Love Struck Eternal

by mT Shadow

Change is not always for the better. Eighteen years have passed since the events of the second most major war for the middle east had come to a close. Leaders have come and gone, society itself has changed, and those who seek a different outcome have gone dark. The focus is now on one person. Yet her story will change the world forever. Following down her father's dark past.

16. Chapter 16

Love Struck Eternal

Chapter 16 - Don Vincent Cora.

Sam's POV.

"Ohhhh…...excuse me….who…..are…..you?" Don Cora asked as he extended a hand forward to greet me.

This guy looked like he was my age and not too bad looking, but the look in his eyes was crazy. I couldn't tell what he was on, but he kept smiling and waited for my response.

Very slowly I took his hand and shook it to reply.

"Sam."

"Sam." He hummed as he heard my voice. His grip was tight and after a moment or two he asked me.

"I've never seen you before. You don't look too good. Get into a fight?"

I didn't say a word. Minky took over for me by explaining.

"Something like that Vincent. We're here to see Lucius. Is he in?"

"Contractor?" Cora asked me without paying any mind to Minky's question. I just kept silent and with it came back Cora's smile. He let go of my hand and once he did he said to me bluntly.

"Little young to be a gun for hire, don't you think?"

I sensed he was trying to intimidate me a little with his presence, so I took a chance and asked him back calmly.

"Little young to be a Don, don't you think?"

Minky widened his eyes as Cora's didn't dare budge. His smile remained on his face and to my surprise he began to lightly chuckle. After which he reached over to pat my left arm lightly. Once he did, he replied.

"You're funny. Well hey listen, once you're done with the surgeon you should take a minute and stop by my office. I'd like to talk with you. You got a nasty look in your eyes Sam. I like that. I fucking like that!" He shouted at me as he now laughed out loud and went back to patting my arm, except this time he hit me pretty hard. I took it and after the third hit he marched off. Minky waited till he was long gone before escorting me into the room.

Inside waited a tall barn owl. Had to be six foot five and he was built for his breed. Dressed in blue dress pants and a white dress shirt with a long white coat that resembled a lab coat. He stood above a single wooden chair and right above it was a single light bulb. The room itself looked creepy already, but then I noticed and smelled blood. Once I began to look around, I noticed the blood stains on the wooden floor below the chair. Minky took the lead as I went back to look at the owl who was already busy looking me over back.

"Nice to see you Lucius. This is Sam. She just got done with some business and I'd like it if you patched her up. Here."

I watched the exchange. Minky handed the man a handful of dollars and once the bird counted it; he tucked it all away in his coat and looked back up at me to reply.

"Take a seat. Let me look at you."

His voice was dark. Just deep and intimidating. Minky urged me forward and helped me down into the seat right before the doctor. From there, Minky took a step back to ask him as he knelt a foot down to look my face over.

"How's business?"

I kept quiet as Lucius put his right hand under my chin to gently lift my head up. He was just staring at me and without looking away from his duties; he replied to the cat.

"Slow."

Minky nodded and waited as Lucius stood back up fully to ask me.

"Do you have any issues apart from what I can see?"

Shaking my head I replied.

"No."

The owl huffed and used his hands to gently lift up my arms. He proceeded to check around them for any burns and since I wasn't proficient yet with my power there was plenty to see. Once he was done with his examination, he informed me slowly so I could hear it all in one smooth movement of his voice.

"I'm gonna clean those burns. That goes for your arms and your face. You got a nasty burn right under your chin. So I'm gonna clean them, apply some burn gel, and then wrap them up tight so you don't run into any more problems like irritations. As for the face, I'm gonna do the same thing for that burn under your chin. So keep your chin up and try not to move while I work. Unfortunately, I can't do much for that eye of yours beside giving you an ice pack. Keep a cold compress on it for the next day or two if you can."

I just stared at him as he gave my face one more good look. I saw he noticed something else wrong with me and I felt it around my mouth. Giving me a small nod, he added on to his procedure.

"Maybe two compresses. You got a good bit of swelling forming there."

I gave him a soft smile and nodded my head. Lucius then went to work on the main concern which was my arms. It burned like a motherfucker as he got it all cleaned to the best of his ability. After it was done, he took a few minutes to wrap them up. He even put a wrap under my chin and once that was out of the way he went into a nearby freezer and pulled out two small cold compresses. After wrapping them in rags, he handed them over and said to me.

"Take the next few days slow. The swelling will go down after a few hours depending on how good you heal up. Change the bandages every three days and do yourself a favor and if you decide to get a shower or a bath? Cover those up. You dip them into water bare and you'll wish I would have cut them off. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir. Thank you."

"Your welcome. Hopefully I won't have to see you here again. Minky? You know what I told you last time. Just repeat it."

Minky laughed as I got up from the chair. From there he escorted me back out into the hall. Once the door had been shut did Minky ask me.

"How do you feel?"

"Better." I replied calmly as I looked over my arms. Minky nodded his head and placed his hand on my back. From there we began to walk back the way we came. Before reaching the main lobby we stopped and he said to me.

"Now that contract was worth fifty five thousand. I'm gonna transfer the money to the account I'm gonna set up for you. Now from the account, you can then transfer that money to any bank account you decide to set up. If you need help; just give me a call or shoot me a text. Now think of me like I'm customer support. I'll text you the login information shortly after we part ways. Any questions?"

"Yeah…..do you know of any place around here that I can stay at for a few days? I don't have anywhere to go with the apartment gone and….?"

"Hey!"

Minky and I turned to the left to see Don Cora standing at a set of stairs with a couple of guys who looked like muscle. Cora must have overheard us because by himself he approached us and said to me.

"If you ain't got nowhere to go for the next few days, I got a bunch of spare rooms here that you can take."

I didn't know what to say. Minky wouldn't say anything either, but we looked at one another and he had a look on him that was begging me to think this over carefully. So I did and looked back at Don Cora to question.

"At what cost?"

Giving me a good laugh as he walked over, Don Cora replied.

"Depends. You in good enough shape to have that little….meeting I mentioned?"

This kid was very well coordinated with his body. Each step he took looked like he was dancing, but of course he really wasn't. Once he was standing in front of me again did I look him over deeply. I think he noticed because he began to do the same to me. After a second or two I replied.

"Yeah."

Don Cora and me locked eyes and looking back at Minky I told him calmly.

"I'll call you in an hour, but before you go can you bring Mocha in?"

Minky kept to himself after hearing my request as I took a step into Cora to ask.

"Where to?"

Letting me walk by him, he replied.

"Top of the stairs and to the right. Last door on the left."

I was taking my chances, but I was already trying to think ahead. My mind wanted me to be safe, but my heart was itching for a way to make money now that I was completely solo in this new world. I knew I had to play dirty somewhere and somehow and I had a feeling this mob family could provide. If anything, Don Cora looked hooked on me. I could read his eyes. He was thinking of some way to use me no doubt, but being who I knew I was; I was thinking the same of him.

As I neared the room he called out; I stopped to wait for him. Like a gentleman, he got the door and urged me.

"Ladies first."

"Thanks." I replied as I walked in.

His office was something I didn't really expect. Very well kept, a nice black wooden desk, a beautiful set of lamps in each of the four corners of the room, and three or so chairs sitting around the front of the desk itself, but my nose smelled coke. I knew that smell and when I stopped in front of his desk; he came around to ask me nicely enough.

"You want a drink? Helps ease the pain."

I gave the question little thought.

"Sure."

"You cool with gin?"

I nodded and took a seat as he went around his desk to approach a small cabinet he had tucked towards the back wall. He got two glasses prepared and once he was done he came back over to lean on his desk. He handed me a glass and from there asked me.

"So….your name is Sam? Is that short for Samantha?"

"Yeah." I replied back as I took a sip. This shit was strong but I liked it. After I gulped and looked back into his eyes, did he then ask.

"What's your last name? You from around here? You don't look local."

"I'm not. This is my first time in the US. I've been here for maybe a few weeks. And my last name is Diskov."

Don Cora looked surprised to say the least. Keeping himself on track he then asked.

"Samantha Diskov? Russian? Sounds Russian."

Giving him a crooked smile, I turned on my tongue and replied in Russian to his curious ears.

"It is."

Cora widened his eyes and began to chuckle. Almost instantly after did he laugh.

"Bilingual? God damn that's fucking hot. You know any other languages?"

Nodding my head I replied.

"Maybe. What's it to you?"

Putting his glass down he then wondered.

"Well it's no secret you got an idea as to what I do. You know that fucking cat Minky right? Said you're a contractor? I'm looking for someone neutral to help me move some product."

"What kind of product?" I asked him with a small smile. I had a very good idea for what he was leaning to and it was confirmed when he replied back.

"The good kind of product."

I just looked back at him with two intrigued eyes. He was reading me and he knew I wasn't about to go south on him. I was clearly interested; so leaning up, he walked around to the other side of the desk to open the top draw. I widened my eyes when he pulled out a gram of cocaine that was inside a small plastic tube. Popping the top, he went on to say to me.

"Los Angeles is my city. I own and run the drugs that flow through this beast's heart."

Cora proceeded to lay out a line on the top of his desk. I looked it over very carefully as he put the top back on the tube to look back at me with a small grin on his face. Keeping himself on the level, he asked me.

"You don't believe me? Try that."

Looking back up at him, I smiled and stood up to put my glass down next to his. Cora was intuitive and when I bent down; he reached in to hold my hair so it wouldn't get in the way of the coke. Then came the actual hit and holy shit did it punch me in the face. The whole line went up my nose and I lifted my head up to widen my eyes and gasp to him out of shock.

"Holy shit."

Cora laughed and asked me.

"Good isn't it?"

I nodded my head and sat back down as he went on to state to me.

"That's the kind of product I've been pushing since I took over this family. I don't sell crap. I pride myself on what I push, but I don't have a good dealer to my name apart from my head of security and myself. I'm looking for someone who isn't afraid of putting their foot down and taking control of a potential deal that can be made. And I can swear to you that this city is full of able junkies like myself who have the money to pay for it. They just need a reliable source and that source needs to be me."

Fixing my hair, I asked him out of interest for this offer.

"You got competition?"

Without looking away he replied.

"There are two families living in this city and that's my family and this guy called Verno. Brock Verno. He operates on the east end of the city. His main money maker revolves around the shipping industry and construction. He hasn't really stepped into my business, but it seems recently things have been getting a little hard for his business and I'm guessing some genius over there ran the numbers by him. He sees the money it can rake in and he's been putting some moves together to intercept some of my shipments that I have flown in using the public airport."

"How do you get away with that?" I asked him with some laughter behind my voice.

Cora laughed back and replied.

"When you own the cops you can get away with a lot. Trust me on that."

I just nodded and listened as he continued his introduction into his problem.

"Now you don't need to worry about the security and those childish games Verno is playing. I simply need a good dealer. You ever dealt before?"

"A few times."

Picking back up his glass he went on.

"Well if you need a place to stay for a bit, I'd want you to run for me. I'll start you out light of course. I got a feeling you're special and if you prove me right I'll start giving you as much as you think you can sell. You turn out to be a fucking bombshell and I'll hook you up right with whatever gets your dick hard. Just name your price. What gets you off?"

Cora went to take a swig and as he did I replied.

"Cash. I'm simple. If worst comes to worst, I'll take some blow. I can always sell that and make my money that way."

Shaking his head after gulping, he informed me directly.

"That isn't gonna be a problem. I can pay you whatever. All I ask is that you be straight with me. You do what I say, when I say it. If I tell you to sell a block, you sell that block. You take that money and you bring it right back here to me personally. I don't take being disobeyed or fucked over very well. I may look like a kid, but I'll put a bullet in you as fast as fuck you. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." I replied as he smiled again and raised his glass towards me.

Lifting mine up, I clinked with him and took a large gulp after. Cora continued to drink though and just out of curiosity I asked him.

"So what's stopping you from just killing this Verno guy?"

I caught him laugh again. I knew I did because he made bubbles in his drink when I asked that question. Once he had it away from his lips; did he respond by telling me.

"A couple things. Number one…..he has probably just as many men as I do sitting at his place making sure that kind of thing never happens. Number two….we aren't at war. We have a few beefs here and there, but ever since there were some business changes a few years back; things have been peaceful among the families."

"What do you mean when you say you're at war? What kind of war can you guys wage in a city this bustling with cops? It can't be open conflict like real wars are."

Putting his drink down he replied.

"You're right. It's typically not. We don't ever want to be that open about our dealings with one another. Let me fill you in on what I'm talking about."

Cora during that time finished off his drink before going on. Now empty, he looked back at me to state.

"In this business we operate to make money. Each family has something they do that makes them money. My business is drugs. Verno's is shipping and construction. Together we operate the whole Los Angeles area."

I was just listening to the guy. Very slowly Cora offered to take my glass. I handed it to him and from there he walked back over to pour us another round. As he did, I put that ice pack to my eye and waited as he got back the bottle.

"Now there are other families in this business. This business isn't limited to LA."

Once the drinks were poured, Cora came back over to hand me back my glass. I kept the bag on my eye as I took another sip.

"There are other cities in the US. New York and Boston being the main two. In New York you have the Pharynx family and the Skier family. Pharynx has been here since day one. They run most of New York, but Skier controls the majority of the gambling business that's done over there. New York is good money, but again there have been a lot of business changes over the course of the last few years. Before Skier, there was another family over there who was led by an old fart named Ortiz. He passed away earlier last year. The guy never had a successor and before his passing his family agreed to merge with Don Skier who was looking to muscle in on the action. Worked out really fucking well for him. Didn't have to fight anyone to get where he is now."

"And Boston?" I asked him as I finished my glass well before he even started his.

Cora chuckled at how fast I drank, but gave me my answer without trouble.

"Boston is a mess, but let me talk about LA a bit more before I go into that shit show."

I gave the young guy a nod and from there he took another sip and cleared his throat.

"Before Skier passed away in New York, there was a war going on here in LA between two long term rivals. A woman by the name of Zarra Yin ran a family just when mine was moving into town. She had a lot of problems with another family that ran Boston solo up till their teams clashed. Now the guy she was in deep with was a dude named Hannibal Marxist. He runs the Marxist family. I know…..you probably get the point without me having to say it."

I just chuckled as he informed me.

"Yin was trying to muscle in on the action over there and Marxist wasn't having it. She killed a couple of his guys and in return he sent his most loyal and most lethal killers to go whack her. Caught her off guard completely while she was moving across town one day. Ran her car off the road and Zarra died on impact. The guys who did it got away, but everyone knew it was no accident and much like Ortiz, Zarra had no successor in line and her family quickly fell into line with either myself or Verno. Helped us both out a lot so we didn't say a fucking word."

At this point I handed him back my glass. He chuckled and wondered out of curiosity.

"You want another?"

Shaking my head I replied.

"I was hoping you'd let me finish off that tube you got."

Cora now gave me a devilish grin. Slowly he reached back to get the tube back out from his top draw. With probably two lines left in it; he said to me confidently.

"You know typically most new employees of mine tend not to push their luck and ask for a raise on day one."

Keeping myself down in the seat, I pulled my ice pack off to reply with an equally devilish smile.

"You want money for it?"

Very slowly Cora handed me the tube and muttered happily.

"Nah. Take it. Let's consider it an advance."

I took the tube from his fingers and very softly undid the top. He waited and watched as I signaled that I wanted to do the line here and now. Nodding his head he encouraged me.

"Please, be my guest."

I had a good idea for how to get this guy more on my side, so very nicely I dragged out two even lines with what was left in the tube. Sitting up from the chair, I stopped a foot from him to wonder.

"You wanna share a line with me? Let's consider it a….hmmmm…...let's consider it a celebration for our new partnership."

Don Cora looked from me and then to the coke. He hesitated so I pushed him by asking.

"Scared? The drug lord of LA and he can't handle a line at work?"

Cora didn't even laugh this time. I saw his right hand put down his glass and from there he raised it up to nod his finger at me. Then another smile came to him and he questioned.

"Where did you grow up Sam? Actually wait! Drop your pants! Because I need to see the balls you're swinging between those legs."

I just chuckled and waited. Cora gave me a set of cocked eyes before leaning in to take his line off his own desk. He took it like a fucking champ and while wiping his nose ordered me.

"Your turn. Don't disappoint."

I was about this so I took my line and leaned back on his desk to catch a breath. Cora giggled and proceeded to ask.

"You good?"

"I'm...I'm good! God damn that's good shit. Where do you get this?"

Wiping the desk off he replied.

"Well as I was gonna say to you before you challenged my manhood. LA had one more player in it back then. A Don Zeno Linux. He was originally in charge of fucking with Yin's old empire here in LA. But what happened was simple. Yin got whacked by Marxist and before Yin's men could figure out where to go; Zeno pulled his family and they moved to Columbia to help run the coke out from there. That's who I get my product from now. He delivers. Does a better job making coke then he did running his rackets here in the states in all honesty."

With my head and venom completely leveled out together, I looked at Cora directly to turn myself on. He saw my eyes go red and almost instantly he stopped his rant to point at my face with his right hand. I smiled as he struggled to form words. I did my best to keep it all together and while my eyes were still red, he asked me almost breathlessly.

"What's that you're doing there?"

"Nothing." I replied with a chuckle as he couldn't not stare at my eyes now.

Cora sensed I wasn't really gonna shoot him an answer as to what he was seeing. So instead he nodded his head and said to me confidently.

"I fucking knew you were special. I don't know what that shit is you got going on but fuck if I'm not curious. Can I buy an answer?"

Chuckling I replied.

"If I said yes, you'd have no reason to invite me back."

"Hahah! Well as of five minutes ago you're one of my people! So we'll be seeing each other a lot after this! Just tell me! Are you some kind of shapeshifter?"

I think we were both a tad drunk at this point because we both began to laugh after he asked that. In fact I was impressed and decided to tell him back.

"Nah. Nothing of the sort."

"Wait a goddamn minute. Where are you from? Russia?"

Shaking my head I replied.

"No. The middle east. I grew up in Iraq. I've been here for maybe two weeks now."

"Holy shit. Iraq?" He questioned in shock as I chuckled and replied happily.

"Yeah."

"This fucking city must be like another planet to you, but your a contractor?"

Again I nodded my head.

"Jesus. Where did you learn Russian?"

"My mother. She grew up in Russia."

It was then that Cora widened his eyes again and stopped moving. In fact he couldn't speak for a minute. He was thinking deeply about something and after that minute he asked me.

"Wait….who's your father?"

Now I could be honest or I could lie to this guy, but I figured if I'd lie to him now he'd figure it out later and call me out and regardless of how well I could play him; it wouldn't matter because he'd find a way to punish that lack of honesty. So taking my time, I looked back at him and replied in an almost embarrassed voice.

"Raptor Voltz."

Cora actually took a step back from me. Nearly choking on his next sip, he questioned.

"Raptor Voltz? Wasn't he the first president over there? You're his daughter?"

"In the flesh." I replied as he nodded his head and just stared at me and finished his drink. I kept quiet till he finished and once he put his glass down did he look back at me to say.

"Holy shit. Now I know there is a story behind why you're here now. Out of every place you could have gone; you somehow ended up in a room with me snorting coke and having a few drinks. Shaking me up to the fucking core like this."

"It's not complicated to understand. My father held me back a lot in life and I just couldn't take it. I wanted to do something different and I came across some opportunities. One of which is now the one you gave me here today."

Cora was just listening to me close as I went on.

"Now I've sold coke before, like I told you. I was a pretty good fucking dealer and I know if you give me this opportunity I'll fucking prove it to you too. All I ask is that you don't treat me any different now that you got some backstory. And I'm gonna plead to you now….I don't want the world knowing who I am while I'm here. You keep honest with me and I'll do whatever I can to help you move your product."

The young Don was now looking me over again. His eyes went to my legs as I stood a foot next to him on the desk. He was thinking this over very closely and I felt like I had to say something else to help get him to say yes.

"What can I do to get your word you'll keep this between us?"

Cora brought his eyes back up to mine and then he stood up straight. An inch or two under my own height; he purred through a whisper tight set of lips.

"That's a very dangerous question. You ask something like that and it makes me wonder how far you're willing to go for my silence."

Moving my hand up to his head, I flicked off his hat to reply bluntly.

"I'll go as far as I need to."

The hedgehog physically leaped an inch forward, but he stopped just as fast to growl out.

"Ohhhhhh you fucking bitch. You really know how to press buttons. You know how expensive that fedora is?"

I just smiled as he leaned in on my neck. I thought he was gonna bite me, but he just gently looked me over and after a good minute he pulled back to mutter into my face.

"To be honest if I was anymore coked up I'd take you right here and right now. But…...you look like damaged goods with this black eye and your swollen lip and I'd rather you be all healed up before I have my go."

"You planning to beat me up too?" I asked him jokingly which got him to laugh again.

"Only if you want me to." He replied back as I reached over to pick up his hat. Cora just had this nasty grin on his face as I put it back on his head to wonder next.

"We got a deal then?"

I put my hand right out in between us and Cora had to be impressed that I was this forward and outgoing with my words towards a man of his rank and power. Because once he saw my hand reach out; he actually took it and replied with another smile.

"You got yourself a deal. Take the next few days and relax. I'll get you a room close to mine so you know you'll be safe around here."

"I got a dog." I then informed him. Cora instantly widened his eyes and questioned with some newfound excitement.

"You do? With you? Where?"

"Probably outside your office here waiting for me with Minky. Her name is Mocha. When you see her I recommend you let her sniff you out a bit before petting. She likes to scope out new people. But hey? If I say you're cool she'll let you slide even if you don't listen."

Cora must have been a dog guy growing up because not a moment after did he go for the door to find Mocha waiting for him outside. Minky however wasn't there. My bags were there though thankfully.

"Braf! Braf!" Mocha called out to me when she saw me and like the good girl she was she ignored Cora who stood behind the door as she entered. Once he shut the door did she turn to see him standing there with a wide and happy smile on his face. Now I was knelt down already petting her; so once I saw she had seen him did I inform her sweetly.

"Mocha? This is Cora. He owns this house. He's letting us stay here for a few days. So be nice. Okay? He's a good guy."

Mocha ran right to him and even in his nice suit he didn't seem to care. He just fell in love and began to pet her madly asking me a million questions about what breed she was, how we met, how old she was, what she ate, ect and ect. After a minute or so did he get back up to say to me happily.

"Let me show you to that room."

I got my bags up from off the ground and together the three of us walked about two doors down to an empty room. It was twice the size of my room back home and easily four times the size of what I had back in that apartment. A really nice bed and a really nice view of the outside. As I placed my bags down on the bed, did I say to Cora who watched my reaction towards his generosity.

"So you never finished explaining to me what it means for you guys to go to war with one another."

I sat down on the bed now. Mocha jumped up with me to check out my face as I put the ice pack back on my eye. Cora made sure to shut the door to the room before replying.

"War just means two families or more are out to kill one another. On normal days everyone gets along, but typically if families go to war it'll be between the families that are from the same city. Examples would be Pharynx and Skier, or Verno and myself, or Marxist and Soul. Soul being the last family I have yet to mention. He's Don Marxist's rival in Boston."

"What are they about?" I then had to ask him as he came over to continue giving Mocha attention. She loved it too. Rolled right over for him as he went on.

"Don Hannibal Marxist has been around almost as long as the Pharynx family. Expect he had all of Boston to himself for years. He's made so much money running everything there was to run over there; he could afford the best men and the best setup. Guy owns every officer working in the city and all it's judges. He can do whatever he wants. His men are fucking demons though. His main man being this sick fuck who goes by the name of Damien. Him and his fucking brother are the most sadistic nuts to roam the earth. You think I'm out there? You haven't seen anything yet if you ever meet them."

"They military?" I then asked as he looked up at me to reply.

"Street orphans. Marxist took them in when they were kids and they spent each day after living it like it was their last. They're just fucking missing a few screws. Trust me on that. They aren't military by any means. Just twisted killers who have no want to live. Shit went downhill after they killed Yin in that car accident. Rumor has it Damien's brother had a soft spot for Yin. Thankfully he was talked to his senses and nothing ever came from it. I can't imagine what would have went down if they hooked up. Might have changed everything."

I took my mental notes but still waited to hear more. Cora noticed that as he seemed to have drifted off for a moment. Once he did he widened his eyes and shouted.

"Oh my bad! Sorry! I left the building for a good minute there! What were we talking about?"

"Don Soul I think." I replied as he nodded his head to sigh.

"Yeah your right…..okay…..ahhhh Don Soul? His full name is Jeremiah Soul. He came to Boston with his muscle about three or so years ago. Gave Hannibal a lot of trouble. Has two guys working for him as well that are a little off the edge. Dude named Hash and another guy named Vexer. Now from what I know, Vexer is ex Spetsnaz so he's got some morals still. Hash on the other hand is a cool enough guy, but he's still sadistic. Hung a kid from a ceiling fan for example. Over chump change. I hope that's enough to convince you that I'm telling the truth. Those families over in Boston are monsters and because of the power they have over the city it's like a free for all. Just a fucking mess and they are still trying to find an even way to split the action. If you ask me, it'll never happen. They just need to go to war and settle it for good."

"You ever think you'll go to war with Verno?"

"Probably not. We're well behaved right now and he has a baby girl under his shoulder. I'm fucking crazy when I'm put in a corner, but I'm not gonna go kill her father before she even had the chance to get to know him."

Cora was telling the truth. I saw it in his face as he soon looked back at me like he did something embarrassing. I just smiled as he stood back up. Once he was standing in front of me did he state.

"Now that the history lesson is out of the way, I should tell you that this family has a ranking system. I'm the Don as you know. So my word is as good as god's, but under me is my head of security George. He's around and I'm sure he'll want to meet you at some point. Nice guy and knows his shit. He'll help you out if I'm not around for whatever reason."

Nodding my head I kept listening.

"Lucius is the local in house doctor. Nice guy too, but he can sometimes be a little awkward. He means well, so don't take his attitude personally."

"Okay." I replied as he took his hand and reached out to grab my hat from off my head. He first looked at me to see what I looked like with my hair down and just like before I saw the look in his eyes change. In seconds he looked back at my hat to suggest.

"You want to keep your origin story a secret between us? I'd recommend losing the attire. You need help finding a good look; just go see George and he'll pick you out something more…..well something more family like.""

Is that a rule around here? Gotta dawn the uniform?"

Smiling and handing me back my hat, he replied casually.

"Kinda. I don't care what you wear, but make sure it's at least a little blue. People need to see who you represent. Tends to put fear in others if they have some reason to think you're running with me."

"Or it could get me shot faster." I chuckled back as he just laughed along before begging.

"Just trust me. People would get offended if you got special treatment."

This was all going to be new to me. My cards were played and I knew I'd have to figure this out. Cora thankfully seemed easy to seduce. I had him on my good side it seemed and I planned to keep it that way for the next few days while I'm here. But I'd have to expand my game at some point if I wanted to make some serious money. I knew he wanted me to rest up until I was over my wounds, but I was already itching to get out there and prove myself. Selling coke like I just snorted would be so fucking easy. I knew what I could and couldn't get away with already in this business and once I start getting more of a hold over this family; I'd start to make moves.

My end goal was to make money. A lot of fucking money. However I still needed more answers to questions I had about the network. Minky was also now willing to do business with me and if I played my cards right I'd be able to get some estimates going. Answers to questions like where and how much venom would cost me if I wanted to get it off of someone related or not related to a military organization. I knew I wouldn't have another chance to steal any like I did before, so everything from this point that led to my goals would be done off the books.

With time branching out between Cora and I, I looked back at him to ask nicely enough.

"So I just want to ask you beforehand so I know what I got coming to me. Give me a day or two and I'll be out on the streets selling your product. But when it comes to who will be buying, do you have clientele already set up? Or would I be looking around for new buyers? I assume you have a pretty decent pool to choose from."

Nodding he replied while fixing his hat.

"A little of both. I'd obviously love to have more business, but that requires a special kind of discretion and no offense but I have yet to see what you can do. So when you are up and ready to go, I'll start you off by working with some of my more lax customers. Just to be sure nothing fucking happens to my product. If and when you show me what your worth, I'll give you the chance to make the choices you see fit for the business. If you prove you can sell and protect my product; then by all means you're gonna be more than welcome to rake in new buyers. However this rule applies. You come straight to me for everything. You aren't to report to any of the other stooges around here. Not even George. I want you and I to be partners in this. You need product to sell? Come to me. You got someone new who is interested in buying? You come discuss it with me. Whenever you make a sale you bring the profits directly to me. No one else touches the money that comes from my coke. In return, I'm gonna pay you your cut. How does ten percent sound?"

Instantly I began to laugh to myself. Cora widened his eyes at my sudden reaction to his offer. In confusion he asked me.

"What's so funny?"

Keeping myself down on the bed with Mocha I replied bluntly.

"Ten percent? That's bullshit. You may not know just how good I am at my job when it comes to this, but back in Iraq my suppliers were giving me thirty percent of the take at the end of the day."

"Thirty? Are you fucking with me?"

Shaking my head I replied.

"And are you trying to lowball me? We both know ten percent isn't shit. Even if I am new, most suppliers start at twenty minimum."

"Well until you show me something worth twenty percent I'm sticking to my offer. It's ten percent or you work for free." Cora informed me as I just again chuckled to myself out of spite. Giving me a somewhat annoyed look back now, Cora asked.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll take the ten percent, but just know that you're a scumbag."

Cora widened his eyes as I called him that name and with our eyes locked he questioned in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

I got a little hot so I stood up with reason and stood right in front of him. My few extra inches held me above his gaze as we locked eyes. Without saying a word, I roughly took his fedora back off his head and lowered it to my side. Cora looked like he was about to smack me, but he held back as I growled into his face.

"You're a scumbag."

With him locked onto my gaze, I switched my sights back onto his fedora which I held in my left hand. He followed along in absolute silence and watched as I gently flung it to exit behind him. Once it hit the door he looked back at me to hear me say.

"I'm gonna get my price from you one way or the other. I don't care what it takes. You think I'm scared of you? Well you're thinking wrong. I'm not gonna stand here and take being lowballed. Do yourself a favor and go to wherever you keep your product and bring me back whatever you see fit for my first time. I'll have it sold and the money back to you within an hour. Black eye and all. And you know what'll happen then?" I asked him as just listened. Leaning in close to his gaze, I whispered.

"You're gonna give me more and I'm gonna show you what I can do when my mind is set on something. You're gonna see and you're gonna give me what I want. Now? Well now you should run along and follow your first order. I'll be here waiting for you when you get back. Now how's that sound?" I asked him with a small push to his chest with my right hand.

Cora felt my claws go through his shirt as I did that and in complete and utter silence he began to shake. I saw all the anger in his eyes blow up at once and without warning he came forward with both his hands wrapping around my neck. Mocha instantly began to bark at him as he carried me over to the nearby wall. Slamming me back first into it, he asked me roughly.

"Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like I'm some bitch? You stupid fucking whore!"

He was closing my windpipe, but I had my venom to see me through this. He barely had enough power to lift me off my toes. In fact, I stood on them with a smile and a red face as he continued his rant by asking me again.

"Huh?! Answer me you fucking bitch! Who do you think I am?!"

I just continued to smile and stare deeply into his eyes as he began to growl at my silence. Squeezing down on me harder, he asked.

"Something tells me you're enjoying this. Is that what's happening? You like being fucking choked to death? Because I can oblige! There isn't anyone around here that will help you. You're alone. Daddy won't be saving you. You're gonna fucking die here and the last thing you're going to see is my face."

My eyes soon went over to Mocha who was standing right behind him. She was waiting for my command but she knew me so well she saw I was okay and that this was all planned ahead of time. I used my left hand to reinforce that to her by waving her off. Cora didn't see that but when I looked back into his eyes did he lean in to say to me.

"I'm gonna kill you and once you're done breathing your last breath, I'm gonna cut you up into little pieces. I'm gonna pull you apart limb by limb and ship you off to the most foul corners of the world. No one will ever know what happened."

"Mmmhmmm!" I groaned as he squeezed even harder. My venom was working overtime. Enough so that I fell down to one knee. Once Cora saw my condition he asked me.

"You starting to see the light? Just fucking accept your place. No one talks to me like that. And esspeically not some stupid bitch like you."

I had to shut my eyes for a few seconds to get back some of my concentration. During my recovery he said to me.

"I'll disfigure what's left of your pretty face so no one will be able to identify your corpse. I'll cut off your fingers. I'll burn away your fur. I'll turn you into nothing more than a pile of meat."

With my mind grinding to a slow halt, I reopened my eyes to see he was still maybe three inches from my face. I knew what I wanted so using all I had I focused what remained of my power and began to fight his grip. Cora sensed my change and held strong as I got back on my own two feet in a matter of seconds. Once back there, I reached up and wrapped both my hands around his wrists. I saw the look of shock come over him as I felt a surge of power course through my veins. Then came an explosion. I snapped his hands off of my neck and immediately reached forward to grab him by his own throat.

"What the…?!" Cora tried to say in utter loss for words before I had him in my grip forcing his throat closed.

Using all I had I spun him around and slammed him up onto the wall and with our positions completely changed; we stared into each other's gaze. I was nothing but smiles as I caught my breath, and once I saw his taken gaze; did I pull my hands off his neck and reach down to pull his arms up and around my back. Cora completely lost his posture as I moved in to press my lips to his. Everything then changed as he seemed to understand that this was now a matter of blowing off steam and showing dominance.

He began to kiss back and in seconds we were fully integrated with one another. I ran my claws down his chest and kept him pushed against the wall as he began to grip my waist and feel my hips.

Now what felt like minutes turned out to only be twenty or so seconds. With both of us out of breath, I pulled off his lips and just stared into his eyes as he was indeed overwhelmed by the situation. He looked absolutely stunned and at a loss for words as I soon went back in for another round with his tongue.

After the second altercation did he pull off my lips to question.

"Getting threatened and nearly choked to death really does get you wet, huh?"

I didn't plan to answer that. He knew the answer and out of respect said to me bluntly.

"Fuck it. You can have your thirty. But you better fucking listen to what I have to say. Do you understand me you wild slut?"

Nodding my head, I replied while spreading his suit jacket apart.

"Yes sir."

He just giggled as he heard my response and I think he was still trying to recover from what just happened. I knew he would get off on having someone actually challenge his dominance and as weird as it seemed, I earned his respect now. I got my price and my point across. Giving me one more powerful kiss; he soon pulled back and gently smacked me with his right hand ordering.

"Now back off. I can't get the product if you're gonna keep me boxed in like this. Not that I don't enjoy it to be honest with you. Hehehe."

I just laughed and took a step back. Cora the whole time for the next few seconds just looked me up and down. Up until he decided to collect his suit and go for the door. Bending down to pick back up his hat, I sat back down on my bed and watched as he got it on and looked back at me with two happy eyes. He took a deep breath and proceeded to let it out with all the same power he used to collect it. Then he left the room shutting the door behind him.

I felt all the energy leave my body once he was gone. Again my poker face drained me and I've been using it for the last fucking hour. My venom was gone and the fact that I now needed to keep my word really hit me. I'd have to stick to my word and find a way to sell whatever he brings me here in the next few minutes. I knew I could figure something out, but I was so drained I had no other choice but to go into my bag and pull out one of the three remaining shots I had left and inject it through my neck. The burst of adrenaline hit me so hard I had to lay back to endure it. Mocha jumped up to start licking my face not a moment later.

I just tried to keep myself together as the venom filled back up in my tank. Once there again; did I shut my eyes and wait. This moment forward would change my life. I had to be sure of it.

mT Shadow.