The Funtom Company

14: The |Dollars| Company

"Do you see this?" Vincent slammed the paper down on Adrian's desk. "Is this your doing? Please tell me this isn't your doing."

"I haven't heard anything about the new gang that's been coming up out of the shadows," Adrian looked at the news article a bit more carefully. It certainly was an interesting read. This new gang drowned out The Funtom Company (gang edition) and Dispatch Society. Why wasn't Vincent a bit more pleased?

"Do you know what this means? This means Trader's Enterprise has more reason to wreak havoc. Do you know how long Lau has been waiting to find an excuse to bomb something? Damnit. What is my son getting himself into?" Vincent paced a piece of the hallway. He couldn't think straight with something like this happening. How much time did he have before the first bomb? Maybe he should reunite with some of his old sources. There should be some time before Lau decided to cause mayhem. 

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Mr. Phantomhive," Adrian tried his best to comfort the man. There would be no comforting Vincent. He was smart. He knew that there was no way in hell Lau wouldn't take this opportunity to blow shit up. It had happened before. Vincent really hoped the guy hadn't gotten too much better with his bombs over the years. 

"Do you hear that? What is that noise?" Vincent stopped moving immediately. He heard something but couldn't tell if it was in the distance or right in this building itself. Not a minute passed and the ground beneath them shook violently. An earthquake? In this section of the world? That was highly unlikely. Vincent ran to the window in his office. In the distance a building fell to the ground. 

"Shit," Vincent cursed. "I didn't act fast enough. Lau, you bastard." 

"What are you going to do?" Adrian inquired. "You don't have your gang anymore, your weapons, or your authority. I suppose you could try and bribe him into submission." Adrian realized he should've thought a bit more about his words before saying them. If this didn't give away the fact that he was in charge of Dispatch Society, nothing ever would. 

"I'm a civilized gangster," Vincent replied. That phrase was something Adrian had heard before. Vincent got an odd sense of deja vu. He laughed. It was the first time he'd laughed since he'd gotten the call from Rachel. 

"What strange webs we weave. I can't believe I just reminded myself of the time you kidnapped me. It's a shame we never got to do anything intimate. The whole room was set up in such a nice way for some lovely kinky sex. But, you knew that, didn't you?" Vincent smirked. Adrian shivered. He really didn't want to think about that right now. A building had just crashed and the sirens of the police, firetrucks, and ambulances were still going. This was not the time to be thinking such lewd thoughts. 

"I've decided," Vincent announced. "I know how I'm going to beat Lau." 

"How?" Adrian was curious. He was always interested in a good plan. Plus he needed something to distract him from himself and his perverted mind. 

Vincent placed a hand on his chest. "I'm going to give him the thing he has always wanted: me."

Anger, jealousy, a mixture of the two, Adrian felt it. He hated this idea. "There has to be a better way than that," he tried to convince Vincent against it. 

"I don't have anything else. You said so yourself. I have no gang, no people to back me up, and the police sure as hell won't do anything about him. What else is there for me to do but seduce him? He has always been the one to enjoy a little give and take." Vincent snickered. "Don't tell me you're jealous. I've been very careful as to not mention the whole thing that happened between us. You're still thinking about it aren't you? Do I haunt your dreams, Uny?"

"I hate to admit it," Adrian averted his gaze. "But I do have quite the infatuation with you, Mr. Phantomhive."

"I'm honored, truly, but your infatuation will have to wait. My boys live in this city, even if my horrid wife does too, I can't allow them to be in the slightest bit of danger. You have to understand that, right?" Vincent was serious about this. Adrian knew that. But he still felt possessive over his boss. "Besides," Vincent sighed. "We aren't really in a relationship now are we?" Adrian hated that he had a point. The secretary had no business being jealous over a man he'd just had sex with. They weren't romantically involved (not matter how much he might've wished they were). 

"Now, I'm going to be leaving early for the day. Please announce to the workers that they may leave also. There has been a major bombing. They should check on their families," Vincent grabbed his long coat and began walking.

"If you think for one second I'm letting you go see Lau by yourself, you're sorely mistaken, Mr. Phantomhive," Adrian quickened his pace to catch up to Vincent. 

"Suit yourself," Vincent replied. "Guess that means we will be making the announcement together then." Vincent snickered, "It's like we are getting married."

"I can assure you, it's nothing like that, Mr. Phantomhive."

"Boo, where is your sense of adventure?" he asked as the elevator doors closed.