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Moving Up Pt. 1 - All In A Week's Work
Category: RP Blog
"The time to expand is now. We don't have any competition on the street. I want to start pushing north right now. We put our stake back in Downtown, and from there, it's all settled."
By Tony's words, he ordered what was next in line for the rebuilding Montana Cartel. With Venus by his side as his second in command and Felix as the eyes and ears on the street, Tony was confident they had something to build on now.
Montana territory was concentrated to Little Havana and Hialeah among the Cuban communities in town. Tony had his eyes on a legit business in the downtown area. That would be a good place to bring in hustlers and players from across town, as well as a steady flow of legit money. He remembered that after coming to the US and spending nights in an upscale nightclub, he always wanted to have his own nightclub.
Tony had big plans for Venus. She had potential to establish herself as a major figure in the game. Her approach to dealing with problems was brutal, cutthroat and to the point. He planned on building her up, slowly over time to the point that she was feared and respected throughout Miami. She had her own beauty saloon that was used as a front for her escort business. The girls stayed at the Sunburst Hotel. They feared her as their boss. It was a tight business, but Tony wanted something bigger for her. Venus deserved more than just the title of madam. He seen her as having the potential to be a major figure from a drug lord to a boss if she so desired it.
Felix's job was to set up deals and offer connections from the street. So far, he had proven useful with finding certain people looking for jobs and dealers across town. Tony figured if they had a nightclub, Felix could operate from there. It would bring the right people in to talk to him and make connections. That was better than having Felix run from one end of the city to the other establishing a presence where people could go to him.
An opportunity opened with an old unused building going up for sale in Downtown. The building had once housed a disco club that underwent new coats of paint with management and name changes. The property was bought up by an investor who just left the building abandoned. It was covered in graffiti on the outside and had been vandalized a few times before it was given a quick remodeling. No 'For Sale' signs were put up on the property, leading Tony to believe it was a private acquisition.
The only way for him to have a chance of buying it was to seek out this private investor legally. That took a few weeks before a lead came up. A multi-millionaire real estate manager by the name Jason Johnson was the owner. Tony had Felix schedule a meeting for him. That made Felix uncomfortable since he was a legit businessman and not someone from their walk of life in the criminal underbelly of town. Nevertheless, Felix pleased his boss by going out of his way to make up some meeting. He found that Johnson liked to hang out at café in South Beach.
MONDAY
"I don't think you're just going to be able to offer this guy a briefcase of cash and he'll hand over the deed." Felix tried to warn Tony, who just brushed him off.
"Relax. You forget that everybody has a price. He would be stupid to turn down cash in hand."
"Maybe he is." Felix had a right to believe Johnson wouldn't fold. Since he had met with the man, he felt him out from that first meeting. Tony literally thought he could go right in with a briefcase of money and have his way. The meeting was setup on a restaurant rooftop in Downtown during afternoon hours. Tony went alone that day. They shook hands and the man started the conversation by telling Tony that he had heard he had a good reputation.
"Is my reputation good enough to buy something from under you? I've got cash, no need for any checks, man." The smile he offered with that joke did not warm over the businessman.
"I know your reputation. Anyone who pays in cash is trying to hide something." The man mocked him with a smug grin. Tony was surprised to be put on the spot like that. It completely killed his mood in this public place.
"I don't deal with criminals. Take your money and shove it." And with that, the meeting ended. It was unusual for Tony to leave a meeting like this, still with cash in hand. He was furious as he left that day. Later, Venus wanted to know how the meeting went by the time she got home. After dinner, they sat around in the living room to discuss business.
"That fucking guy thinks he's some goody two-shoes. He wouldn't take my money cause I'm a fucking criminal, so he says." Tony saw Venus raise her eyebrows as she looked back at him.
"Wow. He insulted you to your face." Tony sighed and crossed his arms, annoyed by today's lackluster results. "I can tell you're pissed, baby. You don't have to make that pose in front of him." That smirk after her words was enough to soften him up a bit to smile back at her.
"Maybe Felix was right. He comes from a different walk of life than us. But that don't make him better than me." As Tony voiced his frustrations, Venus sat on the couch thinking to herself. She had her own ideas for getting the land deed and control of the building. Tony did it the right way trying to buy it, but now it was her turn to play it the wrong way.
"Did he have a wedding ring on?" Tony looked back at her, somewhat puzzled by that question.
"I didn't see any jewelry on this guy. I don't think it's his style." Venus smiled. If he didn't have a ring on, then he was a bachelor. This was going to be easy then. She knew just what to do in order to get a business exchange out of him.
"Let me handle him, baby. He'll be sorry soon."
"What are you gonna do?"
Venus laughed at him. She gave Tony a reassuring smirk. All that told him was that she was planning something devious. He moved closer to her, leaning down face-to-face.
"I've got you, baby. Don't you worry about a thing." She kissed him tenderly after her words. The time had come for her to relieve his stress with a night of love to end the day.
*********
TUESDAY
Another typical day of work at Venus' beauty saloon was in store, or so someone thought. Venus went to work with a different plan in mind for today. She called her niece Gabriela Alvarez and told her to come up to the saloon. The time had finally come to introduce Gabby to the business. The young woman had been kept away mostly, sheltered in secrecy as Venus vowed to protect her. She was the only family member Venus had in Miami, and thus it was her duty to keep her out of harm's way.
Venus called Gabby on the phone from her office. After she instructed her to come down to the saloon, she hung up the phone and turned her attention to someone else. Charlotte was her assistant in the office. It was usually her duty to help Venus keep track of the girls escorting business. Venus was lenient on Charlotte, pampering and spoiling her like a pet solely for her beauty and the fact she was one of Tony's ex-girlfriends. That was about to change.
"Charlotte, shut the door. We need to have a talk." The buxom blonde girl went and shut the door before returning to the desk for their discussion.
"I need you to do something for me. This is real important, which is why I'm giving you the job."
"What is it?"
Venus grabbed a picture and a note from the desk and handed it to Charlotte. The note contained the address for the café and the specific hours for when he was there every morning and afternoon. Under that was a room number scribbled in red ink.
"This is Jason Johnson. You'll find him at this café every morning."
Charlotte looked back at her with a confused expression. Venus carried on speaking. "Go find something sexy to wear so you catch his eye."
"Why are you asking me to do that?" Venus shook her head at that question.
"I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm telling you to go meet him. You're going to seduce him back to the hotel, then you're going to fuck him. I gave you a room number. I'm setting up a camera in the room so I can film it and take pictures."
Charlotte's eyes widened. Never had she been asked to do anything like this before, let alone be ordered directly. Venus was stern in her delivery of speech. It intimidated her into swallowing her breath. Even though Charlotte was once an escort, she had long stopped. She worked solely as Venus' assistant, and was occasionally invited for threesomes with Tony and Venus. Those were happy times, since Charlotte still had a thing for Tony. Venus was well aware of this and went out of her way to make sure there was no possibility of Charlotte getting back with him on the downlow.
"Why me? Why not Misty or one of the other girls?"
Venus got up from her desk. She did not like being questioned on orders. She stood in front of Charlotte and grabbed her shirt. It was a simple black blouse that hid her busty, natural breasts. Venus yanked at her blouse and ripped it down the middle, causing those soft, plump boobs to spill out. Charlotte gasped in fear of this sudden forcefulness from her boss.
"This is why I chose you. These right here." She gave Charlotte a stern look. "Show him these. Wear something slutty so he sees your tits." Charlotte sighed. She did not bother tucking her tits back into her ripped shirt. She just did as she was told, walking to the back room where the escorts had outfits to change into.
After Charlotte left the building for her job, a taxi pulled up. Gabby stepped out and into the blinding sunlight. The wind blew her brunette hair in her face. She swiped it away and fixed her purse across her shoulder before walking into the saloon. Venus walked out to greet her niece with a big hug. She introduced Gabby to all the girls working hair and makeup in the saloon, then took her behind the employees door and to her private office.
"Thanks for showing me around today. So this is where you spend all your time?" Venus nodded with a smile to her niece.
"Yeah, I'm here every day except weekends. I think it's time I introduce you to the family business. I need someone to help me around you. I wouldn't trust anyone else but you."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need a new assistant. Just follow along with what I show you. You'll keep track of the books, the phone and scheduling."
Just like that, Charlotte lost her job without notice in favor of Venus' own niece. The time had finally come to bring Gabby in where she could be mentored by Venus. While Tony had plans for Venus, she had plans for Gabby. She seen her niece as if she were her own daughter. One day, she was going to run the business with her, all in family as it should be. Charlotte was relieved of her duties and pushed back into the role as an escort. That was where she belonged. Venus saw Charlotte as nothing more than a whore who wasn't getting the action she needed to cure her loneliness.
*********
Across town, Charlotte entered the café with her high heel pumps clicking and clacking. She wore a short pink skirt to go with a too tight, too small blouse. The middle button was hanging on to dear life to contain her busty tits from exploding free. She found Jason Johnson and walked right over to greet the man with a smile.
"Hello, handsome. Would you mind if I have a seat with you?"
He offered a smile as he was obviously taken in by her large weapons of mass distraction. Charlotte flashed her teeth in a cheeky grin before sitting down across from him.
Away from the café, Venus was busy at the hotel. She wanted to personally rig the room to film a sex tape or snap photos for this job. One camera was hidden in the crack of closet, completely blending in behind a line of clothes that were unable to fit. A second camera was positioned directly across the bed on the middle shelf of a wooden nightstand. Both cameras were activated by a remote control. Venus was satisfied and confident in this. All she had to do was press the power button to both remotes when she saw Charlotte enter the hall. Since she went through the work of setting this up herself, Venus decided to hang back and wait for her. Gabby was back at the saloon and would have the duty of closing shop on her first day.
It took 3 hours of waiting, but Venus eventually heard Charlotte's laughter in the distance with a male voice joining in. She got up from a stool she had been sitting on in the hall and finally pressed the buttons on both remotes. Venus let out a sigh and walked in the opposite direction so Charlotte would not see her. She was just relieved to not have to wait another minute and could finally go home. Looking at the time on her gold Rolex, Venus saw that it was a few minutes past 6 PM. Tony had not called, but she knew he would be waiting at home for her.
*********
WEDNESDAY
All work and no play. That was the schedule of the week days for the Montana household. Tony had been going out with Felix trying to make connections across town. He had forgotten about the club building... for now. Venus took over on that end with her plan coming to fruition.
A smile ran across Venus' lips as she looked at the filmed action from both cameras. Charlotte did her job fucking Jason Johnson with two active cameras in the room. She was smart enough to keep the lights on, so they had full color recording with no blurry image. Venus sat in front of her computer at the hotel, editing the video footage together of what was a wild, raunchy sex tape. She cut several still frames to print out as part of her blackmail. The frames showed his face. Charlotte was relieved that she was done with the escort job.
"Now that I'm done, can I go back to work at the saloon tomorrow?" Venus could see her concerned gaze from the corner of her left eye. The older woman did not move her sight away from the computer screen as she replied.
"No. We're not done yet." She heard Charlotte let out a defeated sigh, almost pouting. Venus was not going to tell Charlotte that she had been replaced as an assistant by her own niece. She was going to play Charlotte for now and let her figure it out later on.
"I want you to get the printer ready. I might need you to go and get the VHS copy machine too."
Back at the saloon, Gabby sat in Venus' desk chair, overlooking everything while she was gone. Venus had to call Tony and tell him that she would not be arriving home until probably midnight hours. He understood, since they both worked their own side of the business with their own crews. This was the life of the underworld game. Some nights you didn't get home at all, out hustling and doing business.
The blackness of light was underwhelming away from the streets where the poles cast an array of lights. Venus and Gabby sat quietly in a Mercedes Benz in a lonely parking lot. They were parked directly in front of the car belonging to Jason Johnson. Venus thought about waiting on him to come out and confront the man, but when she saw it was 10:40 at night, she changed her mind. Gabby accompanied her on this trip for a special reason.
"Come on, I'm tired of waiting. Grab the tape and the photos." Venus spoke as she leaned back to grab an aluminum baseball bat that was sitting in the back seat. Gabby opened the door while clutching the VHS cassette, printed photos and a roll of white tape. They stood on the left side of the car. Venus motioned for Gabby to drop her items on the hood. She handed her niece the bat to prepare her for the next step. This was a job for Gabby to show her commitment and learn. Venus took the white tape and carefully stuck the photographs onto the windshield of the car before taping them. After she done, she looked at her niece and pointed at the driver side window.
"Go ahead. Smash that fucking window." Her fingers twisted around it for a tighter grip. Gabby took a deep breath as she moved into place and reared the bat back. With one swing, the glass shattered with a loud thud. The car alarm began to blare loudly, startling Gabby to take a few steps back. Venus stomped over to the driver's side and tossed the VHS tape into the seat. A rubber band was wrapped around it containing a note as part of the blackmail. In red ink, the words "We know where you live" were visible.
The alarm was still going off when the two women climbed back into their car. Venus cranked the engine and shifted gears to peel out of the parking lot at a slow speed as if she didn't have a care in the world what just happened.
*********
THURSDAY
Another day at the saloon for Venus was in order. She sat in her office with Gabby while Charlotte had been dismissed back to the hotel. Earlier in the day, Charlotte called and asked if she was needed at the saloon. Venus told her no and to "take a few days off to rest at the hotel". She had yet to inform her that she had been replaced as the assistant. She would eventually find out soon enough. The phone began to ring from her desk. Venus picked it up to be greeted with Tony's voice.
"Hey baby, what's going on?"
"Hey! That guy called. He wants to handover the deed to the building with no cash. He sounded a bit scared over the phone."
Venus giggled at that remark. "Oh, was he? I would like to think he's scared straight after last night."
Tony did not know just what Venus had done to put this level of fear into him. He was proud of her though. This arrangement could have dragged out weeks into next month. Now it was settled before the weekend. He was on the way to make the exchange when he decided to call Venus with the portable phone in his car.
"I'll call you back when the deal is done. I'd like to go out tonight. I was thinking we could go out for dinner and celebrate."
"I would love that! Can Gabby come with us too?"
"Yeah, sure. Bring her along, it's about time I met your neice." After hanging the phone up, Venus smiled at her niece.
"Tony wants to go out for dinner tonight and you're coming with us. Come on, I'll take you shopping so you can get something fancy to wear tonight."
To celebrate this success, Tony booked a rooftop dinner for three at the same restaurant he had met Johnson at earlier in the week. Venus took Gabby to a boutique store to buy whatever outfit she wanted for the evening. She knew Tony was going to wear one of his pinstripe suits, since he preferred to go out in style on a night like this. He did one extra and sent a limousine to pick the girls up from the shop. When they stepped out of the doors, a big white, stretch limo was parked waiting for them. The chauffeur got out of the limo to open the door for them to climb in the back seats. Gabby looked surprised on first impression. Venus saw the reaction on her face and grinned.
"Welcome to our world, honey. This is how Tony likes to go out and turn heads." Their hair was all fixed up. Big gold hoop earrings dangled from Venus' ears, visible beyond her brunette locks. They both wore an elegant dress to go with high heels. Black was Venus' color of choice to go with her gold earrings and Rolex watch. Gabby chose a dark red, crimson color and a silver necklace as her one piece of jewelry.
They arrived at the restaurant and were escorted to the rooftop where Tony awaited them. True to her guess, Venus saw him in a white pinstripe suit with a shirt underneath. As he approached his love, Tony gently grabbed her right hand and leaned down to kiss it. When he leaned up, Venus gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She introduced him to Gabby, in which Tony repeated the process. He kissed her hand, just as he did Venus.
"I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise, Venus has been telling me about you since the day I came to Miami."
At a reserved table, Tony sat across from Venus. Gabby was closer to the side wall where she could see the tall buildings surrounding them. She spent most of her life in New York before taking the bus to Miami just last month. Tony could see the amazement in her eyes as she looked across town.
"We're in Downtown, if you're wondering. That's South Beach over there across the water." He pointed across the way to his right. Venus smiled as she saw Gabby's eyes still wandering around. Between eating, they sipped on wine from goblets.
"Gabby's my only real family. She's like a daughter to me." Venus spoke to Tony.
"Is she from the Bahamas too?"
"No, I'm from New York." Gabby replied in a way that made Venus slightly nervous. Despite her passionate commitment to him, Venus had yet to tell Tony the truth of where she came from or her violent past. For all he knew, she came from the Bahamas yet spoke perfect English and had a deep Bronx accent. He was ignorant to that fact since he had never spent time in New York City.
"I've never been to New York, I've always wanted to go there though."
"Maybe someday when we aren't busy with chasing people around this town." Venus spoke, quick to steer the conversation away from New York.
"Yeah, what a week this has been, and it's not even Friday yet!" Tony laughed after speaking. His laughter was joined by Venus soon after.
"Tomorrow we get to sleep in. We're taking the weekend off, lover man." Now Gabby was laughing at them.
"You didn't tell me how your meeting went with Mr. Johnson. Did he apologize to you for being rude?"
Tony nodded with a smug grin. "Oh yeah, he looked like he had the fear of God put in him." Venus and Gabby looked at each other while sipping wine.
"That's what I like to hear. He had a... video and some nasty pictures I don't think he wanted leaked in the newspapers." Gabby laughed at her aunt hinting at the blackmail.
"Oh, so that's what you did. Smart move. That guy thinks he's something."
"A goody two-shoes who don't want everyone to know about paying escorts for cheap thrills." Venus managed to mock both Jason Johnson and Charlotte with those words. Since Tony did not see the photos, he did not know what they were of. It was easy for him to guess Venus used any of her girls for the job.
"I can't believe we got the building without having to spend a dime. The remodeling will be a lot cheaper. How much should we spend? I was thinking around seventy thousand at the bare minimum."
"Tony, we're not in the office! Let's take a break from business and enjoy ourselves!" Venus made him, but it was true. He had a habit of constantly moving in with business talk when they needed to be relaxing.
*********
1 WEEK LATER
Tony and Venus stood side by side in what would become the dance floor of their neck club. The scent of fresh paint was almost overwhelming from all sides of the building. The new coat was black and shiny. Up on the ceiling was the new outline of what would be the logo of their club. Tony smiled as he envisioned blue neon lights around it.
"How do you like that logo, baby?"
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