Page 4 of Her Lion Lover

"And you and your staff deserve it, I'm sure, what with all the hard work you do. I'd take your whole team out for lunch any day of the week to show my appreciation, but with the rules and regulations on what the government considers corruption, I wouldn't want to impugn your good name. If you ever choose to resign, though, the offer's still there."

Ed laughed, though it sounded forced. "When I retire, I might just take you up on that offer. But not before."

"It's a date. You know how to contact me. If you want that lunch, or if Councillor Clyde caves and Hea Sanctuary finally makes it onto the agenda. Whichever comes first."

They ended the call, leaving Leo with even more questions than before. He considered calling Shaw, the developer on the project, but he probably wouldn't know any more than Ed had already told him. What he needed was the equivalent of the village gossip, and in this industry, there was only one man who knew all the gossip.

"Roy Raiden, consulting engineer. How can I help?"

Leo grinned. "You can tell me why Councillor Clyde hates Craig Tremotino."

Roy let out a breathy chuckle that ended in a cough. Roy swore he'd die with a lit cigarette in his hand, and he wouldn't stop smoking until then. "Is that Leo? You're not usually interested in idle gossip, even when it's about your pet project."

"So you do know about the beef between them?"

"It's not beef so much as money. If the rumours are true, Clyde owes Tremotino quite a lot of money, and he doesn't want his wife to know."

That made no sense. "So why does he hate him, then? I would have thought he'd be doing his best to suck up to him, not make him public enemy number one."

"Oh, it's a fun one, this story. You see, Tremotino owed Clyde a favour, so when Clyde's new mistress wanted to cruise the Mediterranean in a yacht, Clyde asked Tremotino. Tremotino called in a few favours of his own, and got him the yacht, which Clyde promptly ran aground and sank, leaving Tremotino with a hefty rescue and repair bill. Now Clyde owes him the money, but can't risk his wife finding out about his mistress or the pleasure cruise, so he has to route the money from his secret offshore investment accounts, which is taking some time. Time he's spending in Tremotino's pocket, furthering the man's agenda."

It still didn't make sense. "How is delaying Tremotino's project doing him any favours?" Leo asked.

"Well, Tremotino's other pet project got put on indefinite hold thanks to some do-gooder by the name of Blaze Argyros. You might have met him, seeing as he's one of the contractors on your Hea Sanctuary project."

"He is." Leo knew better than to give the old gossip any more information than he needed.

"Well, Tremotino is the sort of man who holds a grudge. And when he saw an opportunity to take an eye for an eye on one of Argyros's projects, he took it. Putting your project on indefinite hold, if I'm not mistaken."

"Son of a hatchet-faced harpy," Leo swore.

"Ah, so you've met Tremotino's mother. I think she lives on a tropical island somewhere now, all alone. I might have to look her up, now I'm retiring. Feisty lady, for sure."

"You're retiring?" That shouldn't have come as such a surprise, yet it did. Roy had been in the industry forever. Dad had always said Roy would probably die at his desk. Yet his father was the one who'd done that, and Roy would go on to retire at the beach house of Tremotino's mother.

"Yep. I figured it's about time. I only hung on because I agreed to sub in for Verre while they're on hiatus, but rumour is they'll be up and running again in a matter of months, well before your Hea Sanctuary gets council approval. You don't need me any more, and I think I'm overdue some cocktails on a beach."

Weren't they all? Leo couldn't remember the last time he'd had a holiday like that. "Enjoy your retirement, Roy. I take it my invite to the party is in the post?"

"No party. No point. I always wanted to ride off into the sunset, and now's my chance."

"I'll still send over a retirement gift. You can't ride off into the sunset without a proper hat. I'll make sure it's on your desk by Friday."

"Meanwhile, you make sure you have a happy birthday. Tremotino's been boasting that you'll be the guest of honour at his ball. Might be a good opportunity to talk to him about your project, and see what it'll take for him to focus his attention on something else."

Leo tipped an imaginary hat to Roy. "Will do. What will I do without you?"

Roy let out a hacking laugh. "Same as your father, I'm sure. Ask for my advice, then ignore it and do your own thing. I'd tell you to drop this Hea Sanctuary thing. With all the bad luck and delays, write it off as a bad debt and give your time to the projects that aren't cursed."

"It's not cursed. It's just...delayed, that's all. Blue sky projects like this one are a risk, but the good kind of risk, where they take on a life of their own. I want to be there to see it take its first breath, so to speak. I have a really good feeling about this one, Roy. You'll see," Leo said.

"Just like your dad. Keep building things until you can't any more, then leave a legacy, preferably with some offspring to pick up the baton. Like your dad and Verre did. There are worse things in life." Roy sounded wistful now.

"Have a cocktail on the beach for me, Roy."

"Will do. Good luck with your cursed project, King."

Fairytales and curses didn't exist, Leo told himself as he ended the call. But Hea Sanctuary would exist, if he had to burn Tremotino's petty vendetta to ash to do it.

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