TheCorsair
Pēdicãbo ego võs et irrumäbo
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
God damn, he was tired. Long nights did that, and it didn't help that what sleep he did get was interrupted by interesting dreams of Mercedes Morello. Which was a problem, and not just because he still ached for the loss of Mary. No, Mercedes Morello was the wife of Vincent Morello. She was a married woman. Not happily married, not after what she'd said, but still married. And he wouldn't move on another man's wife. He wasn't that sort of man, and even if he was would it be fair to her? To pursue her, possibly because she was married to a man he hated? Not just because she had the voice of an angel, and the body of a devil, and... William lit a cigarette and took a drag. This line of thought wasn't helping. But the fact was, he wasn't sure if his only attraction was because she was drop-dead gorgeous. And he wasn't the sort of person who'd use a woman just to piss off someone he hated.
The intercom buzzed. Glad of the distraction, he hit the button. "Yes?"
"Mr. Stone?" his secretary replied. "You've got a call, from a Miss M. Did you...?"
"Yes, yes, of course." He tried not to sound eager. "Put her through." Heart pounding, he picked up the handset. The conversation that followed was far from the kind he'd had in his dreams, but far more interesting in a way. Mayor Thompson was going to be at the Gilded Cage tonight, a guest of Enforcer Morello. Mayor Thompson, and some of the Aldermen, and the police commissioner. William nodded absently, making a few notes as Mercedes gave him the bullet points in a rapid whisper. "Yes," he answered when she finished. "Of course. I'll be there tonight. I wouldn't miss it for the world." She hung up with a click. Carefully he set the handpiece down, then leaned back in his chair and drew on his cigarette. "Is there—is there balm in Gilead?" he murmured, blue smoke streaming from his nostrils, "tell me—tell me, I implore."
There was no answer.
With a sigh, he stubbed out his cigarette. "Miss Donaldson?" he said, stabbing the intercom button as he rose. "I'll be going home now. It looks like I'll be having another late night."
The intercom buzzed. Glad of the distraction, he hit the button. "Yes?"
"Mr. Stone?" his secretary replied. "You've got a call, from a Miss M. Did you...?"
"Yes, yes, of course." He tried not to sound eager. "Put her through." Heart pounding, he picked up the handset. The conversation that followed was far from the kind he'd had in his dreams, but far more interesting in a way. Mayor Thompson was going to be at the Gilded Cage tonight, a guest of Enforcer Morello. Mayor Thompson, and some of the Aldermen, and the police commissioner. William nodded absently, making a few notes as Mercedes gave him the bullet points in a rapid whisper. "Yes," he answered when she finished. "Of course. I'll be there tonight. I wouldn't miss it for the world." She hung up with a click. Carefully he set the handpiece down, then leaned back in his chair and drew on his cigarette. "Is there—is there balm in Gilead?" he murmured, blue smoke streaming from his nostrils, "tell me—tell me, I implore."
There was no answer.
With a sigh, he stubbed out his cigarette. "Miss Donaldson?" he said, stabbing the intercom button as he rose. "I'll be going home now. It looks like I'll be having another late night."