“When one with honeyed words but evil mind
Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”
         
                                                            ―Euripides, Orestes

Vela set her powder puff down on the ivory vanity table in front of her, eyes trained on her own reflection in the mirror. The sides of her face were finely framed with the long, black hair she had, and her lips were of a scarlet colour, which seemed to perfectly match the scarlet red evening gown that she had picked out from a thrift shop downtown. It was silk material, and it felt amazing to touch as she rose from her seat and smoothed down some wrinkles that appeared from sitting down. It was low cut, though it was safe enough to be worn in public as the straps gripped securely on her shoulders, which was always a good thing. She didn’t want to have a repeat of last time, as she realized one time at a party that she had a whole cut going through the back her dress, revealing her tacky bra straps. She couldn’t afford another wardrobe malfunction. Not tonight. Vela slightly grimaced at the memory, shaking the thought away before she gave her appearance another inspection.

Her voice echoed throughout the house as she called out for her younger sister, Aquila, or as Vela liked to call her sometimes, starlet. The name definitely had a ring to it. “Starlet, are you ready?” Vela crowed, putting the powder puff back in her makeup kit before she made her way out of the bedroom. They weren’t particularly in any rush to arrive at the place that the invitation on the card specified, but Vela wanted to make sure that they came at a fashionable time, meaning at least thirty minutes before the opening of the doors so that they had time to settle down in the hall they would be staying at for the next few hours. As she emerged from the hallway into the living room, Vela could hear the sounds of someone shuffling around in the closet that she shared with her dear sibling. She didn’t know what her younger sister had planned to wear that night, but there was no doubts in her mind that her elegance would radiate from whatever dress she would select.

The night was still young, and so were they. Their youthful disposition and fairly good looks seemed to sweep men off their feet, which was a tactic that Vela liked to use sometimes when trying to squeeze information out of diabolical individuals. However, she wasn’t sure if she was still good at that, as it had been a long time since she had to put her seduction skills to the test. Embarrassing maybe to admit, but she honestly didn’t have time to make up shitty one liners with the men at the bars not far from where they lived. Since the first day of her recruitment at The Ivory Tower, Vela had been adjusting to the busy schedules that different members of the family were being assigned to. Everyone had something to do, whether that be arrange an organized crime with associates or handle an assignment. Now assignments were different from petty crimes. Way different.

Voices echoed around her, bearing promises of alcohol, of flirtation, of affirming the upper  class gap in American Society. Aquila pressed herself against the wall, taking a sip of her aged wine as she surveyed the flabbergasting surroundings laid before her. Parties made the soft-spoken girl feel sick. Aquila wasn’t the type of girl who was fluid in portraying a different characteristic, if anything she was incredibly aloof and nervous towards the job the girls had been passed. Aquila hadn’t really flirted with anyone except Marco, and despite him having been gone for almost a year Aquila still feels guilty, as if doing her job was betraying his trust and all he saw her as- but that wasn’t right.

Swigging back her drink Aquila tried to rid herself of the aged thoughts, pushing the glass aside and closing her eyes for a few seconds before crossing her arms and beginning to scout out the targets. The mission was simple, flirt with the dealers, seduce the leaders of other clans, get in with any informants who would offer the family a chance to spread their mission- and get an arses worth of cash.

Her gaze settled on an older man, with a stash full of crumbs and a body built for eating rolls upon rolls of buttered up bread. Aquila took a deep breath, this as going to be utterly disgusting but… anything to be worth something to others. Pushing herself towards the man and flipping her perfectly curled hair behind her shoulder. A sweet yet equally uncomfortable smile twitched upon her perfectly painted lips as she gently touched her petite hand upon his shoulder, ready to face the red faced pig.

“Do I know you, doll?”

Swallowing down any disgust that would be imminent, Aquila moved her hand to his elbow and guided it to her waist. With a fake flirtatious wink and an even more false stifled giggle she guided him to the ballroom floor.

“Uh… You will soon, handsome~”

Gag.

Vela’s eyebrows furrowed as she let out a groan, accidentally stepping on her evening gown as she got out of the vehicle. She noticed that Aquila went ahead of her, leaving Vela to get herself together outside the magnificent hall they pulled up at. It was not too shabby of a place, a typical rich people gathering. People were money-hungry in there, but not to mention there was probably those intending to cause mayhem tonight. Vela would hopefully be prepared, as she confirmed that her thigh holster was in place. She would’ve brought her machine gun if she could but that would pose a lot of risks obviously, seeing as Vela noticed the mass amount of bodyguards surrounding the entrance. As she smoothed down her hair and took a deep breath, she strutted into the hall, nodding in the direction of the men that stood guard at the entryway. She showed the invitation to them before being allowed access inside.

When she walked in, her eyes immediately landed on the majestic grandeur and simplicity of the architecture. There was an ascending staircase, that was fully polished and had probably costed more than Vela’s earnings for the month. She whistled to herself in amazement as she navigated towards the steps, climbing the stairway to hell. Hell it was indeed, as she took in the sight of rich, two-faced womanizers. In a metaphorical sense, there were dollar signs in Vela’s eyes. Now if she could just look for that one person she wanted to see tonight, who went by the name Andrei. His name had been in the back of her mind ever since, but the moment she stepped in his zone, she wished she had never heard of him. There was a menacing vibe about him and the cockiness that set her off. He had thick-framed eyeglasses and a moustache that curled upwards at the ends. In addition to this, his Russian accent was so strong yet so pleasing to hear.

“And you are?” The Russian man spoke, the words rolling off his tongue so smoothly. It irritated her how ladies could probably melt upon hearing that voice of his. But Vela wasn’t going to play the fool tonight. She had a plan. There was an unoccupied stool next to him by the bar, and she didn’t hesitate to sit on it before placing one leg over the other in a seductive way, showing off her bare legs. She looked at him with a twinkle of fake happiness in her eyes. Like a hunter seeking its prey, she inched forward and flashed a smile. “I hear all about you. They say you’re a top buyer in this thing of ours. That’s what I like…” Vela purred, leaning her chest forward as her low cut dress showed off the top part of her breasts. His eyes seemed to gravitate away from her face, licking his lips as if he was ready to devour his last meal before death. There was a deep sickness in her stomach as Vela watched him drool over her, but she tried her to best to stay on track with her mission. First objective was to grab the names of the properties he owned, so she could send that information up to her higher bosses. After that, a special investigation would be conducted, necessary for… criminal purposes.

From scoping out people that had connections with him before, she had gathered that he owned a banking institution, a transportation business and a real estate firm. She was aware that probably wasn't everything he owned, but she guessed that would be his three main sources of income. One of the reasons why Vela wanted to seek him out so bad was because he didn't just have one source of income. He had three, and all of them were booming. Millions of dollars were being invested into them, and the profits were at a high. From her knowledge, his wife had recently left him for another man- probably someone more courteous and loving than Andrei himself, but that wasn't any of her business. All she got from that information was that she had an advantage, to lure him further into her fantasy world and fake sympathy for his losses. Vela felt slightly bad that he was resorting to hooking up with other females to compensate for his wife's replacement, but frankly, she didn't care because to her this was strictly business. Hopefully there won't be any serious relationships arising from this, and she immediately wished she had warned her younger sister, Aquila, that these men had a way with her words. She couldn't see starlet around her, and guessed that she was probably busy tending to some lousy, old man that demanded romantic submission from her. As Vela looked into the eyes of the Russian clown before her, she thought she blew her cover because his eyebrow raise gave her a feeling that he caught on to the reason why she was asking about his abundant contracts. 

It must have been her imagination, because he expressed his excitement from her response. "Oh? Where did you hear that from?" Andrei jested, suddenly placing his hand over her bony elbow as the corners of his mouth quirked up. No one had been so direct to him before, well if someone had been like that to him already, he had forgotten. The amount of paperwork that he had to sort out for his businesses was more than the average load, and Vela sensed that he was slightly irritated from the thoughts that her opening line provoked. The man, whose moustache stood out the most from his face, didn't wait for his response and immediately switched the subject. "How about this, I'll tell you more about myself just come with me. Yes?"