The Lady in Pink

The story is my idea but it was inspired by things by people grossly more talented than I am

Chapter 11

Cinder took a long puff from her cigarette. She flanked on both sides of the long rectangular table by the top capos of her organization.

"Ma'am, I've confirmed that the Xiao Long Family has officially dissolved and all of its members have either left town or transitioned to civilian life. There is no trace of them left." Emerald began. "Furthermore, Special Agent Ness would like to discuss transforming our operations into legitimate forms of business."

"If I may interject. I am wary of his proposal. It sounds too good to be true." Mercury offered his opinion.

"I agree." Cinder concurred. "Right now we control the entire flow of alcohol and gambling in this city. I can't see him agreeing to legalize drugs or prositution so that leaves us with about eighty percent of our income. We never did get much use out of our brothels or selling drugs. Emerald, see to it that the people working in those two areas are given a severance package."

"As you wish." Emerald bowed her head.

"Good. Mercury, can you please call Roman and have him come here. I need a distraction from this mess."

"At once." Mercury stood up and went over to the telephone.

"You all are dismissed. I'll call another meeting later to go over the finer details." The other capos did as they were told and shuffled out of the room.

"Yes… yes… understood." Roman hung up. He let out a heavy sigh.

What's wrong, Uncle?

It's work. I'll be out for half an hour, scratch that, probably closer to an hour. Watch the bar while I'm gone.

Ok.

Roman grabbed a bottle of his finest whiskey, put his coat and hat on, and left. He hailed a cab and got in it.

The news of Walter Schnee's conviction and the elopement of Weiss with a dock worker sent ripples through the upper society of Vale. Jaune's parents attempted to console the other head families and brush the issue aside. Henri and Lily Arc were in no rush to renew Jaune's engagement with another family's daughter so they left him alone. Despite knowing that he wanted to propose to Neo, Jaune was having a difficult time deciding the best way to ask her to marry him. Would he do it at the bar, her home, the park? What type of ring should he give her, one passed down through his family, a store bought one, a custom made one? How would Roman react? Jaune assumed he would give his niece his blessing but he did still have that tommy gun behind the counter. What would his parents think? They loved him unconditionally but after the debacle with the Schnees how would they react to a tavern owner and his niece? True, Roman was rich but it was dirty money. All these thoughts swirled through his head. The endless hypothetical situations he was concocting made Jaune dizzy so he took a deep breath and sat on his bed. What if I ask her in a hypothetical sense Jaune pondered. I could make it seem like one of my friends is asking for advice and then use her answers to my advantage. Jaune adopted this strategy and prepared for the next time he saw Neo.

Roman arrived outside Cinder's mansion. The guards let him in and he proceeded to Cinder's room. He lightly rapped on the door.

"Come in." This time Cinder's voice was not sultry but mellow. Roman opened the door and stepped inside. Cinder was appropriately clothed yet still wore attire that accentuated her voluptuous body. "Have a seat." She gestured to an empty chair. Cinder was standing rather than laying on her bed in a compromising pose.

"Are you feeling okay?" Roman asked, apprehensive. Usually by now he would be pinned under her firm grip or enveloped in a tight embrace.

"I'm fine, darling. Close the door behind you." Roman did as instructed and took a seat.

"For you." He offered her the whiskey bottle.

"Thank you." Cinder received it and set it aside. "Roman, are you happy the way things are?"

Roman didn't understand what she was asking so he asked for clarification.

"Are you happy running your tavern and living with your niece? I'm sure you've heard the rumors. The Schnees are done for, the Taiyang Family has been dissolved and Prohibition will be coming to a close soon." She lit a cigarette and put it in her mouth. "Naturally the only thing left to clean up is us. Agent Ness is on his way here to set us on the straight and narrow. If you want to leave and run your tavern independently I won't stop you but…" She paused. "If you're willing will you work under me again?"

"Do I have to give you an answer now?"

"No, I'm sure you want to talk it over with your niece, isn't that right?"

"You read my mind." Roman smiled.

"I hopefully begin construction next week. You have until then to give me your decision."

"Thank you." Roman bowed his head and put on his hat.

About an hour later Special Agent Ness arrived. Cinder had changed her outfit into something more business like. She was wearing a conservative black dress with long sleeves. She had also tied her hair into a bun to appear more professional.

"Mr. Ness, please have a seat."

Agent Ness sat down.

"You wished to discuss transforming our operations into legitimate forms of business?"

"Correct. I am glad you accepted my invitation to meet."

"Of course. I only want what is best for the city. We have a rough draft of our proposal to open a casino here in Vale. Mercury if you would give the plans to Mr. Ness."

Mercury was wearing his usual suit minus the hat. His silver hair was gelled back exposing his forehead a bit. He walked over and handed Mr. Ness a stack of documents held together by two brass fasteners. Agent Ness flipped through the documents.

"I'll have to bring this back to the Department to look over but it appears to be a good start. I'll contact you again once we draft an opinion in response."

"I look forward to it."

"Well then." Mr. Ness collected his coat and hat and stood up to exit the room. "Thank you for your time."

"My pleasure." Cinder sweetly responded.

Once Agent Ness left, Cinder slumped in her chair and exhaled begrudgingly. "God I hate the Feds." She grunted.

"You did fantastic La Signora." Mercury complimented.

"Now then let us move forward with the next stage in our plan." She stood up and began walking toward the door, Mercury trailing behind her.