Kingpin (An Italian Mafia Romance) (15 page)

“I’m sorry, Tommy,” Joe says. “I didn’t know he came in.”

“Did I ask what you fucking knew?” Tommy snaps. The room goes quiet as Tommy stares at Joe like he’s ready to slit his throat. Joe doesn’t move, and he looks like he isn’t even breathing. Suddenly, Tommy smiles. “Ah I’m just breaking your balls! Relax, kid. I’m just kidding.”

Everybody in the room busts out laughing.

“That’s not funny, Tommy. Why you gotta mess with me like that?” Joe asks as he laughs. I can see the relief on his face, though. Tommy’s five-ten and over two hundred twenty pounds. Not only is he crazy enough to kill you, he actually looks the part, with a mean scowl that seems to never fade away. He’s either smiling or scowling, there’s no in between. This guy never lifted a weight in his life, but you wouldn’t know it from how stocky he is. It doesn’t matter how short a temper Skinny Joe has either, because Tommy’s a made guy and Skinny isn’t, so Joe can’t lay a finger on him.

“Alright, alright, listen up,” I interrupt with a wave of my hand. “We just had a meeting with all the captains, and I’ve got some news. So, turns out Danny Ramano decided to flip on Leo and Jimmy. Leo got the word that the cops are getting warrants sometime in the near future, so things are gonna be changing in The Family. Leo says there will be an acting boss temporarily, but then he’ll choose a new permanent boss with the advice of The Commission. We all expect it to be Frankie, but Leo didn’t say anything about who it’d be. So, we’ll just wait and see I guess. Nothing has changed for the moment, but it will. That’s what came out of the meeting.”

The three of them look just as stunned as the capos did when we first heard.

“I always knew Danny was a sneaky little bitch,” Tommy snips. “I don’t know how he became consigliere anyway. Fucking rat.”

“I swear, a rat has always been the downfall of Our Thing,” Charlie chips in. “Fucking rats. There’s no way to get rid of ’em. Even when things are going good and everybody’s happy, there’s always a rat lurking in the shadows ready to ruin it to save his own ass. So, when are we making an example out of this cock sucker?”

“Leo doesn’t want that,” I answer to the annoyance of everyone. “I know it’s fucked up, but Leo doesn’t want his family touched. What’s done is done. So, we’re not gonna dwell on it. We’re gonna move forward with business as usual until we hear something from Leo or Jimmy. That’s it. Understand?” They nod along together, and we move on to the next topic. “Alright, so where are we with Lumiere Place, Tommy?”

“We’re in the same place we were before. The fucking guy isn’t budging, Dominic. I mean, he’s a fucking multi-millionaire for Christ’s sake. He could go buy another casino, but he’s making life difficult.”

“Ugh, fucking Russians,” I complain. “This hotel is right off of Highway 44, and if we own it, it’ll go a long way towards partnering up with Frankie, who has already taxed the trucks on that road anyway. We can stash merchandise and money right in the building without even having to travel a mile off the highway. The Lumiere Place Casino & Hotel would be a goldmine, and it’d give us control over everything coming through St. Louis. So, I don’t give a fuck what that little Russian prick wants, I want that hotel. You tell him to name his price.”

“I know, Dominic, but the guy says he’s not selling. I mean, there’s a way we can get him out, but it might get messy, and you know how Leo is about attracting heat nowadays,” Tommy explains.

I know he’s right. Leo’s been picky about hits the past few years because the Feds are always on our asses, so we have to tread very lightly with this kind of thing. That’s why I love having Tommy around. He knows what to say to keep me from flying off the hinges without thinking things through. He’s like my own personal consigliere.

“No,” I say quietly, thinking out loud. “I don’t want to take it there just yet. We’ve got enough trouble with the Feds and St. Louis PD coming after Leo and Jimmy. Just let me think for a second.”

I have to weigh my options here. I know I could send Tommy in there with his two nines to put an end to this Russian asshole in a snap, but then I’d have to worry about the body and the questions coming from the guy’s family and friends, which would lead to questions from the cops. I also don’t want to let it go. If Frankie actually becomes the boss, it’d be a big deal to be able to help him out through that hotel, not to mention how much money the place makes legitimately. It’s good for The Family, and it’s good for me personally. I can’t let it go.

“Alright, this is what we’re gonna do,” I start, the imaginary light bulb above my head shining bright. I light another Cuban and inhale deeply. “Tommy, I want you to arrange a sit down with this
coglione
. Somewhere public, so he feels safe. Charlie, I want you do some digging for me. Before this sit down, I want to know absolutely everything there is to know about Abram Baskov.”

Dominic

I
always noticed Lumiere Place Casino & Hotel, but I didn’t appreciate it until now. We approach on Highway 44 so I can see the route we’d be using to bring in merchandise, and you can see the Lumiere from the road. It’s at least twenty stories, with big blue windows that reflect the St. Louis Arch, which can be seen as you stand in front of the entrance to the hotel. It’s a beautiful place, and the look of it makes me want to own it even more. I always loved River City, maybe because my father owned it before I did, but there’s something about Lumiere Place. Something about the location, and the colors, and the proximity to the Arch. It’s just beautiful, and as Tommy and I make our way through the revolving glass door, the inside affects me the same way the outside does. It’s mostly white with brown accents, and there’s a huge picture of the Arch behind the check-in counter. I love it.

“This is a nice fucking place,” Tommy says as we step up to the counter and wait for a clerk to address us.

“Yeah, it is,” I agree. “Never seen the inside before. Now that I have, I want it more than ever.”

“Between this place and River City, you’d be next level, Dominic. I don’t know how you were able to get into all this casino stuff, but it’s impressive. You’ll be set for life if you can couple this up with River City.”

“That’s the plan, right?” I reply. “This isn’t just about my life. It’s about the lives of everybody in my crew. Our kids and their futures, too. We close the deal on this place, and we’re talking about
our families
being set for life, not just me. We gotta make this happen, Tommy. We can be untouchable.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to become the boss,” Tommy says with a big smile, but I wave him off.

“Fuhgeddaboutit. Frankie’s gonna be the boss, but maybe we can lock us in for the future, and if I get it, you’re coming with me.”

“Don’t get my hopes up, Dominic,” Tommy says with a chuckle.

I’ve never openly talked about what it’d be like to be the boss of The Family, but it’s a position everyone wants. When you’re the boss, everybody in the family has to kick up to you.
Everybody
. So, for me, if I can get Abram Baskov to stop being a fucking asshole and let me buy him out of the Lumiere, I’d be owner of two hotels, and partner on two more. On top of that, I’d be getting money from everyone in The Family until I die. Tommy’s right, I’d be set, and anybody else I wanted would be set too. I could also have anybody who gets in my way clipped with a snap of my fingers, and no one would ever find the body, and it’d never come back to me, because when you’re the boss, you’re never around when a hit takes place. At least that’s how it should be. Leo and Jimmy had a bad habit of breaking that rule, which is why they’re in the position they’re in now, but I know better than to be thinking about that. Frankie has the position locked in, but I won’t need to be the boss if I can make this deal happen.

“Mr. Baskov is ready for you,” a voice says from behind me. Tommy and I turn around to find a young, clean-shaven black kid in a dark brown suit staring at us. He’s got a bald head and a nametag that says his name is Anthony. “He’s in the lobby to your left.”

“Kinda sneaky, ain’t you?” Tommy says to the guy, who just smiles as we walk towards the lobby.

Tommy and I approach the lobby together, where there’s a few people seated in cream and red plush chairs. Some of them are on their phones, others are clicking away on laptops, but they all look like occupied business people—all except for two.

Standing in front of a table in the exact center of the lobby are two men—one large guy, and one average size guy with black hair that’s styled like he should still be in the eighties. The big guy is tall and heavier set with a bald head that’s covered in tattoos, and a black suit that’s struggling to hold his big body inside of it. The average guy is trying to hide the fact that he’s covered in tattoos too, but they’re still visible as they peek out from under the collar of his black suit when he moves, as if they’re trying to escape. His hands are covered in symbols I can’t recognize from a distance, but I know they’re traditional Russian mafia tats.

I don’t know who the big one is, but the average one is Abram Baskov. His father, Ivan Baskov, was the head of the Russian mafia in Chicago a few years back. But that didn’t end too well, which is why Abram has resettled here in St. Louis.

I can tell from the look of this guy that he’s not someone I’m going to have to worry about. He’s young, only twenty-four, with a five o’clock shadow to try to make himself look older. It doesn’t help though, because even with the hair on his face, the youth is in his eyes. He’s never hurt anyone before and he sleeps well at night. He’s not haunted by the faces of the men he’s killed. He’s not in the lifestyle, he just wants people to think he is because of who his relatives are . . . were.

“Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Collazo,” Abram says as we greet them. He doesn’t extend his hand, so neither do I.

“The pleasure’s mine,” I reply.

“Please. Sit.”

The four of us sit down and order champagne, and a full two minutes goes by before either of us says anything. It’s a test to see who’ll break the silence first, and there’s no chance it’ll be me. We’ll sit in this bitch all night before I speak first.

Finally, Abram relents and speaks up.

“Alright, let’s not waste each other’s time, Mr. Collazo. I know why you’re here,” he says before pausing to sip his champagne. He’s confident. “And your visit is quite unnecessary, because there’s no way I’m selling my casino.”

I exhale to steady myself.

“That’s not the way I hoped this conversation would start, Mr. Baskov,” I begin, making sure to never break eye contact. “I know you have your pride, but you’re a very rich young man. You could buy another casino without me buying you out of this one, so there’s no need for us to start off on the wrong foot.”

“I don’t care what foot we start on. All that matters to me is that you know I’m not selling, and now that I’ve said that to your face and you’ve heard it straight from my mouth, there’s no need for us to continue this conversation.” Just like that, Abram and his goon stand up like they’re leaving.

But they’re not.

I clear my throat.

“You don’t know me very well, and I’d hate for you to get the wrong impression, so it’s important that I’m honest with you,” I begin, crossing one leg over the other. “I’m not impressed by your tattoos, or your little bodyguard in the suit that’s two sizes too small to try to make himself look bigger. I’m also not impressed with your money, especially since the only reason you have any is because you got a nice, fat inheritance and life insurance when your lunatic uncle, Ilia Baskov, murdered your pussy of a father so he could partner up with his enemy, Kelvin Carter, and become boss of the family. Which was completely pointless, because your uncle ended up getting killed in a shootout with Chicago PD anyway. I know you, Abram. You didn’t earn any of this shit, you didn’t work for it. It was handed to you, and I’m not fucking impressed. So, you can spare me the little rich kid attitude, and sit the fuck down before I make a scene in front of all your guests.”

Abram looks stunned, but he looks downright flabbergasted when he glances at Tommy and sees he has his hand in his jacket pocket holding one of his two nine millimeters.

Abram hesitates for a second, before finally exhaling.

“
Sest’, Aleks
,” he says to his bodyguard in Russian. They both sit, and Abram takes another sip of his champagne. “You have my full attention, Mr. Collazo.”

“Good.” I nod to Tommy and he tucks his pistol back into its harness. “Now, here’s the deal I’m offering. I’ll buy you out of your ownership of Lumiere Place for five million dollars, which is overpriced for the inconvenience
of having to sell quickly and without preparation. See, I’m nice. Your staff and everything else stays in place for now. The only thing that goes is you. You sign it over to me, you take the money and pile it in with the rest of your inheritance so you can buy another hotel, preferably
outside
of St. Louis, because if you think you can escape your family’s fucked up past in Chicago by settling down here, you’re crazier than that suit looks on ‘ole Alex here.”