Page 67 of Kingpin
Alannah
“What took you so long? I was starting to worry,” I snip as Dominic steps over the threshold with a smile on his gorgeous face.
I haven’t seen him since yesterday when he dropped me off at work, and I had to get a ride home from a coworker because he was too busy to get me. After all we just went through, I worry easily. I hate to be the clingy girlfriend, but I was just tied to a chair a few days ago, so I need to be in the loop all the time.
Dominic doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he keeps on smiling like the Cheshire cat and comes to give me a kiss before taking off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack by the front door. The apartment is mostly furnished now, so it feels a little more like home. All I have to do now is forget all about the night I was tied up and Dominic was shot in the shoulder, and I’ll be good to go.
“Are you going to answer me, or what?” I say as he keeps on smiling. He sits down on the couch across from me and leans back, but that smile doesn’t leave his face. “What are you grinning at? What’s the matter with you?”
“I’ve got something to tell you,” he says. He spreads his arms over the back of the couch, making himself good and comfortable.
“Okay. Should I be worried?” I inquire.
He smiles more, even as he starts to answer.
“No. No, you don’t ever have to worry again, Alannah,” he says.
“Alright,” I say, dragging out the word. “Are you okay? Your face is weird.”
We both laugh a little, but Dominic’s laugh is different, I just can’t tell why.
“I’m fine. I’m better than fine,” he continues. “Listen, what if I told you that I could guarantee that the shit that happened with that psychopath, Abram, will never happen again?”
I think about it for a moment, squinting.
“Okay, keep talking.”
“What if I told you that it was within my power to make sure that my business is completely legit from here on out? What if I told you that nobody would ever dare mess with us again? What if I could guarantee it?”
I can’t stop squinting now.
“Well, that would be awesome, I guess,” I say, too confused to say anything with certainty. “Dominic, what’s all this about? It’d be nice if you could guarantee that, but let’s be honest, the stuff yourfamilyis involved in kind of breeds violence. It’s a part of the mafia history that’ll probably never go away.”
“Well, what if I can make it go away?”
“How could you possibly make it go away?”
“Because I’m in control now.”
I pause, staring at him, hoping my face shows just how vexed I really am.
“Alannah, I’m in control of the entire family now,” he says, the smile involuntarily returning. “They made me the boss.”
My body freezes in its place. I don’t really know what to make of the announcement, so I just sit there, staring off into space, barely blinking. I’m not sure if I’m breathing or not. I’m just sitting here.
“Alannah,” Dominic says. “This is a good thing.”
“So, what you’re trying to tell me is you’re amob bossnow?” I inquire. I can’t even believe the words that just came out of my mouth.
Mob boss?
Dominic exhales loudly, then he rocks my world. “Yes, I am.”
“Umm, what am I supposed to say to that?” I ask, as nervous butterflies come to life in my stomach. “I was worried enough when you told me you were a made member, which Wikipedia says is a big freaking deal, by the way. Now, you’re telling me you’re thebossof the Giordano crime family? Am I not supposed to be fucking terrified, Dominic? Because I am.”
“Wait, wait,” Dominic pleads as he stands up and approaches me. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Alannah. You don’t have to be afraid for me. I run everything, and if anybody fucks with you, it’s fucking with me, and fucking with me means war with the entire family. Nobody wants that. So, you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Dominic, this is fucking insane. If there’s one thing I learned when I was in Alaska and looking up mafia shit, it’s that the boss always gets killed.”
