Page 35 of My Young Rebel Daddy

But if I learned one thing from the whole affair, it was that I always need to follow my heart.

I love my life in construction, I love being a Daddy, and I think I might just…

‘Woah! Fuck!’ I bellow, slamming my fist down on the wheel and honking the horn as I narrowly miss a sedan that seems to believe the rules of the road don’t apply to them. ‘Watch where you’re going asshole!’

‘Daddy, are you okay?’ Nick asks, putting his hand on my thigh. ‘I didn’t mean to get you involved in all this. I’m so sorry.’

‘Boy, I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ I reply, keen to make sure that my baby boy doesn’t think he’s responsible for this mess. ‘The only person to blame here is Werner Hodge. And that’s why we’re driving to his place to remind him that he doesn’t get to walk all over us. Not now, and notever.’

For the first time in a little minute, I see a smile come onto my baby boy’s face.

‘That’s the spirit,’ I say. ‘Now let’s park up here and show that piece of crap what we’re made of.’

I slow the truck down and pull over directly opposite Werner Hodge’s office building.

From the outside it’s a pretty typical office block, nothing to write home about. I’d heard on the construction grapevine that he bought the entire building in some dodgy deal with a corrupt politician some years ago.

To be honest, nothing surprises me when it comes to Werner Hodge.

‘Okay, deep breath time,’ I say, leaning over and planting a kiss on Nick’s forehead. ‘You can stay here if you want, I won’t think any less of you.’

‘No, Daddy, I need to come,’ Nick says. ‘I’m a brave boy, and I’ve gone up against men like this before. I’m going to be standing by your side all the way, no matter what happens.’

‘Well let’s move our asses then,’ I say. ‘And it looks like Christopher will be joining us too.’

I look across and see that Christopher Snoot has caught up, having fallen behind a couple of blocks ago.

The three of us might make an unusual team, but that doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is facing off with Werner Hodge and getting the outcome that my darling boy deserves.

The walk up through the lobby and to Werner Hodge’s first floor office takes less than a minute, but we’re moving with such purpose it’s a surprise that we’re not all-out sprinting by the time we arrive.

I don’t bother knocking on the door – even if the secretary nearly spits her coffee out in shock as the three of us walk past her.

‘Hodge, we need to talk,’ I say, my voice firm and full of authority. ‘You need to back the fuck off Sunvale Street. And I mean backall the wayoff.’

I wait for Hodge to respond.

He’s leaning back in his black leather armchair and has the look of one smug sonofabitch on his face.

Hodge is waiting for me to say more, he wants to see exactly what I know – but I’m not into playing those kinds of games, least of all with a piece of crap like him.

I look around and see how bare his office is.

Aside from his desk and the chair he’s sitting on, there’s barely any evidence that this is a place of work.

A sole laptop aside, I get the feeling that this office is more like a front to give Werner the air of a legitimate businessman.

‘So you three freaks think you can barge in here and threaten me?’ Werner laughs, finally breaking his own self-imposed silence. ‘So naïve. So silly. And actually quite boring. I’ve seen off bigger people than you, Jason. You should know that. I’ve bribed enough officials to last me a lifetime’s worth of dodge deals and unethical favors.’

‘I ain’t leaving until you tell me you’re backing off my boy’s street,’ I say, gritting my teeth and feeling a surge of anger course over my veins. ‘You’re lowlife scum, Hodge. You’ve crossed a line, and I’m not letting you get away with this one.’

‘Daddy, be careful,’ Nick says, genuine fear in his voice as he watches Werner stand up from this desk.

Werner Hodge is a big guy, there’s no denying that.

And I know that he’s been involved in his fair share of physical fights and scuffles over the years.

Hell, there was even a rumor that he killed his former business partner – something that always sounded like gossip to me, until now perhaps…

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