<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">“You can back out at anytime, just remember that. These people are dangerous. If any of them, let alone Hugo, catches a whiff of what you’re up to you're dead. They’ll pull that whole busting your knee caps thing! You’ll be swimmin with the fishes or whatever.”<br/>
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A soft chuckle slipped from Persephone’s lightly glossed lips. On the other side of the phone a fellow journalist, and one of her close friends went on and on about how dangerous this was going to be. She hadn’t even been with this company for a year and already she had what could be one of the biggest stories in the history of the city. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Not only was her career on the line, but if she fucked up her life would be on the line as well. <br/>
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“Leo I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m gonna walk in there and be like ‘Hello powerful mafia people who could definitely kill me! I just want to ask a few questions for no particular reason!’. Who knows if I’ll even be able to be let in on anything really important in the first place.” The subway car came to a stop. Over a thick blanket of chatter her stop was called. A large group of people began pouring out of the train car and into the station. “Alright Leo I gotta go, I’ll call you after. Byeee!” With the simple click of a button she ended the call and followed the rest of the people out of the subway. <br/>
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Even deep below the ground, the bitter cold of Winter seeped right down into the subway station. She pulled her woolen scarf tighter around her nose to try her best to keep as much warmth as she could. She didn’t even want to think about how cold it was up above ground. Fleece lined tights were a perfect choice for today’s outfit, her legs might’ve been the only thing that were kept warm in weather like this.<br/>
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As she emerged from the steps leading out of the station an icy chill practically bit at every single slip of skin that was exposed. She was thankful that the Lombardi building was only a five minute walk from where she was. <br/>
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With every step she took, the pit in her stomach only grew. Sure she had taken her medication this morning to make sure she would be at least stable, but still she felt anxiety seep into the very edges of her mind. In the reflection of one of the large windows of some ritzy shop she checked over her outfit. She was sure it would look like she was wearing scraps compared to the luxury that covered every square inch of the company. Each item she wore was either thrifted or stolen from her sister years ago. She could hardly afford to eat sometimes, let alone afford some designer branded outfit. <br/>
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Persephone wore a simple black turtleneck sweater with a long jewel toned floral skirt that reached just above her ankle. Over all of this she wore one of her most prized possessions, a long black pea coat that once belonged to her mother. She had seen many rich ladies that walked about the city streets wear outfits that looked just like this, so maybe she would blend in. Or at least not stick out. Her curly hair was tamed into a simple half up style with a little golden clip, while her bangs gently framed her face. <br/>
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After doing her final once over, (and getting some confused glances from people on the other side of the glass) it was time for her to go in. This was going to be the story that would finally end the tyrannical rule of the Lombardi family. Their shadow stretched all across the city, from the banks, the police officers, to the mayor and his family. People were losing their lives and even more were losing fortunes. It was time for this to all be put to an end. <br/>
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After checking Persephone’s badge, a suited door man let her through the entrance of the building. “Mr. Lombardi is experiencing you in his office in fifteen minutes Miss Thorne.” The older man murmured to the young man. She swiftly nodded her head and thanked him for the information before walking on right past him and into the lobby of the building. After a few more rounds of security, she was finally let into the main staircase that lead to all of the offices.<br/>
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Persephone clicked on her phone checking where exactly she was supposed to be heading. She scrolled to her email app which had all of the information that was needed for today. This included the room number and even Mr. Lombardi’s coffee order. Of course the building had its own cafe in it, she didn’t know why she would be expecting anything less. Perhaps a good ol’ Starbucks coffee was too far beneath their taste. <br/>
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Luckily, when she arrived to the cafe all she had to do was give her boss’ name and the barista handed her a simple white cup of coffee with a black lid. “Good luck Miss….” The barista said with a rather pitiful tone. This of course was not a great sign, but there was no time to dwell on it. If the doorman was correct, she only had five minutes to haul ass to Lombardi’s office. <br/>
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Luckily she didn’t have to rely how fast she could get up a handful of flights of stairs, there was an elevator that would take her right to his office. Naturally, the office was located at the very top of the building. As the elevator traveled up and up she was treated with a rather grand view of the city. She couldn’t imagine having the skyline you view everyday, was it something that all of these rich folk just expected?<br/>
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The elevator came to a stop and the heavy metal doors slid to their respective sides. She stepped out and took a deep cleansing breath before finding office 15D. It was not that hard of a task considering Lombardi’s name was in gold across on of the doors. She placed her hand on the door knob and gently turned it to let herself in. <br/>
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“Good morning Mister Lombardi.”</span>