Dominic’s cell phone pierced the silence and woke us from our slumber. He groaned and buried his head underneath one of the down pillows.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?”
“No, they can leave a message,” he said, his voice muffled. “I’m not getting out of bed.”
The phone stopped ringing, but seconds later started pealing again. I knew it wasn’t possible, but it seemed more insistent this time. It was my turn to groan as I rolled away from Dominic so he could get up.
“Hello?” he answered. “Hey Uncle Marco, what’s up?”
He walked out of the bedroom to take the call. I stayed in bed with my eyes closed, half listening to the one sided conversation.
“I can be there. It’ll take a few minutes though; I have to take Natalie home.”
I frowned at the thought of having to leave.
“Yeah, she spent the night,” he paused. “That’s none of your business!” he snapped, sounding annoyed. “No. She doesn’t know.”
What didn’t I know?
“Tell Grant that everything is under control. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I heard him click his phone shut and imagined that if it were a real phone, he would have slammed it down on the receiver.
I heard him walk back into the room, but I kept my eyes shut, I didn’t want him to think I was listening.
“Natalie,” he whispered and kissed my forehead.
“Hmmm?” I opened my eyes.
“I have to go. You can stay here or I can take you home?”
“Who was that?” I asked as I pushed the covers aside.
“Uncle Marco. He needs me to take care of some stuff.”
“Oh. I’ll go back to my apartment.”
“Nat, you might want to prepare for a shit storm – Grant was with Uncle Marco and he heard me say you were here. He wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Shit. Well, he was bound to find out sooner or later. I’ll deal with him.”
“Sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Grant is the one being an ass.”
Dominic dropped me off at my apartment and we had a quick kiss goodbye. He promised to call when he was done and then he was gone. I watched him drive down the street and wondered what he was up to and what he meant by “she doesn’t know.”
Chapter 11
Miranda was waiting for me at the front door again. A line had already started to form, even though Crimson didn’t open for another hour, the line was just going to get longer.
“Hi Miranda!” I had been in a perpetual good mood since Dominic and I had come to terms, even if I was exhausted from all the late nights. It had been a week since we declared ourselves to each other and every moment spent with Dominic was incredible.
“Hi Nat. You’re working VIP again tonight.”
“Ok, same drill?” She nodded and then looked at me funny.
“What?” My tone was defensive.
“So you and Dominic? Is this like an official thing?”
“Yes.” I answered hesitantly, uncomfortable about discussing my personal life with my boss, who was also my brother’s girlfriend and not to mention my boyfriend’s cousin.
“Grant doesn’t like it.” This was an understatement. I thought Grant was going to have an aneurism when he found out about us. This was four days ago and he hadn’t spoken to me since.
“He’ll get over it,” I grumbled.
“Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“I’m talking to you as a manager. Ordinarily I don’t care who my employees are dating, except when they’re dating each other.”
“Oh.” I wanted to respond by saying she was being a little hypocritical, but decided it would be best not to push it. “I get it,” I said instead and turned to go.
“One more thing…” I glanced over my shoulder at her and marveled at how similar her eyes were to Dominic’s. “Grant told me that my dad has expressed an interest in you.” My mouth went dry. “I told him that you were with Dominic, maybe he’ll back off now.”
“Oh…thanks! I hope so!” I liked the tips I earned in the VIP section, but I didn’t like the looming presence of Uncle Marco. Miranda smiled at my reaction. Then she sent me on my way to get set-up. I passed Grant on the way to the employee lounge and he avoided me – again.
Brittany was in the lounge and I ignored her. She still hadn’t gotten over that Dominic was my boyfriend and that I had replaced her in the VIP section. Her pouting was almost audible as I checked my hair in the mirror. It wasn’t big and poufy like the other Crimson girls, but shiny and soft. Dominic said he liked it because his hand didn’t get stuck in it when he ran his fingers through my hair. Like last night, when I lay underneath him and ran my hands down the length of his broad back to his firm…a toilet flushed behind me and snapped me out of my reverie. Having lost a few minutes to daydreaming I rushed over to the VIP section to get set up. Grant was leaning against the bar talking to the bartender when I walked up.
“Hi Grant,” I said softly.
“Natalie,” he greeted me through pursed lips. This was progress – at least he acknowledged my presence. I didn’t want to push my luck and went about my business.
This was the busiest night I had worked at Crimson and that surprised me because it was a Sunday. Didn’t people have to work in the morning? I ran around ragged trying to keep up with everyone’s drink orders. Uncle Marco left me alone just as I had hoped. Not having this anxiety helped me focus and get my job done. The night flew by and soon the club had cleared out except for Uncle Marco and his boys. Marco asked me to sit with them again and this time I didn’t mind.
“So, you and Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“Huh. Is he treatin’ you good doll?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Let me know if my nephew misbehaves and I’ll smack some sense into him.” He gesticulated a lot when he spoke and he emphasized the word smack by slamming his hand down on the table. I couldn’t help but flinch.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Grant walked up to the table and Marco shifted his attention away from me.
“Grant!” Marco shook my brother’s hand. “Good job getting Stump to settle up on his bill. He wasn’t any trouble?”
“Not at all and I don’t think he will be any trouble in the future,” Grant answered.
“Excellent! Now I have some more business to discuss with you. Natalie, you can leave.” Grant visibly relaxed, his shoulders not as tense, once I had been dismissed.
Dominic saw me descending the stairs from VIP and waved me over to his bar. “Hey babe,” he said and leaned across the bar and we kissed. “How was your night?”
“Good. Miranda told her dad that we were together and he left me alone tonight.”
Dominic tightened his jaw. “Was Uncle Marco bothering you?”
I clamped my hand over my mouth and my eyes got wide. “Oops.” I said through my hand and then lowered it. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t want you to get upset. Grant told Miranda and she handled it.”
Dominic’s face grew dark with anger. “How was he bothering you?”
“I don’t want to say, you’ll probably just get more upset. And he’s your uncle”
“What about our agreement to be up front with each other?” Damn. He had to play that card.
“OK,” I caved. “I’ll tell you later; let’s finish work first.”
This seemed to appease Dominic, but I knew he wouldn’t drop it. One of the things we had in common was our persistence. I left him to finish cleaning up his bar and brought my tips to Miranda, she took fifty percent for the bartender and handed back the rest. I quickly counted the wad and was amazed at my take - $530. I had already paid my bills for the month, so all this was spending money and it instantly started to burn a hole in my pocket.
I bounced back to Dominic’s bar and he handed me
a gin and tonic, my preferred drink of late. I sucked it dry in seconds and asked for another. He eyed me curiously. “I’m celebrating,” I explained. “I made some good bank tonight.”
“We’ll have to celebrate later.” He gave me a suggestive look which caused me to squirm on the bar stool and gnaw on my straw. I hung out until he finished wiping down his bar. He walked with me to the employee lounge where I grabbed my bag.
“What would you like to do, besides discuss my uncle?” he asked.
“We could go back to your place?” I pressed up against him, stood on my tiptoes and nibbled his ear lobe. “We don’t have to talk about your uncle tonight,” I whispered and lightly grabbed his crotch...
“I do like your suggestion!” He held the exit door open for me and was almost out behind me when Grant yelled his name. We turned to see him jogging across the dance floor towards us. I prepared myself for a confrontation.
“Marco needs us to take care of something tonight.”
“Can’t it wait? Nat and I have plans.”
“It has to be tonight. Marco said so.” Hearing footsteps approaching, I glanced towards the VIP section and saw Marco heading in our direction.
“Dom, what the fuck are you and Grant standing around bullshitting for? You have a fucking job to do!” Marco bellowed.
“Yes, Uncle Marco,” Dominic lowered his head in a submissive manner. This surprised me as he was usually so assertive.
“What do you guys have to do? It’s almost three in the morning.”
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about, doll,” Marco answered. “Come on, I’ll take you home.” He grabbed my arm. I tensed up and saw Grant and Dominic stiffen too.
“You don’t have to go out of your way, I can take a cab.” I tried to maneuver out of his grip.
“It’s not a bother.” He snapped his fingers at Grant and Dominic with his free hand. “Get the fuck outta here!” They both jumped and hurried out the door. He turned his attention to me. “So Grant’s sister is dating my nephew? Very interesting…how does Grant feel about this?”
“He’s not too pleased,” I admitted as Marco steered me out of the club and locked the door behind him. He still had my arm in his iron grip.
“Yes, Grant is very protective of you. He’s done a lot for me so he can take care of his family. I respect that.” He led me to his black Cadillac and opened the passenger door for me. He finally released my arm and I slid into the seat and shivered. Not because of the cold, but because I was going to be stuck in a car with this man who, quite honestly, scared the shit out of me.
Marco got in and started the car, the engine purred to life. I could smell scotch emanating off of him and remembered how many drinks he had been served. This didn’t help my comfort level at all.
“Where do you live?”
“9th and Pine.”
He navigated the Cadillac out onto Delaware Ave. He seemed to have control of the car and didn’t drive like he was drunk so I gradually eased off the ‘oh shit” handle that I had in a death grip.
“Do you like working at Crimson?” he broke the silence after a few blocks.
“Yeah, it’s great!”
“Best place in town,” he bragged. Marco blew through a red light without even tapping on the brakes. I resumed my grip on the handle. A cop was parked on the street and saw Marco go through the light. I waited for the lights and siren, but nothing happened; the cop let Marco keep on driving. Thankfully the fifteen minute drive ended without incident and Marco pulled to a stop in front of my apartment.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said. As I turned to get out of the car, Marco grabbed my left wrist and twisted me back to face him.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t I at least get a kiss?” His beady eyes gleamed and his licked his lips before they formed a malicious grin, his lips glistening with spittle. He started to yank on my arm as if trying to drag me across the seat and closer to him. I resisted and felt my wrist pop. “Just kidding,” he said and suddenly released my arm. “Have a good night.”
“Um, goodnight,” I said and struggled to open the door with my shaking hand. Finally it opened and I practically tumbled out onto the sidewalk. I ran to my apartment building. As soon as I was inside with the front door secure behind me, my entire body started to tremble. It took a few minutes, and a few deep breaths, to get myself under control. Dominic’s uncle had some serious issues and I never wanted to be alone with him again.
I waited until I had calmed down to go upstairs. Fortunately Chelsea was asleep because my face probably would have indicated that something was wrong. With the apartment door locked and my bedroom door closed, I finally began to relax. Lying in bed alone was not what I had in mind for tonight. What could Marco possibly need Dominic and Grant do? I thought about this as my eyelids grew heavy and sleep claimed me.
My cell phone woke me up. Disoriented, I felt around in the dark for it.
“Hello?” I mumbled.
“Hey, it’s Dom.”
“Hi,” I sat up. “What time is it?”
“It’s a little after five. I just wanted to call and make sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine. I was sleeping.”
“Sorry to wake you. I just wanted to make sure my uncle behaved himself.”
“For the most part,” I yawned and could hear Dominic breathe a sigh of relief. “No offense, but your uncle’s a little off.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just glad you’re ok. He can be unpredictable.” Unpredictable, that was a good way to describe him. Other words like menacing, disturbed and crazy would describe him well too.
“What did you guys have to do anyway?”
“Just stuff.”
“Oh.” I yawned again and tried to focus on the conversation.
“I’ll let you get back to sleep; I just wanted to check on you.”
“No, don’t go, I’m awake now.” My phone beeped then and I quickly looked at the display. “Ugh, I need to take this call, it’s Grant.”
“He’s probably checking in on you too. I’ll call you later. Sweet dreams.”
“Goodnight,” I whispered before I clicked over to receive Grant’s call.
“Nat, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Dom just called too.”
“I really shouldn’t have gotten you a job at Crimson.” Grant’s comment woke me right up.
“Grant, shut up, I’m fine. Marco was a little creepy, but I handled it.” I said, downplaying the incident. If Grant knew how tight Marco held onto my wrist, I probably would have to get another job.
“What did you guys have to do anyway?”
“Marco needed us to do something for him. I can’t talk about it.” Big surprise, Grant was being tightlipped. What did he and Dom do that they couldn’t talk about?
“What’s the big secret? I won’t tell anyone.”
“Natalie, it’s confidential. I can’t tell you,” Grant snapped. “I’m glad you’re alright. I need to go get some sleep.” With that he hung up the phone.
Chapter 12
The alarm went off and I swatted at the snooze button for the millionth time. The momentary interruption wasn’t enough to rouse me and I rolled back over with the comforter pulled up around my ears. When I finally did wake it was almost noon. I missed my morning classes again.
“Damn it!” I yelled at myself as I jumped out of bed, threw on clothes and bolted out the door. I didn’t stop running until I reached the door of my classroom where I skidded to a halt, taking a few deep breaths before opening the door. The professor eyeballed me and frowned. I hung my head and found an empty seat. After class the he flagged me down.
“Ms. Ross, do you have a minute?”
I braced myself for what was certainly going to be a serious talk.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine. Why?”
“Well, you missed class last week, you were late today. It’s not like you. Plus, your w
ork hasn’t its usual quality. You seem to be slipping a bit.”
“I know. I am sorry about that. I started a new job, at Crimson? Anyway, it’s been difficult adjusting to the hours and I worked late last night.”
“Don’t slip too far. Remember you’re a student first.” It wasn’t harsh, but an admonishment nonetheless. I promised to improve and hurried off to the next class.
Chelsea had saved a seat for me and I plopped down.
“I didn’t know if you were going to make it,” she remarked.
“Yeah, little bit of a late start today.” It was Friday and my ass was dragging.
“I tried to wake you.”
“You did? I don’t remember that.”
“Who were you talking to so early this morning? Did Dom spend the night?”
“No, but he called and so did Grant. They both had to do something last night for the owner of Crimson. They won’t tell me what though.”
“You’re aware of your priorities, right?” Chelsea asked, sounding more like one of my teachers.
“Of course I am!”
The professor shot us a look so we both quieted down and focused on the lecture.
On the way home I stopped at WaWa for a soda. While waiting in line to check out a headline on the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer caught my attention.
LATE NIGHT MURDERS REMINISCENT OF SCARFO DAYS
Curious, I grabbed the paper and continued reading.
Early this morning, two men were murdered in cold blood. The homicide took place near the Italian Market only hours before shoppers would begin to crowd the sidewalks. This is the second incident in recent weeks that emulates the mafia hits from the days when Nicky Scarfo’s mob ruled South Philly’s streets.
The Philly mob has long been rumored to be extinct. Are these murders indicative of a comeback? Police aren’t revealing much about the investigation, including the victims’ names. Detective Colin Flynn, the lead detective on the case, did cite similarities between these murders and that of George “The Stump” Fratelli, who was killed two weeks ago.
The Beautiful People (The New Mafia Trilogy) Page 8