Thanatophobia | VICTOR ZSASZ [DISCONTINUED]

ten | the scarecrow

Annabelle couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she listened to Oswald tell Carmine what happened to him since they'd last seen each other on the day that Carmine had killed Liza.

While Gabriel kept glancing over at Annabelle and eyeing her as she continued to chuckle to herself, Oswald only looked at Carmine, who was simply staring ahead of himself and walking even further into the nightclub with the rest of them close behind.

Annabelle ignored Gabriel and let out a short laugh, while Oswald told Carmine, "And then, the worst of it. Maroni had me locked inside a sedan and tried to crush me alive. So, well, you can imagine my concern. Maroni's not a man to let things go, and I fear he will come after me in retaliation."

Carmine asked him, "Were you planning to clean up the place?"

Oswald glanced over at Annabelle and saw the wide smirk she had on her face before he looked back at Carmine and said, "What? Oh. Uh, I can. If you like."

Carmine said to him, "It needs it." Then he pointed at a small puddle of blood on the floor and asked him, "Is that blood?"

Oswald quickly turned his head to look down at the spot Carmine had pointed at before he nodded his head and said, "Perhaps." Then he quickly limped after Carmine and said to him, "But, Don Falcone—"

Carmine said to him, "While you're at it, maybe you could do something about the design?"

Oswald replied, "The design?"

Carmine told him, "It reeks of Fish Mooney. What do you think about the lamps?"

Oswald forced a chuckle before he said, "Don Falcone, maybe you didn't hear me. I need your protection. Maroni will surely try and kill me."

Annabelle shook her head with a sigh before she chuckled to herself when Carmine said, "Yes. The lamps should go."

Oswald said to Carmine, "Don Falcone, please. Maroni wants my scalp, and you'd have me redecorate."

Carmine quickly turned to look at Oswald and only said once he was standing in front of Oswald, "This nightclub makes a lot of money. Without money, we lose influence. Without influence, we lose control. And without control, Maroni killing you is no longer a hypothetical. It's a foregone conclusion. That's why I wanna reopen it. Under your care."

As he placed a hand against his own chest, Oswald asked, "I can have the club? It's mine?"

Carmine told him, "You've earned it. Your days of sneaking around spying on Maroni are over. You're with me now. Publicly. Things are gonna be much different. So spruce up the place. Get it open. As for Maroni, leave him to me."

Then Carmine turned around and left the club, but not before he nodded his head at Annabelle, who only bowed her head in return.

It was only when Carmine was gone that Annabelle turned to Oswald and asked with a raised eyebrow, "Do you even know how to run a nightclub?"