Page 43 of Kingpin
Dominic
It’d been a few days since I had dinner with Alannah at River City. She had work stuff to tend to, and I had business that needed my attention, so when she finally called this morning, I nearly jumped out of bed to answer the phone. She told me she’d be free later in the day after she got off her shift, and asked if I wanted to hang out again. I said “fuhgeddaboutit,” which confused her until I explained what I meant, then I made a call to my staff at Isle of Capri and reserved my favorite outdoor table for a candle lit dinner. Now, as I stand in the lobby of River City waiting for her to come down, my belly is doing summersaults. With all the things I do in my life that should make me nervous, it’s the thought of being with Alannah Sullivan that does me in.
I feel like I’m living in a fucking alternate universe. I don’t even know how all of this came to be. One minute, I’m doing business as usual, the next minute, Alannah is back in St. Louis and here to stay. She’s actually here! It’s been ten years, and the only woman I’ve ever loved has come back into my life. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a thing, but I’m thankful. With Alannah being here now, I have everything a man could want. All the power and respect my dad commanded now belongs to me, and once I wrap up my acquisition of Lumiere Place, I’m going to be good to go. I’ll be able to sit back and relax while my businesses make money for me, and I’ll have Alannah to relax with. Just one more deal to go.
Speaking of Lumiere Place, it’s been quiet on that front ever since I sent Tommy to pay Alex Romanov a little visit. Tommy made ole’ Alex disappear, but not before delivering a little package to Abram on my behalf. It’s no surprise Abram’s been quiet. It usually takes guys a couple of days to get their affairs in order before they move on from a business, especially one as lucrative as the Lumiere. So, while Abram fights over the mental hurdles of accepting the inevitable, I wait patiently, and I watch in awe as Alannah struts her way towards me wearing the sexiest navy blue dress I’ve ever seen.
Her brown hair flows and sways gracefully behind her as she walks, and I see other guys in the lobby checking her out. I have half a mind to put one of these boys in a chokehold, but I resist the urge. I’d hate for Alannah to think less of me.
“After all this time, you’re even more stunning than before you left,” I manage to say as she approaches. Her smile is wide and sincere, and I have to shake off the fact that it makes me more nervous. I did a good job of playing it cool at dinner last time, and I’ve got to keep it up.
“Thank you, Dominic,” she replies. “You look very handsome. That’s a gorgeous suit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gray one with red pinstripes before.”
“Well, I know a guy, and he hooks me up with whatever colors I want,” I answer, making sure not to go into too much detail about some of the places we extort. What can I say? A captain has to earn.
“So, where are we going?” she asks.
“I’ve got a place in mind. Shall we?”
I lead her to the car, and she marvels at the metal flake paint on my BMW that shifts from black to dark purple, depending on the angle you look at it from. As we drive, I can’t stop my eyes from wandering over to her legs as they stick out of the dress, teasing me, forcing me to reminisce about homecoming night. Fuck how uncomfortable it was in that car, being with her was amazing. Images of that night flash across my vision like a slideshow on fast forward, and I really have to focus just to get us to Isle of Capri without crashing.
Once we’re inside and seated, I see Alannah checking out the décor of the fancy outdoor setup. Well, it’s kind of outdoors—there are five tables in a glass enclosure that gives you a nice view of the busy street. Yellow and white lights hang from the ceiling, and there are roses and lilies in decorative glass vases on each table. This little section is made for the high rollers who reserve it, and people have to call months in advance to book it. Tonight, I made sure the place was empty just for us.
“So, how has work been so far?” I ask to start up the conversation.
“It’s been okay. Paperwork and training. New girl stuff. How was your day?”
“My day was fine. I was excited to get to hang out with you again. I’m still trying to convince myself I’m not dreaming about you being here.”
“I know, it’s hard to believe for me, too,” she says, sipping her white wine. “So, how’s your mom been doing? I was so shocked that you still had my letter that I forgot to ask about her last time.”
“I haven’t talked to her in a while,” I admit, although I hate that it’s true. “We haven’t been as close as we used to be since dad died. I don’t think she likes that I got into the same business as him. She always wanted me to avoid it, but once dad died . . . that just wasn’t something I could do.”
“I see. That’s too bad. Did they ever find the guy that . . . you know.”
I don’t know how to answer the question. Even mentioning Sammy Cestone, the man who killed my father, still makes my blood boil even though I know he’sgone. So, I end up going with the default answer.
“Nah, they didn’t.”
But I did.
After my father’s murder, I think I went crazy for a little while. I couldn’t stand to see him like that—slumped over in his seat with bullet holes in his face, and it took everything in me to get over it. I didn’t really get there until the day Sammy Cestonewent to Australia.
I waited a year before I let myself act on the revenge I was aching for. I was a blood-thirsty sixteen year old looking to make a name for myself—a name better than Boy Wonder.
So, I stepped in my father’s place at River City just as a plan was put in place to add a new parking area across the street. The day before the parking lot was to be poured, I met Sammy Cestone at his house after he dropped off his son at school. I’d been watching him do the same routine for two weeks straight, and I knew when I walked into his run down little apartment, he’d be all alone. I shot him in the face with one of my dad’s guns. Three shots, just like what he did to my father. Then I buried his body in the spot where the concrete for the parking lot was poured the next day. So, Sammywent to Australia, meaning he is literallydown under. I take pride in the fact that I get to drive by his permanent grave on my way to River City, where I stay in the penthouse suite on the top floor. They never found Sammy, and they never will.
“So, what about you, Alannah?” I start again, making sure to quickly move on from the topic of Sammy Cestone. “Be honest; what made you decide to come back here after all this time? Alaska too cold for you?”
“Yeah, it was, actually,” she says behind an adorable giggle. “It’s cold as hell there, but like I told you before, I never wanted to leave St. Louis.”
“There’s more to it than that. You were gone for ten years, you went to college and got a degree, you already had a nursing gig, and you said you were dating even though it was nothing serious. So, why uproot your life to come back to St. Louis? I really wanna know.”
She hesitates to think. I don’t know what the answer is, but I know what I’m hoping for, and maybe that’s a bit crazy. Maybe it’s naïve of me to think she came back here for me after a decade. Then again, I was still thinking about her after ten years, so it’s not impossible. I wait impatiently, sipping my wine so I don’t look so anxious.
“Okay,” she says after a big, deep exhale. “I came back because I never wanted to leave . . . and because I needed to know what happened to you. There was a lot of stuff on the news about the FBI and St. Louis PD cracking down in the city, and I saw a lot of names popping up about people being either murdered or thrown in jail for long stretches. But I never heard anything about you. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead, and I kept thinking about it. I left when I was fifteen, and the feelings I had for you at that time have never been matched by anything I felt for anybody in Alaska. Anchorage is a nice place, but I felt like something in my life was unfinished. So, when the opportunity to get a nursing job presented itself, I took a shot, and I got it. So, here I am.”
I’m a made guy—someone to be feared and respected. I’m not supposed to feel whatever emotions I feel right now, but they’re here. Everything she just said is exactly what I was hoping for. All the women I’ve hooked up with over the years have been one night stands and meaningless situations I never cared about. I never gave them anything real because of who I am and what I do, but also because everything I had to give, I gave to Alannah when I was fifteen.
