The Mafiosa's Thorn

Meeting Pt 1

The blanket of tension gets heavier as distinguished individuals enter a room with unarmed guards. An elderly Chinese woman with panda earrings walks in with a cane. She drops off her Baretta in a box before trying to lock it with a key. Her trembling hands give her trouble. The young Chinese man with a French crop and short bangs attempts to help her.

Smack!

"Ting Xialai, Jian (Stop, Jian)!" She whispers to stop him. He doesn't rub the sting on his right hand.

He bows his head. "Sorry, Nainai (Grandma)."

With some time, she enters the key and locks it. She beckons her grandson to enter the lion's den with her. He swallows his fear to remind himself of his goal.

The heroin game has been a favorite of his, but he aims higher. He wants to take over once Madam Xianmao (Panda) passes away. Even though his sister wants nothing to do with the Triad, he had been working every single day to earn his grandmother's respect. Despite his efforts, she never smiled. She just scolds him to do better.

The potential for power drives his feet to walk beside her. A large mahogany table along with their colleagues await them. They exchange respective glances while being silent. She sits down with her grandson behind her. His eyes find a rival leader.

At the head of the table is an Irish man with a graying hair and beard. He plays with his engraved ring of a teeth baring horse while smiling at the man behind Xianmao. "Well, well. Looks like laddie Jian wants to establish himself. "

He brushes off the insult. "Better that than to stay complacent."

The Irishman sits up straight.......before laughing. He slaps his knee. "Good one! You raised a good lad, Xianmao!"

"Sir Kelpie, he still lacks in manners," she coldly dismisses him. Jian sighs internally, thinking she would be proud of him.

"Trading verbal jabs is a great show of manners! Makes things more interesting, ya know? Life is kinda boring without dat. Pour him a drink," he tells his right-hand man behind him. The red-haired man pours out some whiskey into a glass. He brings it over to Jian who humbly accepts it.

Vanilla enters his nostrils from a whiff, before drinking it down. He hands the glass back to the guard with a smile.

"Great taste, Sir Kelpie."

His grandmother scoffs. "You would have been dead if he poisoned it. Think better, next time."

Jian's smile quickly disappears.

The Irish Boss cracks his knuckles. "If I wanted him dead, poison is a cowardly way of doing it. Glad you love it, Jian. Let's have more next time, ya hear?"

"Right," before silencing himself.

"I heard your daughter just got married. May they live a long and healthy life," the Triad boss bows her head.

"Thank ya. To think, she was at me knee, and she's now married to a good man.....Congrats to your granddaughter's engagement."

She smiles for once. "Appreciated."

The clock on the wall ticks......

A bald Russian man taps the table with the ring of an engraved three headed dragon. "Where da hell is she? Seamus, do you know?"

"Don't be whiney, Vlad. She likes to make quite de entrance," the gray Irish man answers.

The sound of her stilettos alerts them to the door. Seamus whistles from the sight. She enters the room in a black suit with white vertical stripes. Her jacket short enough to show off her assets with each step. Her white shirt has a few buttons loose to show some skin to everyone.

She proudly struts with a man behind her carrying a briefcase. He pushes back his wavy, black hair as if he received a bombshell of information. He keeps his brown eyes up to hide his concern with what's inside.

She smiles from the ogling the men give her 40, yet supple body. Even the bad attention encourages her behavior.

Xianmao glares at her for never taking these meetings seriously. That attention seeking whore.

Jian reminds himself not to fall for this woman's antics. It's all a trick to lure weak men to their doom.

"Sorry about that, everyone!" She casually announces to the table.

"You should be late more often, Bianca!" Seamus jokes.

She bats her eyes at him. "Is that so?"

"That suit is your best look. Well-"

Vladimir bangs his fist on the table. "Can we start the meeting already?!"

"Looks like someone slept in the doghouse," Orchidea jests.

The corners of his lips turn downward. "At least I have someone to come home-"

That emerald stare freezes him with all the hatred in the world. That same look she had when she killed the hitman who murdered her husband. The other leaders wonder what's going to come out of her mouth.

"Apologize," Seamus demands with a hushed tone.

"Izvinite, Bianca," he shortly apologizes.

"No need. Let's finish this so you can get back to your doghouse."

Seamus lightly chuckles from her resilience. "If you want to drink afterwards, Vlad, let me know. I will give you advice on how to get back in da house." 

A tap of the cane on the table grabs their attention. "Sirs Kelpie and Vmey (Dragon), enough! Signora Orchidea, you said had an announcement. What is it?"

She glances at her henchman behind her. "Alejandro."

He opens the briefcase and lays out a pile of folders filled with paperwork and a black journal. The leaders look at her and the paperwork for an explanation.

"I'm out of the drug business. I will split up and sell to each of you to take over."