kingpin ⦾ eight
pairing: robert“bob” floyd x ofc!emery young
word count: 3263
warnings: pretty mild chap tbh, issues at the casino, digging into emery’s past, meeting with richard, morgan thinks emery is hiding something,
summary: in which emery meets morgan floyd
author’s note: hiatus be damned 😂 i’ve posted two new bob fics and am starting a whole stripper!rhett movement as well. enjoy
seven | kingpin | nine
Bob tapped his fingers on the table as he watched the second hand on the clock slowly tick its way around. He wasn’t surprised that his father had called a meeting, but he was surprised that he’d called it during work hours. It made him antsy having Richard and their closest confidants in the conference room while Emery was next door. She hadn’t been brought up to speed, but most importantly, they weren’t sure if they could trust her yet.
Coyote sat to Bob’s immediate right, as it had been for a long time. His presence always calmed Bob whenever Richard called these meetings. Most of the time they were good and productive, but other times a phone call to Bob for any updates would have sufficed.
Bob knew what this meeting was about. He was bringing everyone up to speed on Decker’s disappearance. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, sat at the table to Bob’s far left. They had previously served under Richard’s orders, and while the men had grown older and phased out of their roles, they were still Richard’s most loyal men. Everyone else at the table was under Bob’s command, since Richard had been slowly phasing himself out of the business.
If you asked Bob, he was stalling. He didn’t really want to get out, but Heather had given him an ultimatum. She wanted to retire happily with no more death and bloodshed knocking at their door. She didn’t want to lose her husband before his time, and she’d been patient for years. Waiting for the day their son was old enough to take over, but the day couldn’t come fast enough. Though she hated the idea of her son being the target, Bob thrived in the environment. There had been a steady decline in deaths amongst their men with Bob at the head of the table.
Reuben “Payback” Fitch flanked Coyote’s right side. He owned a boxing gym not too far away, where Bob liked to spend his early mornings training with Coyote. The men were all close. Young in age and had proven themselves worthy of a seat at the table.
At Bob’s immediate left was Halo, and to her left was the spot typically reserved for Decker. Dominic Decker, who had been their accountant up until recently, but had decided late one night to throw in the towel and retire. Something no one took lightly.
Even Ice and Mav had understood the process of being phased out. They were still loyal to Richard, but no longer handling a lot of the heavy grunt work, even if Mav would argue to whoever was listening that he was still as fit as the younger guys.
Bob knew the two older men had worked closely with Decker in the past. He also knew that to everyone else present, his seat being empty wasn’t a good sign. Coyote was the only one who officially knew, but had brought Mav and Ice in to try and find him. As soon as Richard arrived to start the meeting, they’d all be brought up to speed.
Bob ground his teeth together as the time displayed his father was now twenty minutes late. Everyone sat in tense silence. He was in half a mind to commandeer the meeting himself, but before he could, Richard entered the room.
He said nothing as he sat, but took a second to nod a ‘hello’ to everyone in the room.
“Where’s Omaha?” Richard asked.
Everyone turned to look at Bob. “Nebraska,” he answered, trying to hide his smirk. “His grandmother isn’t well. I’ll bring him up to speed later.”
Richard grunted. “Very well. Robert?”
“Dominic Decker retired by email almost two weeks ago. Up until then, he was our accountant. Some of you know him better than others.” Bob referred to his men knowing Decker, not Ice or Mav. They knew there was someone well trusted making sure the books were tidy, but other than that, he was faceless to them. Richard and a robert liked to run things differently. “He gave no warning that he wanted to retire, no chance to bring a new accountant in until it was too late. I’ve had to bring someone in who is extremely green to try and keep on top of everything Decker left. It’s too early to tell if she’s someone we can trust, but Coyote is looking into her past. See if there’s anything we can use as leverage.”
Bob nodded at Coyote. “Until I’m satisfied with my results, Bob will be handling any off the book payments personally. Our main priority is to find Decker.”
“Ice and I managed to find that he was heading south and crossed the border into Mexico,” Maverick informed everyone. “He used Richard’s name.”
“Son of a bitch!” Richard erupted, slamming his hand down on the table. “Why am I only being informed of this now?”
“You left me in charge of this,” Bob stated calmly.
“I told you I wanted updates as soon as you had them!” Richard bellowed.
Thankfully, no one dared to speak up. Bob stared his father down. “You made the call to let me handle this,” he reminded Richard. “I’m handling this.”
“You’re letting other people handle it for you!” Richard snapped.
“The more eyes we have trying to find Decker, the better. We don’t have time to waste. Coyote, Maverick and Iceman were acting on my authority. We also have someone tracking his possible movements. Someone Decker has never seen before.”
Bob thought his father was about to blow an aneurysm the way his face reddened. If it was possible, he was sure steam would blow from his ears. “Who?”
“Hangman,” Bob stated. “If Decker’s running from us, we can’t have anyone he knows trying to follow him. Hangman’s the best. He’s already reported that Decker flew out of Mexico using the name Cooper Smith.”
“Where is he now?”
“We believe he’s in Quito, Ecuador,” Coyote replied. “He was seen getting off the plane, but his credit card records show he bought further tickets to Madrid, Dubai and Moscow.”
Richard’s scowl was permanently set on his face, anger blazing in his eyes as he stared at Bob. “Find him and bring him to me.”
Bob had been avoiding the office for most of the day. Since the meeting earlier that morning, he’d tried to keep himself busy with other work. For the most part, it was chasing up overdue invoices on behalf of Emery. Emery, who everyone still believed to be Decker, and Bob intended to keep it that way until the man was found.
Or it had been decided that Emery could be trusted.
Bob hoped that Coyote’s background check proved to be fruitful. He hoped there was something in her past that would make her easy to manipulate to do their bidding. It wasn’t fair, but he was desperate. He needed her brought up to speed sooner rather than later. He needed to make sure everyone was getting paid, not just the legally employed.
He regretted giving Emery so much free reign, but her credentials meant she knew what she was doing. He had to trust that she would approach him with any queries or concerns, but he hoped like hell there weren’t any. He had left Decker to his own devices for the most part, so God only knows how he organised things. He couldn’t stop the voice in the back of his mind telling him that Emery already knew – that she was smarter than she let on. He had to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
At least until Coyote found something they could use against her.
“What are you doing?” Morgan asked. Bob sighed as he held his phone to his ear, leaning back in his chair and loosening his tie.
He decided he’d fucked around long enough and should show face at the office. Even if there was only Halo and Emery to show face for, he had to do it. His father was still the Don, the boss. Getting reamed in front of everyone for the way he’d chosen to handle a task that Richard had given him wasn’t ideal. It made him look unreliable. He hated looking like a fool, but whenever Richard called a meeting, Bob was an easy scapegoat.
“Paperwork,” Bob replied blandly. “What do you want?”
“Richard wanted me to remind you that he’s taking mom away for their anniversary,” she told him. He sighed once again and ran a hand through his hair. “I know. It’s not a good time, but mom’s been excited for this trip for weeks.”
“I know. Did Richard say where they’re going?” Bob asked. It would be exactly like his father to suggest they go to Ecuador, since his men recently revealed that’s where they think Decker is.
“The farm,” Morgan replied.
The farm was a few thousand acres the Floyd family owned in Montana. Bob assumed their mother suggested the farm, since that’s where they got married. If she had it her way, they’d never return to the city. They’d spend the rest of their days growing old and tending to a few cattle.
“Maybe mom’ll talk some more sense into him about retiring,” Bob mused, reaching for a pen on his desk and twirling it around his fingers. “It’s growing old, having two people in charge. If he doesn’t go peacefully, you know it’ll be a war.”
Morgan hummed her approval. “I think he’ll go once Decker is found,” she admitted. “I think he feels personally slighted by his…retirement.”
Bob laughed at the distaste in her voice. “We all feel personally slighted by his retirement. Add in the fact that he used Richard’s name to cross the border…there’s no telling what he’ll do if I don’t find him first.”
“Where are you on that?”
“I’ll meet you at Feather’s later,” he replied, blowing out a breath.
“Bring Emery with you. I’d still like to meet her, then we can talk later,” Morgan replied. “I’m heading over to Dice. We have a high roller I need to keep an eye on. Guy seems to keep winning big. Mind sending Coyote over for a bit?”
“I’ll call him now.” Bob wasted no time ending the call and tapping Coyote from his recents. “Morgan needs you at Dice.”
“Everything okay?”
“High roller keeps winning big. Check the footage and suggest a change of deck, dice or staff, but make it seem like it’s her idea.”
“I’m on it,” he replied. “I’ll keep you updated.”
“Thanks.” A knock at his door prompted him to end the call quickly. “Come in!”
The door cracked open and Bob briefly acknowledged Emery as he tightened his tie again. “Sorry to bother you, Bob,” she apologised.
“No bother,” he assured her. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “I’ve been looking into ways to better secure your current banking system. I need your approval to sign off on a list of approvers for payments. I know it adds an extra step to paying bills, but this way you have an idea of what money is outgoing each week. Right now, it means that I’m loading payments and approving them, which doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence. I’d feel better if you were the one making the final approvals.”
Bob mulled it over. “What does it entail?”
“You’d need to call the bank and ask for a separate login, as well as request that my login be strictly for loading payments. Once a week, I’d send you a screencap of the payments with a little explanation about what they’re for. It wouldn’t take too long to approve them, depending on how many were sitting there requiring your approval.”
She’d taken a seat by now, one leg crossed neatly over the other. Bob had noticed she’d been in the office a lot more frequently, though he hadn’t felt the need to comment on it.
“Okay, I think that’s a great idea,” he replied. “Keeps me more informed about our weekly expenses, too. I’ll make the call.”
“Brilliant,” she replied with a smile, relaxing slightly. “That makes me feel better.”
Bob gave her a smile of his own. “Are you free later? Morgan’s still on my ass about meeting you.”
“Do I meet the dress code today?” She asked him, earning a laugh in response. “Yeah, that’s fine. I have time.”
“We’ll head over to Feather’s after work,” he told her. “The girls don’t start until nine. It’s a regular bar until then.” He didn’t know why he felt the need to clarify, but he watched relief flood her features regardless.
“My sister is going to get a kick out of it when I tell her you’re taking me to a strip club tonight.”
Bob heeded Emery’s advice to contact the bank and go about creating a new login that had to approve the payments. Her suggestion was smart and he wondered if that was common practice. That he’d had too much trust in Decker to ever worry about it before, but then he remembered his father. Richard wasn’t tech savvy at all. Anything that was more effort than a phone call, he was clueless about. Still, it would’ve been a good safety measure to have in place no matter how much trust Richard had in Decker.
It was shortly after five when Bob offered to drive Emery to Feathers, but she politely declined.
“I don’t want to have to detour back here to pick my car up when we’ve finished,” she explained. “I’ll meet you there?”
Bob smiled in response, agreeing to meet her there before he headed out. Making the twenty minute drive to Feathers, but traffic saw him arrive at 6:15. He parked his car in the lot and waited at the entrance for Emery, who pulled in a short while later. He held the door open for her before leading her through the club, towards a booth that Morgan occupied as her makeshift office.
Morgan greeted them both with a smile. “Hi, I’m Morgan, it’s great to finally meet you.”
Emery shook the hand Morgan outstretched towards her and gave her a smile of her own. “I’m Emery, and likewise.”
“Bob, you mind getting us some drinks? What do you want, Emery?” Morgan asked, gesturing for Emery to take a seat. She did hesitantly while letting her eyes flit between the Floyd siblings.
“Oh, um, I’ll have a sprite,” she told him.
Bob nodded, turning on his heel to grab it for her. Making himself comfortable behind the bar and pouring himself a whiskey on the rocks, making a vodka soda for Morgan and a simple sprite for Emery. Popping straws in the tall glasses before carrying them back to the table. He took a seat beside Morgan.
“How’re you settling in?” Morgan asked. Bob was curious to know, too.
Emery played with the straw in her drink. “Yeah, good, thank you,” she replied politely. “It’s a lot of work to comb through and familiarise myself with again, but I think I’m doing alright.”
“Have you found a place here yet?” Was Morgan’s follow-up question.
“My sister and I have agreed on a place,” Emery said.
“Penny’s been helping them,” Bob told Morgan. He wasn’t sure if he’d mentioned it yet, but he knew his sister would appreciate the reminder.
“She’s great, isn’t she?” Morgan gushed. “She helped me find the location for Feathers a few years back.”
“Yeah.”
Morgan shared a look with Bob who merely sipped his whiskey as the two women talked. Emery wasn’t very forthcoming with information, and whether that was because her boss was sitting next to her or she was more reserved, Bob didn’t know. What he did know, however, was that Morgan was persistent. She had her own unique way of making people talk.
When Bob had similar issues, he tended to use his fists.
“What’s your sister’s name?” Morgan continued her interrogation.
Emery sipped her drink before setting it back on the coaster. “Natasha. Nat.”
“How old is she? Do you have any more siblings?”
“Twenty eight,” Emery replied. “No, just Nat.”
“What about your parents? What do they do?” Morgan tried again.
Bob watched Emery close herself off. She sat up a little straighter, a hand grabbing for the opposite arm. She pressed her lips together in a thin line, eyes focused on the condensation running down the glass in front of her.
“My mom’s a waitress,” she revealed. “Never knew my father.”
“Do you see your mom often?” Bob asked.
Emery nodded. “I try to.”
“That’s good. Family’s important,” Bob said, casting a sideways look at Morgan. “Unless your name is Morgan Floyd.”
Morgan wasted no time hitting Bob’s shoulder. He barely flinched, but the interaction made Emery smile. She relaxed a little, enough to let go of her arm.
“Excuse my brother,” Morgan told her. “I’d say you get used to him, but you don’t really.”
Emery gave a small laugh and reached for her drink. “Spoken like an older sibling.”
Bob chuckled. “Not wrong there.”
Morgan steered the conversation back to Emery. She asked a few more personal things, like where she went to school, how old she was and the like. Bob was surprised to learn she was 24, but that she had paid her way through college at the University of Southern California. He’d known that from her interview, but hearing it again didn’t hurt. It solidified that she was driven, like she’d said.
Emery kept things brief. Once she’d finished her drink and spent enough time with Morgan, she made the call to leave. She still had a long drive home, so Morgan bade her farewell and Bob walked her out to her car.
“Sorry about her, I didn’t think she’d pry as much as she did, otherwise I would’ve given you warning,” Bob apologised.
“I get it. I’m a new face in your family’s business. She’s trying to build a rapport.” Emery clicked the button on her fob to unlock her car. “You didn’t have to walk me out just so you could apologise on her behalf.”
“The bouncers don’t arrive until eight, when the dancers start arriving,” Bob explained. “There’s some people in the world who’d want to hurt you because they felt like you owed them something. Being a woman in a parking lot of a strip club would’ve been like an open invitation to try something. Goodnight, Ms Young. Drive safe.”
She thanked him, briefly pausing to give him one last look of appreciation before getting into her car. Bob waited until she’d driven off to enter the club and join his sister again.
“She seems nice, albeit reserved,” Morgan said.
Bob nodded in agreement. “Add in the fact that I asked her to meet my sister at a strip club.” He ran his hand over his face. “Probably thinks we’ve got some kind of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ thing going on.”
Morgan barked out a laugh. “Of course you’d be concerned with the pretty young accountant thinking that. You’re an idiot. I assume Coyote’s running a background check on her?”
“You assume correct,” Bob replied, signaling the bartender for another whiskey. “How’d things go at Dice earlier?”
“Guy paid off the dealer. Split the winnings 50/50. Coyote took care of it.”
Bob nodded. “Good.”
“Keep an eye on her.” So they’re back to Emery, Bob thought. “She’s hiding something.”
“We’ve all got secrets,” Bob reminded her. “Bet the skeletons in my closet are worse than the ones in hers.”
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Could you do an updated marriage to first born for the Bates as well please? How do they compare to the Duggars?
Data, Please!: All The Predictor Couples' Marriage–to–Firstborn Spacings
[ Follow–Up to This Post, Which Followed–Up This Post, Which Was A Follow–Up to This Post ]
Sure! And let’s expand it to all Predictor Couples, because why not?! Here’s the list, as of 2022, starting with the shortest—
251 Days Carlin (Bates) + Evan Stewart
272 Days Wesley + Rachel (Smith) Morton
273 Days Joe + Kendra (Caldwell) Duggar
273 Days Joy (Duggar) + Austin Forsyth
277 Days Samuel + Alyssa (Campana) Morton
279 Days Jer + Hannah (Wissmann) Duggar (Duggar Data)
282 Days Jer + Hannah (Wissmann) Duggar (Wissmann Data)
282 Days Katie (Morton) + Alan Smith
287 Days Josie (Bates) + Kelton Balka
287 Days Andrew + Kennedy (Decker) Morton
288 Days Mike + Suzette Keller
289 Days Jill (Duggar) + Derick Dillard
293 Days Allison (Bontrager) + Jeremiah Helferich
297 Days Michael + Kressant (Smith) Morton
298 Days Cleve + Lisë (Kendall) Morton
298 Days Courtney + Christopher Rogers*
299 Days Edwin + Francessca (Tuggle) Morton
309 Days David + Jill (Noyes) Rodrigues*
317 Days Carson + Carolina (Bowers) Bontrager
317 Days Erin (Bates) + Chad Paine*
318 Days Joshua + Cassidy (Bowers) Bontrager
319 Days Zach + Whitney (Perkins) Bates
320 Days Adeline (Morton) + Michael Holloway
322 Days Grace (Wikstrom) + Kord Etbauer
322 Days Alyssa (Bates) + John Webster
326 Days Ruth (Wissmann) + Ryan Bourlier
328 Days Tori (Bates) + Bobby Smith
331 Days Josiah + Lauren (Swanson) Duggar*
334 Days Martha (Morton) + Tayte Alexander
349 Days David + Hannah (Reber) Keller
360 Days Nathan + Esther (Keyes) Bates
369 Days Jessa (Duggar) + Ben Seewald
377 Days Gil + Kelly Jo (Callaham) Bates
377 Days Josh + Anna (Keller) Duggar
392 Days Chelsy (Bontrager) + John Maxwell
393 Days Joseph + Elissa (Frost) Maxwell
394 Days Jed + Katey (Nakatsu) Duggar
395 Days Dorothy (Morton) + Noah Sanders
406 Days Priscilla (Keller) + David Waller
430 Days John David + Abbie (Burnett) Duggar
434 Days Ellissa (Baird) + Andrii Petrenko
443 Days Nurie (Rodrigues) + Nathan Keller
447 Days Katie (Bates) + Travis Clark (Note—Birth Control.)
447 Days Matthias + Michelle (Kingery) Wissmann
489 Days Bethany (Baird) + David Beal
500 Days Meagan (Forsyth) + Bobby Ballinger
522 Days Josiah + Abi (Rehm) Wissmann
556 Days Mitchell + Brynn (Leppert) Bontrager
586 Days Sierra Jo + Mark Dominguez
588 Days Christopher + Anna Marie (Hamilton) Maxwell
621 Days Jinger (Duggar) + Jeremy Vuolo
691 Days Kristen + Justin Young
816 Days Bethany (Wissmann) + Daniel Beasley
Note—An asterisk (*) indicates a Firstborn Spacing based on a loss. These couples' 1st Live Birth also contributes to their data; however, as a Post–Loss Spacing, rather than a Firstborn Spacing.
Some couples don't have a Marriage–to–Firstborn Spacing listed. In these cases it's because—(1) they have not announced Pregnancy #1 yet, or (2) they had fertility struggles prior to Baby #1.
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