Kingpin (An Italian Mafia Romance) Read Online Free Page A

hate when she shortens my name to Dom, but it’s Ma, and when you’re dealing with Gloria Giaculo, fuhgeddaboutit.
    “It was fine. Normal.”
    “Normal? So, no trouble today?”
    “No, Ma. No trouble today.” I know she’s really asking if I got into a fight today. It’s been a tough year in school for me, and that affects her too.
    “That’s good,” she says, nodding. “Anything interesting happen?”
    “Not really. Well, I may have made a friend. I don’t know, Ma.”
    “A friend?” she chirps. “What kind of friend?”
    “I know where this is going, Ma. Yes, it’s a girl. No, she’s not my girlfriend, and no, I’m not in love.”
    “What? I didn’t even say anything.”
    “Yeah, but I know you were about to.”
    “No way. Of course not. I wouldn’t do anything to make you feel uncomfortable.” She takes a second to finish chewing, then she continues with what I knew was coming. “So, what’s her name? Is she pretty?”
    “Ma!”
    “What? I’m just curious if the girl’s pretty. What’s the big deal?”
    “Ugh. What happened to not making me feel uncomfortable?”
    “I love you, Dominic.”
    “Oh, whatever. Her name’s Alannah.”
    “And?” she says, grinning like The Joker.
    “Yeah, she’s pretty.”
    “Is she Italian?”
    “I don’t know, Ma. I doubt it. Her father’s in the Air Force.”
    Mom frowns. I know she’d prefer I thought an Italian girl was pretty, but we live in Belleville, Illinois. Italian girls are hard to come by.
    “Well, does she at least look Italian?” she continues, not letting it go.
    “I don’t know, Ma. Who looks Italian? She has dark brown hair and brown eyes. I didn’t know we had to look a certain way to be true Italians.”
    She puts her hands up like she’s showing me they’re empty. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry. I just think it’s nice, that’s all. I hope you two can be really good friends. Dominic and Alannah. That sounds nice.”
    “Oh my god, Ma.”
    “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something else,” she says, but that sneaky smile is still lingering. “I forgot to ask you earlier since you got home so late; how was your weekend with your father?”
    An image flashes in my memory . . .
     
    “Clean this off and put it in the glove compartment,” he says as he looks out the window at the guy who’s still on the ground.
    I use the towel to wipe the blood off the gun.
     
    “It was good. Fun,” I reply, smiling as I chew. I make sure to keep my eyes on my plate.
    “Yeah? He take you anywhere?” she asks, suddenly serious.
    The smile melts off my face, but I keep looking down. I know she’s staring at me.
    “Umm, nowhere special. We just hung out,” I reply.
    I’m not stupid. I know why my parents aren’t together, and my father has told me plenty of times that there’s things I can’t say in front of my mother. My father hasn’t changed at all. The things he does when we’re together are the exact things my mother hates about him. It’s weird, because I know she still loves him, there’s just certain things she hates about him. Grownups are strange.
    “Don’t lie to me, Dominic Giovanni Collazo,” she snips. Ugh, my full name. Now I have to look up at her, and she’s glaring at me with an expressionless face.
    “I’m not, Ma,” I lie.
    I look back down at my plate even though my lasagna is almost gone. I hear her take a deep breath, which is the signal that she’s about to give a speech.
    “Listen to me, Dom,” she begins. I know how this goes, so I put my fork down and prepare to listen for a while. “I love your father, I really do, but I also know the truth about him. And I know you’re getting to that age now that you’re learning the truth about him, too. I know what your father does, and who he hangs out with, and I know it’s dangerous. He loves you, though, and I’m not gonna try to deny him his right to being your father. I’d never even think of doing that, but I need