James said, "Let's work," but even he himself didn't really know what that work was.
Like, he had plans like everybody around him, but they needed to align it with Linda and the others to not have any problems, especially knowing what a small mistake can lead to a catastrophe. So what he thought about at that moment was a meeting, a meeting with Hector and all the higher-ranking members of the family, who were each leading in their own way to keep the family running smoothly.
"Sophia." James looked at her while she was still wiping off her tears. "Bring those files and information you have to my office upstairs. I'll also call the others to get here." As he said it again like if a witch was flipped in Sophia's mind she immediately got up and spirited to the upstairs to her room and to the suitcase that contained everything.
In the meantime, before James even called up anybody he had a question in his mind which was something he didn't even think about at first.
Where are they… like Hector especially, because one thing was sure, he couldn't go home, because the chance of him being assassinated is just too big. But not just him, like Ramirez and all of the men in a higher position were all targets.
Well, his question was answered as fast as he reached the office, because he heard the front door opening and it was Hector and Ramirez's voices coming through with two more voices that wasn't recognizing at first so he just went into the office and sat down waiting for them to come in and talk with Hector to reach out for nobody who are can help them and rank higher, but as he sat there waiting.
The chair was comfy. Everything about it was comfy, like it had an atmosphere of calmness. But looking at him from the outside in that chair, he truly looked like a Don waiting for his men, especially in the polo shirt and the golden rings.
He was the definition of a boss and the first one that stepped in was Sophia, her hand full with dossiers which she just tossed down on the table side and sat down, staring at James like her job was done and that's it, but not long after, the other arrived too.
Hector came in second in the same a black suit he alway wears, after him followed by Ramirez, who was also now in a black suit… they were really looking right now like a gangster family with those plate carriers and AR in hand and it just got better as Dani from the washer stepped in too in a grey suit, and on his side another man in a white shirt and black chinos with a suit, two pistols hanging on his shoulder holster.
It was Finn, the leader of the organizers.
Once again, Hector did exactly what James had thought of doing and called the exact same meeting James wanted, with the top members of the family, without even talking about it to eachother. Like their minds were connected or something. But at least there wasn't any sitting around waiting for everybody to show up.
No, they were all here.
Dani, the money man of the family, the accountant of the Bellinis was with Hector.
Finn Orich, the organizer of the family, handled the people, the work, and literally everything with his men.
Ramirez, the general of the family, led the best of the best into battle and lastly, Sophia, the newly elected branch leader of the family.
The top members were all here. They were all ready to plan the future.
"James." Hector said as he smiled at him and sat down on one of the chairs.
"Hector, you look like shit." James said with a chuckle at the end, because yeah, he had bags under his eyes and of course the battle scars. "At least did you sleep well?"
"Nah, I slept in one of the cars with a gun in my hand." He said, shaking his head. "But at least I slept."
"Yeah." James smiled, and he just noticed it, that except Sophia and Hector, everybody else in the office just stood there with their heads slightly bowed down, staring at the ground.
Are they praying or what… James thought as he looked at them.
They were just showing respect to the family leader... to the Don.
For James, it was still something he needed to experience more and come to accept. He knew, to some extent, that people respected him, but he had skipped a crucial part, the manners and the respect reflected in his own behavior.
With Hector and the others he always spoke casually like how friends speak to each other, something that he didn't really think about and didn't seem like anything big, but he is now leading the biggest and most powerful family currently in the country and with that, people around him started to show him respect too, yeah, the family has changed with him, and they knew they needed to show the respect for him.
"Sit down everybody and let's start this." James said and they without hesitation sat down around that big-ass table and that was it, silence.
James waited for them to start, but he was the boss, he had to start it, but he always hated position, always hated to be in the spotlight… moreover he doesn't even know how the fuck to start all of this… but he remembered the earlier talk with the cooks, they said "they dont get paid enough."
"Dani, speak up, what's up with our money? Do we even have money or no?" He asked, and Dani immediately looked up at him, pulling out a dossier from his bag, opening it and giving everybody one copy of it.
"We are in a bad position… like really bad." He said as he tapped his finger and waited for everybody to go through the numbers after numbers… James did it in a second because he doesn't even understand half of those numbers, because there were so many in every place.
"Summarize me this…" He tossed it back at the table and even his head got hurt from it, staring at those numbers… because while going through, he saw a number which was fucked up… like too many zeros and a minus before it.
If that's in minus we are fucked…