Dominic
The answers are coming, I know it. They have to be, because I’ve had enough of all this shit. I don’t know when things got so confusing, but I’ve fucking had it up to here with all of it.
A boss is supposed to be respected. He’s supposed to be looked up to, idolized, and fucking feared. All this shit that’s been happening these past few days is the exact opposite of how it should be. I’m being disrespected and undermined, and I’ve had enough.
In my head, I go over all the people who sit at my table in the conference room of Lumiere Place, guys who’ve been a part of Our Thing their whole lives, and I don’t know if I can honestly say that they’d never have thoughts of having me whacked. The mob guys believe in a system where seniority is to be respected, so maybe I got this whole thing wrong. Maybe I was being naïve when Leo named me his successor. They all looked like they wanted me to be in that seat, but maybe they were just playing the part. Maybe it was an act that they put on for Leo’s sake. Leo was the one who made them swear their loyalty to me, I didn’t earn it the way he did. He made them love and trust him over the years by doing right by them, making them tons of money, and killing all of their enemies, and he’d been doing it since before I was even born. I could never replace Leo Capizzi. It took a year, but it seems that people involved in This Thing of Ours have gotten over the idea of a twenty-something boss ordering men two and three times his age around. Maybe the fad has died. In Our Thing, all it takes is an idea from one person to do something drastic about leadership, and that idea spreads throughout the Family like a cancer. The hard part, the part that’s driving me crazy right now, is figuring out where the cancer originated, so you can cut it out before it spreads too far.
“Thanks for coming alone. I didn’t mean any disrespect to your beautiful girlfriend, but I don’t know who to trust right now.”
“Fuhgeddaboutit. Unfortunately, I know exactly what you mean,” I reply as I lean over and wrap my arms around Dan’s mother.
When she called me at the restaurant, I had to do my best not to give away who I was talking to. Since I’m trapped inside this cloud of deceit that’s having its way with my life, I didn’t want Tommy to know anything, and I had to keep Alannah in the dark just in case someone asks her. I needed her to really not know where I was going so it couldn’t be used against her.
As I make my way into the private room, I see Dan lying on the bed with his eyes closed. He has a thick bandage wrapped around his neck, and the sheets on his bed are pulled up to his chest, hiding the bandages from the successful surgery to stop the internal bleeding that nearly killed him. He doesn’t look as close to death as he did the last time I was here, so that’s a plus. Not to mention, they’ve taken him out the ICU so he can recover from the surgeries.
I walk over to the bed and pull up a chair as Mrs. Stanza stands at the foot. She looks at her son adoringly, the way only a mother could look at her son, before leaning over slightly and saying his name.
“Daniel,” she whispers like she’s trying to keep from scaring him. “Daniel, Dominic’s here to see you. Daniel.”
Slowly but surely, Dan starts to open his eyes. They flicker and fight for the right to move, then struggle with the bright hospital lights once they’re completely open. Dan looks at his mother and gives her a warm, “I’m okay” smile.
“Dominic’s here to see you, Daniel,” Mrs. Stanza says again.
Dan slowly shifts his eyes over to me and I make sure to smile at him. Dan isn’t made, so he isn’t used to me being around. Associates don’t spend much time around capos, let alone the boss.
“How you doing, Dan?” I ask, still smiling.
I can see that Dan thinks to answer me verbally, but then he realizes he can’t. He slowly motions towards the bandages on his neck, before looking to his mother. Mrs. Stanza walks over to the chair she was sitting in by the door and picks up a big yellow notepad and a pen, handing it to her son. Dan takes his time, but eventually he writesSTILL ALIVEin big, barely legible letters.
I smile at the writing, but it pains me to see that someone in my family has been reduced to this. The man can’t even speak words, but he’s loyal nonetheless. They always are before the greed kicks in.
I look up at Dan’s mother and I can see the pride she has on her face. She’s thrilled her son is finally awake and able to at least write on his own, and I know she cherishes every second she gets with him, so I don’t want to intrude on their time together. It must be nice to have a mother who cares so much.
“Listen, I don’t want to intrude on your time,” I begin, looking at Dan, “and I know you have a long road to recovery, so I’d like to make this quick. Obviously, Dan, the most important thing in the world to me right now is finding out who did this to you. I made a promise to your mother that’d I’d find out who it was, and I’m gonna keep it.”
As I’m speaking, Dan immediately starts writing on the notepad. After about twenty seconds, he turns it so I can read.
RAPHY?
I let out a loud exhale before slowly shaking my head. Dan lowers his eyes as sadness washes over him. He shakes his head like he can’t believe it, before turning the pad, tearing off a page, and writing again. I think to speak, but I decide to let him get out whatever he wants to say right now. I’m sure waking up to this is hard for him.
THE MONEY?
I let out another sigh as I realize how much bad news I’m giving a man who just woke up from life-saving surgery.
“It’s gone,” I reply solemnly, looking down at the sheets on the bed instead of in Dan’s sad eyes. “Whoever did this took it.”
As I look up, Dan already has the wordsI’M SORRYwritten on the notepad.
“Hey, you don’t got nothing to be sorry about, kid,” I reply. “You did everything you could to keep that money safe. You tried to save Raphy—took a bullet to the neck and still managed to get out and put up a fight. You’re a fucking hero in my book, Dan. I’ll never forget what you did. Don’t ever apologize for it.”
Dan’s mouth turns into a tiny, pained smile before he lets the notepad fall to his side. His mother smiles at him, agreeing with my words.
“So, here’s what’s important now, Dan,” I continue. “You sacrificed a lot to protect Raphy and the money, now it’s time for the Family to give back to you. We need to find out who did this to you. So, I need you to think as hard as you can about that day. Take your time and think because your answer is very important. Did you see who did this?”
The second the question comes out of my mouth, Dan looks fearful. We have a code in Our Thing, you don’t rat—not to the police, not to anyone. As an associate trying to become made, he knows how important it is to follow the rules of La Cosa Nostra, because if you don’t, you’ll never get in, and you’ll probably end up dead. Dan looks at his mother, who nods her head to support her son’s decision.
“Dan, listen to me,” I say quietly. “This ain’t ratting. I think this whole thing goes deeper than it looks, and I need answers so I can put a stop to it, or the Giordano family is gonna be in trouble. There’s no rules to follow here. This is just being honest. This is for your sake, and for the sake of the Family.”
