julianna ross

Julianna wasn’t ignoring bad omens. She didn’t believe in them anyway. She wasn’t uncertain about a thing regarding Zelda. In fact, if there was anything in the world she was certain about, it was that she wanted to and was going to marry Zelda, and they would be together and they would be happy... just as soon as she sorted this thing out with her father. She couldn’t help but laugh, honestly, which was actually a rather nice feeling considering the shit day she’d been having so far. Trust Lillian Solano to bring that out in her. “What do you want to talk about?” Julianna asked her, still with a ghost of a smile on her face. “Did you really come here because you want to have a nice chat about my wedding? Zelda’s really the person to talk to about that.” She was much more interested in the details. Julianna just wanted to be married.

“ We don’t have to. We could always go on the offensive? Strike at them before anyone thinks to come back at us” Jonathan replied, knowing that waiting around for another attack was not what anyone wanted. He was a paid killers essentially and he would do what was asked of hi, He just needed the go ahead. “ The only problem is they would come back at us with full force so we would need to make a plan to prevent that from happening” He offered before shaking his head. Zelda was all he had left in many ways and he knew he’d rather die than let anything happen to her. Was she at risk? Yes, but so was everyone and Jonathan was making it his lifes work to make sure no one else was hurt on his watch. “  I’ve made sure we had security details and surveillance specifically so we can feel safe enough. I’m not going to pretend like were all immortal here, but I wont let anything happen to anyone. “

Go on the offensive? Julianna would be lying if she said she hadn’t considered that. She half wanted to burn Los Angeles to the ground just to make sure she got the person who’d done this to her father. She was nearly running herself into the ground looking for any scrap of evidence… why the hell not? But then Julianna knew she couldn’t do that. If not because it would be impossible to pull off than because she still had her family to think about. “I’m not afraid of them. Any of them,” Julianna told him, wanting it to be clear that just because she was concerned didn’t mean she was afraid. They were two very different things. The Solanos, the Navarros… no, she wasn’t afraid of any of them. But she did know she had to be careful if she made any moves. “I know you won’t. I just… Maybe you’re right.” She was tired, letting out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair. “Does it make me look weak if I do nothing?” Even if she didn’t know who to go after for this. Should she go after someone? Anyone?

When he saw the flat of her palm, his face relaxed into a barely present smile. “If I’d known you’d have said yes, I’d have tried to stick a B12 and a vitamin C or some shit in there too,” He reached for his back pocket, feeling for the porky the pig pez dispenser. He cocked the cartoon pig’s head back until the pill slid free against her hand. Did she think he’s stupid enough o offer a Ross something he couldn’t deliver? “I got a lot of guys on lookout. I got customers keeping ears out. If something can be found, we’ll find it.” He offered, taking the seat oppositional to her. There were a lot of people who wanted answers, but few more than Marcus. What could he do Ross sized favour owed to him for uncovering the truth about their dead daddy? He was like one of those fish, who kept growing the bigger the tank. He’d gotten as big as he would without rapid expansion, rapid expansion that the Ross’s would never give away for nothing. “Until then, that might help your day run a little smoother, no?”  

He couldn’t help it, he was amused. A small smile threatened to appear at the corner of his lips. At this range, she really would have to be world’s worst shot to not kill him and even further, the world’s singly most inept person. He almost wanted her to do it. It would be the moment she would regret for the rest of her life, because she had unwittingly kicked an entire nest of vipers. The moment he was fired at was the moment that the Navarros would tear this city apart and turn the city water red with blood.

He tilted his head and then laughed, “Right, I had forgotten that you haven’t quite grasped the nature of establishing necessary networks.” His eyebrows raised. He had exposed himself in that moment, his disdain for people who had been handed something without having to do the work and understand what it truly tool was purely visible. “I’m not worried about it because I esteem you to be smarter than the average bear, in that you know that firing on me will be the beginning to your end.” He leaned on the door frame, and ran a hand through his hair. Roman did not like threats, and he had long since stopped making them. He found them to be the cheap words of the powerless.

“Now that we’re done with the pissing match–” Roman waved a hand, entirely already exhausted of the unpleasantries of an insecure person, “The way I see it, if someone was ballsy enough to kill your father, then perhaps they’re ballsy enough to knock off the rest of us too.” He wondered if they had a nice funeral, not that Victor Ross deserved it, but the family did. He had, in his usual style, sent flowers. They were not for the dead, but the living. His death was business, just as Roman’s knew that his own death would be business. Isla’s had not been business, she had been likely discarded like trash, and Roman had been robbed of her body, and thus the last Sacrament.

Oh, Julianna had quite a network. It was just that the likes of Roman Navarro weren’t part of it. He was inserting himself where he didn’t belong. He wanted to play with the big dogs, act like he was bigger and better than her because why? Because he was a man? Because he was a few years older? It didn’t bother her; she didn’t mind if he underestimated her. In fact, it might be preferable. Let him think she was an incompetent idiot; it would give her a leg up over him. He could say she was smart, but it was worthless if in the same breath he was talking down to her.

He was right, though. She wouldn’t just shoot him here in this office. If she felt it necessary to take out Roman Navarro, she wouldn’t do it herself. But she wouldn’t promise him he wouldn’t get shot if he came in uninvited again. “Thank you,” she responded flatly, not necessarily sarcastic but without enthusiasm either. She wasn’t going to show him too much emotion; she would be the picture of cool. She wanted to backhand him for talking about her father so casually. Truly, it had been a ballsy move. But it also had been ballsy of him to send flowers, so was he really one to talk? 

“Perhaps,” Julianna agreed because it wasn’t as if she hadn’t considered that possibility, worried about her brother and sister and Zelda on a daily basis. “What do you suggest? We all team up, put on some capes, and call ourselves the Justice League?” She doubted he was here to form an alliance; he had to know she suspected him and his family as much as she suspected the Solanos or anyone else.

A laugh bubbled out of her, not to mention noticing Julianna’s sarcasm she couldn’t help but be utterly amused. “Very kind of you but there’s no need. If I decide to do something about my crush, I’ll take care of it myself. I always do,” she informed her, wearing a self-satisfactory smile. It’d be a Romeo and Juliet type of a story. There were feuding families, with disapproving and grumpy elders– in fact Lila was looking at one. The public and especially Rosses and Navarros targeting Adrian was something Lila had been used to so from the moment Julianna asked about her brother, Lila knew which one she had in mind but she couldn’t not resist pointing out she had two, if only to provoke the other. “Yes, his wife left him. As for how he’s doing,” a smirk curled her lips. “You’re likely to see for yourself soon enough– after all, the statistics claim about 70% of marriages in our country end in divorce,” she concluded with a wink.

Maybe Lillian just liked hearing herself talk. So Julianna let her go off, talking about fall weddings and spring weddings. If Lillian was attempting to butter her up with compliments, she really shouldn’t. Julianna didn’t like ass kissing; she liked when people got what they wanted through hard work and dedication. Lillian could call her beautiful all she wanted. It wasn’t that Julianna didn’t think the same, but still, she wasn’t interested. She gave another tight smile as Lillian went on about Julianna refusing to talk business. And what kind of business were they supposed to be talking? Julianna wouldn’t say a word to Lillian, not unless Lillian offered something up first. 

“Good for you,” said Julianna, her words sarcastic but at the same time, she meant them. Julianna appreciated a woman who went after what she wanted. She just didn’t want that thing to be her brother. Not that Julianna believed for one second that Lillian meant it. She leaned back, her expression changing to something of amusement. “Is that seventy percent of all straight marriages or…?” She and Zelda wouldn’t be part of that statistic. Then again, didn’t every person who got married think the same thing?

Julianna was never one for small talk, Lucia had known this even before her attempt, but it had proven fruitless. Maybe indulging in talk that could be work related would be a better distraction for her boss. With the amount of eyes that had been on Valentina when Lucia had spotted her in Hoppers it wasn’t suprising that word had gotten back to Julianna.” No, I didn’t see anyone unwelcome on my in today.” She paused to take a drink from the cup in her hands.” But I did see Valentina Navarro in here not too long ago which I’m guessing you heard about.I had talked with her at the bar for a bit. It didn’t seem like she had any big reason for being around, though I doubt if she did she would have told me of it.”She remarked, trying to remember anything else from the encounter in case Julianna had asked. 

Yes, she’d known Valentina Navarro had been here. A Navarro didn’t walk into her bar without Julianna knowing about five seconds later. It had been a night Zelda had been there, and Julianna had still gotten three texts before she’d gotten one from Zelda. Yes, her people were definitely on top of things. 

Lucia, good as she was, could be a little naïve, it seemed. Didn’t seem to have any big reason for being around? Doubtful. Navarros didn’t do anything for no reason. Julianna knew this because she wouldn’t show up to El Diablo for no reason, and it only made sense that Valentina would be the same. “Trust me,” she told Lucia, not even bothering to try to hide her usual tired tone this time. “A Navarro wouldn’t come here for no reason. Let me guess. She sat at the bar the whole time?” Julianna had already gotten the rundown, but she wouldn’t mind seeing how Lucia perceived the situation. 

Lies usually easily fell from Lillian lips, however this wasn’t one of those times. One, checking up on rivals was a perfect way to get to know them, figure them out even. The Solano wasn’t there to collect information regarding the mafia world, she was more interested in the way Julianna spoke, reacted, moved. Two, as hard it was for the other leader to believe, the blonde had come to test the waters. Hell, she was ready to reveal useful information, maybe seek an unlikely alliance too but something told her she wouldn’t find an alley of any kind in Julianna. Alas, the brunette decided to play along, much to Lillian’s surprise. The blonde was thrilled yes, maybe she wasn’t wrong to be infatuated with the other woman. To be fair any woman in a position of power fascinated her. Julianna asked a question of her own and Lila clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Which one? I have two,” she reminded with a light-hearted wink. “What about your brother, Julianna? I’ve always had a little crush on him, you know.”

Julianna said nothing as Lillian requested a drink as well. She didn’t roll her eyes because she was still in Lillian’s line of sight, and Julianna knew better than to turn her back to a Solano. She might as well just offer herself up for slaughter. But still, she poured the two drinks for them and passed one to Lillian before taking her seat again. “Zelda can’t decide if she’d rather get married in spring or fall,” Julianna lied easily, absolutely not willing to say it was because she was too focused on Victor’s death. The lie was plausible enough. 

An amused and still sarcastic smile crossed her lips at Lillian’s words. A crush on Isaac. Right. But Julianna did her best to look relaxed and comfortable, not wanting to give Lillian the impression that all her incessant questions—or her presence at all—were rather irksome. “If you leave your number, I’ll pass it along,” Julianna said, scrunching up her nose. “And I meant the one whose wife left him.” Her words were blunt, though she doubted Lillian was all that sensitive.

Lying was always easy. It rolled off his tongue with easy, his body language selling the lie. It was a skill he had polished since was young, and he tended to his lies like houseplants, watering them and remembering them. It was only upon digging that perhaps one might discover that there the roots were made of plastic and the plant was fake all along. He knew that desperation well, he knew that grief well. There was something delicious about seeing on other’s that made him feel better - what was the saying? Misery loved company?

He loved the game. It was a gamble on his life, and it made him feel alive. Nothing more so than right now, seeing the damage up close and personal. He had been escorted back to the office to see a woman completely out of her depths. She was punching at something that she didn’t know would take her goddamn arm off. Roman hoped she landed on her feet, because he wanted to consume her further. Swallow her whole, this arena was his. She had the same cheek bones as her father, and the small drip of blood that escaped the bullet wound in temple came to memory. “The streets have been quiet. I’m sure your soldiers will confirm this - but whomever did this was highly skilled.” He leaned in the doorway, arms crossing. “I was escorted back, I assumed that your people had better sense than to attempt to kill me on a friendly visit.” 

Julianna looked up, and stared into the face of Roman Navarro. It was tempting to open the drawer to her right, pull out the pistol she kept in there, and shoot him in the face. There was the very real possibility that he was the one who’d murdered her father or been the one to order the hit. But even if it hadn’t been him, even if it had been a Solano or someone else… she still wanted to shoot that bastard in the face.

Instead, she opened the drawer, just enough that she’d be able to reach it if she needed to. Roman wouldn’t be armed; he’d mentioned being escorted back, but he also would have been thoroughly checked before he’d ever be allowed in, especially before he’d been allowed back here. 

His words weren’t an admission of guilt; like her, Roman Navarro was the kind of man who knew how to get information. He may well have had more people on his payroll inside the LAPD than she did. Even if he knew every detail of the crime, it could have been just because he’d gotten access to the police reports, crime scene photos.

Her jaw clenched, annoyed mostly because he was right. This person was highly skilled, having left not a trace. But also annoyed because he very well may have been complimenting himself. If only she just fucking knew who. “Not sure I’d call this a friendly visit,” Julianna responded coolly, mostly because she wasn’t sure anything between her and Navarro could ever be friendly. “And I’m not sure you shouldn’t be worried about that.” No, no one would fire at him. For now, anyway. But let him think they might.

He looked over towards Julianna and he nodded briefly, without saying a word. He believed it, because he understood people. He understood how careless and messy they were. “People don’t know when to stop until people stop them. If they think they believe can get away with anything, they’ll try to and that’s when they get messy. It may take time, which is stupid, I wont lie. But someone’s going to slip up and by then we’ll be ready. “

Jonathan had to be someone she trusted. Julianna didn’t trust easily, but Zelda Quinn was the one person outside her family whom she’d come to trust with her life. So if she trusted Zelda, she knew she had to trust Jonathan. But he’d proven already that he was worthy of that trust. Plus, Julianna liked that he was straightforward, methodical, and to the point. He always had a different perspective, saw things Julianna didn’t. So he was valuable. 

At his words, Julianna’s fist clenched under the desk. People didn’t know when to stop? The person who had done this had already gone too far? Who might be next? Her little sister? Her fiancée? No, Julianna would sooner die than let anything happen to those she cared about most. While she appreciated Jonathan’s straightforward perspective, it really wasn’t what she needed to hear at the moment. “Yeah, but how far do we have to let them go before we stop them?” she asked, more to herself than to him. How far would they push? Was Victor the target? Or was Victor targeted to get at her? Or Isaac? “Do I have to worry about Zelda?” It was another question that was more rhetorical than anything, but Zelda being safe was the one thing they would likely always be one hundred percent in agreement on.

The combination of fear and guilt that Valentina felt was perfectly hidden behind her smile, shifting her body towards the other woman. Within the moment she saw her, Valentina convinced herself that she was the only one between the two that knew the truth, despite not actually knowing the fact. “Maybe I just wanted to check out my competition, I do manage a bar as well.” She was nothing if not courteous, sending a thank you towards the bartender before taking a sip. Not bad, though it’s pretty hard to fuck up a whiskey neat.

Julianna knew Valentina wasn’t here to “check out her competition.” She knew this because she and Valentina were similar, and Julianna would never go to El Diablo to “check out her competition.” There would be a motive behind it, something deeper. So naturally, Julianna assumed Valentina had a motive, too. Julianna gave her bartender a nod when he returned with the drinks, and she slid her drink over so it was close in front of her, but she didn’t take a sip.

“Your bar was doing just fine last I heard,” Julianna responded. Sure, she didn’t know her financial situation exactly, but obviously she checked up on the Navarro family. She knew El Diablo was never empty. “Try again.” If Valentina was going to feed her a lie, she needed to feed Julianna a better one.

“ Yeah, a drink sounds fantastic.” Lucia eagarly agreed knowing this was probably the only thing that could be a pick me up for Julianna, well except Zelda who was pretty busy at the bar. “ Let me just grab some-” She hadn’t finished her sentence before spotting fresh glasses sitting on a table by the door, they usally kept some there in case of need in meetings though Lucia wasn’t opposed to running out and getting some. It wasn’t that far after all. “ Glasses.” Lucia finally finished her thought as she quickly grabbed up two of them and headed back towards the desk and opening the bottle. After pouring the scotch into the two cups, she slid one over to Julianna and took the other for herself. “ Business is doing good, it was packed when I came in.” Mindnumbing small talk, but hopefully it’d be able to lead to some form of distraction.

She was sure she’d hear something soon enough. Julianna wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn’t. Though Lucia probably knew she’d been about to. Lucia was smart; it was why Julianna kept her around. Julianna had never been the most friendly, but she was working on it. As the official head of the Ross family now, she needed to cultivate a circle, and she thought Lucia could be part of that. “Right,” she agreed, though Julianna knew her voice probably sounded clipped. 

Her hand moved to her forehead, rubbing gingerly to try to make the headache go away. But she thought the scotch might end up being better than that. Lucia started talking, but realized immediately that Julianna already had glasses. These days, she was always prepared to drink. Lucia poured them their drinks and passed one to Julianna, which she took and immediately drank before setting it back down. “Yeah,” Julianna responded, never really one for idle chatter. “I hope you didn’t see any unwelcome guests out there.” Julianna may or may not have seen a certain Navarro hanging around her bar, and she definitely didn’t like it.

God, this woman could talk, couldn’t she? If Julianna was going to have to deal with excessive blathering, she was going to need a drink. It was lucky she’d swiped a bottle of scotch from the bar before coming back here. She snorted at Lillian’s suggestion that she was a modern woman, and therefore might be in an open relationship. Maybe that was fine for other people, but not for her; Zelda was the only woman she was interested in, thank you very much. 

But despite Lillian’s objectionable words, Julianna reached across the desk to accept the woman’s congratulations. Julianna was having a shitty day, but it was hard to feel quite so shitty when she was thinking about Zelda. “We haven’t set a date yet,” Julianna replied, which was true, but even if it weren’t, she wasn’t going to tell a Solano about her wedding plans.

Lillian’s roundabout words told Julianna that she was here to play games, not share information. If she had any solid proof that a Navarro was responsible for this, Julianna probably wouldn’t have believe it anyway. What Julianna really wanted to know was who she had to fire for letting a Solano come back here without any warning, but the last thing Julianna wanted Lillian to know was that security around here was apparently shit.

“I know better than to think you came here to check up on an old friend,” said Juliana with a smile, albeit a fake one. She’d play along. For now. “How’s your family? Your brother?” Her father was dead. Her uncle was in prison. Her little cousin was apparently a boxer. And her brother was on the outs with his wife. Yeah, Julianna made it her business to know as much as she damn well could. 

Julianna had known of Lillian Solano for a long time. She’d known of all the Solanos. She also knew that most people, at least most people close to LiIlian, called her Lila. If it annoyed her that Julianna was calling her that, it was a surefire way to ensure that Julianna would keep calling her that. Childish? Maybe. But Julianna didn’t care. This woman might be partly responsible for her father’s death, after all. Julianna wasn’t much interested in playing nice.

"Cute,” she responded with a sarcastic smile, half her mouth quirking up. “I’m incredibly flattered, but I’m engaged.” Lillian Solano was a beautiful woman, certainly, but she was not the beautiful woman Julianna Ross wanted, and she wouldn’t be even if she hadn’t been a Solano. “So why don’t you tell me what you’re really here for?” Knowing Lillian, even asking directly might not get Julianna the answer she was looking for.

He shook his head, barely a movement at all really but it was written all over his face Marcus was no better off for spending his day chasing up Ross loose ends. “No,” he confirmed. Everyone held a healthy amount of fear for the Ross siblings, Marcus included. But he’d come into his own among them. Ten years and he’d never strayed or wavered, if anything, he was a high spirited man in their company. From an eager kid to a man who could move a metric ton if you needed him to; there was a certain comfort that had been built among himself and the Ross children he’d come up behind. “Actually thought you could use a xanny.”

It was a good natured jab, but underneath his jovial tone there was sincerity. She didn’t look like she’d been sleeping much these days. It wasn’t his place, but even if he held no love for the Ross’s, a weak leader leaves the whole team vulnerable. A team he had buried himself so deeply into it would take a bullet or bars to remove him. If he looked out for the top, the top was in a better position to look out for him.

No. Of course it was no. Every time she asked anyone if they had anything, the answer was always a resounding God damn fucking no. Julianna clenched her fist under the desk, knowing it wasn’t Marcus she was angry at and reminding herself not to lash out at him. He hadn’t done anything but what she’d asked him after all.

He walked in with the same stoic expression on his face that he normally kept in place of a smile. He didn’t want anyone to see beyond the soldier he still was and the expression was just natural at this point. He had a tendency to remain professional even around his future sister in law. It was the soldier in him “ Nothing on that front yet. But the surveillance detail should pick up something before it gets anywhere near us. Someone’s gonna mess up soon. I’ve been keeping an eye on things’

Before he even said anything, Julianna knew there wouldn’t be any good news. Why would there be? She was probably a fool for believing she’d ever find out who did this. But that didn’t really matter. She was going to try, and she was going to push, and she was going to run herself into the ground before she gave up. She wasn’t at all surprised when Jonathan said there was nothing, delivering the words with the same steely expression he always wore. Julianna was used to it by now.

She let out a loud sigh, dropping her chin into her hand and putting her elbow on her desk. She was getting tired of hearing day in and day out that they still had a whole lot of nothing. “That’s what I keep telling myself,” Julianna answered because she’d firmly believed there was no way the person or people responsible hadn’t made a mistake. Yet she’d still turned up nothing. “Do you really believe it?” Jonathan would tell her the truth; he never really sugar coated anything. 

While Lucia herself was an arms dealer and that didn’t necessarily make her best for invitagations, she did have some skills that helped. She often met with people for dealings and checking them out for future dealings giving her the oppurtinity to hear things as she was out, but nothing she heard had been fruitful yet. “ I’m afraid any news I have right now isn’t the kind you’re looking for.” She admitted as she walked farther into the office. Despite having her own conflicting feelings about her place in the family, she didn’t like seeing Julianna like this. She had known what it felt like to be helpless and she only wish she could help more. “ But I did look into the guys I had overheard at the black hollywood meeting, and it looks like we can write off any talk from them.” Lucia attempted to sound reassuring, but it wasn’t good news as helpful as narrowing down the list of suspects was right now they needed something more.

At Lucia’s voice, Julianna looked up, leaning back in her chair. Just by the overall demeanor the other woman had when coming into the room, Julianna knew it wasn’t going to be good news. If there was something, she thought there would be some kind of spark, some kind of positive energy when Lucia came in. But instead, she started with the words “I’m afraid,” and Julianna wanted to hurl something across the room.

Of course, it wasn’t Lucia’s fault, and Julianna didn’t want her to think it was. So she did her best to keep herself in check and not show her disappointment. “Okay, thanks for looking into it anyway,” Julianna said with a week smile, not sure she was hiding her disappointed tone all that well. She was grateful in a way to have one suspect crossed off, but she still had about a thousand more to go. “Want a drink?” she asked, indicating the bottle of scotch on the desk that she’d poached from the bar before coming back here.

The voice Julianna heard was not the voice of the person she’d been expecting. Her head snapped up, and she found herself looking into the face of Lillian Solano. While Julianna found it doubtful that Lila herself was the one who murdered Victor, the Solano family themselves were obvious suspects. “Lila,” Julianna said calmly, not wanting the woman to know just how tired she was. Or how annoyed she was that someone–several someones–had let a Solano get in here without giving Julianna any warning. Julianna sat up straight, pushing her hair back off her face, needing to remain composed while in the presence of a Solano. “Please come in,” she said sarcastically, considering Lila had already come in without being invited. The woman was likely just being a tease, saying she had any information. Why would Lila Solano bring her any information? But Julianna would entertain the notion anyway. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Though she wasn’t sure she actually thought it was a pleasure.