Long Live the King (An Italian Mafia Romance Duet #2) (16 page)

I’m just the boss’s girlfriend, nothing more. Women hold no weight in La Cosa Nostra, so to speak on Dominic’s behalf would be a terrible idea. But women’s intuition is a motherfucker, and I feel it in my bones that something isn’t right with this family, and something tells me Tommy has a part to play in all of this. But the possibility of being wrong straps me down tighter than the seatbelt stretching over my chest right now.

I see Tommy take a glance at me out of my peripheral vision. He doesn’t turn his head, only his eyes, and the glance is brief. After another five minutes of driving, he does it again, this time turning his head a little more, apparently gaining more confidence in saying whatever he’s thinking. My heart speeds up at the thought of talking to him without Dominic around about a subject I know is sensitive, but it’s coming. He’s going to say something soon, so I better start thinking of responses, because making a mistake with Tommy Two Nines usually doesn’t turn out well.

“Alannah,” is the first word out of Tommy’s mouth. His tone is almost exasperated, like he’s already tired of the conversation we haven’t had yet. His eyes stay glued to the road as I cut my eyes over to look at him. He doesn’t look angry, which I guess is a good start.

“Alannah,” he says again, but this time he doesn’t wait for me to respond. “I know you’re worried for Dominic. I can see it in your eyes every time I look at you, and you’ve got every reason to be concerned. I’m with you. I’m worried about all of this too, but I feel like you really need some reassurances.”

I don’t respond verbally, I just look at him as he keeps his foot on the gas pedal and his eyes on the road.

“All the shit that’s been going down is a mess, that’s for sure, but I want you know that I have Dominic’s back. I always have. Way before he was the boss, I’ve always had Dominic’s back. When our crew was new and fairly small-time, I was right there with him. I was there with him when his popularity was nothing more than being the son of Donnie Collazo. I was there with him when people were still calling him Boy Wonder. I’ve been there through it all, and the reason Dominic trusts me is because of all the shit we’ve been through together. I was here when you weren’t, and I helped him get to the top. We did all of this together, and we’re still doing it together, so you can rest assured that I will never let anything bad happen to him. This is just a rough patch for the Family, but we’ll get back on track, and Dominic will be fine. We all will.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I manage to ask.

“Because I can see that you’re having some trust issues. As much as you wanna hide it, it’s written all over your face every time I come around. When you look at me, your eyes tell me you don’t trust me. So, I just wanted to let you know that I can be trusted because I’ve been doing this a long time, right there by Dominic the whole time. You don’t have any reason to be suspicious of me, and neither does Dominic.”

Thoughts jumble around in my head, crashing into one another. I try to pick some of the words out of the air and come up with something to say, but I don’t know where to take this conversation. There’s so much I want to say, but I ‘m not sure if I should. How far is too far when you’re just the girlfriend?

“I’m not even sure we should be having this conversation, Tommy,” I finally answer back. Out of all the things I really want to say, this is the best choice because it’s the most neutral. Anything more could cause a firestorm.

“Of course we should,” Tommy replies, glancing at me again. “I know how this kind of thing works. When my fiancé is worried about something, I get worried about it and have to handle it. That’s the way it goes with anyone who’s in love, but it’s especially true when it comes to Dominic and you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I hear myself respond, the words shooting out of my mouth too quickly for me to stop them.

“It means exactly what I said,” he snips, before pulling it back a little. “It’s different when it comes to you and Dominic. You’re it for him. Whatever bond you two were able to forge when you were little babies, or whatever, is fucking unbreakable, and even though he says he has this undying loyalty to the Family, his first priority is really you, whether he admits it or not. I love Dominic, but I don’t doubt for a second that he’d kill all of us if it meant protecting you. So, with all of that said, I know that if you’re worried about something, he’s worried about something. If you’re suspicious of the Family, so is he, and that’s a problem.”

“Is that right? It’s a problem?”

“It’s a
big
problem, Alannah, although you may not recognize it to be one.”

“Well explain it to me then. Why’s it a problem?” I feel my frustration about the whole situation starting to swell up inside of me. I’m losing control over my emotions, and if I don’t figure out a way to get them back in check, I’m going to say something I shouldn’t. I can’t let that happen, not without Dominic around to protect me.

“
Obviously
, the boss of a family can’t spend all of his time being suspicious of his own people,” Tommy begins, doing nothing to hide his patronizing tone. “If the boss doesn’t trust us, things fall apart very quickly, and that’s
obviously
not a good thing. Even
you
can see that, right? We have enough fucking problems out there already. We have a hard enough time trying to keep the peace between the families in This Thing of Ours. So, we don’t need any internal beef. We need trust. So, if you’re over there pissed off, looking at everybody suspiciously, then Dominic will be doing the same fucking thing. We need to focus our attention on the task at hand, and that’s Victor Fronzo.”

There it is, another mention of Victor Fronzo. In the moment, I can’t help it when I think about how Dominic told me that Frankie said the same thing just a few days ago when he came to the house. Pushing everything on Victor Fronzo like they’re trying to start some kind of war between the Giordano’s and the Chicago Outfit.

How is it possible that Tommy and Frankie came to the same conclusion? Why do they both want Dominic to believe that Victor and Giovanni are the ones causing all the trouble? Why does it mean so much to them, and how the hell did they both get on the same page about it? The answer becomes obvious to me—they must be working together on this. It’s the only logical answer. I don’t know why, and I don’t know what their end goal is, but I know they’re behind all of this.

The fire in my gut grows into a primal blaze as I look at Tommy and realize what’s going on.
He’s
the snake, and Dominic needs to know so he can chop his head off.

“So, the Family needs you on this, Alannah,” Tommy continues when I don’t respond. “I know Victor and Giovanni are causing all of this, which is why I need you to tell Dominic that’s the way it is. If you say you believe it’s Victor and Giovanni, Dominic will get on board. Once that happens, I can go down to Chicago and get evidence on all of this before something else happens again. I can prove they’re behind it and get it taken care of before we’re the ones getting taken care of. You understand?”

Tommy eyes me briefly before returning his gaze to the road. He wants me to work his agenda for him. He wants me to convince Dominic, the love of my life, that he should go against his gut and do what Tommy wants—what Tommy and Frankie both want. He wants me to work for him like I’m his.

I am not his to command. I do not work for Tommy Caprio, and I will never, ever, go against what Dominic wants. The fire inside me has grown to an inferno under the fuel of his words.

“You know what?” I begin, feeling hot all over. “I think I
do
understand, actually. I understand that Dominic shouldn’t be suspicious of his family. Take Dan for example. This guy isn’t even made yet, but there he was taking a bullet to the neck to protect Raphy and the money that was supposed to go to Victor. Then there’s Raphy, of course, who died trying to protect the money. Obviously, those two
can
be trusted. Well, only one of them can now. Then there’s Jimmy, who was on video working at the carwash while the hit was being carried out on Raphy and Dan. Frankie was at home, like you said, and John and Big Sal were at River City, which is also on the surveillance video from the casino floor. So, I understand completely that everybody has an alibi for that night, except you.”

Tommy’s eyes flash to me for a second, then back to the road again. His knuckles tighten around the steering wheel and his body tenses up. I struck a nerve. No going back now.

“You never told Dominic where
you
were when all of this went down,” I continue, making sure to never take my eyes off of Tommy. “I was right next to Dominic when he called you and asked you where you were the morning Dan and Raphy got shot, and you told him you were on your way to the hospital to go see Dan. But when we got there, you showed up
after
us and were arguing with the nurse about who could go into Dan’s room in ICU. You obviously hadn’t been there before that moment, otherwise you would’ve already known you weren’t going to get past the waiting area without Mrs. Stanza’s approval.”

Tommy doesn’t say anything. He just keeps driving, staring straight ahead like he can’t get to his destination fast enough. I don’t even focus on where we’re going at this point, I just know I can’t take my eyes off of him.

“I also understand that you’re obviously trying to pin all of this on Victor Fronzo,” I continue. “Somehow, you and Frankie have managed to come up with the exact same conclusion about Victor. They say great minds think alike, but I don’t think either of you has a great mind, so you wouldn’t have come to this conclusion without talking to each other about it. Like the two of you are working together on this whole thing. I don’t know why you would do it, but I know you
are
doing it. I know it’s the two of you.”

He still won’t speak. He glances over at me again, his forehead scrunched so tight I know it’s giving him a massive headache. Nonetheless, he remains silent, so I go in for the kill, releasing my final piece of evidence.

“I also know that Dan put up one helluva fight the night he was shot. He took a bullet to the neck, yet still managed to get out of his car and fire off a few rounds. I’d say whoever shot him in the neck thought he was dead, and was a bit surprised when he got out and started shooting again. Probably even took a bullet. I’d say, from the way you favor it, it looks like he got you in the shoulder.”

I hear him let out a pained exhale as he closes his eyes like their weight is too much for him to bear. He starts shaking his head, as though he can’t believe I’ve put it all together. I can’t believe it either, but I’m feeling more and more pissed with every passing second he sits next to me. He isn’t even denying it. He betrayed Dominic.

“I remember how upset Frankie acted when I came back to St. Louis. He didn’t like that Dominic was spending time with me, and when you got shot in the back by Abram Baskov, you started to resent Dominic too. Both of you went along when Leo named him his successor, but you had another plan for the future, didn’t you? This is about removing Dominic from power so Frankie can be the boss, right? You want Dominic out so Frankie can take his place. Or, maybe it’s you who wants to become the boss. Either way, I know you want Dominic out. Just like you said about my distrust being written all over my face, your guilt is written on yours, Tommy.”

As I finish my speech, feeling good about how I solved the puzzle, Tommy slows the car to a crawl, and then to a complete stop. He pulls up on the parking brake just as my phone chimes with a text message. I look down to see that it’s from Dominic, and my heart races as I read.

Dominic Tommy shot Dan. Killed Raphy. Don’t say anything, just get away from him. Now! Where are you?

I already knew this was true, but seeing it coming from Dominic does something to me. I’m immediately filled with worry and fear as my assumption about Tommy has turned into a reality. My thoughts are so out of control that I barely notice when Tommy gets out of the car.

I look up and am shocked to see that we’re nowhere near River City. In fact, I don’t know where the hell we are. Directly in front of us is an abandoned house, with the windows shattered. The building looks like it has been set on fire and left to rot into nothingness. Where the hell has Tommy taken me?

In full panic mode, I grab my phone and start to text Dominic back. The plan is to tell him I never made it home, that I’m at some abandoned house, but I never get to type the letters.

Before I can type my first word, the window next to me shatters. Glass goes flying all over the place, shards hit me in the face and land violently in my lap and on the floor of the Suburban. When all the commotion stops, I look outside to find Tommy’s nine millimeter pointed directly between my eyes. He looks down at my phone, and without saying a word, commands me to drop it. I know he’ll kill me if I don’t, so I oblige.

“Well, you’re just too smart for your own good, aren’t you?” he growls as he grabs the handle and opens the door from the outside. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but I don’t have a choice now, do I? Get the fuck out of the car.”