It was hard to believe that somebody would ask
Alice to do this, but she couldn't really say no to it. The man in front of her was the leader of a mob that her brother had recently gotten affiliated with - and, because she was often brought along by her brother, for her protection, she was somewhat accepted amongst the group of people herself. Besides, they were family - though a little distant - and she couldn't really say no to the man in charge, especially when it could cause trouble for her immediate family members, such as her brother, Mitch. "Are you sure you want me to do this, though? I'm not really... accustomed to this sort of thing," she mentioned, though she tried not to come off as rude. She wasn't saying no to the possible order, she just couldn't help but to question whether it was a good idea or not. The man, who she knew as Thomas, offered a nod in response. "This is the best course of action," he said firmly, "Among those closely related to the mob, you are the only one without any proof of affiliation. Your brother has yet to gain attention from those we'd prefer to avoid, so his affiliation with the mob is unknown, which means your relation to it will remain unknown as well. This way, they cannot find much in your background and you can get close to Mr. Ashburn's son - I think I recall his name is Hunter - and it should be much easier considering Mr. Ashburn's recent death. You can get the information we require." It didn't seem like Alice had much of a choice and she couldn't really deny Thomas' claim, either, so she only nodded. She was soon dismissed and she found herself trying to figure out how to even run into the man she was meant to get close to.
The death of his father left Blake feeling a little restless. It didn't help that the weight of taking over his father's mob was resting heavily on his shoulders. He felt pressured and stressed and his father's funeral wasn't even over yet. Throughout the week since his father's death, the mob had been trying to piece itself back together and adapting to the new leader, Blake. Since he was the only son, only having two sisters - who were both younger than him and wouldn't be accepted as leaders anyways since they were females and the mob was very patriarchal - the leadership fell onto him. And, the most he could do for now was hope that they could manage to get things back together, that he could lead properly in his father's place. Before his father's death, he hadn't even thought of taking over the mob; it had been the farthest thing from his mind, perhaps a mindless hope that his father would live longer than him and control the mob for that time, perhaps to pass it down to somebody he trusted. Blake wasn't entirely sure what it had been that made him so thoughtless when it came to taking over the mob eventually, especially since he had been raised amongst the mob members. He lived and breathed the life of a mobster from the moment he was born. But, taking over the mob? It hadn't crossed his mind until the day his father died. Even now, staring at the casket as it was slowly lowered into the grave, it was hard to believe that he'd be in control of the mob. Would he do well? Would he make his father proud? Or would he ruin everything - everything his father had built and created in his lifetime? Once the funeral ended, he found it difficult to concentrate on anything other than going home.
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