Gavin walked briskly out of the Windy City Casino in Chicago. Finally, Jack Mezzo had given him a mission: try to set up a discussion with Marie Lucania, Godmother of Chicago, about some potential joint ventures involving the business districts. Gavin was hardly able to waltz into the Godmother's office himself; he needed a connection. And, well, he really only knew one person from Chicago- at least formerly. He dialed her number quickly as soon as he returned back to his hotel room.

"Stella? It's Gavin. Look, I need a favor. Boss asked me to do something and I'd owe you a big one if you can help me out. I know you worked out of Chicago before this Vegas move. Did you know the Godmother at all? I need to get Marie Lucania and Jack Mezzo sitting down and having a conversation with each other; they've got some potential business to discuss. I was wondering if you could arrange for Jack and I- or at least Jack- to meet the Godmother? And if you don't have that kind of access to her, maybe you could ask your, uh, Uncle Joe? I'm sure he'd know her well enough right?"

He paused for a moment.

"And hey, let's make sure you and I finish our conversation here before anything gets set in motion, huh? I know how eager you can be."

His grin was audible over the phone.

Gavin sounded as if he were about to burst from the excitement. Whatever this venture was, it was big, and his energy was contagious. 

"I never met her myself, but I'm sure I can get Uncle Joe to help arrange a meeting. Tell me exactly what you need."

Stella reached over beside the phone and grabbed a pen and paper.

Gavin leaned forward on the edge of the bed, holding each part of the phone in his hands.

"What I need, if you can help, is for you to get me in a room with your Uncle Joe. I have a proposal for him from Philadelphia; a joint venture. I'd be happy to meet in any city, any back alley."

He glanced out the window with a grin.

"Hell, even this back alley, if it's convenient for him. Think you could set up a meeting? I can be on a plane to Vegas in about five minutes, if that works."

"No problem, I can absolutely talk to Joe. Hang close to the phone

That afternoon, Joe and a few members of the family were going to the track, and Stella figured that was the perfect opportunity to talk to Uncle Joe about Gavin's meeting. Dressed to the nines and sporting a classy hat, she headed to the race in one of three cars going. 

During the third race, Stella slipped into a seat beside Uncle Joe, and handed him a whisky sour. She gave him the information about the possible meeting, and that Gavin was more than willing to come to Vegas if needed. Joe was more than a smart man, and he knew opportunity when it knocked. He agreed, and told Stella to set it up. Stella thanked him with a kiss on the cheek and sprinted back to a booth to call Gavin. Excitedly, she started speaking before he even had a chance to say hello.

"Gavin, he's in! In fact, he's willing to come to Philly to meet you. Maybe a dinner meeting? I can help you set up a reservation, if you want."

Well, she certainly worked fast.

"Well, I'm certainly willing to travel... he's the boss, after all... but if Philly's the place he'd like to meet, then of course that sounds great. Where would you be thinking for a reservation? I'd love for you to set that up, less work for me. But hey, that'll be two favors I owe you, alright? Just let me know where and when, and I'll be there with bells on."

"Ha, I'll do the set up for free. But you can take me to dinner another night since I'll finally be in Philadelphia. I'll talk to you soon with the details."

Stella set right to work. She called a contact who is a consierge at a hotel in Philly for suggestions as to a meeting spot. That was a smart call, because he was able to get them a reservation at The Camden House, a famous steak house with a private dining room upstairs. The reservation was for two nights later, eight p.m.  Stella made a special request for the wine selection, which they were happy to accommodate. She then made plane reservations for she and Joe. 

Just over an hour later, she called Gavin back with the address and details of when they would arrive. 

Gavin almost never wore a tie; it just felt too constricting. But he was wearing one tonight, albeit a little loosely, to go with his suit. If JackMezzo was trusting him to reach out to the leader of a city, he was going to make sure he didn't come off looking like an ass. Stella, unsurprisingly, had picked an excellent restaurant, and he was happy to defer to her when it came to the wine. He was more of a whiskey man, himself. Not wanting to seem rude, Gavin elected to wait in the foyer to greet his guests, rather than sit down alone.

The flight to PA was perfectly smooth. This was Stella's first time flying in the first class cabin. To be safe, she only drank half the glass of complimentary champagne. This was the biggest deal she'd been in on since she joined Uncle Joe's family. She didn't want to risk flubbing it up by being silly tipsy.

The car was waiting at the airport and took them directly to the Camden House. The driver got out and opened the door to the curb. Stella stepped out, her patent leather black pumps made a delicate click on the pavement, followed by her pretty, stockinged legs for days. She wore a knee-length, fitted black sheath dress with sheer black lace from the chest up, only teasing a tiny hint of cleavage. Her hair was pulled into an elegant twist and held in place with a silver and pearl comb that had been given to her by Sofia on her sixteenth birthday. A pearl necklace laid on her neck, and matching pearls in her ears brought it all together. 

She glanced through the window and saw Gavin waiting. Smiling, she stepped closer to Uncle Joe, who had just stepped out of the car. She slipped her arm into his. 

"Ready? I hear the prime rib is simply the best."

​​​

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Having made the long flight to Philadelphia, Uncle Joe was eager to attend this meeting and turn in for the night back at the hotel. Joe didn't know what this meeting was about but always jumped at an excuse to go back east. He had many friends and family in Philly and held a special place in his heart for the city.

Exiting the car and making his way into the Camden house with the lovely Stella, Uncle Joe could smell the steak before he even entered the restaurant. Uncle Joe leaned in and whispered in Stella's ear.

"At the very least however this turns out we'll have gotten a good steak from the smell of things."

Stella smiled. "I know you love your steak Uncle Joe."

The two were greeted as they entered by the man who had requested the sit down. Uncle Joe and Gavin shared a firm handshake as they all made their way to the table to enjoy dinner and have their meeting.

The host led then upstairs to the private dining room. There was a table in the center of the room, made up with fine linen table cloths and highly polished silver. There were wine glasses waiting, and a wine case near the door stocked with Viacelli wines, just as Stella had requested. She and Gavin followed Joe upstairs. Stella grinned and elbowed Gavin playfully. 

"You clean up real nice there, hon."

Gavin only stared at Stella for a moment as she arrived, quickly focusing on Joseph Ligambi- the man Jack Mezzo had asked him to meet. Gavin still wasn't sure whether "Uncle Joe" was a blood relation or an adopted one, but either way he probably wouldn't take kindly to having his "niece" get ogled. 

As they approached, Gavin grabbed a waiter by the elbow and gave him instructions in case there was another guest joining them. By then, Joseph Ligambi and Stella were standing in front of them. He bowed his head slightly toward the Las Vegas crewleader and exchanged a firm handshake before winking at Stella.

"Welcome to Philadelphia- our table should be ready now."

Gavin led them upstairs to the private dining room, trying not to think about how often he'd been kicked out of establishments like this. With a grin, he responded to Stella's comment.

"I'd tell you that you clean up nice as well, Miss DiVasio, except that I've never seen you any other way. If you're staying in the city longer, perhaps we'll explore the more exciting, less fanciful part of town. Let your hair down, hmm?"

Then they were at the table, and Gavin waited for Joe and Stella to be seated before sinking into his own seat. There were three seats at the table, although there was an empty, unprepared space for a potential fourth. As Gavin sat, the waiter approached and asked about the wine, which he immediately deferred to his guests- particularly Stella, who he know to be an expert on such things. As she ordered the wine, Gavin looked across the table at Joseph Ligambi.

"Mr. Ligambi, Jack Mezzo apologizes for not being here tonight. He mentioned that you were an old friend and asked that I pass on his sincere regards and well wishes to you. Between the three of us, I think Don Mezzo is most likely testing me with this task."

Gavin grinned as the waiter started pouring the wine; diplomacy wasn't his strong suit, but charm and diplomacy, he hoped, were not so different. He'd just have to follow his instincts. After the greetings were done and the food was ordered, he'd get down to business.

Sitting there with Gavin and Stella, Uncle Joe reached for his glass and swirled it around slightly, releasing the subtle aroma.

"Yes, Don Mezzo and I go back quite a ways. He's one of good ones in this thing of ours."

Uncle Joe takes a sip from his glass and waits for Gavin to proceed with the issue at hand. All the while looking forward to the ribeye that he had just ordered.

Gavin leaned back in his chair as dinner arrived. Guests like this weren't kept waiting; whatever they ordered was grabbed from the kitchen almost immediately. The waitstaff simultaneously placed the steaks in front of Joe, Stella, and Gavin. Feeling panicked for a moment, Gavin tried to imagine what Tara would say before all signs of tension left his body and he picked up his wine glass.

"Mr. Ligambi, there's been a lot of talk recently about peace- about building things together. Don Mezzo asked me to approach you with a way to accomplish these things, to embark on a joint venture that offers something to the community at large. We recently did a smaller scale version of this in Philadelphia, and we'd like to open it up all of the organizations on a national level."

He sipped his wine- his first taste ever- before placing his glass on the table and lacing his fingers.

"Some people called it a 'scavenger hunt'. The idea was to challenge people's skills at discovering information; our previous endeavor was located solely in the business districts, but this could easily be expanded to the streets as well.  Ultimately, the goal is to send people out into the world to explore, to discover, and to hone their skills while testing their dedication."

"If you'd like to read over the details, Don Mezzo asked me to share these details with you. The second page also shows what sort of things we'd send people out hunting for."

Gavin slid a couple pieces of paper across the table to Joe.

This location introduces the idea to the members

https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread.php?action=1&post=2461988&tpass=2a53359e386db191e0a84328ef523252

This location is the master Q&A sheet we copied the clues from to make available to the members.

https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/1156658/tpass/89f267202f5bbcd0a2d274e2b8146154#17980068

"Frankly, Mr. Ligambi, I think this would be a unique challenge to offer the community, while also building bonds by launching a joint venture, as well as bonds within a city as crew members work with each other. 

What we need your help with, Mr. Ligambi, is two things:

First, when we do launch this at a later date, we'd like your support in advertising it to your members and encouraging them to participate.

Second, while Philadelphia is obviously prepared to provide prizes for this venture on our own, if you're in a position to contribute anything to the prize pot we'd certainly welcome any donations to make the rewards even more attractive.

Raising his wine glass again, Gavin glanced at Stella. He forced the glass to his lips, not wanting to ramble while Joe had time to read, think... and eat, of course. The steaks did seem delicious. 

Slowly sipping the wine, Stella listened carefully while Gavin and Joe exchanged pleasentries and then got down to business. She might be young, but she was smart enough to know when to listen. After all, that's what had gotten her here; sitting at a table beside her boss, privy to discussions that could change the shape of the organization she was learning her way around. From the sounds of it, the venture was ambitious and exciting. Grinning to herself, she remembered her own new venture that awaited her back in Vegas. 

When Gavin finished, Stella gave him an encouraging smile, and a wink over her wine glass.

Sitting there enjoying his steak and wine, Uncle Joe looked over the papers he had been given.

"I like what I see here Gavin, I like the idea behind it that supports community. I also like the idea of expanding on our cities bonds. I think this is something that I could advertise and back at some level. There's a lot that our families can do together now."

Passing the papers back to Gavin, Uncle Joe was about finished with his meal. He lifted his glass, thanking Gavin and Stella for having arranged this meeting.

Gavin waited until Uncle Joe was finished with his meal before raising his glass as well and toasting his two guests from Las Vegas. 

"Thanks for coming out to meet with me, Uncle Joe. I'm sure that Jack Mezzo will be thrilled to hear about your support, and I'm sure he'll follow up with you personally as well. Salut."