Page 68 of Long Live the King
“Better now,” he says, grinning. “I’ve missed you a lot today. Dealing with these customers is something I’m still getting used to. How has your day been, Alannah?”
“Good,” she replies happily. “Dr. Monroe and Dr. Callaghan have been keeping us busy, but Aria and I make a pretty good team, so we’re knocking it out like champs.” Daniel can practically hear her smiling through the phone, and he’s thrilled to know how much she’s really enjoying working at Dr. Monroe’s practice here in Anchorage. He’s still getting used to living here, among many other things, but she’s right at home, and it’s helping him transition into his new life in Alaska.
“That’s good to hear,” he answers. “How’s my son?”
“Oh you know, just doing jumping jacks on my bladder,” she says behind an adorable giggle. “He needs to go ahead and come out already.”
“Well, I can’t wait until he does. Should be any day now, right?”
“That’s right. You sure you’re ready to become a daddy?”
Daniel smiles from ear to ear. “Fuhgeddaboutit.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Alannah says behind a giggle that still reminds Daniel how lucky he is to have her. “This kid has been through a lot just to make it into this world. I can’t really discuss it here, but you know what I’m talking about.”
“Yeah, I do,” Daniel replies as the memories flood his brain like a dam just broke.
Images flash in Daniel’s mind of the night he almost died trying to get out of St. Louis. He remembers the sound of the gunshot that saved his life when the mother of his child had to kill a man. He remembers getting into the Mercedes, knowing full well it would explode in thirty seconds, and struggling to climb out of the door that was hidden from view by the wall of the casino. He remembers the feeling of fire in his shoulder and hamstring as he crawled out of the vehicle and slid underneath it, into a manhole that was waiting for them with the cover already removed by his friend Frankie. He remembers Alannah barely getting the manhole cover in place before the heat of the explosion became too much to bear, and they had to trek in the dark sewer until they reached the place Frankie had told them to go to in the motel room. They popped up right in front of the morgue—the same morgue Frankie owns and stole two unidentified bodies from—the same bodies Frankie placed in the front seats of the Mercedes that night to make everyone think two people were killed in the explosion—the same explosion that killed Dominic and Alannah, and gave two nameless people the freedom to fly to Anchorage and start their lives over.
The heat from the explosion was so intense the bodies couldn’t be identified, and Frankie made sure his guy in St. Louis PD put that in the police report, but the charred passports, found a few feet from the explosion, were enough for the police to know that the two victims were none other than Dominic Collazo and Alannah Sullivan. Daniel remembers how it felt being on the private jet Frankie chartered for them, when he realized the plan to kill Dominic and Alannah had worked to perfection.
More than anything else, Daniel remembers Frankie’s loyalty. It was Frankie’s loyalty that saved Daniel, and killed Dominic. That loyalty made Frankie the new and current boss of the family that believes he killed Dominic in a car bomb and collected on the million dollar contract. That loyalty made him worthy of the title of boss of the Giordano family. Loyalty to Donnie and Dominic is what made Frankie promise he’d kill Victor if the opportunity ever presented itself. Unfortunately it hasn’t yet, and Victor is still living out his days as boss of the Chicago Outfit, but Daniel hopes Frankie will get to fulfill his promise eventually. Regardless of Victor still being alive, Daniel just hopes the Family and mob life treats Frankie better than it treated Dominic.
Daniel remembers his mother and his father, and he remembers everything he went through to get to where he is now, and he’ll use those memories to keep himself straight when the temptation to act like Dominic creeps up on him. Daniel will never forget.
“How about the soon-to-be grandparents?” Daniel says as he smiles to himself. “Are they excited yet?”
“They sure are. Won’t stop talking about it. They’re excited about going to the courthouse, too. We’ve got a lot going on, but it’s all worth it. How are you doing with the name?”
“I fucking hate it,” Daniel admits. “But it’s worth it. I don’t need anybody from my old life figuring anything out, and now that my last name is officially the same as yours, it’ll be an easy transition once we’re officially married next week. That’s if our son doesn’t ruin our plans and decide to come out the same day we go to the courthouse. Did your parents ever ask why I changed my name when we moved here?”
“No, they didn’t ask, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t know. I think they’ve always known, they just don’t talk about. Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if I did go into labor that day,” Alannah says, giggling. “Either way, I think I’ll be good to go. As long as I have you two, everything is perfect. It’s us against the world, babe. Right?”
“Fuhgeddaboutit,” Daniel says, reminding himself of how things used to be, and of how awesome things are about to become for him and his family.
Daniel knows how lucky he is. He knows how bad things could’ve turned out for him and his wife, and he knows how wonderful the future will be. He just about has it all figured out. But there’s one thing he doesn’t know as he sits in his lush office chair.
He doesn’t know that four hours after he gets home tonight, his fiancé will go into labor. Before the sun rises in the morning, Daniel and Alannah Sullivan will welcome their first son, Donnie Stefano Sullivan, into the world.
THE END