Page 47 of Reckless Love

“They seem like a weird match, don’t they?” Owen muses.

“I don’t have any comment on that,” I say.

“No? I did a bit of digging after you came to work for me. A lot of unconfirmed rumors about you two.”

“Unconfirmed for a reason,” I say.

Owen’s lips tilt into a partial smile. “As long as your past didn’t catch up with you too intimately, I suppose it’s a nonissue.”

“My former time on the island feels like a different life.” When I left, both my parents were well, Vanessa was in university, and the only devastating thing that had happened to me was Ava saying an unequivocal “no” to my floated proposal. I had no idea how bad things could really get for all of us.

“I’m hearing rumblings on the ground that The Nile will go into strike position pretty quickly off the back of their unionization.”

“They can do that?”

“We don’t have a lot of unions in Bellerive, so some of the laws around them aren’t as detailed as they should be. So, yes, in short, they can do that.” Owen’s still typing notes in the debrief document. “Your sister hasn’t mentioned anything?”

“Discussing her role in any of The Nile unionization business would have been a conflict of interest. Honestly, I actually support what they’re doing in the long run, even if their tactics are questionable. Can’t exactly say any of that to the Santos family.”

“No,” Owen agrees, “you cannot.”

“Maybe now that they’ve unionized, Mr. Santos will be reasonable and negotiate with them fairly.”

“Raul Santos clawed his way up from the lower-class trenches, and when that happens on this island, two things are the likely outcome. You get a billionaire who wants to help everyone else get there too. Those are pretty rare. The other kind? They’re the ones that’ll slam a boot in your face, force you off the wealth ladder, to keep you from reaching their heights. That’s Raul.”

“It’s going to get nasty.”

“If I had to guess, extremely nasty. Everything I’ve ever heard about him points to someone vindictive who’ll want to punish his employees for daring to unionize in the first place. He won’t want to give them more in any sense.”

“Ava and Landon will be the collateral damage.”

“They could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get rehired if a strike kicks off. Just keep that at the back of your mind as you create schedules for upcoming jobs. You might need to step in again.”

“You haven’t heard a timeline?” I ask.

“You’ve got the best source living in your house. It’s not exactly a secret that she’s been at the forefront of this union organization and push for better working conditions.”

That makes my blood run cold. Of course I’d known Vanessa was part of it, but if she’s one of the people leading the charge against Raul, she could become a victim of his retribution.

“You don’t think he’ll move against her, do you?”

“Who knows,” Owen says. “I’d like to tell you he won’t, but we’re not in the business of guessing, are we?”

No. We both learned the hard way that you always, always plan for the worst.

“Sounds like I need protection for my sister,” I say. “You’re okay if I arrange that through us and just figure it out with my buy-in?”

“Yeah, of course. I’d do the same for either of my brothers.”

Unease is sitting under my ribs. All the people I want to protect are connected to The Nile in some way, and with Raul at the helm, I’m worried that when it all comes to a head, the only person who’ll emerge a winner will be him.

“I think my life might be about to become a shit show too,” I admit.

“Let’s hope not,” Owen says. “Not sure how this company survives if we’re both in turmoil.”

Maybe it doesn’t, and that thought is just as terrifying as all the others.

Chapter Seventeen