Mafia Queen

Ruby

Teela's POV

I stretch as I sit up. I look at the clock and get out of bed. The heads of family meeting will be in three hours. I sent a text to the members of the court. Making sure they are ready for today. Each sends a confirmation and I prepare for the meeting. Looking over documents and going over the proposal from Ruby Matthews. I have had some success in building an outreach program to help the troubled youth in the city, but what she is proposing is above and beyond what I had hoped to do. There would be no vote, this was being implemented. If we could clean the streets up, we would severely cut down the number of potential gang members.

I walked into the room and set up the head table. Soon the rest of the court arrives and we exhange glances. I had already told them that I was going to have Ruby there. She arrived before the remaining men, typical. We could take care of every part of our business before they even arrived, but that would bring about war and the last thing we needed was a war between the houses.

Ruby sat beside the court members and Sophia had her a cup of coffee. We wait and go over her proposal.

'This is brilliant," Jade says as she re-read it.

"I can't wait to get started on this," Rose replies.

"The faster we get this started, the fewer problems we have to deal with," Donna confirms.

The men come filing in, they sit in their seats and look at the folder in front of them.

"Just give us the basics," a tall younger man says, lacing his fingers together.

I had only started seeing him at our last meeting. His name was Kenji, he was just as stupid as the others, but there was something about him. I could read every one of the others. But him I could not crack. My eyes darted towards Ruby, "It is your proposal, you may have the floor," I said to her.

"Why is my stupid sister here? One of you useless women on the board could just explain it to us. It's not like you will give us the chance to say no to whatever you want," the newest young member speaks up.

My eyes burned into his face. Johnathan, I wanted to shoot him the day I met him. His sister Ruby, like the other sisters, was better suited to being the head of the house. I was looking forward to ending his worthless life. But that was going to have to wait. I spoke evenly, showing none of the contempt I felt for him, "We do not take credit for a job we had nothing to do with. It was her plan and she did all the work on the proposal. She has every right to be here and explain her plan."

I watched him sit back and cross his arms, visibly upset, but knowing what I was capable of, he said nothing more. "Ruby, we yield the floor to you," I say.

Ruby stands and, in a loud, even voice, outlines her plan. Indicating to the print-ups in front of each person. The court listens as she speaks. We had all memorized the file, but we flipped through it pretending to follow along for the sake of keeping the men in the dark about how much we knew. When she finished, she sat and looked at myself and the members of the court. I nodded and then turned my attention to the men.

"Any questions?" I inquired.

As with all meetings, they look at us like we were speaking a different language. I look at Kenji and see something in his eyes. Calculation I am sure of it. I will definitely have to keep an eye on him. With there being no questions, I ended the meeting, and we stood to leave. The men ran out, going to find the whiskey or cigars, no doubt. To talk amongst themselves and claim they were the ones who ran all of this. The court travels to a private meeting place to hold court without the imbecilic onlookers.

When we arrived, I punched in the code, and we walked into the sound-proof room. Ruby is with us.

"Ruby, even though you are not officially a member of the court, we welcome you to our inter sanctum," I say.

The rest of the court murmurs their approval and I start the real meeting.

"We have all read and understand what Ruby has proposed. So we do not need to go into that. Jade, where are we with the replacement of security guards for all businesses owned by the famines?"

"The last ones have been replaced by those trained and loyal to the court," she replies.

"Good, Jewel, have you secured the new tech for us to upgrade? I want to have all of our technology changed before the next meeting. Along with all the firewalls, we need to set in place."

"Completed and here right now, we can do that before we leave this meeting," Jewel replied.

"Excellent, Sophia, have you been able to secure a meeting with the president?"

"Sadly, no. His schedule is booked until next year. I did, however, set up a video call with him two days from now. I will be with you on that call, and I was informed that, should he get an opening, we would be notified."

"Very good, Pearl, how are our international outreach programs and holdings doing?"

"Very well, we have fifteen new allies and a number of countries waiting to step up and join us," she explained.

"Perfect, Donna, have you secured the weapons asked for?"

"We have and there are another five shipments set to come in before the end of the year," she confirmed.

"Good, so with that. Any new business?" Everyone replied no, "Good, then Ruby, I would like you to start working your part with the local programs, even though you're not official yet."

"Understood," she replied.

I ended the meeting and looked at Rose, "Make sure everyone gets a copy of today's notes and make sure to add Ruby to the email list." Rose confirms she has done it and sends three documents.

Jewel hands out new phones to everyone, including Ruby. I looked around the table and started the other part.

"It should be quick. I can't stand to look at him in that chair anymore," I started out.

"Agreed," everyone says.

"I'm owed a favor," Donna pips up.

"Cash it in, unless you were saving it for something else," I tell her.

"They owe me a lot of favors, I can give the court one of them," Donna replies. She starts to type and, when done, looks up, "taken care of."

I nod and dismiss the group. I sit after they leave and start setting up my new phone and tablet. It is already set up with everyone's emails and phone numbers. I delete programs and apps I do not want. Add in the ones I do. When I am done, I collect my belongings and leave. It has been a very productive day.

I arrive home and make myself a meal. I think about all that has happened since I took over. After tonight, there will only be two left to take out. Then the fun really starts. But we suspend meetings for a few months, so each family head can run their own businesses. They will both have to wait. And I know that Kenji will be the hardest to take down. But like the others, he will fall. I go to bed still thinking about how to remove Kenji from the equation.

In the morning, it is on the front page of the paper. Mafia Boss found dead in the river, a bullet through his head. I smile with satisfaction.