You Have Something Good?

Zane waited until the woman would've been far enough away before he answered the phone call.

"Diego, I hope that you have something good for me that will help make this day better." He also took a moment to send a text to Clive to let his driver know he would be staying longer.

"Hasn't even been a full day yet and you're already in another bad mood? Life must be really rough for you right now."

"Your sentiment is nice and all but sympathy isn't what I need right now. Answers on the other hand are." The young mafioso locked his bedroom door and moved back to the bed. No one else would be able to bother him now.

"Must be a really bad day for you to be in that kind of mood. Well, I can't exactly say that I have anything that will make it better. I did find out some interesting information you could us though." Zane let out an impatient sound in response to the other's rambling.

"Cut to the point then. I am on a fixed time right now and I'm not in the mood to play so guessing game." Curse him for leaving his cigarettes in the car! He couldn't even take his father's pipe now to relieve the tension. He would just have to wait to see if his younger brother would be coming to dinner. If he did, he could just steal the other's cigarettes.

The other seemed to think it better to oblige his friend and quickly gave out the information. Zane did his best to pay attention though most of it sounded irrelevant to him. There was no need to know everything about the woman's life. He only needed to know what he could do to use her. The only actually interesting information the other had for him came at the end. He didn't realize it at first though.

"And what exactly would I care about a legal case? You didn't lose your head and forget that we're on the opposite side of the law, did you?" Zane sighed, flopping back on the bed and allowing the overly soft bed to engulf him. Too bad he never could find an exact replica for his own place. Sleeping would be far nicer if he could.

"Really? Do I actually have to spell it out for you? We might not be on the right side of the law, but she certainly is. Not in the kind of position thought that would allow her to openly take on this type of work." Diego felt tempted to cuff his friend over the head for not thinking.

"What then? Do you think that I should consider blackmailing the woman? If you're even suggesting that, you haven't met her to know it likely wouldn't work. The woman is very much a spite fire that won't easily bend."

"Sounds very much like someone else I know." Diego coughed out on the other end of the phone. The comment made the young mafioso roll his eyes. He and Rose were nothing alike.

"But no, you're wrong. I don't think that you should blackmail her at all. Rather, I think you might want to consider extending an olive branch to her. Think about it for a second." Zane did try, but nothing easily came to his mind. No way could someone from the mafia involve themselves in such legal matters. It would cause too much trouble.

"You're thinking too hard about this when the answer is right in front of your face. You might not be able to do anything on the legal side of things but maybe you could use other powers?" Zane furrowed his brow at this comment. What other powers? Violence and threats were the only other powers that he often used to get jobs done. One didn't need anything else in his world to be successful. The most cut and dry way to raise in rank.

"I think that your train of thought is skewed. Nothing I could do or have to offer would that woman be willing to accept. She would likely be more willing to lose her job than to even consider working with me."

"And what, the great Zane is a little worried over how a woman might react to him? I didn't think that such things impacted you with your powerful position? This woman can't be so bad that you would give up before you try."

"I don't find your jabs at me to be very amusing at this point in time. You should also know that challenging me over such things can be very dangerous." The young Mafioso responded in a dry tone of voice though a threat lingered at the back of it.

"I do know that very well. I think though that at this moment in time, it could come in handy for you. You don't have to take my word for it right now. I think though that you should consider what I am saying depending on your position."

"I will take what you have to say into consideration. My consideration at this current moment in time though is that your suggestion is rubbish. If you want me to pay you the full price, I suggest you dig deeper or you will have to be competing with the others for the money."

Zane could hear the other huff 'stingy' on the end of the phone before he ended the call. Knowing that Rose happened to be working on the case explain why she would be in the current area. It didn't explain though the why and how parts. He could only presume it must've been pretty important for her to put her job on the line. He looked at the phone for a moment longer before tossing it to the side. He would need to take time later to think about this. Right now, it was just about time for dinner.

As much as Zane didn't want to be around his father after what happened, he wanted to make a point. Even if his father didn't understand why he chose to stay for dinner, Zane did and that was all that mattered. The only good thing that came from eating at him manifested in the fact that he didn't worry about his outfit. He could stay comfortable and wear whatever he wanted without judgment. At least, any judgment that he actually cared about.

Once dinner was out of the way, he could put his mind back to thinking about how to deal with other problems. Namely- avoiding the risk of marrying anyone he couldn't care less about. At the current moment, Diego's advice was the only thing he could work with.