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“Have you found workers to help with the warehouse?”
He glances to the side at whatever caused the banging. “Yeah. Four of my cousins have moved down here to help run things.”
“And things will still run smoothly up in New York?”
“Oh, yeah. My family is enormous. There are probably still a dozen more cousins living in New York, not to mention second cousins.”
“Great, because it’s going to be all hands on deck until we have all the kinks worked out and a steady flow of cash and product.”
“Don’t worry. We are ready for the long nights and heavy lifting as soon as we get the permits back.”
“Are you applying pressure to the inspector like Dad advised?”
“Every single day. Your father bribed him enough to buy that yacht he’s been eyeing.”
“Perfect. That’s what we like to hear. Once we are done with the inspector, we will switch targets to the police chief. We need him on our side to extend our reach to the entire city.”
His eyes widen. “I thought we were just targeting the clubs at the beach.”
“For starters, but we always need to be looking to the future. If we have several steady streams of clients, then our earning potential will be infinite.”
“That will mean we need more manpower.”
“Eventually, yes. If you want to keep it in your family, you can always bribe your cousins by seeing babes in bikinis all the time. They will probably jump on the next plane down.”
“That’s a great idea. It was like pulling fucking teeth to get the four to move down here until they spent an afternoon at the club.”
My phone chimes with a message from Dad.
I need you downstairs. The contractor is here to go over the necessary repairs.
I sigh. “My presence is needed downstairs.”
“Is everything alright?”
“Temporarily. You remember how Giuseppe Rossi had his men shoot at my father and his assistant a few days ago as they were entering the arena? Well, Dad thinks it’s necessary to replace all the doors and windows with bulletproof glass.”
“I can’t say I blame him.”
“Yeah, except games start back next week, so we are really pushing the timeline here.”
“You go handle that, and I’ll go eat dinner.”
We say our goodbyes and end the video call. Nick and I have been having daily update calls to go over everything. I want to show Dad I’m more than capable of running things while expanding into new territory.
I grab my phone and head downstairs to where Dad and Alvin are sitting in the living room with a man who appears to be in his fifties.
Dad stands. “Joey, this is Dean. He’s the contractor that’s going to replace all the windows and doors.”
I shake the man’s hand before heading to the bar cart to pour myself a scotch. “Nice to meet you.”
Alvin chimes in. “We were just discussing the timeline and the importance of keeping the public unaware of the true reason for the glass change.”
Dean interrupts. “Ah, yes, about that.” He pulls out several sheets of artwork from his briefcase. “I had these mockups done today. We can change the artwork if you don’t like them.”
He hands me a sheet. The mockups show the arena windows and doors with our team’s logos and colors on them.
Dean continues. “These are durable and weatherproof. We can easily change them out every year if you want.”