Page 61 of Long Live the King
“Who did this to you?” Frankie replies, looking down at my bandages.
“Right after I called you and told you to meet me at Isle of Capri, Giovanni tried to whack me. We were less than a block away from the Isle when he pulled up next to us and started shooting. We had to get out the car and run, because he was a persistent motherfucker. We ran, and he chased us. Shot me in the shoulder and the back of the leg. Obviously, if Giovanni is shooting at me, the word was put out by Victor, which means he must’ve gotten approval from the Commission.”
Frankie lets out a loud sigh.
“If that’s true, it’s a serious problem to have, Dominic,” he says.
“Yeah, and it’s especially fucked up because that’s the reason I wanted to meet with you at the Isle in the first place. I was hoping to figure out a way to pay Victor. I wanted to settle it.”
“But he didn’t give you the chance, now he has to die,” Frankie growls. “Giovanni shot you, and he has to pay for that. Victor too, for ordering the hit. This is war now, Dominic.”
“If this were normal circumstances, that’s exactly what I’d want. But these ain’t normal circumstances.”
“What? They fucking shot you!” Frankie snaps. “They don’t get to live now. You don’t shoot at a boss and miss. They knew what they were doing when they started this shit, and now we have to organize and finish it. We need to call Tommy, and get our people together so we can retaliate.”
“We can’t,” I start, but I stop myself before I can say too much about Tommy. I’m not ready to address that yet. One step at a time. “I wanna kill Giovanni more than anything else, but like I said before, our circumstances have changed.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me. Look at yourself, you’re sitting in a fucking motel with the lights down low, hiding because these fuckers are after you. St. Louis belongs to us, and everyone is gonna know you don’t fuck with the Giordano family. What has changed about your circumstances that you don’t want to hit them back?”
“You just gotta trust me, Frankie. We gotta play this smart,” I reply, trying my best to calm him down. “I hear what you’re saying, believe me. But the first thing we need to do is find out exactly what’s going on. First we get the information, then we use it to our advantage. I want to outsmart them, not do exactly what they’d expect. And when I saythey, I mean Victor and the Commission both. For all we know, it’s us versus all of them. So, that’s why I need you. You’ve been involved with Our Thing way longer than me, and I know you can get the information we need. So, I need you to be smart about this, okay.
“I almost didn’t call you, Frankie. We’re having some serious trust issues over here, so it’s important that you handle this exactly how I say. I don’t want Jimmy involved, I don’t want Sal involved, and definitely not John.”
“What about Tommy?” he asks. “Tommy’s the underboss, and you’ve known him a long time, too. You don’t want him involved either?”
“I’ve knownyoumy whole life,” I answer, deflecting away from Tommy. “And you were my father’s friend. The bond you and I have is unbreakable. You’re like an uncle to me, Frankie. I trust you, and you’re the only one I want working on this. So, don’t tell anybody where I am. Don’t even mention my name right now. Just find out if the Commission has put something in the streets about me. I need to see how deep this thing goes before I make another move. Okay?”
Frankie hesitates for a moment, obviously upset over not being able to retaliate yet.
“Okay, Dominic,” he says softly. “You got it.”
Frankie turns on his heel and starts for the door, but I stop him.
“Frankie,” I say, “I trust you. You know that, right?”
Frankie glances at me, then Alannah, then back to me.
“Yeah, Dominic. I know you do,” he replies with his signature scowl, then he walks out the door, gently closing it behind him.
