Kingpin (An Italian Mafia Romance)

Kingpin

Copyright © 2016 by WS Greer

First edition published by Book Mode Publishing 2016

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

Publishers Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by:

Robin Harper/Wicked by Design

www.facebook.com/WickedByDesignRobinHarper

Interior Design and Formatting by:

Christine Borgford, Perfectly Publishable

www.perfectlypublishable.com

Table of Contents

Kingpin

PART ONE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

TWO YEARS LATER

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TWO YEARS LATER

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

PART TWO

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

MORE FROM WS GREER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Excerpt from CLAIMING CARTER

Never water-down what you love just to fit in. Take pride in being outside the norm. Be yourself. Be different . . . on purpose.

This one’s for me.

~WS~

Alannah Sullivan

“A
lright, so are you ready?”

I look out the window at all the kids streaming into Barry Elementary School, and it makes me nervous. My face feels hot and my hands are sweaty.

“I hate the first day of school,” I reply, still staring out the window.

“Well, technically it’s not the
first
day of school. You’ve been in fifth grade half a year already,” Dad answers. I can tell he’s smiling without even looking at him. When I turn around to frown, sure enough, there’s that big goofy grin.

“Dad,” I start, cutting my eyes at him. “You know what I mean. It’s the first day at this school for me, but not for them. I think that makes it worse, actually. I’m going to be the only new kid.”

Dad takes his hand off the steering wheel and turns his body towards me. He’s completely clean shaven because he’s in uniform and on his way to work after he drops me off. As corny as he is sometimes, his smile still makes me feel better.

“I know, sweetie,” he begins. “I know this is hard, and I’m sorry we had to move in the middle of the school year, but we know that’s how the military works sometimes. All you have to do is be the strong princess that you are, and you’re going to be just fine. You’ll make friends in no time, and before you know it, you’ll be running this place. Everybody is going to want to be Alannah Sullivan’s friend. You just have to get past this first day. Okay?”

I twist my mouth into a frustrated frown as I exhale and reach for the door handle.

“Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. Now, go have a great day. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I pop open the door as Dad leans over to kiss me on the cheek, then I’m out and headed towards the school.

I was born in San Antonio, Texas, on Lackland Air Force Base, eleven years ago. My current home, Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Illinois, is my dad’s third and newest assignment. We only got here a week or so ago, but my parents are already forcing me to go to school. Ugh. I’m not ready to get back to it yet, but they say I have to.

So, here I am, walking on the sidewalk with my red and black backpack slung behind me. I’m surrounded by a bunch of other kids I don’t know, who all look comfortable because they’ve been here forever. They’ve gotten to know each other and have grown to become friends, but not with me. I’m the new kid who’s stepping into class for the first time after half the school year has already gone by. My mom, Dana, has been telling me since before we left our last home in California that the first day is always the hardest. She kept saying it as we walked through the school a couple of days ago to get familiar with the building, and she said it this morning, too, as she drove in to her new job at Belleville Hospital for the first time. So, I’ve been trying to remind myself of what she said.

The first day is always the hardest
.

I know where my new class is, so I walk straight there without looking anywhere but forward. I know my new teacher’s name is Mr. Bishop, but I haven’t met him yet. Other than his name, I don’t know anything or anybody here. So, as I walk into class for the first time, my heart feels like it might pop any second now. Especially when I stand in the doorway because I don’t know where I’m supposed to sit, and other kids are in their assigned seats staring at me like I’m crazy. It takes Mr. Bishop at least five minutes before he sees me standing here.

“Oh, hello,” he says, finally. He has a higher voice than I expected for a man his size. He’s really tall and has thick black hair that looks like it’s been slicked back with grease, and his face has a lot of wrinkles in it. “You must be Ms. Alannah Sullivan. Is that right?” he asks, walking towards me.

“Yes, sir,” I answer. I’m so nervous now, my words almost didn’t come out.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Alannah. My name’s Mr. Bishop.” He makes me shake his hand like I’m a grownup. “You can go ahead and have a seat while I get you some text books. Okay?”

I look around the room again as the teacher walks away, but there’s no place for me to sit. All the desks are taken, so I have to stand there with the whole class staring at me while I wait for Mr. Bishop to grab books out of the closet. It feels like it takes forever, and I’m sure there are girls in the far corner of the room who are laughing at me now. I ignore them until the teacher finally comes back.

“Umm, excuse me, Mr. Bishop. There’s no desks,” I say as quietly as I can.

He looks around and sees I’m right.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Give me a second while I go grab one from Mrs. Webb’s class across the hall.” He walks over to me and hands me the four text books to hold while he leaves the room. Now, I’m standing at the back of the class holding books that are so heavy I’m turning red as my arms start to shake. I know for a fact those girls in the front are laughing now, and so are two boys sitting right in front of me. How could this possibly start off so bad? Mr. Bishop must be taking his sweet time to find that desk, because I’m starting to sweat and my grip on the books is slipping.

“Oh my god, look how red she’s turning,” someone says, but I can’t see their face.

I try to hold on, but my fingers slip and the books fall to the floor. The entire class starts laughing at me like I’m a standup comedian, and I’m instantly embarrassed. Mr. Bishop walks in holding a desk, and he frowns at the class when he sees they’re all laughing at me and I have tears in my eyes.

“Hey, you all stop that, now,” he barks, and the class quiets. “Sorry about that, Alannah. I didn’t realize the books were that heavy. I guess I should’ve just put them on my desk, huh? That’s my mistake. You don’t have to cry, sweetie. I know being new is difficult, but once you get past this first day, you’ll be good to go. You’ll make friends, I promise.”

The first day is always the hardest.

Mr. Bishop sets the desk down and picks up the books for me. He puts them on the desk and gives me his warmest smile.

“Here you go, sweetie. Have a seat right here,” he says. My desk is in the very back of the class, and I’m the only one in my row. Embarrassing.

Everyone finally turns around once Mr. Bishop walks to the front of the class and starts talking. My life in Belleville, Illinois has officially begun.