Chapter 89: A Falcon's Soiree & A Cat's Revenge (2)

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"I believe when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade...and try to find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party."

― Ron White

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<(Bruce Wayne POV)> 

"This was definitely not the type of party I was expecting," I muttered to myself in an almost inaudible voice as I and Selina entered the most famous nightclub in Gotham, the Iceberg Lounge.

The club was like any other I have ever seen in both of my lives and reminded me of the astonishing amount of money that the elites of Gotham possessed. The city of Gotham was more or less the equivalent of New York and Chicago for the DC multiverse and was very wealthy due to the healthy industries supporting it but the unfortunate thing about the city was that this wealth was only held by the top elites and not by the commoners or the lower sections of society. 

Nevertheless, as I was saying, the club itself wasn't my problem, nor were the scores of reporters and paparazzi standing outside the club in hopes of getting a single picture of the individuals attending the party tonight. No, the main problem was the type of 'party' that was going on inside the lounge. 

The place was a paradise for pleasure seekers. From elite hookers and exotic drugs to masked dominatrices and strange bdsm devices put on display with live subjects even testing some of them out, it was the wet dream of every hedonist. The nightclub was much more... debaucherous than what might have been shown in movies, shows, or even in comics. At least, that was the case for the section of the nightclub me and Selina were led to, which was the more premium section of the club.

The public area of the nightclub that the ordinary people were allowed in had a lot of those things as well but the level was nowhere close to the premium section where Falcon had called his main guests.

"Well, Alfred did tell us that this would not be the type of party that we normally see in movies and shows. People don't play beer pong after getting drunk here. They instead have orgies, make million-dollar drug deals, and other such fucked-up shit." Selina whispered back after she heard my comment. "But, I am pretty sure that you aren't regretting coming here, are you? Not with so many hot women out here showing off their cleavage in public. Most of them even seem to enjoy you checking them out" Selina laughed as she gestured to all the half-nude waitresses and rich heiresses who seemed to be more interested in me than their husbands and boyfriends.

I didn't try to deny it since it was true. The moment we entered the nightclub, people seemed more interested in me and Selina than anything else that the club was offering here. With everyone seeking peeks and glances at us every once in a while, I guessed that our enhanced looks and perfect bodies are pretty attractive even in this world of higher-than-average beauty standards. 

By wearing a navy blue tailored suit and a limited edition sapphire Patek Philippe watch on my wrist, I had attracted the attention of most of the women here along with some of the men.

However, the women throwing glances at me at least pretended to hide their interest, although I could sense their curiosity and arousal for me from a mile away as they looked for an opening to approach me. Still, I gave them none.

The men, however, had no such restraint. They ogled Selina with undisguised lust, drawn to the sleek sleeveless black dress that perfectly hugged her curves. She was a vision of elegance and allure without even needing to show too much skin, unlike the other women here who wore garish and skimpy outfits that only screamed desperation. Both Selina and I stood out from the crowd, and we both knew it. 

At first, I felt a little uneasy under the gazes of all the men who eyed Selina with lust. But soon, I embraced and even reveled in the fact that I had a woman in my arms that every man in the club could only dream of. Tightening my grip on Selina's waist, I drew her closer to me, making it clear to everyone in the nightclub that she was mine.

"Aah, Bruce, I see that you got my invitation. It seems that you made the correct choice in picking your partners. Good, good. Your old man would been proud of you..." A familiar old man in his mid-fifties wearing a sharp tuxedo that matched his silver hair approached us with a broad smile on his lips and took my hands in a strong handshake. Then his attention landed on Selina standing by my side. "And, who is this lovely young lady, if I may inquire? 

I recognized the old man instantly and so did Selina. We had met him once years ago. He was currently one of the most infamous people in Gotham and the undisputed ruler of Gotham's current criminal underbelly, Carmine Falcone.

"Selina, Selina Kyle." Selina gave away her real name as she stared at the man's eyes, trying to see if he would recognize her. 

"Well, nice to meet you, Miss Selina. I hope that you enjoy today's party. I am known to throw the best parties in Gotham after all." But alas, there wasn't even a hint of recognition on the man's face as he just nodded and took her hands, trying to plant a kiss on it. However, before he could, Selina quickly removed her hand from his clasp, a twinge of disgust momentarily flashing across her face.

"Thank you, Mr. Falcone. But, may I ask if there is some special reason for this invitation all of a sudden? You announced this gathering out of the blue. Do you perhaps need some help or perhaps have some profitable business to discuss?" I interrupted, not letting the situation get awkward. 

"Oh yes, I do Bruce, I indeed do. Please join me, I think you, me, and my associates can talk business that is going to profit all of us." Falcone said with a smile that showed all of his teeth.

The man was so polite to me because he most likely wanted access to the resources I had. He was seriously lacking money after I began destroying all of his strongholds and important bases of operations under my identity of Batman. And with the new gang war that was underway, he was becoming desperate. He needed funds to maintain his current power and he knew that there were very few people in Gotham who could give him that amount of money at such short notice.

So almost the entire next hour, Carmine Falcone spent buttering me up while introducing me to his colleagues and associates who 'do business' with him. I too didn't stop him and listened to his business discussions as I sat on a sofa listening to all their proposals with Selina sitting on my lap, not even caring about what other people might think. I was lucky that the nightclub had an extreme level of security and no reporters were allowed, otherwise, I would have no idea about what type of headlines the newspapers might have printed about me.

Anyway, I wanted a realistic idea about how the Gotham criminal underworld truly operated, and how the corrupted officials of Gotham always manage to steal money so easily and this exchange gave me exactly that. Having connections and hands-on knowledge is never bad, especially in this case where Falcone was going to disappear soon.

In his absence, there was a chance that I could use his connections and knowledge later and profit from it. I mean these crooked politicians, cops, and judges were just sheep that followed Falcone and relied on him for protection. Once he was gone, they would be crumbling down too, and at that time I wanted to be there to pick up the pieces for myself. 

Plus, having a couple of corrupt judges and cops in my pocket wouldn't be a bad thing for me. Even if I make sure to completely eliminate corruption in Gotham, I can always choose to let some of them, the ones that I can control not get caught and keep them on a tight leash for myself. They could be pretty useful in case I ever had to deal with legal or corporate problems against other companies or organizations that try to falsely incriminate me or Wayne Solutions, like the Court of Owls for example.

So, despite not being that profitable for me, I still gladly made a few deals with the people I met there, promising investments and resources for causes like the Gotham Park Renovation Project or the Gotham Homeless Shelter Project in which I would have to invest quite a big sum of money as loans to the government in return for bonds. Then I would not only get all the contracts for all the construction and renovation work in these projects but also get paid back the entire money I invested, in full plus the interest from the government when the bond matures, all the while, the corrupted officials who help me to do this get to keep their own juicy share of the pie.

It was an ingenious way of cheating and stealing from the government. And this continuous stealing was one of the reasons why the city was how it was. These projects were nothing but just measly excuses to illegally channel money into the pockets of corrupted government officials, gangs, and businessmen.

And I was going to do something about them. I wanted Gotham to be my base and corruption was something nobody wanted in their center of power. Yes, I was agreeing to these deals but it was only because, once Falcon was out of the picture, I would be using my own power and influence to strongarm them into doing what I wanted, changing the entire city into what I envision it to be. 

"I am sorry gentlemen but I think I need to go to the restroom. I have had one drink too many and I need to relieve myself. But, please do go on about your discussions. I'll be just a minute." Falcon said with a satisfied grin that his plans had been more than successful till now. 

In his mind, the party was already a massive success and he had scored quite big tonight, especially with me agreeing to so many of his illegal propositions. I had basically just given him a new lifeline to fund all his criminal gang activities. 

After a few minutes of him and a couple of his bodyguards exiting the room, Selina who was currently sitting on my lap, whispered a few words in my ears before she too got up.

"I need a drink. I'll be back soon." Selina announced for everyone to hear as she walked in the direction Falcon went.

"Ten minutes," I replied.

"Are you going to the bar, miss? Do you want me to accompany you...?" A shady-looking man looked like he wanted to try his luck on Selina but after a cold stare from me and Selina just ignoring him like he wasn't even worth replying to, he lost all his confidence and sat back on his sofa with an audible gulp.

"Cortana, you can contact Jim Gordon now. I am almost done here as Bruce Wayne." I whispered a couple of minutes later to my bracelet as I saw a large man wearing a white suit, looking like he was Kingpin's brother, on his way to a secured room on the second floor above us.

'Wow! he actually does walk like a penguin. I always thought that it was just an exaggeration.' 

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