-55-

12.3K 673 125
                                    

"Que carajo?!" [What the fuck?!] Santiago boomed, standing to his feet and alerting his guards who had their hands on their firearms. "I've tripled our revenue and extended our reach into a massive market. The hell would the Council let go of me for?"

"Because you're still weak, Santi," Simone replied flatly. "And this new revenue you're generating won't last long considering all the chaos currently unfolding in your region... I could've sworn that the reason you were able to join this body is because you tightened things up in the Andes. The Council likes stability and yeah, you generated an historic spike in revenue this year, but that's not uncommon with the type of volatility that comes with someone like you running things."

"Every region has conflict! You should know better than anyone considering you almost died from it..." A snide smirk came to Santiago's face. "Very recently."

"It's excellent you bring that up, Santi!" Sean gleamed sarcastically. "Another failure of yours. The Ivanovs are done and we are very much alive and stronger than ever."

The rest of the Council members were silent, but looked on at the exchange a mix of bewilderment, agitation, and amusement.

Ignoring Sean, Santiago plopped back down in his seat and kept his attention on Simone. "This proposal is pretty fucking arrogant coming from the girl who spent 10 years taking pictures and doesn't know shit about this life. You kill one man and you think you can have a say in who is on the Council?"

"Yes, yes I do," she nodded. "And it has nothing to do with killing someone as insignificant as Dmitry. In the one year I've been on this Council, I've accomplished more than you and it's been at the benefit of not just my region, but this entire body. Meanwhile, with the shitshow you have going on here, this region is more of a liability than anything to the Council."

"That's because of you!" Santiago snarled. "I know you're behind it. And I don't think the rest of the Council would appreciate one of its members orchestrating a coup in the region of another. Why should they keep you on? You could do the same to any of them. You're out of line."

"No, actually, they wouldn't," Simone rebutted. "You started shit in our region unprovoked, Santi. You started this game. We just accepted the challenge and now you're upset because you're losing..." she rose to her feet and directed her statement to the entire table. "Again, I propose the removal of Santiago Hernandez. And I recommend a stronger, more stable leader for the Andean region: Manuel Castillo. I've sent everyone a copy of his file for you to read it over."

The room went quiet as the Council read through Manuel's file and Santiago was visibly furious - veins popping out of his head and his face burning red. He clawed at the arms of his chair and his nostrils flared as he tried to keep himself reasonably calm, knowing that too big of an outburst would not help his case.

"Castillo..." Joaquin Padilla of the Central American region pondered aloud as he swiped through the file. "He's quite popular, even in my region."

"Castillo is soft!" Santiago protested. "In the Andes, you need fear to rule and Castillo is not feared."

Simone looked at Santiago and raised an amused brow. "People supposedly fear you and look where that has gotten us. This region is still a fucking mess."

"This Manuel does appear a decent candidate. But why should we let go of Santiago for someone new?" João asked.

"Manuel was born and raised in the region - he's from Barranquilla, Colombia. He has aligned with 38 of the 54 families in here already. And while yes, Santiago managed to weasel his way into India, Manuel has a farther reach into more diverse markets in Asia, Africa, Europe, and even our region in the U.S."

Don't TouchWhere stories live. Discover now