If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my P-Tang12!!!
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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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"Don McLaughlin, Madam McFarlane," Pierre said, his voice brimming with newfound purpose and dedication. "I cannot thank you enough for this day. If you will excuse me, I must take my leave. I need to return to my boarding house, review the syndication laws, and begin drafting the copyright protections for the Madam's literature immediately. I will be at the corporate office at first light tomorrow."
"Hold on a minute, Pierre," Caleb said, his voice calm but carrying an absolute command that stopped the young lawyer dead in his tracks. Caleb stopped him from leaving just yet.
Caleb let go of Mary-Beth's arm and took a step toward the young man. He smoothly went to reach into his dark, rugged Vaquero satchel resting at his hip.
His hand bypassed the leather flap, reaching deep into the seemingly bottomless dimensional inventory system he possessed. He bypassed the stacks of stolen gold bars, the illicit bearer bonds, and the ammunition, his fingers wrapping securely around a thick, heavy bundle of paper.
He pulled his hand out.
Caleb took out exactly 1,000 dollars worth of crisp, freshly printed hundred dollar bills from his inventory. In 1899, one thousand dollars was not just a bonus, it was an astronomical, life altering fortune. It was enough money to buy a massive plot of land, build a house, and live comfortably for years.
Without a single word of hesitation, Caleb extended his hand and gave the massive stack of bills directly to Pierre.
Pierre stared at the money. He was entirely, completely shocked. His eyes bugged out behind his spectacles, and his hands actually shook as the heavy stack of currency was pressed into his palms. He had never seen that much money in one place in his entire life, let alone held it in his own two hands.
"Sir... Don McLaughlin... I... I cannot accept this," Pierre stammered, entirely terrified by the magnitude of the cash. "My first paycheck is not due until the end of the month, and I haven't even done a single hour of work for you yet! This is far too much!"
Caleb smiled, a warm, fiercely protective expression that brooked absolutely no argument. He placed his hands on the young man's shoulders, locking eyes with him.
"It is not a paycheck, Pierre," Caleb told him, his voice echoing with the profound mentorship of a man building a dynasty. "It is an investment. You are going to be the Chief Corporate Lawyer for the most powerful syndicate in the South now. You represent me. You represent my Madam. And I will not have my chief lawyer operating out of a cramped, leaky boarding house."
Caleb stepped back, pointing a leather-gloved finger at the stunned young man, laying out exactly what he expected the money to be used for.
"Use the money to rent a better room," Caleb instructed firmly. "Or better yet, sign a lease on a proper, respectable house in a safe, upscale neighborhood. You need an environment where you can think clearly."
"Upgrade your clothes," Caleb continued, gesturing to Pierre's worn tweed jacket. "Go to the finest tailor in Saint Denis tomorrow morning. Buy three custom, three piece suits. When you walk into a courtroom, I want the judge to know immediately that you represent serious capital."
"Buy books," Caleb added, pointing at the heavy tomes in Pierre's arms. "Build a massive legal library. Purchase every single volume of constitutional law and corporate precedent you can find. I want you armed with knowledge."
Caleb paused, glancing briefly toward Tilly, who was watching the exchange with wide, awe-struck eyes, before looking back at Pierre.
"And lastly, use the rest of it for whatever many more things you would like to use it for," Caleb finished with a warm chuckle. "Maybe buy a strong, reliable horse as well, to act as a proper mode of transportation. Walking the streets carrying heavy books is beneath your station now."
Pierre stood completely frozen on the cobblestones, clutching the thousand dollars to his chest as if it were a holy relic. Tears of pure, overwhelming gratitude pricked the corners of his eyes. The absolute, unshakeable faith this powerful man was placing in him was the most validating experience of his young life.
"I... I will not let you down, Don McLaughlin," Pierre vowed, his voice trembling with emotion. "I swear it."
"I know you won't, Pierre," Caleb nodded, clapping him gently on the shoulder one last time. "Now go. Build your life. We will see you tomorrow."
With a final, deep bow to Caleb, Mary-Beth, and the girls, his eyes lingering just a fraction of a second longer on Tilly, Pierre turned and walked briskly down the avenue. He walked with a completely new posture, his back straight, his head held high, carrying the weight of a fortune and the absolute protection of the King of Saint Denis.
Caleb watched him go, a deep sense of satisfaction settling into his chest. He turned back to his beautifully dressed family, offering his arm to his legendary author.
"Come on, girls," Caleb smiled, guiding Mary-Beth toward the waiting carriage as the mafia soldiers mounted their horses. "Let's go home."
The girls nodded their heads in silent agreement. They understood completely that they were witnessing the birth of something monumental, not just for Mary-Beth, but for a young man whose life had been forever altered on these very cobblestones.
As the group moved to board the heavy, black lacquered carriage waiting at the curb, Tilly lingered for just a fraction of a moment. She stood near the heavy iron step of the cabin, her hands resting softly against her silk skirts, and she kept her eyes fixed firmly on Pierre's retreating back.
She watched the way he walked down the crowded avenue, his shoulders squared, his head held high, clutching that massive stack of law books like they were the keys to the universe. A soft, involuntary smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
Before she could get completely lost in her daydream, a hand grabbed her elbow.
"Come on, Juliet," Karen Jones teased gently, pulling Tilly toward the open carriage door. "Unless you're planning on running down the street after him to offer your services as his legal secretary, it's time to go."
Tilly flushed a bright, vibrant pink, swatting playfully at Karen's arm as she allowed herself to be pulled up into the luxurious cabin. Molly climbed in gracefully right behind them, arranging her elegant skirts on the plush velvet cushions.
Caleb entered last. He stepped up into the carriage with the smooth, effortless grace of a man who commanded the very ground he walked on. He settled into the rear-facing seat beside Mary-Beth, reaching out to pull the heavy wooden door shut.
The solid, definitive thud of the brass latch engaging sealed them inside their own private, soundproof sanctuary, entirely cutting off the roaring noise of the book buying frenzy happening just a few yards away.
Caleb gave two sharp knocks on the glass partition behind his head.
Up on the driver's box, the coachman immediately flicked the heavy leather reins. The four pristine white draft horses surged forward, their iron shod hooves clattering loudly against the pavement. The carriage seamlessly pulled away from the curb, merging into the bustling traffic of the city center, heavily guarded on all four corners by the mounted, suited mafia soldiers of the Don's elite perimeter detail.
They rode back toward the affluent, quiet western part of the city, heading back to the sprawling Garden District mansion.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was incredibly warm, thick with the lingering adrenaline of the grand launch. But Mary-Beth, whose brilliant mind was always churning, didn't just want to bask in the glow of her literary triumph. She was actively learning the intricacies of the empire Caleb was building. She looked at her lover, her dark eyes filled with genuine curiosity.
On the ride there, Mary-Beth shifted slightly on the velvet cushions and asked Caleb a highly pragmatic business question.
"Caleb," Mary-Beth began, her voice soft but inquisitive. "I understand that we need legal representation, especially with the syndication and the nationwide distribution of the books. But... why did you offer such an incredibly important position to Pierre?"
She held up a hand, wanting to clarify her stance immediately. "Not that I am looking down on Pierre, of course! He seems like a genuinely wonderful, incredibly polite man. But he just graduated from the university. He explicitly told us that he just passed his bar examination last week. He doesn't have much experience under his belt yet. Shouldn't the chief corporate lawyer of an business this massive be someone with decades of courtroom battles behind them?"
Caleb looked at her, his blue eyes shining with a mixture of profound pride and deep affection. He loved that she wasn't just sitting back and letting him run things, she was actively questioning his motives, trying to understand the mechanics of power.
Caleb smiled, a slow, highly calculated expression that spoke volumes about his understanding of human nature.
"That is exactly the question you should be asking, Alice," Caleb praised her, using her high society alias with a fond chuckle. "It is a perfectly logical concern. But, just like I told Pierre back there on the sidewalk... I chose him specifically because he is still a newcomer."
Caleb leaned back against the plush velvet, crossing his long legs. He laid out the grim, uncompromising reality of the Gilded Age legal system for the women in the carriage.
"The senior lawyers in this city, the men with decades of experience, the silver haired partners who have large experiences and connections downtown, they are heavily compromised," Caleb explained, his voice taking on the cold, hard edge of the mob boss. "They have spent the last thirty years taking bribes from Leviticus Cornwall, covering up the financial crimes of Mayor Lemieux, and turning a blind eye to the extortion rackets run by Angelo Bronte. They are entirely entrenched in the corruption of the old money."
He looked at Mary-Beth, ensuring she understood the strategic vulnerability. "If I hired one of those senior lawyers, I would never truly know who they were working for. I would constantly have to wonder if they were selling my operational secrets to a rival tycoon, or if they were subtly leaving loopholes in your royalty contracts to benefit the publishing executives."
Caleb gestured casually with his hand, visualizing the young man they had just left behind. "But Pierre? Pierre is fresh. He is completely out of the influence of the established power dynamics, and he has not been touched by the city's money corruption yet. He has no old masters to serve. Because he is a blank slate, it makes it much, much easier for me to control the narrative, and also directed him precisely how I want my legal framework built."
Molly, listening intently from the opposite seat, nodded her head slowly. "You are buying his absolute loyalty before anyone else can corrupt him."
"Exactly, Molly," Caleb agreed. "By handing him the keys to the kingdom on his very first day, I have ensured that his entire career, his entire livelihood, is inherently tied to the success of this family. He will fight for us in a courtroom with a ferocity that no senior partner could ever muster, because he knows he owes us everything."
But then, Caleb's highly analytical expression softened into something a bit more intuitive.
"And lastly," Caleb added, his voice dropping into a quieter, more personal register. "It is because I have a feeling about him. When I looked in that young man's eyes, I saw absolute, unshakeable determination. I have a gut feeling that this man is going to become one of the most successful, brilliant lawyers later in the history of Saint Denis. I want him on my payroll before the rest of the world realizes his worth."
Mary-Beth tilted her head, thoroughly intrigued. She trusted Caleb implicitly, but she wanted to know the root of his confidence. She asked him, "What makes you feel that way? Is it just the way he spoke?"
Caleb just responded by tapping the side of his own head, an enigmatic, knowing smile on his face. He couldn't exactly tell her that he knew the future history of the timeline, so he framed it as the honed instincts of a survivor.
"It's just my instinct telling me, sweetheart," Caleb said smoothly. "The same exact instinct I had when we were back in Valentine. You have meet Jasper haven't you."
The girls all nodded. They knew Jasper well, the desperate, struggling young man Caleb had saved from the basement of the gunsmith at Rhodes, who was now running Caleb's incredibly lucrative frontier restaurant.
"I took a massive chance on Jasper," Caleb pointed out, drawing the perfect parallel. "He was just a kid who was kidnapped and doesn't have anyone for him anymore. He had absolutely no experience running a high volume business. But my instincts told me he had a good heart. Now, look at him. The young man I saved has become a spectacularly great manager for the restaurant."
Caleb emphasized the most critical point of his entire argument. "And most importantly, Jasper could be trusted to handle the money. He handles thousands of dollars in cash every single week for the restaurant, and he doesn't steal even a single dime for himself. He balances the ledgers flawlessly because he values the trust I placed in him more than the money itself. I see that exact same unwavering integrity in Pierre Toussaint."
Hearing what he had just logically and passionately explained, the girls finally understood. The initial skepticism vanished completely. Mary-Beth, Karen, Tilly, and Molly all nodded their heads in synchronized agreement. It was a masterclass in long-term corporate empire building.
But Caleb was not a man who could stay serious for too long when surrounded by his family. With the heavy business lecture concluded, a mischievous, highly playful glint appeared in his sharp blue eyes.
He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, and shifted his gaze directly toward Tilly. To which then, Caleb put in a bit of highly targeted, merciless teasing words for the young woman.
"Besides," Caleb said, his voice dripping with absolute, brotherly amusement. "I couldn't just let the man walk away. I saw exactly how the two of you shared that look after your little accidental bump on the sidewalk."
Tilly's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Her jaw dropped open in sheer horror.
"I saw the electricity from ten feet away, Tilly," Caleb laughed, thoroughly enjoying her misery. "I figured the least I could do as the Don of this city was to put the man on my payroll so you would have an excuse to visit the offices every now and then."
Tilly let out a loud, incredibly shy groan, burying her burning face directly into her gloved hands. "Oh, sweet lord... not you too, Caleb!" she muffled through her fingers. "I swear, I am never leaving the mansion again!"
Karen let out a loud, obnoxious cackle, slapping her knee. "See! I told you, Tilly! Even the Don saw you making heart eyes at the lawyer!"
Mary-Beth and Molly burst into genuine, ringing laughter, completely abandoning their aristocratic composure to join in on the teasing. Caleb leaned back, a wide, joyous grin on his face. Everyone shared a wonderful, unburdened laugh in the carriage as it rolled smoothly through the affluent streets. The heavy, dark weight of their outlaw past was entirely gone, replaced by the warm, simple joy of a family looking forward to the future.
Not long after that, the carriage slowed its pace. They had reached the wealthy western edge of the city.
The procession passed through the towering wrought iron gates, rolling smoothly over the crushed white gravel of the sprawling Garden District estate. The carriage pulled to a gentle halt right in front of the sweeping marble staircase of the mansion.
Silvio, who had ridden alongside the driver, stepped down and pulled the heavy door open.
Everyone got off the carriage, their spirits incredibly high. Karen, Tilly, and Molly immediately gathered their skirts and hurried up the marble steps, eager to get inside to take off their heavy hats and tell Abigail and Sadie all about the massive crowds at the publishing event. Mary-Beth lingered for a moment, pressing a quick kiss to Caleb's cheek, before following her sisters inside.
When Caleb finally got off, adjusting his suit jacket in the warm afternoon sun, he turned toward the sprawling, meticulously landscaped front gardens of the estate.
He was surprised to find that John Marston and Arthur Morgan were waiting for him.
The two veteran outlaws were standing near a massive, blooming rose bush a few dozen yards away from the main entrance. They were leaning casually against a low stone wall, currently smoking some hand rolled cigarettes. They looked entirely out of place amidst the manicured orchids and Roman statues, still wearing their worn leather boots and dusty vests, but they looked incredibly relaxed.
When they saw Caleb stepping down from the carriage, they immediately pinched the glowing cherries off their cigarettes, tossing the butts into the gravel. They pushed themselves off the stone wall and approached him. Caleb met them halfway on the gravel path. He looked between the two men, noticing a strange, highly unusual nervous energy radiating off of John. Arthur, on the other hand, looked like the cat that had just eaten the canary.
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Name: Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 8/10
- Agility: 8/10
- Perception: 9/10
- Stamina: 8/10
- Charm: 8/10
- Luck: 9/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl MAX)
- Rifle (Lvl MAX)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl MAX)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl MAX)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl MAX)
- Sneaking (Lvl MAX)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl MAX)
- Poker (Lvl MAX)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl MAX)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl MAX)
- Dead Eye (Lvl MAX)
- Bow (Lvl MAX)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl MAX)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl MAX)
- Crafting (Lvl MAX)
- Persuasion (Lvl MAX)
- Mental Fortitude (Lvl MAX)
- Cooking (Lvl MAX)
- Teaching (Lvl MAX)
- Trilingual Language Proficiency - G, I, & C (Lvl MAX)
- Inventory System (Permanent - 100x100x100)
- Acting (Lvl MAX)
- Alcohol Resistance (Lvl MAX)
- Treasure Hunter (Lvl MAX)
- Drugs Resistance (Lvl MAX)
- Business (Lvl MAX)
- Leadership (Lvl MAX)
Money: 3,222 dollars and 60 cents
Inventory: 284,392 dollars and 61 cents, 11 gold nuggets, 74 gold bars, 1 Double Action, 1 Schofield, 2 Colm's Schofields, 1 land deed (Parcel), 1 Mauser, 1 Semi Auto Pistol, 1 Lancaster Repeater, 1 Old Wood Jewelry Box, 1 F.F Mausoleum small brass key, 1 Ruby, 1 Braithwaites Land Deed, 1 Broken Pirate Sword, 1 Milton's Safety Deposit Key, 1 Senator Pendleton Sealed Envelope, Proof Of Marlin-Thorne Firearms Co., 10 Dynamites, 1 LeMat, 1 M1899, 1 Carcano, 1 Ownership deed of Doyle's Tavern, 3 Diamonds, & Important Documents & Deeds Of Cornwall
Bank: -