you found someone to literally poison the Dos Ramos girl and her fetus?” he countered matter of factly, and Hakim laughed.
He shrugged. “I thought you’d be happy about that, since I gave you credit and all, but it seems I misjudged you. Have your balls evaporated to dust, dear brother?” he taunted, a malicious smile stretched on his thin lips. “We had a deal, Navid. We’d help dad carry out his wicked schemes, have him carry most of the blame and then when he’s out of the picture, everything will be ours. Or have you forgotten?”
Navid sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Yes, I do recall that we had that deal, but things are getting a little to complicated for my liking. I won’t lie, I hate the way dad has been running the company and I believe a coup is in order. But I don’t think we should get involved with his elaborate scheme to destroy the Dos Ramos family? As far as I know, they haven’t wronged him in any way. And we both know Omar doesn’t deserve this in the slightest,” he pointed out and Hakim rolled his eyes.
“You and both know that Omar, whether he knows it or not, has always been dad’s Achilles’ heel. He got the expansion in the States, which he didn’t deserve or work hard enough for. He’s a filthy playboy with no business sense. Him impregnating that little girl was the best thing that ever happened, and it is the golden opportunity for us execute our plan and taint dad’s reputation forever, which will then be easier for the board to vote him out of the CEO position. We can then have our chance, because you know damn well we’ve been doing a lot for that company, more than he ever did,” he said with bubbling anger.
He came to stand right in front of his brother and held him by the shoulders. “Navid, this isn’t the time for you to fold on me like this. I need you to do exactly what dad tells you to do, but at the same time, make sure to cover your tracks. Make sure he takes all the blame. And I’ll play my part and keep on planting this absurd ideas in his head.”
Navid nodded. “Okay, Hakim. I’ll do all of that, just as long as nobody gets hurt. I’d hate for some people to die because of us,” he told him in a steely tone.
Hakim patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, you have my word. No one will get hurt, besides dad of course.”
With that, Hakim turned on his heels and left the room whilst Navid went to his nightstand and took his phone, where he had long since received the location of where Humberto was now residing, somewhere in Madrid. It was an added advantage that he had some properties there, which meant his stay would be comfortable.
And yet, there was still a slight hesitance to actually go. This is a very bad idea, I can feel it in my bones.
“The sooner I do this, the sooner I can get on with my life,” he said aloud and then placed his phone in his pocket, grabbed his suitcase by the handle and then dragged it out of the room, down the stairs and just as he was almost at the front door, his mother’s voice echoed in the foyer and had him frozen in his tracks.
“Where are you going, Navid?” she asked, standing atop the staircase.
“Father sent me on a trip for business purposes. I won’t be away for too long though,” he replied her calmly but her eyes narrowed at him. She didn’t believe him at all.
She began to descend the stairs. “And may I ask what the nature of this business trip is?” she further inquired, making Navid’s heartbeat spike. Normally, Navid was able to lie to just about anyone, but when it came to his mother, she could see through him like he was made of glass.
“Well, dad is thinking about acquiring an old winery in Barcelona and sent me to check it out. Nothing out of the ordinary,” he lied in a voice that was both too calm and too edgy.
Nasim tapped her chin as she took the last step. “Okay then dear. I wish you all the best with your exploit. Make sure you bring me back a souvenir,” she said with a smile and then hugged him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I know that deep down, you have a good soul and that’s why I know I can always count on you to make the right decisions.”
Hugging her tightly and then let her go and offered her a small smile. With that, he was out the door and had the chauffeur load his suitcase into the trunk of the Range Rover and they were on their way to their private hangar which was close to Heathrow.
***
Three hours later, when the sun had long set, Navid was being driven to a mansion that he had under his name that’s he’d bought not too long ago. It was supposed to serve as a vacation home, but for now, it would have to serve as a bungalow for espionage. When he arrived, two maids were there to carry his luggage and offer him dinner after the long flight.
Early next day, he had his hired driver take him to a place that can only be regarded as the outskirts of Madrid. It seemed jungle like, and for a second, he thought he had gotten the wrong location and had to double check the GPS. “Are you sure about this location, sir?” the driver asked in Spanish, voice dripping with wariness.
“From the intel I got, we are headed in the right direction,” he replied but with an undernote of skepticism. As the flora got clearer, they soon stumbled upon what could only be described as a highly guarded fortress.
Before they could get any further, two guards stopped them. “Shit,” Navid mumbled under his breath. They had two very large shot guns and very mean looking faces.
“State your business,” one of them asked in a heavy Spanish accent and the driver gulped, staring frightfully at the firearm that he had slung around his shoulder.
Navid held his hands up. “I come in peace. I would like to have a chat with Humberto Dos Santos,” he told him and the other guard pulled out a walkie talkie which he spoke rapidly into.
“Name?” he asked harshly.
“Navid Pedrad.”
After a few more exchanges between, he motioned for them to pass through and they parked at the entrance of the home. As Navid jumped out of the car, the front door burst open and out strolled the ever arrogant and ever infuriating Humberto Dos Santos, donning what could be deemed age-inappropriate shorts, no shirt and a set of ray bans hiding his forest green eyes.
“I can only imagine how you found me here, right in the middle of nowhere. You must be either very rich and influential or just plain stupid. What the hell are you doing here, brother of Omar Pedrad?” he remarked arrogantly with a self-righteous smirk.
Navid cleared his throat and slipped his hands into his pocket. “This has to do with a common enemy.”
“Who might that be?”
“Emilio Dos Ramos.”
_________________________________
Hello good people! How's the week going so far?
My day was hella weird but interesting...hence why I'm updating late.
Anyways, let me know your thoughts on the plot...and remember to vote! 😘
Love,
~Deetronite ❤️