Page 45 of Kingpin
Alannah
There’s red and blue lights bouncing off the walls, and ambulance sirens sing a dreadful melody into the night sky. Three people were hit with stray bullets. One of them died. Stray bullets that were meant for Dominic.
I sit on the hood of his BMW, watching him as he talks to the police with disinclination written all over his face. I know he won’t tell them anything, but I also know he knows who did this. There’s no way a man like Dominic doesn’t know who his enemies are, but a man like him doesn’t tell the police anything. He settles it on his own, which scares me nearly as much as the bullets speeding over my head did.
I can’t explain what it felt like to be sitting across from him in a restaurant in one of his casinos, admiring his gorgeous face and alpha attitude, then to have it all snatched away in the blink of an eye as I’m thrown to the floor.
At first, I didn’t even know what was going on, but I didn’t have time to question it for long because there’s no confusing the sound of gunfire and shattering glass. I wanted to scream, but the air was knocked from my lungs as Dominic jumped on top of me. I know he was trying to protect me, and a part of me is thankful for that, but there’s another part that doesn’t give a shit. I could’ve been killed tonight simply because I was sitting in this restaurant with him. The question now is, well, now what?
After he’s finished talking to the police, I watch as he saunters over to me. Glass and dirt are on the shoulders of his fancy suit that I’m sure cost a fortune, and he locks eyes with me. There’s a level of pain in his gaze that wasn’t there before. He looks miserable as he stares at me, and I can see it in him—he’s worried about me, about what I’m going to say, about what I think. He’s nervous, and he should be.
“Are you okay?” he asks as he stands in front of me, that sad look still holding his face hostage.
“What do you think, Dominic?” I counter. “Our dinner was interrupted by gunfire. That’s not something that happens to me every day, so I’m sure you can guess if I’m okay or not.”
His shoulders slump like my attitude has confirmed his fears.
“I don’t really know what to say,” he begins again. “I’m sorry all this happened. You just got here, and . . . I’m just so sorry, Alannah. I mean that. I’m sorry.”
“What is it that you’re sorry for, exactly? Are you sorry that I almost got shot just by being with you tonight? Are you sorry about the man who actually was killed by one of the bullets meant for you? I mean, seriously. What are you so sorry for?”
“All of it. I didn’t know this shit was gonna happen, and I didn’t expect it, so there was no way to prepare for it. I’m sorry you were put in danger, and I’m sorry innocent people got hurt. I’m sorry for all of it.”
“If the people who were shot tonight were innocent, then what does that make you?”
With every word I speak and every word I hear, I feel myself getting more and more upset. I can still hear the sound of the gunshots, I can still smell the gunpowder, I can still hear the screams and the sound of my own pounding heartbeat, and I’m still afraid.
Dominic’s eyes shift downward as he finds more comfort in looking at the street than he does looking at me.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he replies, his voice somber.
“I told you I didn’t want any drama in my life. Look around Dominic, this is pretty much the epitome of drama.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he repeats, this time less somber. Angrier.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on!” I snap. “You know who did this, don’t you? I don’t expect you to tell the police because I know you, but I expect you to at least tell me. I think I deserve to know why I almost died tonight.”
Dominic looks like he’s teetering on the edge, but he holds his frustration back and sits on the hood of the car next to me. He puts his hands in his pockets and takes a deep breath. I see his shoulders relax like he’s ready to spill his guts.
“I don’t know for sure who pulled the trigger tonight, but I have a pretty good idea who sent the guy to pull the trigger,” he starts, still looking at the street. He has my full attention. “I’m in the middle of a bit of a business deal with a guy who owns a hotel; the same hotel you were about to check into when you first got here.”
“Lumiere Place?”
“Yeah. When I saw you that day, I was just leaving from a business meeting with the owner of that hotel. The meeting didn’t go well. I wanna buy it, but the guy doesn’t wanna sell, which is a problem for me and my associates. So, I sent a guy to visit one of his friends a few days back, which probably didn’t sit too well with him. I thought he’d fold up and sell the Lumiere to me, but it looks like I might have pissed him off enough to try to put a hit out on me. And I’m certain about it because I don’t have beef with anybody else, not for a long time now. So, I’m sure it’s the guy from Lumiere.”
I take a moment to soak in all the information. It’s a lot, and it doesn’t make me feel any better. I shouldn’t be surprised about it either. He’s in the mafia; of course he has this kind of shit going on, and there’s probably more to it than what he’s telling me, too. Of course. What did I expect? What the fuck was I thinking believing I could come back here and live some fairy tale life with a mob figure without it being dangerous? Only an idiot would think that, and I’d been even dumber to believe that what happened tonight is going to be the end of it all.
“So, what’s next, Dominic?” I ask, although I’m afraid of the answer. “Now that this guy has tried to have you killed, what are you gonna do about it?”
“I don’t know,” he whispers.
“Don’t lie to me. I’m not dumb, okay? I told you I learned all about this, so I know you’re not gonna just sit back and let this slide. So, are you gonna kill him?”
Dominic’s head snaps up as he looks around to see how close the cops and paramedics are.
“Would you keep your fucking voice down, please?” he snips, still whispering. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Right now, all I’m thinking about is you. You’re what I’m concerned about right now, that’s all. I want to make sure you’re okay, then I’ll take time to think about what I need to do”
“Well, you don’t have to waste your time thinking about me. I survived the attempt on your life, now I just wanna go.”
