Page 36 of Kingpin
“Sest’, Aleks,” he says to his bodyguard in Russian. They both sit, and Abram takes another sip of his champagne. “You have my full attention, Mr. Collazo.”
“Good.” I nod to Tommy and he tucks his pistol back into its harness. “Now, here’s the deal I’m offering. I’ll buy you out of your ownership of Lumiere Place for five million dollars, which is overpriced for the inconvenienceof having to sell quickly and without preparation. See, I’m nice. Your staff and everything else stays in place for now. The only thing that goes is you. You sign it over to me, you take the money and pile it in with the rest of your inheritance so you can buy another hotel, preferablyoutsideof St. Louis, because if you think you can escape your family’s fucked up past in Chicago by settling down here, you’re crazier than that suit looks on ‘ole Alex here.”
Abram looks pissed. He sticks his pointy nose up in the air and breathes in like the oxygen gives him confidence, and he needs all he can get. He sips the champagne again before finally sitting back and crossing his legs, mirroring me.
“Interesting offer, but allow me to counteroffer,” he says with a thin Russian accent. “I know you Italians are a prideful bunch as well, with your La Cosa Nostra bullshit, and yourOmertacode of silence that no one in the history of the Italian mafia has ever kept. You’re not the only one who’s capable of doing research, Dominic Collazo. I know your family is having trouble once again, with Leo Capizzi soon to be arrested and spending the rest of his pathetic life behind bars. Acquiring my casino would go a long way to making you the youngest boss your family has ever had. But I also know you already own River City, so you too could buy another casino if you wanted. You Italians think you can just step on whoever you want to get whatever you want, and you’re mistaken.
“You come to my casino, you insult my family, you insult myfather, and you think I would sell to you? You’re out of your mind. I will, however, do you a favor out of the kindness of my heart. I’ll help you. See, I’m nice. I’ll help you look like a big shot in front of your family by allowing you to become my partner, but you’ll split everything with me fifty-fifty. Anything you and your family bring in through Lumiere gets cut in half and belongs to me. That’s the deal, and it’s the only deal.”
“What is it with you Russians always trying to become partners? Let me make this clear for you, you fucking cock sucker. This ain’t Chicago, and I ain’t Kelvin Carter. I’m not looking for a fucking partner to split shit down the middle, and you should know better because that’s the same kind of idiotic thinking that got your father killed. Partnerships between families is bad for business, because there’s no trust. I’d tell you to ask your father, but we see where that got him. That ain’t how the Giordano family does business. That ain’t how I do business. You got a lot of balls to insult what we do in Our Thing, when your entire fucking family got wiped out just a few hours away from here. You should probably learn to keep your fucking mouth shut about things you don’t really know about.”
The tension is thicker than ever and I can feel it heavy on my skin. It hangs over us like a thick fog making the air hard to take in. My blood’s rushing through my veins and I’m more alert than ever. Beads of sweat are starting to form on Abram’s head and I can see his jaw tight with anger. I didn’t expect this to get so hot so fast, but I don’t fucking care. I’m ready. I tap Tommy on the leg under the table and he responds by pulling out the other nine millimeter he had stashed in his waistband. He aims it at Abram under the table, and judging from Alex’s stiff posture and the nervous look on his face, he’s doing the same thing, with his pistol aimed straight at me.
Abram and I glare at each other, waiting for the other person to make a move. I wish for it. I want him to try something, so I can watch Tommy blow his fucking face off right here in the lobby. But he doesn’t. He exhales and I see his muscles relax.
“You don’t agree to fifty-fifty?” he says with a shrug. “Then you can take your five million dollars and shove it up your Italian ass. I’m not selling. So, make your move.” Abram picks up his glass of champagne and knocks the rest of it back before finally slamming it back on the table and folding his arms in defiance.
“You sure this is what you wanna do, Abram?” I ask, giving him one last chance. “Because if I walk out of here right now, you know what that means.”
Abram doesn’t budge.
“I’m sure if you’re sure, Dominic,” he says, his face cold and emotionless. “You see, your problem is that you think I’m afraid, but I assure you I’m not.”
“And your problem is that you think your fear, or lack thereof, makes a bit of difference,” I say as I tap Tommy again. He stuffs the gun back in his waistband so none of the patrons in the lobby see it, and both of us stand together. “Whether you’re afraid or not has no effect on me now, and it won’t have any effect later.”
That’s it. There’s no need to make any threats or to try to end the conversation like a badass. There’s nothing left to say, so Tommy and I turn around and walk towards the exit, leaving Abram and Alex at the table staring daggers into our backs. I don’t look back, because as far as I’m concerned, Abram Baskov is already dead.
“Well, that was fun,” Tommy quips as we exit the lobby and head to the main exit. I turn to him and smile, because we both know what’s going to happen next. We just have to figure out how we’re going to do it. It’s when I’m smiling at Tommy that I notice something behind him.
As we walk past the counter towards the revolving door, I see a woman setting her luggage at her feet as she speaks to the clerk at the counter. She has long brown hair that flows beautifully to the middle of her back, and her ass is pushing her jeans to the absolute limit. Something about the way she’s standing grabs my attention and doesn’t let go.
I stop walking and stare at her as the clerk checks her in and hands her the key to her room. When she grabs the key and turns around to pick up her luggage, my heart drops into the bottom of my feet.
I recognize her pale skin, her brown eyes, her pouty lips.
“Holy shit,” I say louder than I mean to, but I can’t help it. It’s her.
“Alannah?”
