“Maybe that’s true,” she answers, smiling at me. “But if I didn’t get those bandages and the medicine you needed, you wouldn’t have been able to protect me later. I needed to heal you, we needed clothes to change into, and we needed the guns I grabbed, too. We have all the stuff we need now, and nobody saw me. We’re fine.”
“But did you go back to River City? Because I’m sure Victor and Giovanni are all over that place, just waiting for me to show up.”
“No, I went to Hollywood,” she answers, which settles me down a little, because most people don’t know I own Hollywood Casino & Hotel, because I don’t stay there very much. I do have a penthouse in that casino too, so Alannah made the right move by going there. “I took a cab and made him wait for me in the basement while I went to the penthouse. Then I had him drop me off at another hotel, and I got a different cab to bring me back here. I covered my tracks, babe. You don’t have to worry about that. Plus I had a hat on, pulled really low so people couldn’t see my face. We’re good.”
Alannah leans in to kiss me, and it feels so good to have her skin on mine. I breathe a frustrated sigh of relief and try not to worry about how she went out without me. She’s a brave woman, and it makes her even more beautiful.
The bandages on my shoulder and leg are wrapped tight, making moving a bit difficult, but I manage to sit up in the lumpy bed and rest my back on the headboard. The coldness of the wood feels good on my hot skin.
“So, after all that’s happened,” Alannah begins again, changing the subject. “What are we supposed to do now?”
I take a second to think about the answer, and when it comes to me, I know she won’t like it.
“I’ve still gotta meet with Frankie,” I reply, bracing myself for her response.
“What? You just got shot because you tried to meet with Frankie! How do you know he’s not the one who set you up?”
“I don’t,” I answer truthfully. “But Frankie didn’t know we were going to the Isle until I called him, and I think it’s unlikely that he made a call to Giovanni and told him to try to whack me at the last stoplight leading to the casino. I think Giovanni was tailing us from the moment we left River City, and made a move when he saw an opportunity. I thought I saw a red truck when we left. I dismissed it before, but now that I have two holes in my body, I know for sure I saw that Denali when we left River City. That’s my fault.”
“So you don’t think Frankie had anything to do with what happened today?” she asks with fury in her voice.
“Nah. Well, I’m not sure. But I need to know for sure, and there’s only one way to find out.”
“What the hell for?” Alannah snaps, standing up and glaring down on me as she lets out a loud sigh. “I know you’ve been involved in this world your whole life, but history has not been kind to people in the mob. Your mob family is the one who’ll kill you. You can’t trust any of them.”
“Thanks for the lesson on La Cosa Nostra, but I already know that,” I reply. “But I also can’t do this on my own. Look at me. I’m all shot up, and I can’t even defend myself right now, let alone you. I need an ally.”
“I’m your ally.Weare your allies,” she says as she begins to rub her belly. “We have a baby on the way, Dominic. I don’t want to run for my life anymore. I don’t want to be afraid anymore, not for me, and not for you. And I don’t wanna have to raise this baby alone because its father got killed. I don’t want this life anymore. It’s time to change.”
Tears start to fill Alannah’s eyes, and it’s like a kick in the gut. I know she’s right. This life isn’t the kind of life I want my children to have, and I have to do everything I can to protect it. I have to protect both of them, but I can’t do it on my own. If I want out of La Cosa Nostra, it’s going to take something drastic. It’s going to take more than just me.
“You know I love you, Alannah,” I say to her. “You have to believe me when I tell you there isn’t anything in this world I wouldn’t do to protect you and our child. Nothing means more to me than that.Nothing. And that’s why I gotta call Frankie.”
“You can’t trust Frankie.”
“I think I can. Like I told you before, Frankie was around when my father was still alive, and I think he’s the most loyal guy we have in the Family. I’ve known him my entire life, and I don’t think that bond can be broken. He’s gonna help us get out of this. I got a feeling.”
“You might trust him, but I definitely don’t.”
“You don’t have to. All you gotta do is trust me,” I reply. “Trust that I will always protect you. Trust me, Alannah, please.”
She stares at me, and I can see the anger, frustration, and disappointment in her eyes. She wants nothing more than to be done with all of this. Finding out she was pregnant changed everything, and rightfully so. It changed everything in me too, which is why I’m making this happen.
She takes her hand off of her belly and uses it to wipe away her oncoming tears before exhaling loud enough to be heard through the thin walls.
“Okay, Dominic,” she says, just as she walks over to the table and picks up my cell phone.
It takes about an hour for Frankie to arrive. When he knocks on the door, my heart pounds in my chest. I’m laying in a motel bed with my leg and shoulder bandaged, and the medicine Alannah gave me for the pain still has a grip on my mind and motor skills. The grogginess weighs me down and the gunshot wounds have left me nearly motionless for the moment. This isn’t the state to be in if something goes wrong, so my heart keeps pounding with anxiety.
Alannah opens the door slowly, and Frankie surveys the room before he steps inside. He looks around like he’s expecting someone to pop out at any moment, before stepping up to the foot of the bed and looking down at me.
“What the hell?” he whispers, either to himself or me, I’m not sure.
“Thanks for coming, Frankie,” I say.
“What the hell is going on, Dominic?” he responds as Alannah slowly walks behind him and sits down in the chair in front of the wooden desk.
“Well, I’m not one hundred percent sure what’s going on, to tell you the truth. All I can tell you is what happened, then we’ll have to go from there to figure out what’s going on.”
