Partners In Crime (Ghostie x lana)

[Ghostie]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ☤ ☤ ☤ ▬▬

Nickname: ||Dare||Dare-Bear (only to family)||
Age: 27
Sign: Scorpio
Outfit: HERE

Face Claim: Stephen James
Color Resource: 008A00

"Desperation is like stealing from the mafia: you stand a good chance at attracting the wrong attention."
​

Groaning in frustration as he rubbed his temples with his fingers, Darian read the headline of the newspaper: Mayor Walsh Aids in Crime Crackdown! Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk. This just wasn't good at all. This was the third "crackdown" in general, and second bust that happened to a fellow... business partner of his. And, of course, that meant it was only a matter of time before a tremendous problem came through his doors.

He couldn't have that.

"Darian James!" His mother, Maggie came through the door of his family office; which he normally didn't like to conduct or go over business at for reasons such as this. He sighed as he looked up at her, shaking his head to which his mother commented: "Don't sigh at me, I'm your mother." Darian just nodded as he looked back down at the article and other "paperwork" he had.

"I'm not hungry right now, Ma, I'm busy." He said simply and wanted to leave it at that. "It's time for dinner! You've been in here all day and you need to eat somethin." the woman stood at the doorway, arms folded over her chest, a look on her face like 'I'm not leaving until you come with me'.

"I'm workin' Ma!" His accent really came out as he raised his voice a little, tapping his desk with his finger impatiently. Maggie didn't move. She just stood there with the same 'you're coming now and I don't care' look on her face, arms still crossed over her chest. Maggie had been dealing with stubborn Italian men for a long time, and her son was no exception despite the fact he had a little Scottish in him. Darian sighed, nodding as he stood up from his desk and walked over to his mom. "I'm sorry, Ma. You know firsthand that this is stressful." Darian wrapped his arm around his mother's shoulder before placing a kiss on her temple.

"Yeah, and if you don't cut it out or cool it off, you're gonna be all washed up just like ya father." She whispered, chuckling a little bit. Although she made a point to laugh and joke about it, Dare knew that his mother didn't really approve of him taking over the "Family Business" as they called it to seem a little more... normal? And she had every single right to worry! What woman wanted her family to be involved the Mafia?

As they walked into the kitchen, Angelo was setting the table and Blair was finishing up the last of dinner. His father poured a couple of glasses of wine, smiling as Maggie walked over and gave him a quick peck. Regardless of their age difference, Darian and his siblings knew that their parents were in love with each other. They got in fights a lot because of the business and his father's temper, but the love was always there.

Darian grabbed a cube of cheese from the cutting board where his sister was slicing it, which made her turn to slap his hand. "Hey, that's for salad! How come you barely help when you're here for dinner?" Blair laughed as she protested sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm at your house for dinner. When you come to my house for dinner, it'll be a whole other story." He laughed, poking at her sides before giving his sister a peck on the cheek. "Yeah. try saying that when I have a pan of cinnamon rolls in front of your face." She set the bowl of salad down on the table, everyone grabbing something until they eventually got to sit down and eat. Dare would be sure to make it quick but conventional. He'd catch up with the fam a bit before he had to go to The Wave to make sure everything was cool on their turf. His mother made him his favorite, everyone else had spaghetti bake.

"I don't know how you guys don't get tired of spaghetti. Swear that's all Dad eats." Darian and his siblings erupted into laughter. "Hey, I eat other things too!" Alfonso tried to recant his son's last statement, but his kids knew him. "Yeah, tortellini, lasagna, ravioli." Darian began listing pastas. "Rigatoni, orzo, linguine." Angelo continued, the entire family cracking up. "Okay, okay! I eat a lot of pasta. We're Italian, what do you want from me?" Alfonso admitted in laughter.

The vibe immediately changed to a calm one as soon as the laughter died down. There was a bit more frivolous conversation. Blair had a huge school play coming up and Angelo was already preparing for the finals he had in the upcoming weeks. Eventually the conversation died down, and the only thing that you really heard was the sound of knives and forks clinking against glassware. That was until their father spoke up.

"Son, have you heard about the crackdowns that have been happening lately? Don't you think you should be getting on that." Al asked, taking a sip of wine with his eyebrows raised. His dad always made it seem like he was never doing his job right. And honestly, it got quite irritating. Dare didn't see anything he did any worse than his father, so he didn't get his uncertainty.

"Mhm. Speaking of which, I really should get down to The Wave to scope things out." Darian nodded as he stood up from the table and cleaned his plate. "If it were me, I'd have had it dealt with by now, what is this like the third raid in the last couple months? You should get to it." As his father spoke, anger surged through him, causing him to shatter the plate into a hundred pieces on the floor.

"WHY DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO TRY AND ONE UP ME AT EVERYTHING?! AS IF YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN RUN THE FUCKING BUSINESS?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GAVE IT TO ME!" He took no time raising his voice with his father. "IF YOU WORKED LIKE A BOSS DID AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO BABYSIT YOU ALL THE TIME!" And his father took no time raising his back.

"And the screaming match begins." Angel said under his breath.

"Babysit me?!" Darian scoffed. "If I had to be babysat by you, you'd damn sure think you wouldn't stay home all the time, and Mom wouldn't have to remind you to take your heart meds. Remind me who needs to be babysat." The two of them were basically just alike, so he was honestly surprised to see that his father actually had nothing to say. Dare started to sweep up the broken glass, but seeing as he was already pissed off and didn't want more drama to ensue, Blair stepped in. "I got it." She whispered to him and he nodded.

"I'll see you guys later." He exchanged a quick bro-five with his brother, gave his sister a hug and his mom a peck on the cheek before heading over to his nightclub.

Upon entering the club, Darian was pleased to see that it was as packed as it usually is. He is even more pleased to see his close friend and favorite bartender there as well. "Ellis, it's nice to see you, my man." Dare smiled, noticing that his whiskey has already been poured and sat on the counter in front of him. "Always a pleasure, my good friend." Ellis nodded. "Well, look what the cat dragged in." Ellis snickered as Uncle Remy came up to the bar, sitting down next to Darian. "Har-har, funny boy." Remy rolls his eyes. "Your dad wanted me to talk to you about the mayor." Darian just scoffed, taking another sip of his drink.
@lanabanana

 

[lanabanana]

charlene 'charlie' walsh

the mayor's daughter

Honestly, Charlie was fed up. After years and years of keeping up her father's image, playing along with his enormous lies and being forced to cover up or at least keep mum about his grand -- very illegal -- schemes, Charlie was done with it all. It was getting harder and harder to try and keep up with him -- mainly because he couldn't stop lying to her either. And for what? She was helping him. She had been doing it this whole time, even if she wished she could be doing just about anything else, but she was his daughter, and she was expected to do things for him, help him in his previous run for mayor, and now in his run to be senator.

But Charlie just couldn't see a guy like him rise to anymore power. He didn't deserve it and she didn't want to live in the kind of world where people like him ruled. Where power was earned the easy way -- through illegal scams and black money, which was the foundation of her father's line of work really. Not that anyone else knew of course. By being one of the biggest criminals in the city, Harrison Walsh had risen to become one of the best mayors the town had ever had, solely because he helped reduce all of the crime in the city. Oh if only they knew he had been a driving force in most of the crime, and currently probably hired most of those criminals to make his image look better.

And tonight, just before a huge gala was being held for her father and her to schmooze a few people and win them over so that her father would win the elections which were coming up soon, Charlie had found out about yet another scheme -- a bad one, that involved innocent people getting hurt. She hadn't been able to go through the details of it because her father caught her in his office, but she'd confronted him, and it led to an argument, and Charlie promptly storming out.

She didn't care that she was still in the dress she had on for the gala she had been about to attend. Her hair, which had been styled up into a braided bun, now had a few loose auburn strands escaping the hair tie and framing her face, perhaps as a sign of the frustration she felt in that moment. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, but she kept walking, despite the chilly evening air, because she didn't want to go back home.

Eventually, she came to a slightly less familiar part of town. She had been there, solely because her father brought her one or two times, speaking about the club that stood before her as one that needed to be shut down, eventually. Charlie never understood why, but she had never questioned it. Just like she had never questions her dad about anything until tonight. But now as she looked up at the place, Charlie decided that she could do with a drink or two. Or three. So she walked right in, without giving it a second thought, and made her way over to the bar.

"Can I get a beer, please?" she told the bartender the minute she sat down on a stool and rested her hands on the counter top. She had with her just her phone and nothing else. She had just stormed out of the house without bothering to look back and now she wished she had at least stopped to grab her purse or a jacket. Fortunately, she always slipped a little emergency money into her phone case, but that would be enough to buy her one drink, meaning she had to go back home the way she came -- walking.

 

[Ghostie]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ☤ ☤ ☤ ▬▬

Nickname: ||Dare||Dare-Bear (only to family)||
Age: 27
Sign: Scorpio
Outfit: HERE

Face Claim: Stephen James
Color Resource: 008A00

"Desperation is like stealing from the mafia: you stand a good chance at attracting the wrong attention."
​

"Noo, Dare I know how ya dad can be. He's my brotha and he's ya fatha. So you can't act like that." Uncle Remy patted his shoulder. Darian chuckled a little and nodded, waving his drink in front of him to say, 'go ahead'. No matter how mad he was at his father or anyone else, Uncle Remy could always cheer him up at least a little bit. His uncle was a strange character to say the least. Almost the complete opposite of his dad honestly. His dad was six foot and his uncle was 4 foot ten inches. When his dad was pissed off, he was REALLY pissed off; and the brothers had that in common, but Uncle Remy could at least hold his anger in for a while before going off the handle. Of course, when he went off, he went OFF and it took a lot for anyone to get him back on.

"Your dad says that you can't just sit around and wait for five-oh to come busting through those doors. I know that, and you know that, Nephew." Remy started, nothing but seriousness and obligation in his tone of voice. "We don't know what this guy has planned, so we gotta try and get at least a little somethin' done." He was right. Darian knew they had maybe five or six months before Mayor Walsh had this place shut down; and they were doing too good of business to let it stop now. "I know Remy, I know. I appreciate all of the help from you and "constructive critisism" from Dad, but you just gotta let me do this, alright? You both gave it to me, and obviously that was for a reason! So let me run it and let me think." He gulped down the last of his whiskey with a gruff grunt.

He had to do something about the mayor and he had a rough estimate of 4 months to do something about it because he couldn't just sit in wait for someone to fuck up everything his family worked so hard for. Yes, although some of it was illegal, they still worked hard for everything they had. Everyone has to make a living somewhere. Dare was born into this. His mother didn't want it for him, and he never even saw himself doing this when he was younger. He couldn't just go straight for him, he barely knew anything about Harrison Walsh, so maybe he'd start with that? Getting some dirt on the guy would definitely be a good start. Although all of these thoughts and questions ran wild around his mind, his muddled thoughts didn't keep him from noticing the redheaded beauty who'd just taken a seat across the bar.

"I don't know if you know who just walked right into the palm of our hands, but I believe they could be a valuable asset to our cause." Darian smirked, taking a moment to stare at who he knew was Charlene Walsh; daughter and assistant of Mayor Harrison Walsh. Interesting. As he gazed over at the girl, he couldn't help but laugh at his uncle who tried to look over him and the bar at her. Being a legal little person had it's disadvantages. "Who? Who is it?! I can't see her." Remy struggled to see. Ellis rolled his eyes, finding it hard to watch the small man struggle. "Give it a rest, little man! You'll see once we're all done, but please stop that now, it's painful to watch." Darian laughed as Uncle Remy stared daggers at Ellis. Their relationship was hilarious to him.

"Ellis, grab me another drink before helping the next customer, please?" Ellis poured the whiskey into a glass and Darian picked it up, smirking. "And won't you please tell the young lady down the bar that whatever she wants..." He stood up from the bar as he took a sip of his drink. "Is on me." He placed a hand on Ellis' shoulder before whispering into his ear. "And, Ellis, whenever she's ready, won't you please escort Miss. Walsh to the V.I.P section? I'd like to have a little chat with her." And with that he made his way to V.I.P of his club.

Ellis smiled as he sauntered over to the woman, beer glass in hand to pour whatever it was she wanted from the tap. "Yes of course." He nodded, pouring her an orange ginger beer. "All courtesy of the owner; who, as it would happen, would like to speak with you in the V.I.P Section whenever you get the chance." He set the glass on the counter in front of her.
@lanabanana

 

[lanabanana]

charlene 'charlie' walsh

the mayor's daughter

Charlie felt slightly more relieved by the time her drink came because it allowed her to stop being so distracted by the many thoughts in her head. She was about to pull open her phone cover to reach for the money that was inside so she could pay the bartender, but then he said the drink was free, courtesy of the owner. And if that didn't have her lifting an eyebrow, the bartender proceeded to explain that he was waiting for her in the VIP room.

Briefly, she looked around, as if she would find the man she was looking for, but truthfully, she had no idea what this guy looked like so there was no point. Part of her wondered if she should even entertain the idea and go in there. He said he wanted to chat right? Nothing more. There could be no harm in that. But why did he want to chat? Sipping her beer -- rather, guzzling half of it down in one go to give her some more liquid courage -- Charlie decided to entertain the guy. There could be no harm in seeing what he wanted, right?

So, she nodded her thanks to the bartender before slipping off the stool and making her way over to the door to the VIP room. She was let in immediately, and once inside, she saw that it was empty -- save for a dark haired man who was seated there. He must be the owner. She gathered that quickly enough, but she couldn't help but feel as though he looked vaguely familiar. Which was weird since she had never been in this club before.

"You wanted to talk to me?" She asked, an eyebrow raised. It could be one of two things, which was what Charlie immediately thought of when she heard someone wanted to speak to her alone. Either he was hitting on her, or he knew who she was. Rather, who's daughter she was. Nevertheless, she walked further into the room, and closer to the man, cup still in hand. "Thanks for the drink, by the way." She remembered that it was on the house, considering the bartender had just told her. He saved her the trouble of having to walk home by having enough money to get a cab now.

 

[Ghostie]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ☤ ☤ ☤ ▬▬

Nickname: ||Dare||Dare-Bear (only to family)||
Age: 27
Sign: Scorpio
Outfit: HERE

Face Claim: Stephen James
Color Resource: 008A00

"Desperation is like stealing from the mafia: you stand a good chance at attracting the wrong attention."
​

The VIP section of his club was definitely one of his least favorite rooms. Dare would be sure to have it remodeled soon. Uncle Remy took a seat with him at the bar, interested in what it was that his nephew had up his sleeve. "Come on Dare, I don't help out when you're not here for nothin' you gotta fill me in." Remy spoke with his hands a lot as he talked and Darian sipped his drink. "Calm down Remy, we just got here. You know, it seems like the Amante brothers really know how to irk a nerve." Darian chuckled as he shook his head. "You talk shit just like Big Al." Remy shook his head to which Darian just nodded in agreement. He wasn't wrong.

"The woman at the bar was Charlene Walsh. She's the daughter of the mayor," Darian explained, taking another swig of his drink. "I don't know why she's here, but I figure while she is, it'd be in our best interest to try and get at least a little bit a dirt out of her." A small smile crept onto Uncle Remy's face as he listened to Darian talk. He nodded. "And if she don't get to talkin' I come in with the big guns-" Remy talked with so much excitement in his voice, the way he always did when he got extra. "Woah, woah Remy, relax!" He laughed. "We don't wanna scare her. I think it'd be better for me to go into this meeting alone." Darian put a hand on Remy's shoulder, giving him a face like 'you understand right?' Remy sighed and threw his hands up in defeat as he hopped down from the bar stool. "Alright, alright, I gotcha." He nodded. "I'm gonna go get a drink then." He and Dare nodded at each other in agreement, Darian chuckling and shaking his head as his uncle walked down the stairs and into the busy floor of the club.

As Darian waited for the woman to arrive, he took this time to think about what he would say. What questions he would ask her. And he couldn't help but wonder about the answers and information she would give in return. That was if she gave him any at all. The answer to that question, Darian had absolutely no idea. He didn't have really any knowledge about this woman. For all he knew she could have been a complete daddy's girl, here on a mission from her father to scope out the place and report back to him. He scoffed at the thought. He would have to take that theory into consideration. After all, what would the daughter of such a well renowned politician be doing in a place of business like this? Especially if she knew the types of people her father worked around. Then again it all came back to the fact that he barely knew a thing about this woman. That included what she knew about her father's corruption. But he would make it a personal mission to find out.

Darian was almost beginning to think she wouldn't show, that was until he saw her come up the stairs out of his peripheral vision. He couldn't help but notice the dress she was wearing; short, black and studded with jewels. And he had to admit that she looked utterly stunning in it. Her bun, which although looked a little frazzled, still complemented her outfit and facial features perfectly. She had an innocent and curious look in her face that almost made him want to smile. Almost.

"Yes, I did. Won't you please have a seat Miss. Walsh?" He gestured towards the couch across from him, glass still in hand. He smiled, giving her a small nod when she commented about her drink. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't buy a gorgeous girl like yourself a drink?" He flashed her a charming smile before taking a sip of his drink. "Might I add that you clean up beautifully. Not like I expected anything less of a woman like you; however, I haven't brought you here just to discuss club attire." You could almost hear the severity of the situation in his tone of voice as he talked. "Tell me if I get any of this wrong," He set his drink down on the table, folding his hands in his lap as he spoke.

"Your name is Charlene Walsh, you're the daughter of Harrison and the late Annabeth Walsh, so sorry about your mother," he added in before continuing. "You're twenty-one years old, English student in your third year, speak four languages other than English: French, Mandarin, Hindi and Spanish." He counted them on his fingers, his speech picking up in tempo as he told her more things about herself. "You've been working for your father for about two years now, and doing a damn good job of it, but of course, you aren't getting exactly all of the things you want out of working with your father. Am I right babydoll?" He grabbed his glass again, leaning back against the bar counter. "Now my next question for you would be, what is the daughter of the Mayor doing in an establishment like mine?"
@lanabanana

 

[lanabanana]

charlene 'charlie' walsh

the mayor's daughter

Charlie knew the moment he addressed her by her last name that this was not merely a social invitation. It was not an opportunity to get to know her but rather to get some intel probably. At this point Charlie didn't care though because she was sick of her father and his antics.

The guy was flattering, that much was clear to her already. He was very eloquent in the way he spoke, and he was polite in the way he addressed her. Charlie definitely tensed when he mentioned her mother because it brought back bad memories. Like discovering that the death of her mother had been at the hands of her father. But she quickly loosened her grip on her drink, keeping her gaze on the man before her the entire time that he spoke.

When he finished, she took a long swig of her drink before setting the now empty glass down on the nearby table, after having taken a seat on the couch like the man had gestured for her to do. "First of all," she began, crossing one leg over the other and looking to him curiously. "If you know so much, it's only fair I know the same about you," she continued. "Like a name to address you by," Charlie added after a moment, hinting that she wasn't about to open up unless it was a two way street.

"Second," Charlie spoke again once she got her answer from him, because he had asked a question after all and so far, he posed her no harm or threat, so she saw no reason to deny him that answer. "Maybe I just came here to let loose and have a drink," she explained with a shrug. That wasn't true, of course, since she should technically be at a fancy gala right now, boosting her father's image, but she couldn't do that when she knew what he was like behind all that propaganda.

She was still oblivious as to what this guy would want with her anyway, as the owner of a club, but perhaps her father was on his case for something. That wouldn't surprise her much, but it also told her that nothing would happen to her because she was obviously needed for whatever this cause was. And Charlie had half a mind to contribute, if it meant bringing her father to justice.

 

[Ghostie]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ☤ ☤ ☤ ▬▬

Nickname: ||Dare||Dare-Bear (only to family)||
Age: 27
Sign: Scorpio
Outfit: HERE

Face Claim: Stephen James
Color Resource: 008A00

"Desperation is like stealing from the mafia: you stand a good chance at attracting the wrong attention."
​

Charlene kept her eyes on him the entire time he talked, and Dare couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that she was thinking about him. Of course she was more than likely wondering why he had asked her here and probably now what he wanted to know about, seeing as he already knew so much about her.

Darian couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face as she spoke, and just had she had watched him, kept his eyes on her as she came all the way into the room and sat down. When she finished speaking, he simply nodded his head as he chuckled. 'Damn, I think I'm going to like this girl.' He thought to himself before taking the last swig of his drink and making his way over to the woman. "My God, where are my manners?" Darian smiled, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss on top. "My name is Darian Amante, and might I say the pleasure is all mine to make your acquaintance." He smiled as he pulled away, but not before giving a quick wink.

Just came to let loose and have a drink she said? Well if that was true then maybe she didn't know about all the business that he and his family conducted here. Then again -- she could have been lying. However; Darian had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that her words added up and she didn't know a thing about him. "Well if that be the case Miss Walsh, I do have to say that your choice of establishment is impeccable." He sat back down on the couch across the way from Charlie, leaning up, his elbows resting on his knees as he talked with his hands. "Being an English major, I assume you've heard of the term quid pro quo? Basically, it's Latin for I scratch your back, if you scratch mine. I assume now you understand exactly where I'm coming from, Miss Walsh?" Darian raised his eyebrows at her.
@lanabanana

 

[lanabanana]

charlene 'charlie' walsh

the mayor's daughter

Charlie watched the male with curiosity as he reached across to take her hand. The greeting was an old fashioned one, one she was not accustomed to, but not one she was denying either. She remained seated and watched, as he introduced himself. Darian. A name she wouldn't be forgetting any time soon due to this encounter. She still didn't know what to make of all of it. Of course, she had a few assumptions. This sort of thing wasn't out of the blue, exactly, for the mayor's daughter.

"That depends, Mr Amante," she replied to him, using a similar tone that he had used on her. "What exactly are you looking for here?" She was very sure what he was looking for but she wanted to hear the details. And perhaps her tone sounded a bit teasing, flirtatious even, but it was no different from his. And Charlie wanted to show that she could play the game too, if she wished. She probably wasn't as experienced with it, but she rarely got a chance to let that part of her shine. Not when she was the 'perfect' mayor's daughter.

No, tonight she wasn't that girl. She was Charlene Walsh, dressed to impress, but in a club and entertaining a very attractive man. Someone who was about to give her a proposition that she felt she was going to be very inclined to accept. She would have to just wait and see what he had to say though. It was already clear, however, that Charlie was more than intrigued by Darian, no matter what he said next.

@Misguided†Ghost