Bonds And Betrayals

15.

The wind was kicking up dust again as I arrived at the site. The heat was dry and suffocating, and it slapped against my kaftan as I stepped out of the car. Isah, the site manager, was already pacing near the front, tapping something on his tablet with that frantic energy he always wore when things weren’t going according to schedule.

“I moved your entire afternoon tasks to tomorrow,” Elliot spoke, tapping into a similar tablet like Isah’s as he rounded the car.

I stretched my arms a little and smirked, watching the high visibility jackets flicker in the sun as I rubbed my temple. “Send my apologies to everyone I was supposed to meet today,” I replied. “Also, don’t act like you don’t enjoy the chaos.”

“I don’t enjoy having to rearrange ten contracts because a building decided to start sinking,” he said flatly.

“Barka da zuwa,Yallabai,” Isah greeted.

I waved my hand. “Get on with it. I have things to do, Isah.”

“Of course,Yallabai. There’s a problem on the east wing, and it looks like soil displacement. You were supposed to sign off on it last week.”

“The building is sinking?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering how this could have happened. The only way something like that would happen was if the materials we used were inferior. And the senator had assured me that he would supply only the highest quality materials.

“Any idea why that would happen?” Elliot asked.

“I trusted the senator’s materials,” I replied, slipping on the reflective vest a junior engineer handed me. I nodded my thanks, and he looked stunned for a brief moment that I was talking to him, but I didn’t care. I just let him stare as I slipped on the jacket and wondered what could have gone wrong with the building.

Elliot handed me a hard hat. “Aren’t you going to change? I mean you’re in a kaftan.”

“I make kaftans look good even when I’m standing on scaffolding,” I replied, already walking toward the damaged area. The whispers quieted as I walked towards the construction site, but that was to be expected. It came with the title, and the fact that our business was growing steadily. Being the largest real estate company in the northern region was a burden to bear, but it wasn’t impossible. I loved what I did, even if I'd rather race motorcycles more than anything. Sure, it was difficult balancing the task of being the pack’s beta while also focusing on my business, but I wouldn’t change it anyway.

The construction workers greeted me, some of them doing so a little bit politely, while some were with a bit too much familiarity.

We soon reached the damaged section and I didn’t wait for anyone to explain when I saw what we were dealing with. I crouched and pressed my palm to the concrete floor, then looked at the surrounding structure. There were a few hairline fractures on the load-bearing column, and some slight buckling near the support beams. It was a minor shift in the grand scheme of things, but one that would spiral quickly if we didn’t take care of it now.

“This isn’t the workers’ fault,” I muttered. “It’s the damn aggregate mix. It’s too light, and there’s no way that ratio passed structural integrity checks.”

Elliot folded his arms and asked, “Did you run this by the Senator of Interior Development?”

“Obviously,” I replied. “He was the one who signed off on this.”

“Do you think it was a mistake?”

I laughed once, standing up slowly before I said, “Senator Bako doesn’t make mistakes. He signs every shipment himself. So no, it wasn’t a mistake.”

“You think…” he trailed off.

I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I looked at the sinking edge again, my jaw tightening. Could it be…

No. I couldn’t think like that. Why would the senator sign off on something this bad? Besides, he's on my side. They were all scared of me, so how did this get past him?

But what if it was something else? I knew Turk was looking for ways to take the senators to his side. But this way?

‘I wouldn't put anything past that piece of s**t,’ Conri hissed.

‘You think he'd mess with the family business?’

‘If it means bringing us down, I think Turk will do anything.’

Right. Only I wouldn't give him the chance to. I would always stand my ground.

At least for now, the crisis was manageable. I gave out orders and directed some of the engineers to reinforce the subfloor with polymer concrete, and arranged for a structural assessment by the end of the day. Everyone was nodding, scrambling and moving to carry out my orders.

I spent the whole day on site, making sure everything was fixed and a new batch of materials delivered. I wouldn't be using anything from the batch Bako had delivered till I spoke with him and found out what was going on.

By the time we were done, it was already dusk. But the building was going to stand, without us having to correct too much. Or God forbid, tear down the whole building.

“Check out all the materials sent to other sites,” I told Elliot as we walked to the car.

“Of course.” Then he chuckled. “You look like you are in a rush. Eager to see her?”

“Don't act like you aren't desperate to see Lois too.”

He laughed, scratching his head. “Oh, you bet I am. After all, she is already my wife.”

I growled. “Shut up.” But I couldn't help the small smile playing on my lips.

I realised that I was smiling a lot these days.