Seattle. Madeline had been here only a handful of times since she began her criminal enterprises in New York; for the most part, she'd never needed to be this far on the west coast. Plus, she hated the clouds; if she were going to travel west, she much preferred to stop in Los Angeles, where she could relax on the beaches. Seattle was always so gloomy and rainy, not to mention cold. No, Madeline had few reasons to travel to this city, so anyone who knew her would know that this had to be a special event. 

Still, as the plan began its final descent into the city, she had to admit that it was rather pretty - Seattle was a city surrounded by water, mountains, and forests filled with Evergreens. She knew she could at least take a stroll by the sea or she could go hiking in the woods and explore a new part of nature. Maybe spending a few days here wouldn't be such a bad idea. 

What truly brought her to this city was Lucious Lyon. Now a Don in charge of his own family, Madeline had met the man only once. But the information he had provided her on Don Ricci had proved to be invaluable, and Madeline knew there was no better way to thank him but to see him in person. So here she was, stepping down the ladder of the private plane she'd arrived in and climbing into the waiting car that would bring her to Don Lyon's headquarters. 

She was dressed impeccably in a navy blue dress with small white polka dots. The dress hugged her curves just right and on her feet were matching navy blue heels which accentuated her long legs. Madeline was taller than an average female, but she had a natural confidence about her that shined. Her long blonde hair was worn loose, which was traditional for her. 

The ride wasn't a long one; she had hired a local man to be her chauffeur for the duration of her trip. Nikolas hadn't been pleased, but Madeline insisted; she didn't want to be bothered with directions or getting lost. Nikolas sat in the passenger seat to be safe and that regulated Madeline to the back. She didn't mind, not really. It gave her time to study the city through the window, taking in the sights as they drove through town. 

Once arriving at Empire, Madeline climbed out of the car and moved to the entrance. She hadn't written ahead to let the man know she was coming, although now she realized maybe she should have; after all, for all she knew he would be traveling or unavailable to meet with her. She frowned slightly at the thought but quickly brushed it away and knocked on the front door, waiting for it to be opened before she spoke. 

"I'm here to see Don Lyon. Please let me know that Madeline from New York is here to speak with him." She hoped that he would remember her; after all, his trip to New York had been quite some time ago. Guess she was about to find out. 

It's been a while since Don Madeline and Lyon had actually talked, the last time they did it was discussing about Don Ricci who was trying to make power plays in regards to money, and also putting in on Seattle territory back when he was apart of Don Uccello's family, with the hopes that he's having a good retirement from this life of ours. Though he wasn't sure if she would ever come meet him again, making it seem like a one time conversation and his place is in Seattle most days.

It was another busy day at Empire Records, and Lucious was in a room with a new artist he had picked off, oddly enough the artist was found in a parking lot singing in their car. Just at a cafe that Lyon goes out to in the mornings for breakfast and coffee, the studio was prepared and Lyon was surrounded with someone who knew their way around a mixer and with him observing. The artist was called Henry, and he started off with a melody. Lyon's head slowly swaying his head to the music.

His assistant, Michelle, had to disturb it just as she opened the door and Lyon looked over to spot her.

"Cut the music." Lucious gave out a gesture to let the man stop.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lyon, but a Don Madeline from New York is here to see you?" 

Lucious raised an eyebrow, he was surprised that she had came over after all this time. 

"I'll be right there."

Lucious raised up his thumb over to Henry, a smile in exchange as he stood there in the booth. Lyon walked over to pick up his jacket and he slid it on, as he exited the studio room and made his way over to the lobby, she was standing at the desk. His approach was hesitant for a minute until he finally got a hold of his emotions and walked over.

"Madeline! It's good to see you. Hopefully, uhm, New York has been kind to you, what brings you here today?"

Madeline smiled warmly as Lucious approached, holding out her hand to shake his in greeting. Madeline knew that Lucious had opened a record company and that it was doing well; she had paid attention to such things after she started a friendship with Alex. It was clear from the decor of the lobby in which she was waiting and the people constantly moving in and out that Lucious was doing very well for himself. 

"New York has been wonderful, thank you. I'm sorry to just show up here, but I was hoping you might have a moment to meet with me, privately? I have some news I think you'll want to hear." 

Given that he had been the one to tell her about Don Ricci, she thought hand delivering the news of his death would be only right. Besides, she had something to give him as a thank you for the information. 

Lucious nodded. His hands promptly being placed on his waist, the place was doing well despite the circumstances that it took to get to this, but there was good value, the news of Ricci was something he wasn't expecting considering it's been a while, but weeks after their conversation in the cafe it left him to wonder if they ever took care of him or not. 

"Please. Follow me to my office, and don't apologize, your presence is always welcome here."

Of course, he was eager to hear the little story that lead to the Don's downfall. It was probably a busy month for her and whoever she brought along to handle the assignment. Lucious walked with Madeline up a staircase or two, the atmosphere was getting pretty awkward for a little bit since it was silent.

"I feel the last time we met it was a little harsh, there's probably a better word for it but... You know what I mean."

Lucious opened the double doors that lead to his office. What laid in front of them was a desk, Lyon walked around and gave a gesture that pointed for the chairs.

"By all means, take a seat." 

Lucious sat down on his chair and pulled it closer to the desk. He crossed his legs and looked at Madeline briefly.

"What news do you have for me?"

Quietly following the man to his office, Madeline took in the scene. She'd never been into a music studio before; she hadn't yet visited Alex in his, and she'd never had a reason to be in one in the past. Although she knew the Don worked in the criminal world just like she did, the record company was a very legitimate front and no doubt a thriving business of its own. She knew Alex wanted to achieve equal success in Philly and she wondered if he and Lucious would be partners or rivals. She found the whole thing fascinating. Not just the music, the creation of it but the idea of being a celebrity. Madeline had always been prone to having eyes on her, given her height and her beauty, but this was a different level of stardom, and she couldn't help but wonder what it was like. 

His comments about their last meeting caused her to chuckle softly. "It was business. Business can always be a bit rough around the edges."

Taking the seat that he offered, Madeline crossed her ankles and smiled at the man across from her. "Don Ricci is dead, as are all three of his Captains. It took time. Believe it or not, I've been working on it steadily since your trip to New York." That felt like a lifetime ago; anything pre-Texas did really, but that was becoming a more familiar feeling as time went on.  "He was....slick. He agreed to pay taxes, but then he started underreporting his earnings. I was finally able to catch him doing it. So Jemaine ordered the hit and down he fell." 

"The man was a horrible misogynist by the way. It was quite satisfying to be the one to destroy him. I came here to let you know and also to thank you. Without your initial information, I never could have gotten rid of him." 

Madeline reached into her bag, careful to make it clear she wasn't a threat to him. She took out a thick envelope and placed it on his desk. "Ricci was a rich man. It only seemed fair that you receive a portion of what we've found so far." 

The office was pretty organized for a man with a criminal life. The windows pretty much giving you a good view of the street below and the other buildings, perfect time to be up in the morning and be drinking coffee, that's for sure. As Lucious sat in his throne-looking chair, his hand slightly rubbing his chin, when the subject came up, it was about Don Ricci and no doubt that took time. Of course, with his plans of building Empire from the ground up coming in the way, Lyon needed to oversee everything. No doubt the action was great and the resistance was formidable.

Lucious chuckled at the man being labeled as a misogynist, who knew all this time his prejudice against women was out of control?

"A misogynist, huh? Glad you could get your little piece of the action, too bad I wasn't there. Haven't been on a job for a while, last job was with a friend of Chicago. Haven't been out to see her since I've been busy building Empire, place looks nice right? I think so anyhow. Been signing in new artists and having them record songs, as a matter of fact, when you called for me I was in the middle of recording a song with one of my artists called Henry, very talented."

Lucious sat back in the chair to relax his more forward posture. With the thick envelope landing on the desk, his eyes looked at the envelope then back at Madeline.

"Why thank you."

Lyon reached over to grab the envelope, examining the contents, there was a good stack of cash there so he was satisfied.

"I have some information regarding movements in New York, if you'd like to hear it. No giant family operations like Ricci, it's a little more light."

"It looks amazing; I'm a bit envious of what you're doing here actually. To be able to have a front row seat to some of the newest up and coming voices; it all seems very exciting. I'm sorry to have interrupted your session although I think we'd both agree it was well worth it." 

Madeline watched as he looked at the contents of the envelope; he appeared satisfied, and he looked back at her offering new information. That made her raise an eyebrow. How was it that this man knew so much about her city, even still? He was here, on the other side of the country, running a business that undoubtedly took up a great deal of his time. 

Still, she kept her facial expression soft as she nodded slightly. "Of course, I would never turn down potentially helpful information. And of course, if you're ever looking to get your hands dirty again, for old time sake, I'm sure I could help you with that." 

Lucious smiled.

"Thank you."

Lyon turned the chair around and stood up. He walked over to the shelf where a folder several folders were stacked up with each other, only a particular folder was selected out that batch, it was the folder that contained information about groups trying to make underground deals in the city without letting the Godfather get a piece of the action. Lucious turned around and slid the folder across the desk over to Madeline.

"Nikita Voloshin. Capo for a small Slavic family trying to sell drugs but they do it all underground like, secret deals and you get the jist of it, figured he's not letting your Godfather get a cut from all this, figured it'd be time to pay him a visit. Doesn't have a lot of protection, maybe two guys at best but they're just local hire, street thugs, alley rats, you name it."

Lyon sat back down and gave Madeline time to figure out what she was dealing with.

Madeline watched as he stood and rummaged through some folders before selecting one and sliding it across his desk to her. She listened to him describe the information he had while she scanned through the papers he had given her. New York City was a bit place with millions of people residing within it; no matter what she did there would be small groups like this trying to operate under their noses. 

"Thank you, Don Lyon. This will be good grunt work for some of our newer recruits; these sorts of little operations pop up all the time. Immigrants come over and don't know how things work in the city. Or they do, and they think they can get around it or hide from it. We'll teach them a lesson, and another one will pop up in their place eventually." 

She smiled again at the man, putting the papers next to her bag. "Once again I find myself in your debt. I'll have to repay the favor one day." 

"My pleasure. Always good to help a friend of mine, figured I try to keep relations with us great, huh?"

Lucious sat back and pondered for a bit.

"So, how are things with you? Hopefully your life hasn't been as hectic as mine. Seattle just keeps me at bay nowadays, haven't been out to the big apple in a while. No doubt operations there are going smoothly, besides from the immigrants trying to make some decent cash on the side without letting anyone know, though they'll know how stuff goes around New York when you guys pay a visit."

Lucious looked at his desk for a minute then back at Madeline.

"Who knows, I'll probably need help with something down the line. Repay the favor that way unless you had something else in mind."

"Good relations are always appreciated, that's what this thing of ours is built on. Without good relations, we'd fall apart in no time." Madeline smiled still as she considered his question.

"Things in New York are going well. We're growing, slowly and steadily. We have some wonderful fresh faces who are doing some great things in Manhattan. Getting rid of Don Ricci was a big task but I think it only strengthens us in the long run; we've taken over many of his operations ourselves. These little side groups don't bother me as much; everyone has to make a living. If anything I give them credit for trying."

She thought about what he said and nodded slightly. "I can't think of anything specific off the top of my head, but I will be in Seattle for a few more days at least. If you think of anything that I or the city of New York can do for you, please don't hesitate to seek me out. It was a pleasure to get reacquainted with you after all this time." 

Madeline stood and prepared to leave the office unless he had anything else to add to the conversation.

Lucious nods at the thought of her being in Seattle for the next few days. I wonder if there was anything on his plate he would need help with, Lyon scratched his chin.

"Very well. Take the time to explore, Seattle is a beautiful city and I doubt you'd be missing out. Have a good evening, Madeline."

Lyon waved her goodbye.