Blue's Cute But White's More My Style [Antonetta, Imelda]

Enna? Antonetta looked in her little tourist book, reading about the town and city. It was nice to know about the place that you were visiting after all. Why did she always get all the bad assignments? She hated not being near the coast, beaches and nice sunny weather. What more could a girl want?

This place... wasn't that.

Ugh, the Ovide's eyes looked back over the phone in her hand. Reviewing the assignment that brought her to this place, Imelda Vanetti. A blue-collar criminal, how petty and uninteresting but mama was interested in retaining an absolute control over this country's economy and she would happily ensure that anyone related to her was in some way taken care of - Claudia moreso than her sisters.

Who tipped off the authorities? Some pathetic gang that also fell under the that same category of being insignificant outside of this little providence and wanted to take up the space. Why would they think that'd be okay? Absolute control would be far easier without either of these two parties, so she'd get rid of the figurehead and then handle the others.

Out and about. That's what Imelda was right now. Actually it was odd with how busy she's been considering that, on paper, she was unemployed. Despite that fact, she was currently managing her own small group of people in Sicily to help her organize and execute the rise of the Vanetti once again. Bella has proven to be a great right hand woman, covering all the tracks that Imelda couldn't. At the end of the day, it was foreign territory and Imelda needed someone Bella, someone who really knew the people to tell her how to navigate the ship. Then there was Saisei, the boy wonder. So full of energy along with a body filled of helpful bones, whenever she wasn't making him do things he was out there laying roots in the community. If Imelda were to ever fuck up and Bella's advice couldn't help her, Saisei's backup net proved to be handy. And lastly, V, the simple one. Imelda didn't have to beat around a bush when it came to giving the woman jobs to do, and there wasn't much pushback from V either. It was all about the money and nothing else, and Imelda could respect that.

Currently sitting on the patio of the local creamery, Imelda sat there in appreciation and contemplation. It wasn't hard for people to find her, her fashion stood out in the sort of old-style fashion of Enna. There were a couple of meetings on her docket of things to do, but she wasn't really fretting over it. Things were going to get done, eventually. They couldn't not, lest everything be for nothing.

Once she spotted her target, Antonetta compared it to the details given to her by the local authorities which in turn came from those other criminals. The photo matched up, why was she doing this in person? Ah, that was a silly question. Why trust people to do a job that you wanted to do correctly? People were just so silly, weren't they? The platinum haired woman with those stark blue eyes looked up at the building in bemusement.

Remember your Italian, Antonetta. Mama would be upset if she slacked, think about the accent and psyche into the mindset of it. She was just a representative of the Enna authorities in this moment after all, right? The funds that were fed to them said so and they weren't allowed to question it.

"Excuse me, Miss Vanetti? I'm Gabriella Ferrari, an officer that works within the Enna providence that was asked to investigate some reports of criminal activity. I was wondering if I could take some of your time after reviewing some suspicious uncoverings found by my colleagues and seeking some clarity."

Showing what was a genuine badge held by a counterfeit cop, she gave a small smile that was unnaturally pleasant for someone who was working in law enforcement. It wasn't like Imelda had done anything wrong though, right? Innocent until proven guilty or something like that.

At the same time, Antonetta was shrewed enough to litter various officers undercover within the surrounding city blocks in case it got a little unsightly. She hated when things got icky. Didn't any girl really?

So, fun fact, Imelda's italian actually wasn't that good. She knew the basics and the such but a lot of more complicated lingo tends to right over her head. Despite that, she understood what this random woman was saying and could almost immediately tell that it was bullshit.

"Mhm. Sure." Imelda took a scoop of gelato and dumped it in her mouth. Basically ignoring this "Gabriella" for a moment before decided to entertain the woman. "First, my families been in the area for three generations, we basically know most of the people as they come and go. To my knowledge, I don't know a Gabriella Ferrari. Second, Ferrari is a northerner family name. All the cars and the such come from up by the mountains, you could have at least come up with a more realistic name. Third, whats it to ya?" Imelda being suspicious wasn't anything knew, it was actually her entire job.

In fact, most of the police would know about her suspicious activity considering that there was an active war going on between the Vanetti and two other families. Being shot at from multiple sides was bound to attract attention. Why it was Imelda and not Fragan, the actual boss, there had to be a good reason. Well, this was bound to happen anyways.

A sigh escaped her lips as she sat back and looked Gabriella in the eyes. "Can I see that badge again, miss? Oh, and feel free to--" A hand was waved towards the empty chair across from her.

Ah, the suspicion. Antonetta would've admitted it was pretty insightful but what kind of lady would she be if she was sloppy about her backstory? It was obvious from the get-go that she could never act as a member of the law enforcement without making herself be a bit more disconnected from the setting of Enna.

"Mhm, that would be correct."

She handed over the badge which sure enough, showed her photo and details which supported the story that she was a legitimate officer of the police. They had given it to her after all, it wasn't even a forgery. After taking a seat, Antonetta continued to explain the nuances of her facade to Imelda.

"I was displaced from the North during the war a couple of years ago since it was closer to the conflict, kind of the reason that I wanted to become a proponent for the law after experiencing what can happen when everything falls apart. Ah, but I don't want to go off on a tangent since I'm sure you're very busy."

Even if it was officially stated that she was unemployed.

"There's been anonymous tips that you are involved in a bit of a gangland conflict going on around these parts, and quite a big figurehead involved in it as well. While investigations will certainly occur irregardless, I thought it would be good to approach you and get your input on these concerning accusations made against you."

Antonetta might've continued straight into the crux of the issue but she wanted to provide a moment to let the information sink in before trying to tackle specifics or maybe she was just playing the part of a fresh officer who was a little naive and fresh to the job that was still optimistic and yet to become worn down by years of the job.

It just gave her some time to study Imelda a bit more.

Inside her, was conflict. As Imelda handed back the badge, she couldn't help but start to worry--for the first time in a long time. On one hand, she would wear her affiliation with pride, as the Vanetti name struck either fear or pride in most Sicilians. On the other hand, if this cop had the right connections, it'd mean that Imelda would end up in a jail cell right next to her great uncle. She had to be coy.

"Oh? Really now? I'm flattered, I guess, but I don't know what they mean by this gang business. I'm just the leader of a community effort to bring back jobs to the area. Some people don't like me, others to the point where they'd want my head. But me? I'm trying my best." Imelda changed her position in the chair, sitting straight up and looking Gabriella in the eye.

"If you want my opinion? I think they're lying to you." There was a little bit of threat in her voice as she said that, as if to lead the other to get out of there. Imelda didn't like threatening cops, though most of them already knew to keep their noses out of what they didn't need to have it in.

"Ah, naturally that is potentially the case. Don't like someone so you spur up awful rumours and slander, certainly I would see a defamation case being made against them if they made such ill-founded accusations which turned out to be untrue."

Antonetta did not however pretend that it wasn't true. Her mother had absolute authority within this authority and if this little blue collar wretch thought that she'd intimidate the Ovide in her own backyard she was poorly mistaken.

Ah but she wasn't Antonetta Ovide right now, was she? She was Gabriella Ferrari, a wide-eyed optimistic and do-gooder of the police force that just wanted to do the best for her country so she feigned a bit of nervousness by her finger idly tapping the table from its previous settled position.

"Alright, now hypothetically, what would you do if they were true?" Imelda's curiosity got the better of her. She didn't want to just come out and say that they were correct, but she had to weigh her options and see what the best course of action would be. If the punishment was light, then Imelda didn't mind doing some time. It would suck, yeah, but a couple of months and community service were no biggie in the grand scheme of things. On the other hand, if she was looking at years then perhaps it would be best to dodge the heat.

"I'm not to familiar with the new administration and their whole policies and whatnot. It's odd, an entire country basically being owned by a company of all things. Dystopian even." Imelda tried her best to make her question seem as normal as possible with context. It's not like someone who feigned innocence would just randomly start asking what-ifs without good--or dumb--reasons.