Chapter Text
“Is this him? I don’t remember him having curls,” Max says, throwing a quick glance at the photo on the first page of a folder. He doesn’t bother to take a closer look though, continuing to study documents in front of him.
“I didn’t show him to you so we could discuss his choice of hairstyle, Max,” Christian says sourly. “Look at his file, you need to know what you’re dealing with here.”
“The negotiations are in two weeks, I have plenty of time to prepare,” Max retorts, “besides, I don’t think I need to know anything about a spoiled flower that was raised in favorable conditions and has no idea how the real world works.”
“I wouldn’t advise you to underestimate him. He’s smart and sly like a fox, he can cause us some real trouble now that he’s the new leader of the Russell family,” Christian’s tone is patient but not very happy. He is not delighted with Max being so careless about the situation they are in.
“Then why did he postpone the negotiations for a whole month? For me, it looks like he’s terrified and tries to come up with some stupid plan not to let us take all of his father’s legacy.”
“His father passed away, Max. Have some empathy. He'll be more useful to us if we play along,” Christian shakes his head and Max only rolls his eyes, finally leaning back in his chair and looking at Christian.
“Oh, so he needs a month to cry about his daddy's death while we all put our business on hold so he can cope with his sadness and I should take him seriously?” Max asks, his voice laced with sarcasm. “Christian, I appreciate your advice and all the information you collected. I'll take a look at it later, but now I have neither the time nor the desire to think about something that is happening only in two weeks.” He looks at Christian and he doesn’t even feel bad about his words because now is the worst possible time to discuss something apart from their warehouse in Graz being under the threat of police inspections.
“Okay, Max. Take your time and let me know if you need help with anything,” Christian sighs and turns toward the door.
“Oh, and if you see Daniel, tell him that I would like to speak to him,” Max adds when Christian is already at the door. Horner nods and closes the door behind him.
With Christian finally gone and Daniel not here yet, Max has time to finally think about possible solutions for the problem in Graz. It’s not their only warehouse there but the rest they share with the Russell family and this one is actually the only one with the main weapon supply for the central part of Europe. However, now Max can’t focus on the matter. Christian has an annoying habit of throwing Max off track when he is concerned with something. Max knows that Horner is not easy to unsettle so he usually tries to pay attention to what the other man says. But now Christian’s worry seems useless to Max and yet he can’t bring his focus back to the documents on his desk. Why would Christian be so worried about the new leader of the Russell family?
Max looks at the folder again. Moves the photo away to see the profile.
George Russell. Twenty-eight years old. A year younger than Max. The new leader of the Russell family. For someone who Christian considers dangerous, he surely doesn't look like a threat. Max turns the page. There's a certificate of death. Stephen Russell, died two weeks ago. Cause of death: a stroke. A pretty normal reason for someone so powerful.
Max remembers the moment Christian came to him with the news. This wasn't ideal, but it would've happened sooner or later anyway. His own father died two years ago making Max the new head of the Verstappen family. Stephen then called him right away to express condolences and set the date for negotiations. Max doesn't remember himself having the option to be left alone to adapt. The world didn't stop for him when he inherited everything. Meanwhile, the princess Russell has a whole month, leaving Max, once again, as the only one acting towards a new agreement. Max got used to having business with Stephen. Partly because he remembered how his father did it and partly because Stephen was from an older generation and didn't like to change things that worked well. Two new leaders being young heirs of their dynasties meant that new rules and conditions had to be settled. However Russell junior didn't take the situation seriously enough, leaving all smaller families and gangs waiting for the new agreement between main families. And that was the first thing that made Max feel annoyed towards this George guy. He didn't like to wait, but he had to in order to keep the fragile peace that their fathers managed to build many years ago.
A knock at the door takes Max back to reality. He doesn’t have time to say something when Daniel comes in with his usual smile on his face.
“Wanted to see me, boss?” Ricciardo asks. His tone is between mocking and just cheerful.
“Any news on Graz?” Max asks, putting George’s profile away. “Who's managing the situation?”
“I've sent a group of our guys there for surveillance, and GP is taking the negotiations with the police. Don't sweat too much, we'll handle it,” Daniel says with a shrug. Max sometimes wonders how Daniel can seem so careless all the time while talking about their business. Maybe the reason is that Daniel worked for his father long before Max became the leader, so he knows stuff and he doesn’t stress over anything.
“I need you to control every step of the plan here. We can't let police raid this warehouse, I don’t want to move guns to two others because they're not fully ours and while I still don't have a new contract with the new Russell leader I don’t want him sticking his nose into our business,” Max says with steel in his voice.
“Ooh, someone's moody,” Daniel says with a whistle, “What did the Russell guy do to you already?”
“Nothing. Christian just reminded me of his existence. And he also thinks Russell can be a problem.” Max wasn't planning on discussing it with Daniel but he needs more opinions, for now he doesn’t get the precautions of Horner.
“Christian thinks everyone is a problem,” Daniel scoffs, clearly not taking his words seriously. “He probably just didn't take his pills for paranoia this morning.”
“He takes pills for paranoia?” Max asks, genuinely surprised. He thought that he should know such things about his people.
“I don’t know, but I really think he should,” Daniel laughs at Max’s confused expression. Max clicks his tongue in irritation.
“You’re in a good mood, yeah? Why so?” Scolding Daniel for being happy and cheerful is at least unproductive and at most simply stupid, so Max tries to calm down his annoyance caused by Ricciardo's killing optimism.
“Why not? Life is so short, especially ours, we need to be as happy as we can at the given moment,” Daniel says and smiles wide knowing perfectly well it annoys the shit out of Max.
“Your approach to life is sickening,” Max answers and rolls his eyes. Daniel laughs at him.
“No, really, why are you so moody? I'll handle the Graz problem, it's just the police, don't worry too much. Or is it the new Russell that disturbs your peace of mind?”
Daniel always knows more than he should. That annoys Max, too.
“He doesn't disturb my peace of mind, I just don't understand why Christian is so anxious about him when all I can see is a daddy's boy that has no idea how to rule the empire so he hides in his castle for a month trying to come up with a plan so the mean guys don't take his money and yachts.”
“Max, don't be an ass, his father died, let the boy grieve in peace, he has the right to feel sad for a while,” Daniel says judgmentally.
“I don’t remember anyone giving me time to grieve,” Max snaps suddenly and freezes from his own words. That wasn't something he wanted to say. He definitely didn't want to sound so… pathetic.
“Oh. I see,” Daniel starts but Max interrupts him.
“You don't see shit. Get back to me when you have results in Graz and check the container that was shipped yesterday from Rotterdam to Singapore, I don’t want any trouble with custom services in Asia.”
“Got it, boss,” Daniel nodded with less amused expression now and left the office. That was actually one thing that Max appreciated about Daniel: he never intervened if he saw Max isn't eager to talk about something. Daniel respected his right for private feelings and never pushed further. Unlike Charles.
The thought of Charles made Max's upcoming headache worse. Max forgot to mention to Daniel not to discuss anything from that conversation with Charles. As if Daniel would listen to him.
Anyway, he needed to talk to Charles himself. He took his phone and found the needed contact. Before calling, Max sighed, mentally preparing himself for anything Charles is about to use to ruin his day completely.
“Yes, Max, hello, h-how can I help you?” is the first Max hears after solid five dial tones.
“Are you running from someone?” Max asks with a frown. The breathless tone of his friend gives him a slight pinch of panic inside.
“Well, I wouldn't say running,” Charles laughs and Max relaxes a little because it means Charles is not in a life-threatening situation. But then Charles continues, “I'm with Carlos. What do you want?”
Max suddenly understands where the breathless part is coming from.
“Oh, for fuck's sake, Charles, why would you pick up my call while having sex with your boyfriend?” That's exactly why Max needed a minute before calling Leclerc, because he always finds a way to put Max in an idiotic situation.
“Well, we're not having sex now, and you become a big baby when I don’t pick up a call from you.” Well, Max can’t argue with the last part. He hates when anyone ignores his calls. “So, can I assist you with something?”
“Yes, for instance, catching your breath after sex before picking up a call from your boss,” Max says sourly.
“Oh, don't be a prude, Max, you're a big boy already, you must know how people can spend time when they love each other. Maybe the concept of love is alien to you, but you're familiar with the concept of sex, right?”
“Met the concept of sex? That's your way of asking me if I had sex?” Max finds himself dragged into the stupidest encounter and changes the topic, “Anyway, that's not why I called.”
“You don't say,” Charles giggles quietly, obviously happy with how he managed to piss Max off. “So, what is it?”
“When are you coming back?” Max asks, wanting to end this conversation as soon as possible.
“A-aw, you miss me already?” Charles asks with fake affection.
“Charles, not the time to piss me off, actually,” Max says, the familiar headache hitting his temples.
“Okay, okay, grumpy mafia boss,” Charles answers still with amusement in his voice, “I was supposed to come tomorrow but Daniel said that he has everything under control so I thought I can stay for two more days. Why? Do you need me?”
Yes, Max thinks. He needs his friend to come and be right next to him when he feels his nerves starting to fray because of the uncertainty that has come up with the death of Stephen Russell and his son delaying the negotiations.
“No, take your time. But I expect you to be here before negotiations,” Max says instead.
“Sure thing, I’ll be home by Thursday morning, I’ll never miss the meeting before negotiations,” Charles chuckles.
“Of course you won’t,” Max scoffs.
Max hangs up feeling if not better but at least more distracted from his taunting thoughts. Charles has this special trait where he can help Max to escape his own mind without even realising it sometimes. Max thinks it’s a bad habit of his to fall for Charles’ provocations whenever he feels like his thoughts are too much for him to handle. That’s why he doesn’t say anything to Charles because none of his people needs to know what really happens in the head of their leader.
He puts away the documents and reports about Graz and takes out the copy of the Bill of Lading of the last container sent to Singapore to check once again if everything is correct. He does it mainly because he doesn’t want to look at Russell's file again as he’s trying to convince himself it isn’t worth his time. Christian is just an old man that doesn’t like changes and that’s why he’s so worried about Russell junior. And this Russell guy is just a pussy that doesn’t know what to do with this whole new power that has been laid on his shoulders and that’s why he’s hiding and delaying the negotiations. He’s probably just now realised where daddy’s money for his luxurious life has been coming from.
“Stop,” Max says to himself. He stands up deciding that he needs a drink and a cigarette and probably an evening without seeing anyone. Yeah, that sounds lovely.
He sends Daniel a message that he doesn’t want to be disturbed unless it’s a life-or-death situation and goes to his bedroom to sit on the terrace with a cigarette and a glass of gin and tonic hoping this ritual can put his mind at peace at least for one evening.
***
“Let’s make it quick, all right?” Max suggests taking the seat at the head of the table in a meeting room. “So, what’s the plan?”
“First of all, Max,” Christian starts, “have you read the profile that I gave you last Monday?”
“Not relevant,” Max answers. Daniel scoffs, Charles smiles and tries to hide it with his hand. Christian looks disgruntled. “Charles, has Pierre prepared the new contract?”
“Yes, he sent it to me this morning. Take a look,” Charles moves the paper closer to Max.
Max takes the papers and studies them for a while. He frowns, takes a pen and underlines something in a couple of places. Everyone looks at him with curiosity but none dares to interrupt him or ask any questions. When Max crosses something out passionately, Daniel looks at Charles and Charles just shrugs, mouthing to him “phycho” talking about Max. Daniel hides a laugh behind a cough and Christian looks at them with disapproval. They both smile at him widely and before they start giggling like middle schoolers Max raises his head and gives the papers back to Charles.
“I marked the places that I want to change.”
“So we’ve seen,” Daniel says with amusement. Max ignores him.
“Tell him that I don’t want the share in the banks in England, instead, I want the offshore structures their family has in Luxembourg and on Cyprus. And also I want a share in the fine art auctions they buy and sell. The percentage can be discussed at negotiations,” Max says with the neutral face like it’s the most obvious thing to want.
“But Max, Russell will never sign such a contract,” Christian argues, “you still don’t take him seriously and that’s the problem. You need to be cautious and meet with him first, or read his file for God’s sake, before imposing these conditions and provoking a war.”
Max opens his mouth to argue but Daniel reacts first.
“Okay, let’s calm down, everyone,” he says looking at Max. “Christian, you have a point, we need to be cautious but not terrified, you’re being paranoid right now. I agree that these conditions can cause unnecessary disputes during the negotiations but I don’t think it’ll lead to war. I think we all need to be sensible and agree that we know almost nothing about George, so let’s not be impulsive and first get to know him better,” Daniel finishes and suggests Max and Christian a smile.
“Has the question of why we don’t know anything about him crossed your mind?” Christian asks, “Max had been well-known among all of our allies long before Jos passed away, but we haven’t heard of Stephen’s son much as if he didn’t exist,” He looks at Max trying to call to his sensible side but Max only rolls his eyes at him.
“Maybe we haven’t heard of him because he’s a spoiled brat that got used to spending his days on yachts and football games and hasn’t given a single fuck about his father’s inheritance before all this business became his problem,” Max’s tone is harsh and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to listen to anyone. “I think we need to act aggressively so he knows who he’s dealing with and remembers his place and that he is not his father who was respected among all the families.”
Christian hides his face in his palms clearly not believing that Max is being serious. Daniel looks a little tense but remains calm when he answers.
“Max, I understand that this delay is irritating and all, but even a complete idiot will have second thoughts if we try to set all these conditions at once, and even if this George is a complete idiot, he still has people in the family that worked with his father, they will help him understand what you’re trying to do.”
“Don’t forget that Wolff is still there and he will not let us fool his old friend’s son,” Christian adds.
Max looks like he’s about to throw a tantrum. He clearly doesn’t like what Christian and Daniel say but he understands that they’re right. And he hates to admit that he’s in the wrong but he wants to finish this meeting without killing anyone, so he says:
“Okay, Charles, tell Pierre that he can replace the clause with banks with the offshores in Luxembourg for now. And before you all say something, I waited for a month for these goddamn negotiations, I won’t leave that room without any profit.”
“Okay,” Charles says, making a note in his notebook.
Max turns to him and glares for a while. Charles looks back at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What? I said okay.”
“No, it’s not that,” Max says, continuing the eye contact, “why are you so silent? It’s unlike you. What do you think about it?”
“I don’t like the suspicion in your tone, Max,” Charles complains. “What do you want me to say? I agree with Daniel and partly with Christian, minus the paranoia part.”
“I am not being paranoid, I’m being cautious and sensible,” Christian retorts.
“I don’t know, mate,” Charles answers, “all these dramatic words like ‘war’ sound a bit paranoid to me. I don’t know Russell personally but Carlos says he’s a normal guy and doesn’t look like someone with a plan to overtake the whole of Europe, let alone start a war between families,” Charles shrugs while drawing random ornaments in his notebook.
“Well, a lot of dictators look normal at first, don’t judge the book by…” Christian says but Max interrupts him.
“Wait a second,” he looks at Charles who doesn’t even bother to look back at him. “Where does Carlos even know Russell from? And for how long?”
Charles suddenly stops drawing and finally looks at Max.
“Not for long, they had their negotiations the day before I came to Madrid. Carlos didn’t tell me much but as far as I know they re-signed their contract and it didn’t even take that long.”
“He already had negotiations with Carlos but not with me?” Max's voice is getting quieter which means that he’s getting angrier.
“Oops, someone’s ego got poked at,” Daniel says quietly.
Max gives him a look.
“Carlos said that George already had several negotiations with smaller families and gangs, mostly in Britain, but I think in some other countries, too,” Charles’ voice gets slower, like he’s trying to weigh the information he gives to Max right now. “And… don’t freak out but he’s also met with Lewis, as I’ve heard.”
“Charles, shut up, I’m begging you,” Daniel whines quietly, looking at how Max’s knuckles are getting white from how tightly he holds the edge of the table.
“Charles,” Max calls, his voice is barely audible, “tell Pierre to add everything I’ve mentioned before to the contract. It’s non-negotiable, in fact, it’s an order,” he says and then stands up slowly and leaves the meeting room under the three pairs of eyes, not letting anyone say anything more.
“And I’ve told him,” Christian says, shaking his head.
“Thank God you didn’t think to say this while he was still here,” Daniel laughs a bit nervously. “Charles, I have one single question: why the fuck would you tell him that?”
“Oh, do you think it would be better if he found it out during the negotiations? And then the fact that I knew this already? No, thank you, I am spontaneous and ready to take risks but that is just suicidal. At least now he has time to calm down a little.”
“I highly doubt there will be any calming downs on Max’s side, mate,” Daniel sighs and puts his hand over his face.
“Okay, I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Christian suggests, “now, boys, please, make sure nobody gets in his way for the rest of the day. And, Charles, talk to Pierre, we need to make all of these conditions look favorable for both parties even if I’m not sure it’s possible.”
Charles and Daniel nod and all of them stand up and leave the meeting room.
Max is sitting in his office trying to set the folder in front of him on fire with his sight. He opens the first page and reads the basic information once again.
“Okay, George Russell, let’s see who you think you are,” he says to himself.
The little fucker wants to play? Max will show him that he picked a fight with someone way out of his league.