Deceiving people had become quite the game for Isabella, pretending to be this perfect little angel in need of protection when she was around her family and the inner citadel snobs that she often rubbed shoulders with. She was so fragile and weak after all, how could she ever survive in this cruel cruel world without someone watching out for her? Ha. What most people didn't realize about Bella was that after her little incident when she was nineteen she grew a backbone and a rebellious streak like no other, joining the diamonds and working her way up through the ranks till she was finally able to give the former Ace a swift push off the roof of his own casino just so she could claim his spot. Appearances weren't always what they seemed and that delicate and fragile flower had a few thorns of her own.
She was the fresh new Ace of Diamonds having acquired the position only a few weeks prior and because of that she was still learning her new role and trying to fix a few problems that the last Ace had allowed to slip through the cracks. It was her first night back in her favorite casino, a glorious little place in the middle of all the action, it had everything you could need, bars, entertainment, and a bunch of suckers ready to give away every penny they had earned that week. Amazing. Unlike some of the lower class establishments, she often visited on business this one catered to more of the higher class society versus your typical military mongrels and general workers that had too much downtime.
She stepped into the building, a storm roaring outside but that didn't stop the crowds ready to drop their entire lives into this place, her dog walking closely next to her shaking the water from its fur as it stepped inside. She navigated the crowds with ease, smiling sweetly at many of the patrons as she did, none of them knew her from adam and that was what she loved most about all of this. Standing at a whopping five foot four inches and weighing about as much as a wet blanket she didn't fit the typical depiction of a crime lord, another deception that she loved oh so much. It didn't take long for a waitress to bring her over a glass of wine that she soon found herself sipping on while she observed the room. " Pretty good turn out considering the torrential downpour huh pup?", she asked her dog before patting the seat next to her and inviting it up into the booth with her to which it quickly obliged.
The rain thrummed outside, a downpour that had grown common in the heat of summer. Leo watched the torrent with languid eyes, as his long legs sprawled beneath his dark oak desk. Though old, it glistened under the white, crystalline light of the chandelier above, thanks to layers of lacquer and high-quality craftsmenship.
Leo relaxed into his desk chair. He had on all the parts of suit, gray pants, a dark belt that matched the leather of his seat, a crisp white shirt made with a material that neither creased nor stained. His suit jacket was tossed over the back of his chair, the lack of it over his shoulders a result of the thick humidity brought by the storm. In his slender fingers rested a whiskey tumbler, intricately blown, which he took quiet sips from as he examined the paper lifted by his other hand.
In summary, it was a warning from the Military, indicating that his business was on suspicion of violating several building codes and that the premises were subjected to random searches. Leo shook his head, scoffed, then delivered the document to where he had tossed several dozen of its identical predecessors. He crossed his arms, tipped back his glass, as he watched the paper slip down the shredder, the discarded guts of which joined the other unwanted and ignored pieces.
Just then, he heard a knock at the door, sure and rhythmic. Leo uncrossed his arms and moved behind his desk to settle down his tumbler on its red velvet resting place before calling out, "Come in."
Sledge greeted him. Despite the reputation, not all of the Diamonds were clean-cut and handsome white collar criminals. Sledge was as beefy as any Club, standing a six foot four and spanning the width of a refrigerator. Leo took a second to admire his underling, as one might fancy a statue in their possession.
"Sir. She's here."
There was only one "She", one woman that that otherwise universal label could denote. At the mention of "She", Leo straightened and adjusted his black tie. He then collected his jacket and moved to pass Sledge, his step both swift as a crane and confident as a lion, quick without appearing rushed or anxious.
"Ensure no one bothers us."
Leo joined Bella on the lowest levels of the Casino. He wore his most winning smile, a charming thing that stretched white across his features and crinkled his light eyes. The casino manager addressed Bella, leaning his elbow against the table to make his presence known.
"Everyday, my faith in God grows stronger the more he blesses me with your presence." His smile was easy, natural, though if one knew Leo, the happiness it instilled in others did not quite reach his tumultuous insides. He reached over to give her curious dog a scratch on the ear with a laugh before gesturing towards the booth seat across from the Ace. "May I?" Tag : Isabella Geoff
QuotePosted 07-11-2021, 11:05 PMThis post was last modified: 07-11-2021, 11:06 PM by Leander Wilkenson
Was it even possible for someone to be this smooth? She imagined herself immune to his words, letting them roll off her back like water on a duck....but she imagined WRONG. She was horrified at how flustered she had instantly become by his silly words, her heart absolutely skipped a beat and her stupid cheeks flushed the brightest red possible. HOW DARE HE! Typically people didn't flirt with her playfully or otherwise, her scars were enough to turn most people away and the fact that she couldn't stand to be touched finished up the remaining few. Regardless of everything she still tried to play his words off as having no effect on her, rolling her eyes as if he hadn't just tossed whatever tough girl demeanor she tried so desperately to uphold right out the window. The icing on her embarrassment cake was the moment her suppose to be guard dog happily accepted scratches from the man, wagging its tail the entire time much to her dismay. Some guard dog.
" Why of course~ Who am I to deny such a flirt a spot at my table?", she teased before letting her eyes wander over the crowd just behind him before finally letting them settle on him once again. He walked the walk and talk to talk, he held himself in a way that commanded respect and here she was looking like a little kid stomping around in her predecessor's boots. He was obviously a much better fit for this job than she was, she enjoyed chaos and taking things, a hot head at times ruled by her emotions, Leo on the other hand...she was fairly certain she had never seen him with so much as a feather ruffled.
" It's a little surprising to see how many people showed up tonight with the storm outside, you must be doing something right if they're this willing to give you their money in the rain.", she laughed as she straightened herself in her seat the last of that horrible red finally leaving her cheeks. " How have you been? So much has been going on the past couple of weeks I feel like I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you as much as I should." On top of the transfer of power she was also having to deal with her own family, trying to keep them totally out of the loop of her goings-on, and spending an entire week trying to appease them and keep them off her back for a few more months.
Her pale cheeks glowed a delectable cherry red coloring. Leo could only smile wider, though he dare not exude any sign of amusement at Bella's expense, knowing the capabilities of the seemingly bashful and flirt-shy woman across from him. The casino manager slid into the booth seat across from Bella, neatly folding up his jacket beside him, as he answered, "As well as you need me to be, Ms. Geoff. And it is no bother. I understand business comes before pleasure."
He turned. to the outside of his seat and lifting a finger for a nearby waiter. Knowing better than to scorn his employer, the waiter scurried hurriedly to their side, looking as straight-backed and attentive as he had been trained.
Before he ordered for himself, he turned to Bella, extending a hand out, and said, addressing the waiter pin straight beside their booth. "This is Isabella Geoff. Your boss's boss's boss. She's as important to me as she is lovely. Please, ensure she has every need attended to her tonight."
Assuming the waiter affirmed, to the benefit of his health and paycheck, Leo leaned forward with forearm and elbow rested on the table, now indicating Bella with lifted brows. "Have a look at the drink menu, Ms. Geoff. We have the most exquisite brandy in entire Stronghold, as well as our own private vineyards for our spiced wines."
Then, speaking to the waiter, who's name escaped him, "A bottle of Château Lafite, 2014, to start off with. Please."
Without the vigilant eye of their server, Leo relaxed in his seat. He refrained from sprawling his arms above his head, in the face of maintaining proper enough etiquette, but noticeably sat back, leaning against the seat head without any sort of strain in his shoulders and back. His eyes were soft, his smile permanent.
"Château Lafite," he said with a long, appreciative exhale. "A treasure, so rare it would be worth thousands nowadays. They only made it in France, back when the world was not a heap of smoking ruin."
He quirked a brow in Bella's direction, not at all hurried for an answer. "Do you know of France?" The last word lilting off into a near-perfect French accent. Tag : Isabella Geoff
QuotePosted 07-15-2021, 04:27 PMThis post was last modified: 07-15-2021, 04:30 PM by Leander Wilkenson
Listening to him speak to the waiter her cheeks once again held a flash of pink before fading, he just didn't know when to stop did he? " You really don't have to do all that! I'm just here to relax for a few minutes before I head home.", she reassured him seeing how seriously he took his job she figured he expected his staff to take it just as seriously as he did.
" Just call me Bella, no need to be so formal." She picked up the menu and scanned over it, peeking over the top at him with almost daring eyes. " The most exquisite in the entire stronghold huh? I would argue that the casino I worked at had the best.", she wasn't being serious in the least, it all tasted pretty horrible to her plus the casino they stuck her at was literally the worst one around, part of the marquee was blowing off with the wind as they spoke but she wanted to see how he would react. Would he back down and say he was wrong or buck up and defend his brand? She placed the menu back down and smiled giving her dog a quick scratch on the back, " Everything you've accomplished here is very impressive, at least to me. The amount of effort you obviously put in this place is more than I could ever expect out of someone."
" It's amazing how many exotic treasures like that still linger around this place. Who would have ever imagined a bottle of wine that old still existed much less one all the way from France." Little things like this were the reason she enjoyed being a diamond regardless of rank, she got to partake in things she otherwise wouldn't.
France, the word alone was enough to bring back a flood of memories but not because of some deep knowledge of the place itself. " Once upon a time I had a best friend whose family was from France before the outbreak.", she trailed off a bit before snapping right back to herself knowing that probably wasn't the answer he was looking for. " I hate to admit it but my knowledge of the place hardly reaches past the pages of my mother's old romance novels.", she started with a laugh, " Don't you dare laugh but when I was a kid I would dream of running away there and meeting some handsome bread peddler under the Eiffel tower to have my happily ever after with." she couldn't hold in a laugh at just how uncultured she really was her entire knowledge of the outside world revolving around these random books she found in her mother's room. " Cute accent though~ I can certainly picture you selling baguettes instead of playing cards and hustling people.", she teased with a grin.
Blue eyes flashed at Bella, a mask of easy cordiality regarding her with endearing wrinkles. He had an elbow propped on the table, shoulder leaned forward, hand relaxed at the wrist.
"Well. Let's make those few minutes enjoyable then."
He laughed in a glimmer of white "Bella it is.".
He mimicked her motion to open a menu and give it cursory glance, in an act more of show than any formal analysis. It was clear Bella had all his attention, as his eyes found her figure in view moreso than the fancy words sprawled beneath its plastic, leather bound sheen. He arched a slender, playful brow. "As a betting man, I am willing to offer this entire casino to the fact that that is not true."
It was clear confidence came easy to him in liquid motions and commanding presence. Confidence that refused to allow any slight to its ego or question of its existence. He knew it was playful on Bella's part, but behind smiling eyes was a distinct determination to prove her wrong.
Before anything else could be said on the nature of his casino's wines, the waiter returned, silver tray perched atop skilled fingers and a silky gait. It was at that time that Leo glanced down surreptitiously at his tag as the waitstaff carefully poured them both glasses with all the decor of a man desperately trying to impress his boss atop shaking nerves.
Eye contact, a smile, a nod and a "Thank you, Henry" before Leo and Bella were left to their booth-sized devices. Leo gave the drink a swirl as he clutched the stem with three deft fingers. "I am hardly special," he said with the chuckle of a man who wholly believed he was special. "Everything I did, I did for the good of our organization."
Satisfied with an inhale, he lifted the glass in Bella's direction. "Let us drink to the everlasting prosperity of the Diamonds."
The first sip was always the most intense. With a cleansed palate, the flavor came in a distinct, almost biting rush. It was the feeling of this moment, that first sip, that Leo chased. "Well, it turns out once you become Infected, your appetite for wine lessens. We at The Velour try to take advantage of that."
At her laugh, Leo chuckled too, in a manner obsequious if it were not for his credence in himself. To the inexpert eye, Bella would have appeared so- demure, red-cheeked and caught up in her own fantasies. But there was a hidden strength, a carefully masked deception that told Leo she was far more than what the eye tried to convince him of. It only peaked his interest in her. Frivolously, teasingly, he started to laugh. "What? I'm not laughing. See?"
Enjoying himself more than he realized, he shook his gel-slicked head and lifted his wine glass for another sip, equally teasing eyes gleaming from behind the rim. "I would, but that wouldn't be fair to the other pâtissière. They have an equal right to a chance with a beautiful, fair-haired gang leader." Blatant words spoken in suggestion. Tag : Isabella Geoff
QuotePosted 07-24-2021, 08:38 AMThis post was last modified: 07-24-2021, 08:40 AM by Leander Wilkenson
Ah, so he was going to go against her word, brave man. " The entire casino huh? Does that include employees? You know servers, dancers, security, flirty managers? ", She knew she was beaten but that didn't stop her from dragging it out just a bit more for the sake of picking. Anyone that had stepped foot into the casino she had previously worked at knew it hardly had a floor much less anything decent to drink. Anything brewed there likely came out of the back of a toilet if not some other sinister place. It wasn't nearly as nice as what Leo had here, but then again what could possibly top the Velour. " I could think of a hundred new jobs for someone like you when I win this bet~", it started off a bit seductive though unintended and then evolved into a total gem, " I always wanted someone to get stuff off the top shelves for me at the snap of a finger, maybe even take care of those tough to open jars for me."
He had the confidence in situations like these that she would have killed for, her confidence only really shining through when it came to work. She could command people, voice her opinions, kill when needed, but when it came to sitting down and having a glass of wine with a handsome man everything went straight out the window. How awkward.
She looked at Henry with a smile when he placed a glass down in front of her, muttering a thank you at the gesture as he poured their drinks. It didn't take much to realize how hard he was trying to impress Leo, adorable. He must have run this place with an iron fist, something she never really picked up on until her rise to power. It was amazing how much stuff went right over her head when she was a grunt.
" You've made yourself an essential part of this organization because of that, irreplaceable. I look forward to working with you and just know all this work is going to pay off, I can promise that much." It was hard not to keep a smile with him, his arrogance alone was enough to make her inwardly swoon. He was a big part of this organization and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that he and the others benefited from the work just as much as she did.
"To the Diamonds." She raised her glass before taking a drink of the most wonderful wine she had ever tasted, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly at him before putting the glass on the table. "I may have lost that bet."
" Jeeze I was only sixteen or seventeen, literally sheltered from the world, where else was I supposed to get a man?!", she laughed along with him bringing the wine glass up to her lips to take a sip before continuing. " It was either the French bread seller or the shirtless guy that always pops up to fix things around your house, pickings were slim." Looking back on those days it was easy to laugh but at the time it was all she really had to reach outside of her family's perfect little world.
Just as she was taking another sip of her wine he spoke, his words causing her to practically snort, a cough following quickly after. He was going to be the absolute death of her, she just knew it. "Leo!", it was all she could manage before grabbing up a napkin and cleaning up what mess she had made. "You never turn it off, do you? When I die of embarrassment I swear I will come back and haunt you, you'll never get a decent night's sleep again."
Bella was just a peach. Sitting there, a lovely shade of rose glistening on pale cheeks. It juxtaposed the stories he had heard of her, of how ruthless and dangerous she truly was. For that, Leo admired her more. He was as he appeared- successful, clean-cut, smart with words. She, however, was a craftsman of deceit, fumbling words to mask her true ambition.
"That's implying that I wouldn't already open all the pickle jars for you," Leo said, chuckling through his words. Yet there was sincerity in his eyes, and he gently took her hand in his, not forcefully as to tear her attention away from her drink but kindly, amicably grazed it. "Bella, you have my loyalty and my resources. I would sooner die myself than see you fall from grace. For I know what would happen to me otherwise."
Leo left it at that, retracting his hands. He may have been a Diamond longer than Bella, but he was no more fit for leadership. Leander was too selfish, too lazy, too hot headed. A man of little motivation, now that he had what he wanted, and no desire to leave the velvet-lined, goose-feathered seat he put himself in. He may have been a fool, but at least he knew where he stood.
The drink tasted better after she complimented. Leo dabbed the corners of his lips with a handkerchief. The way he held the wine, conducted himself at the booth, one could barely distinguish him from the rich clientele of their casino. And yet something flickered on his visage, a quirk of his lip in reaction to Bella's comment on the where she should find a man.
And that was where his true sense of being unfit for leadership belonged. In that Bella was the proper face of this organization, a woman who came from old money and luxury. In contrast, Leo didn't know about the shirtless guy that randomly popped up to fix things, because growing up, he had nothing to fix. He was that man, or rather, child, subjected to back-breaking, lung-aching labor. When he thought of his past, the laughter died from his eyes.
Leo had better learned to hide that stage of his life, or rather, shove it in a dark corner of his mind and lock it away. He focused on the present, on reality, the beautiful blonde seated before him and the fragrance of rich wine wafting his face. The laughter that cascaded from his as Bella coughed up her drink.
"Turn what off?" he inquired, throwing playfully innocent blue eyes over the rim of his wine glass. "I'm only simply having a conversation."
He was truly a godsend, she knew deep down he was going to be someone she could count on for anything. Dealing with debts, taking care of the casinos, and apparently opening all those pesky jars. She loved it. Then her entire moon changed, her body tensed and her eyes fixed on him the moment his hand made contact with hers, a simple gesture that wouldn't phase most. Despite knowing that Leo wasn't a danger her body still reacted to even the smallest touch as if he was trying to hurt her. It was a poor reaction on her part but one that she couldn't help, she hated it. It was like relief washed over her when he moved his hands back, a smile coming back to her face as she processed what he had said.
Over the years she had learned not to trust people, especially people like him, hell she was people like him. She looked at him for a long moment, studying his face, taking in his features, trying to determine if he was being sincere or leading her along. The entire hierarchy of the gangs was clawing and fighting your way to the top, after all, maybe just maybe he was feeding her words of loyalty to get close then cut her down and take her position. It would have certainly been poetic justice for the last Diamonds ace if that was his game, like encountering a page out of her own playbook.
" I don't think I could ever question your loyalty with as much as you've done for us over the years.", she said before looking down at the dog at her side giving it a good scratch on the head and continuing. " All I ask is that you don't make me question the trust I'm giving you, it's so hard to come by and so easily lost.", She was willing to give him her trust, something that she didn't do often, only because she knew he would do what was best for them all. " I get a little dark when I start questioning things.", a warning for sure but one she was sure she would never have to follow up on.
" YOU ARE SUCH A FLIRT!", she declared with a laugh accusing him of being exactly what he was. She may have been eternally flustered by her King but she was having the absolute time of her life in the process. " How am I ever supposed to be serious with you around?", She could see it now all red-faced and flustered while she was trying to make deals and shake people down, how is that for intimidating. " Let's change gears here. Tell me something about yourself Leo~ What made you join the diamonds? You seem like you could really go a lot further than this in life.", it wasn't like this was a bad life but she was sure he could have an honest life if he wanted it and still be living it up in the inner citadel.
Leo nodded, an acknowledgement that held trust in the sincerity of Bella's words. They may have been playful, flippant, but like Bella there was something dark in them, the suggestion of a threat and action. It had been like this with the last Ace, for a leader of the Diamonds did not come into power with flattery and charm alone. Leo had learned this in his thirty, observant years with the gang.
Leo shrugged a shoulder in response, then lifted his glass to his lips, "What makes anyone want to join the Diamonds?" He gave Bella the time it took for him to take another sip of wine to ponder the question. "Trust me, Bella. The Diamonds was, and is, as far as I could go in life, from where I started."
He left it at that, as the tendrils of remembrance started to invade his mind. He saw flashes of his mother's face, stone-cold and pale as her body surrendered to the narcotics. His dirty, little hands, blistered and bleeding from consecutive days of labor. He suppressed a shiver, and took a far deeper gulp of his glass until his wine was topped off. That last, finishing quaff was the only indication of his discontent with the topic.
Ever a master of deflection, Leo quickly dressed his face in a winsome smile, the one that made the corner's of his eyes wrinkle endearingly. "That's a healthy looking pup you have there," indicating the beast with his empty glass, before he settled it on the table and a certain obsequious waiter appeared moments later to fill it once more. "I don't think I've seen an animal that pure bred since I last wandered into the Citadel residences. From whereabouts did you acquire him?"
What made people want to join a group like this? Her reasoning was to rebel against her parents at first and now here she was leading the entire group. Was his reasoning the same? Once he continued on she expected not. She had a number of questions she wanted to ask but for the time being, she would keep them to herself, this wasn't the time nor the place to be prying into someone's life.
Because of her own childhood growing up in the lap of luxury, it was difficult for her to picture those around her having grown up in anything less than that. Leo was a tough case and he was certainly someone she imagined grew up similar to herself but that didn’t seem to be the case at all. Despite her rude awakening in the slums all those years ago she still struggled and the countless hours she spent at the orphanages with the children it was still hard to imagine people living in absolute turmoil outside of the inner citadel. Rose-colored glasses were a permanent fixture on her face even when visiting the slums, things could be better, it would just take some work.
She allowed the subject to transition smoothly over to her dog, giving it an abundance of scratches and pets as she admired him for a moment. " This old man came from my father, my first dog after my mishap ten or so years ago.", she looked to Leo before taking on the deepest manliest voice she could manage, " Military trained and ready to attack~", she started laughing soon after, " My father apparently thought a monster would be adequate protection from whatever I might encounter." The animal had done its job over the years very well, it had protected her countless times and she could never love a dog more than she loved this special one. " Do you want one? I can get you a puppy if you want."
As Bella spoke admiringly of her pet, Leo's eyes flickered over to the beast. He was tempted to ask about her "mishap", but refrained, as experience told him people would reveal themselves naturally. He met the beast's gaze carefully over a slow sip of his refilled wine glass. It was not that Leo despised dogs- he just thought the creatures unruly, messy and hardly appropriate for the fine furniture stocked in Leo's penthouse. It was odd to see a creature he associated with mongrels and vagrants poised so decadently and lovingly besides one as proper as Bella Geoff.
"I had a dog," Leo said, after laughing along with her. "It's name was Jack. At first, I thought it to be 'leave me the fuck alone', because every time I told it that, it would nonetheless follow me." He chuckled, eyes trailing once more to the old beast curled against its owner as he reminisced, "He was my only friend in the Diamonds for a long, long time."
The pause afterwards was heavy with nostalgia, as in Leo's mind his time with Jack flashed quickly. From when the molted puppy, happy-go-lucky despite the raw, pink wound that caused it to limp, found a musing seventeen-year old Leo smoking on some steps and would not stop whimpering until Leo tossed it the rest of a half-eaten bag of cookies, fast forwarded to frigid winter nights when the two would curl up together, two filthy, flea-bitten outsiders trying to find their fortune in the tangle of Strongholds.
He looked away from those amber, canine eyes, stifling the sudden flood of emotions with another drink of wine and musing on the question before him. He crossed his arms, leaned back and pursed his lips contemplatively. "Hmm, a dog would be good protection. Though I'm not sure how Sledge would feel about an animal putting him out of business. Or Sir Scratch, for that matter."
Just about her entire childhood, Bella begged for a dog, any dog, a lap dog, a big dog, hell she even asked for an imaginary dog once only to have her dad shoot her down in typical military man fashion. When she finally received one just short of her twentieth birthday it was probably the happiest day of her life, but we all know you can’t have just one. One grew to two, and two to three, until she had somehow acquired an entire pack. She couldn’t possibly imagine her life without one or two of the creatures running around keeping her company. Of course, she loved all animals but dogs would always hold a very special place in her heart. Who would want anything different?
She got a little emotional as he told her the story of his dog Jack; the ups and downs practically tore her heart out. He seemed like a good pup, someone he could lean on when he needed it, his only friend for such a long time. Though her eyes welled up with tears, she did her best to hide them, she was a softie when it came to things like this. Sliding from her seat she walked right over to him leaning over to give him a quick hug even though her entire body screamed to keep an arms-length away. ” I know you have friends now but we can be friends if you can stand me for that long~ ”, she laughed softly before pulling away and brushing her hands across the front of her shirt.
" Can we really rule out that Sledge isn’t an animal? The man is bigger than a house.” She hadn’t had many run-ins with the giant but it was hard to forget someone as large as him. ” Sir scratch? Did you get someone new that I don’t know about? I feel like I need to meet this Sir Scratch fellow...they have a very dignified name.”
Bella had a reputation of being stand-offish in a dignified sense. As sweet and polite as she was, there a reservation about her, as she kept her limbs close to herself, like she was protecting against something. So it surprised Leo when she slid off of her booth and onto his side, scooting beside him, and wrapped her arms around him. It was as quick and shy as embraces got, but it touched Leo anyway, to where he brought up his fingers to grip the the forearm wrapped around her, gratitude in soft eyes.
With that, Leo laughed, though in an intonation different from the others. Whereas his chuckles were loud, showy, in a way that one with keen ears might tell it was forced for the purpose of pleasing the other party, this was subdued in a manner that could only be genuine. "You're sweet, Bella. Now I know why you're so dangerous," Leo said with a smile. The wine sat momentarily forgotten before him, where he had seemed wed to the glass, as Bella's elegant scent engulfed him. He had never been this close to his Ace and she felt just as soft as she looked.
No. She's your boss. No one's to be more respected. Your life depends on it
In an act that seemed cold in response, he turned his body forward, taking the glass stem in his three fingers and downing the rest of his wine, with just a shadow of the decency from the sips before.
"If Sledge's an animal, he's a damn well-read one. Believe it or not, the man's a fan of poetry,". Leo could recall returning home one night, from a meeting that ran well past midnight, to find Sledge slumped over one of Leo's books in his lap. It's small size and delicate writing indicated it as one in his collections of poetry that Leo had accumulated, which was previously collecting dust on his book shelf. Amazed as he was, instead of reprimanding Sledge for slacking off in his patrol duty, Leo had lent Sledge the books. Now the burly man spoke in ballads as well as his one-worded responses.
At the mention of Sir Scratch, Leo's eyes lit up. "Well, he's smarter than most people I've met. But no, he's a kitten that was gifted to me, on the basis that 'living alone' is not healthy." He was quiet, as if deciding something, before he asked. "Would you like to see him?"
She took absolutely no offense when he turned forward, scooting away from him just enough to put some space between them. As much as she dislikes most human contact hugging him didn’t bother her nearly as much as she expected, maybe it was because she felt like he needed it? She wasn’t sure but it would probably never happen again. ” Come on now~ I am as far from dangerous as they get.”, she teased with a wink. She wasn’t what people had to worry about, her dogs were, when it came right down to it Bella was as harmless as a house fly in most situations, but words had power and it only took one to set her dogs off.
” I guess I judged him too soon, he doesn’t seem like the type to be into poetry. Bench pressing small buildings maybe but not poetry.” , She really had a lot to learn about the members closer to the top than she was (or used to be), people like Sledge and Leo she had seen in passing over the years but rarely had she ever spoken to either of them. She was sure in time she would get to know all of them on a more personal level but for now she was left to make her own assumptions. ” I suppose I will be depending on you to help me get to know these people, it seems you are much more personable than I am.”
Ah, he was a cat person, she wouldn’t hold it against him too much, for some reason that seemed to fit his personality so perfectly she just had to laugh. ” I bet he is a great cat, everyone needs something to keep them company be it a single cat or an ungodly number of dogs” , she laughed knowing she had a major dog problem and probably at some point needed an intervention. For now, she could just imagine Leo and Sir Scratch sitting up in the most fabulous of penthouses staring down at the world just looking for the next thing to push over the edge. ” Of course I want to see him!” , she enthusiastically responded.
Posted 07-11-2021, 08:10 PM
I want it all
