Ambition: A Dark Billionaire Romance Anthology (29 page)

"Of course," the woman said. "The Union has a bankroll that would make the Latin Kings the most powerful street gang in Filmore Heights. With our financing, you'll be able to sweep the GDs and 88s out of the way easily."

"Interesting. And your members in the police department, they won't get in the way?" El Patron asked. "Not that we were worried about them before, but such a move would be quite public. The politicians, they enjoy getting publicity. Especially that new one, McCaffery."

"He won't be an issue. You give the community centers a black eye, and we defeat him in the next election. Problem solved in just over eleven months, and you can have Filmore all to yourself afterwards."

“Well then
.
It seems we have a deal,” El Patron replied. "Okay. Tell your boss that we'll be willing to do what she asks. One thing, though."

"What's that?" the unknown woman asked.

"I want to meet her face to face on this. She can suggest the time and place, but I'm not sending my soldiers into battle without at least once looking my partner in the eye."

"That can be arranged. Good evening, El Patron."

The men behind us started to stir, and I pulled our materials out and put them away. "We've got a lot to talk about," I said as I put the microphone back into my pocket. "And you're not going to like a lot of it."

W
hen Patrick
and Mark told me about the Union recruiting the Latin Kings to attack the community center, I was pissed. I was prepared to go right out and tear Francine Berkowitz's head off, but Mark calmed me down and talked me out of it.

"They're not going to just cause a plain accident," he said as we sat in the kitchen the next evening. Patrick was still at City Hall, and Sophie was getting her workout in. She was working hard to get back into shape after having a baby, knowing that despite Mark's assurances, her skills might be called on. Andrea was happily staring at her fingers, waving her tiny little arm in the air in her baby seat while the two of us talked on either side of her.

"What do you think they'll do?"

Mark pointed at the calendar hanging on the wall. "They know that the biggest time to make a splash will be as we approach opening. We're going to be opening the first Saturday in April. It coincides with the local schools' Spring Break, gives us a good run up for summer vacation, and gets us a whole training course in on some of the job prep programs before the summer company hiring surge. If they're looking at trying to create problems for Patrick, they'll be looking to cause issues when they can make hay with the press."

"So you think they'll wait until they are closer to April?" I asked, still seething.

Mark nodded. "Remember, as much as she hates you and MJT, you're not really an obstacle to her except as a symbol against the system that the Union runs. She's confident she can destroy that symbol easily enough. Her first attempt failed when Pressman pulled his lawsuit. She's just going onto her next plan, although she's moving faster than I thought. She must really be worried about Patrick's rise in city politics."

I laughed. "It's funny, really. I love him, but he's no politician."

"It's what makes him so powerful though," Mark replied. "He's not going to worry about being polite, he's there because he believes in what he's doing. He can capture the people's attention and imagination better than any stuffed suit politician. He's a demagogue, but in the good way."

I had never heard the word demagogue used in a good way before, and tilted my head. Andrea cooed and dropped the rattle mirror that was in her left hand, which clattered to the table. I scooped it up and held it back out for her, turning it so that she could look at herself in the shiny surface. She was soon entranced, and barely had the opportunity to make a frown before she was happy and smiling again. "You're a natural at that," Mark commented. "You'll make a great mother when it's your time."

"Thanks. It'll come when the time is right. But back to your point. Do you really think that Patrick can have a future in city politics? I mean, we're talking a man who doesn't even have a college degree."

"Neither do I," Mark pointed out to me. "Do you judge either him or me unintelligent? You've never treated me as your intellectual inferior, even though you have an MBA."

Dammit, when Mark was right, he was very much right. "Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it. Most of the time I feel like the village idiot when you and Sophie start talking about so many things. Only area I feel like I even hold my own is on business."

Mark nodded, the teacher pleased as his student made the connection he'd been hoping for. "Patrick's the same way you are. He's got a natural feel for what is right and wrong, and he's a quick study. He picked up not just the physical nature of the martial arts I've been teaching him, but a lot of the verbal and situational cues as well. He's learned a lot about city politics very quickly, and if it wasn't for his gym work and the fact he goes gaga over you, he could be accused of being a bookworm he reads so much."

It was true. In the time he'd been living with us at Mount Zion, if Patrick wasn't at work, or training with Sophie or Mark, or spending quality time with me, I most often could find his nose buried in a book or reading a tablet computer. Often his reading was based off of a comment we had made or something he had heard during the day, and invariably he'd research it. Depending on how important or vital he judged something to be, the reading could be as casual as Wikipedia, or as deep as a textbook. Sometimes I wondered how far Patrick would have gone in traditional schools if he'd had the means to do so.

"He is, but you're still somewhat dodging my point. Could he really become a major factor in politics?"

Mark tickled his daughter's belly for a moment, until the beautiful little girl giggled and waved her arms and feet in joy. He studied her for a while, and I thought he wasn't going to answer me. Then he turned to me and smiled. "I think he could go a lot higher than Mayor too if he really wanted to. What do you think about living in the governor's mansion, or maybe even in Washington?"

The idea struck me dumb, and I watched Andrea wave her rattle happily until she made a face, twisting her mouth down at the corners. Mark and I glanced at each other, and I stood up to get the cleaning supplies. "Uh-oh, I know that face. Time for a fresh diaper."

T
he next day
, I went down to the community center, making sure the manager and the construction foreman knew I was coming down. I didn't want to surprise anyone and cause a scene, I was there to see how progress was coming with less than two months to go until opening.

As it was, the manager, Helen Watters, met me. I'd hired Helen because I wanted her to be first the manager of the first center, then the overall program manager of the community centers. A former high school teacher, she'd been caught up in a scandal where one of the other teachers had been caught with a student. The school accused Helen of not reporting the affair and fired her. When Mark and I did a thorough background check though, she was innocent of the accusations, and I wasn't going to waste the talents of such a dedicated professional. In addition to being a two-time teacher of the year, she'd volunteered teaching the drama and glee clubs as well as heading her school's Future Entrepreneurs of America chapter. Unconventional, dedicated, and with a misunderstood flawed past. Perfect for an MJT employee.

"Helen, you don't need to meet me at the door like I'm some sort of VIP," I said with a smile when I came in and she was waiting for me. "I'm here to look around, not get the dime tour."

"You’re lucky enough to get both," Helen replied. "First off, the foreman would have a fit if you weren't escorted, we've still got a lot of things to work on, and a lot of open wires, pipes, stuff like that. So, instead of sitting behind my desk and typing up e-mails or responding to complaints from your favorite representative of a large collective bargaining group, I can take an hour or two and let you look around."

"Okay. So how's the work coming along?" I asked. Since the heavy renovation was finished, I didn't need to wear a hard hat, which I was grateful for, although only slightly more than that I was happy for the opportunity to wear jeans and a casual shirt to work that day. "Think you'll be ready on time?"

"The city inspectors are being a bit of a pain, but yes, we'll be ready. You hired a good general contractor, and he knows how to work the system. We might be missing a few basketballs, but the important stuff is going to be in. We're getting the computers in for the classroom next week."

We walked through the hallway towards the back, where I could look through the currently missing plexiglass windows towards the sports facility. While it wasn't big enough for a full sized court, we could do half court, and there were other game and sports we could do in there as well for children's activities. Our plan was to get at least two of the other centers with full sized courts, more if possible. The big challenge was the size. There aren’t too many buildings the dimensions of full sized gyms plus other rooms sitting empty in the middle of a city. "Nice. When is the board and other equipment being brought in?"

"Some of the last bits to go in, actually," Helen replied. "A volleyball net just needs ten minutes to set up. As per your requirement, there will be a wrestling mat brought in too. Are you sure on that one? It's going to take the insurance premiums through the roof."

"I'm sure," I said. Mark had in fact reminded me about it that very morning as he served everyone breakfast. "Mr. Smiley was quite insistent on that. There's a lot of kids out there who either need the skills, or more importantly, need a way to burn off all that youthful aggression while learning some self control. Besides, according to Marcus at least, after a good practice you're too damn tired to get into too much trouble."

"He's got a point there," Helen replied. "I had quite a few athletes whose grades actually went up in season as opposed to off season. You'd think with the time they took for practice that it would the opposite, but I can see the theory behind it. If anything, they focused more because the consequences of their screwing off were more immediate. By the way, thank you for agreeing to the minimum grade code for any kid in our sports programs."

"It's just as important to me," I said as we turned away and headed towards the stairs. The grade code was one of the main approaches we were taking to try and motivate the local youth to work hard in school as well. For them to participate in any of the sports programs, they had to have at least a 75 average or its equivalent for elementary school. Anyone who was a dropout could qualify again if they enrolled in some of our other study programs, but life skills and academics always were to remain first.

With the gym being so tall, it was foolish to waste the extra building height, so we had classrooms and workshops on both floors. As we finished the stairs, I turned and emphasized my thoughts to Maxine. "You're here to create opportunity, not just keep them out of trouble."

The upstairs, besides the classrooms, also had one of the most important rooms to me. The nursery room. Designed according to Montessori principles, it would provide up to twenty mothers the opportunity to have a safe, professional place for their children to be watched while they worked or went through job training. We hoped that by starting children on a love of learning and exploration early, they'd be getting a leg up on the world before they ever entered even a preschool program.

Helen had already forwarded me the resumes of the teacher and assistant she'd hired, and I had to say I was impressed. Everything was tiny, and while the facilities were simple, they were quality and encouraged the children to explore, strengthening the bodies and their minds. "Wow, this looks amazing," I noted as I looked over the child-sized sink and other materials. "And all of it is meant for usage by the children?"

"All of it works just like the adult versions," Helen replied. "The plumbing contractor really did a great job. I think there's a bit of personal bias in on it though. His wife wants to go back to work, and they've got a one year old. He works here in The Playground, and he already turned in his application for the first batch of kids we let in."

"Approve him," I said immediately as I looked everything over. "Another reason we started this place was to give local communities a sense of investment. If he sees he can get more than just the one job out of this place, he'll be more on our side."

The tour continued, and I got to see each of what would eventually become the first of our centers. There were general purpose rooms that could be a classroom, a meeting room, or really anything else the center needed. There was a dedicated computer lab as well as culinary arts room, and a room that would eventually teach tailoring and dressmaking. The theory was that each center would focus on certain areas of work training, with the first center being focused on so-called 'home economics.' The other centers would each have their own focus, including car and small engine repair, contracting and construction, and general business. We hoped that along with a strong college prep course, we'd be able to get the people in the neighborhoods out of the cycle of poverty they were trapped in. We were also going to offer counseling and guidance, although drug treatment programs and others would most likely have to be shopped out to other places that were better equipped to handle such cases.

"It looks good," I finally said as we went into Helen's office. It too was bare boned, but at least had a temporary desk and her computer up and running. I made a note to replace her folding table desk with something more befitting her position ASAP. That would be a personal gift from me. If Sophie and Mark could build me a house, the least I could do is buy a center director a desk. "I also wanted to give you a heads up."

"More trouble from the Union?" Helen asked. Now that we were alone in her office, she dropped the pretense and polite talk. While most of the workers that were doing the renovations were non-union, we did have a couple of the subcontractors who were, which meant they were most likely pro-Union. "Thought we'd have been done with that."

"Not quite," I replied, not wanting to give away too much. "I received some good information that the Latin Kings might be coming down from Filmore Heights to cause some trouble here as we approach the opening date. I've got people working on trying to get you details, but until then, you keep your eyes open. You know anything about them?”

"Not much," Helen admitted. "My school didn't have too many of that type fortunately. Mostly prep kids and middle class kids. What should I look for?"

I took a flash drive out of my pocket. It had a copy of the local police department's gang task force file on the Latin Kings, along with a few other pieces of intelligence that Mark had compiled for me, things that the police didn't know about. It was scrubbed of anything that could tie it back to him or the Snowman, of course. "Here. Police file on the Kings. Again, don't ask where I got it, okay?"

"Don't need to. In this city, money talks and bullshit walks, and Marcus Smiley's got plenty of money. And of course, you've got some pull at City Hall yourself. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks. I'd invite you to the wedding, but we're thinking of going with a very low key, small ceremony type of thing," I replied. It had finally gotten out after someone in the local news hounds had put together the new rings Patrick and I were wearing, along with an 'anonymous source.' Of course, that anonymous source was my own assistant Vanessa, who knew how to play the media game as well as Mark and Sophie did, maybe even better since she could do it with more finesse. She'd been doing it for longer, too. "But if you want, I can for sure bring you a souvenir from our honeymoon. We're planning on going to the Virgin Islands."