(Star Wars) Gangsta #TheRiseAwards

Chapter Seven

"So I heard that you got a new girl."

Vader looked up from his home office's mahogany desk, seeing his fellow Sith boss - Yan Dooku - leaning against the doorframe. "She's not my girl... yet." He sighed, motioning the older man inside. "I did hire someone that I'm keeping tabs on."

"You know she's friends with a lot of the Jedi, right?" Yan strolled in, smoothing down the front of his crisp suit. The gangster's step father had a very rich brother, one who saw an investment opportunity in the gang long ago. Sheev dealt with the clan while his brother would pay off any debts, make payments on the gang's behalf and so on. It was very rare that Yan visited his nephew - even rarer were his unannounced visits. "I've got a few of my intel operatives that, you know, normally keep an eye on that side of town?"

"Yeah, so?" Vader leaned back in his seat, eyeing his uncle intently. "It's Monday, Uncle. What's so important you flew all the way here from Serenno?"

"One of them - Ventress - said that Obi-Wan Kenobi's back in town." The boy's uncle saw him twitch, knowing the name struck a disgusting chord with the young man. "She said that this morning, him and Qui-Gon Jinn were spotted in the neutral zone at a little establishment called Miss Thule's. They went in for about an hour then only Kenobi came out - he was in a hurry, rushing to his swoop." Dooku paused, a tiny smirk on his face. "She also said a girl who's description matching the new one at your club came running out and argued with him before going back in. He rode off into Jedi territory after fighting with her... Even if it's nothing but coincidence, I figured you'd wanna know that your favorite rival's back in town." Vader paused in thought for a moment, thinking over his uncle's report. "So why didn't this Ventress report to me then? You usually only come by when something's up with our banking."

"Yes, about that - it's why I told Asajj to hold off on her report." Dooku straightened up in his seat, relieved to get onto the good news. "You know I like to watch the charts with the income and spending of the gang, right?" His nephew nodded, motioning for him to keep going. "Well, I was watching it very closely this past weekend because I heard about your little contest. That was brilliant move, by the way, you brought in so-"

"Get to the point, Uncle."

"You brought in approximately eleven-million-two-hundred-seventy-nine-thousand-six-hundred-thirty-four credits that evening alone - a record high for The Temple's earnings since its first opening weekend where you raked in just over ten million." Dooku sat forward in his chair, seeing the shock on Vader's face. "Not only that but the following evening when you announced your girl as the winner, there was a huge spike in that night's income." The younger man held up a hand. "How did you know about her announcement? You couldn't have known of the money alone."

"Asajj also keeps track of the news and media when he's with me. It's a safety measure we take to make sure only good things come from our many business endeavors and our people stay out of trouble." Yan smiled, thoroughly impressed with his next bit of information. "That girl of yours brought in an additional two million alone. People posted pictures and videos of themselves at the club that evening - a lot of which were including your girl." He pulled out a device, deciding to let the media prove his point. Vader scrolled through Hologram - one of the most popular social media platforms - and Tinker. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of his girl; she'd taken a few photos with some patrons on her openings night, some even took videos of her performances. A few of the Tinker postings had gone viral. One video was shot from one of the high levels, the user recording the stage as Padmé jumped with the audience racked up more than two million likes on its own.

"That girl is a huge money maker - I hope you've already put her under contract."

"Of course. After the contest, I ended up taking her back to the diner you mentioned and offered her the position. The next day, we signed and she performed that night after I officially introduced her as one of The Temple's own." Vader smiled, his voice softening as he thought back to the previous Saturday night...