Individuals from Jakob;s network worked overnight to gain information for (they presumed) Jakob, to be handed to their new head of affairs, Claude. Intel on the Boston Giovanni was simple enough – they had their hooks in the banking industry, as well as other financial institutions, with scattered investments here and there. the main information to look at, was hierarchy. The former head of the Boston Giovanni group was a woman by the name of Angelina. However, recent intel indicated that she had gone back to Italy, and had left the city in the hands of her daughter/childe, Adriana.
It seemed that many believed Angelina had abandoned them, leaving them to sink or swim on their own. Their was no confidence in Adriana’s leadership, especially as she hadn’t been a vampire for very long. Adraina was trying very hard to keep things together, and was seeking to maintain peace between the vampires of Boston and the Bratva to the south of them – as well as the Italian mafia to the north. It seemed she knew full well that both factions had hunters, and she was trying to protect her people.
Against the wishes of her citizens, however, she reached out to contact Willow Creek and try to make an alliance, fearing it might be the only way the city could survive now that Angelina was gone. She had requested a meeting with the leadership of Willow Creek, with the added addition of Brandon, though a reason for that had not been dug up. Anxiously awaiting an answer, she was starting to consider just making the flight out and appearing out there, as opposed to waiting for them any longer. Extra information from an inside source concluded that Adriana feared for her own existence – vampires in the city were that unhappy about her being in charge.
Additional information contained within was a list of the important residents, with notes next to the names of the most notable ones, although nothing extremely significant, until you reached the bottom of the page. An elder Giovanni by the name of Domenico Giovanni was trying to stage a coup and install himself as head of the city. Word of this did not leak to anyone near Adriana, so she was unaware of Domenico’s growing support.
Thus was the intelligence left for Claude by lunchtime.
((Author Note: Yes, that is that Angelina. For story purposes, Brandon would have never known anything about Adriana, as Angelina strove to keep her daughter away from him))
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“Jett, let go of me or I won’t be able to breathe soon.” Lucas said. He was exaggerating, but Jett had been a bit clingy since he got back from Spain.
“Sorry, sorry.”
Lucas sighed and just smiled. “Why don’t we have a date? Just some you and me time. Does that sounds good?”
“It sounds great. When?”
“Does now work?”
“Now?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like you’re busy.”
“True. Alright, where do you want to go?”
“Lunch, a movie, and then your studio. I want to know if you’ve come up with anything new.”
“I have, technically…just no lyrics yet.”
“I’d still like to hear it.”
“Alright. Le’ts get lunch, and then see what’s playing.”
They headed out of the house, with Jett driving normally for once. They ended up at a nice sit down place to have lunch at, and spent time enjoying the food, and one another’s company. When dessert came around, Lucas began scrolling through his phone to see what was playing.
“Jurassic World, Incredibles 2, Deadpool 2, Ocean’s Eight…” he listed of a few others, but by the tone in his voice, he wasn’t interested.
“I can wait on Deadpool – never got around to seeing the first one.”
“Jurassic World then?”
“Sounds good.”
They finished up their food and paid the bill, then headed over to the cinema, catching the next showing. Afterward, as decided upon, they headed for Jett’s studio. He’d been spending some time there lately, it seemed, as instruments were not put away. He moved around and made room for Lucas to sit, before setting up the recording of what he’d been working on lately. There were a few songs – some good, not all great. But there was clear evidence of effort.
“You been hiring session musicians?”
“No – I’ve been doing everything myself.”
“Maybe that’s why some things are off. You know, we should really find a producer for you.”
“I doubt there’s one in town.”
“I don’t know about that. You know Jakob, the one that took over teaching Mandy for you?”
“Yeah. What about him.”
“I googled him.”
“Didn’t know you knew his last name.”
“I overheard him telling Brandon once. It’s Messner. Anyway, I googled him, and he has a Wikipedia profile, but no picture. He’s been in the industry a while. Making, producing, writing…here, take a look.”
Lucas handed his phone over to Jett, who scrolled through what amounted to a resume. “I’ll have to try and get ahold of him, see if he’d be willing to help.”
“Why not just visit? He’s a neighbor, after all.”
“Seems a little rude. ‘Hi, how are you, would you help me with my music’?”
“I guess. But you’ll never know unless you ask.”
“I’ll think about it. If I decide to ask him, I’ll get his number from Vince or head over.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” he said, leaning in to kiss Lucas. Lucas kissed back, then playfully shoved him away when he tried for more. “Not here…we can do more when we get home.”
“Is that a promise?” Jett asked.
“Yes.” was Lucas’ response. “But for christ’s sake, don’t speed home just to get to it any sooner.”
Jett laughed. “Okay, I won’t.” he said, then worked on putting things into their proper places and locked up before they headed home.
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Jacqueline gave a surprised Nikolai a hug when he opened the door to her knock, then invited her in. Max, now fully grown and now not so inclined to immediately jump on people, welcomed her with a bump to her hand to ask for pets. She willingly obliged, giving the dog attention before turning back to Nikolai.
“What? I can’t visit?”
“Just wasn’t expecting you to drop by. Usually you call.”
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Is Petra up?”
“I think so. I’ll check – either way, I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thanks Nikolai.”
“Sure.” he said, leading her to the living room before heading up the stairs to knock lightly at Petra’s door. After the second knock, he heard her say something, which he interpreted as permission to enter. Sure enough, when he entered, she was bleary eyed and barely awake.
“What is it that you’re bothering me for so early.”
“i’m sorry.” he found himself replying immediately, hoping he hadn’t angered her. “Jacqueline dropped by – she was hoping to see you.”
“Tell her I’ll be down in a bit.” Petra said as she yawned. She was stretching as Nikolai left the room. He went downstairs to relay the message, then made himself scarce. A few minutes later, a dressed, but somewhat unkempt Petra came down the stairs, and she greeted Jacqueline by handing her a hairbrush and sitting in front of her, on the floor. Jacqueline just smiled, and began brushing the lengthy red tresses.