Private Finished A Doña Meets a Don

Sitting at a luncheon table off to one side of the room, Zora waited curiously for Mr. Genovese, dressed in a very tailored dark grey fitted skirt, and a dark blue silk blouse. They were meeting at one of the finer restaurants on the Strip. It was actually a fairly elegant place considering where it was.

She had decided on the restaurant for various reasons, among them was, it was known for its discreteness. She had also business in the area. And it was highly unlikely, she would run into Frederick Crawford here on the Strip. At least not during the day, where others might see or notice him. She, herself, was not worried about being seen in the area because anyone that knew Tomas, knew that his businesses were now in her hands and she was quietly overseeing things until she could figure out what she wanted to do with them.

However, she had no intentions of letting it be known publically, or in a way that could easily get back to people, who she was meeting or having dealings with. She was curious about Basilio for a lot of different reasons among them was he was Jude's father, Broen knew him, hinted that he had "worked" for him, and that he was - had been - a businessman of the crimelord variety.

@Kada

Zora looked up, sort of surprised, when a man, whom she presumed was Basilio Genovese, appeared quietly at her table. Standing up to greet him, she noticed two things immediately - that he was quite tall, dwarfing her, even in 4inch heels, and the resemblance to Jude was quite uncanny

"Mr. Genovese?" she said politely as she held out her hand to him, looking him over with polite interest, trying to get a handle on the man she had only heard about. "Thank you for meeting with me today. I do hope I'm not inconveniencing you in any way?" Zora told him as she gestured to him to have a seat if he wanted.

"Impressive," Zora said with a tiny nod, raising an eyebrow at Basilio's astute statement, as she sat back down. He had guessed that she was the owner of the restaurant. Few knew that she was, or even that Tomas had been. Although, truthfully, she had been surprised herself that Tomas had a classy restaurant in his portfolio. She was also ashamed to admit that when she saw it listed, read the perspective, and saw it was a bordello on the side, that she was expecting something completely different than fine dining.

"A man of impeccable manners," Zoraida stated looking him over again, "I can see now where Jude gets his sense of decorum. " she added with a smile. Then with a nod,

"Actually, I wanted to meet you for a few reasons, some personal and some not," she told Basilio evenly, "I know your son obviously, but I also know someone who used to work for you and informed me that you were, how should I put this, a businessman of sorts and could offer me a unique perspective, perhaps advice, on how to run certain types of not so aboveboard ventures."

"Boldness is a requirement sometimes," Zora said quite simply, unfazed by his attitude, "And yes, maybe, it's generally a bad idea. But I trust my sources, and what I know about you and the people surrounding you," she said being very open and direct.

" I don't believe in wasting people's time with games, wooing or making promises, Mr. Genovese," she stated politely as she peered at him impassively. "And surely, you know clandestineness is not always cloak and dagger and secret meetings. It's often about being discrete, straightforwardness about one's intentions, the right contacts, and the correct knowledge.. which is often invaluable."

"Without beating around the bush, you have the skills and background I need and basically require, mainly because, I honestly don't have the time at the moment, and none of these businesses can be left alone for very long without oversight," she said removing Tomas's business portfolio from her oversized handbag.

"It's my brother's business portfolio. He was in a similar line of business as yours," she said holding his gaze, "This place was his actually, and there is a bar down the street, a few warehouses near the wharf and a pawn shop near the strip. There are also properties in London, six in Barcelona, 3 in Amsterdam, two in New York and Tokyo, and a few others scattered here and there."

"I would like your advice on how to diversify, legalise to some extent the ones marked in red since they almost cross over entirely into the illegal category, and generally find new investors and contacts," she said.

Zora listened quietly to Basilio, not giving away anything as he spoke. She had had enough trouble with the police lately to last her a lifetime. Her own lawyers had suggested as much, even the ones she had hired to take care of her own businesses that operated on the somewhat dubious side of importing and exporting, and who had helped transferred those companies to countries with less strict regulations.

Tomas, quite simply, had been deep into stuff that few might even consider touching, and so with a nod, Zora took the papers, separated the ones with red marks. The ones that she knew for sure were illegal. Then she took the rest, glanced through them, separating the ones she knew were totally aboveboard.

Looking again at Basilio, she slid the rest, about ten companies in total, back his way. "These ones are shell companies. What else am I missing?" she asked him her tone dead serious, "Two, maybe three, probably deal with money laundering. However, I feel there is more, but my knowledge only runs so deep," she admitted stoically, not liking the fact that she didn't know what she was looking for and just acting on pure instinct.

(You can make up anything you like about the ten companies.)