Daughter of the Mob (Sample)

09 | Dance With Me

Caterina smiled, twirling her dark hair around her finger and scanning the room with her eyes, fleshing out the attractive young bachelors of the night. Before leaving, she had promised Pamela that she would find a dreamboat for both of them to dance the night away with.

"Look over there!" Caterina lowered her voice and nodded towards a group of stunning women, all dressed to the nines in diamonds and pearls.

Amid them towered a handsome man with a combed back hairdo and a comfortable smile. His teeth were a blinding white, the kind one saw in Crest toothpaste commercials. "Cast an eyeball over there. That's Leonard McCoy! Isn't he an absolute dream? He's directin' a film with James Dean as the lead. All those gals are actresses hoping to be cast in the movie as if they have a chance. Huh!"

Caterina stirred her water and shook her head vigorously, her eyes still trained to the promising young director and his posse of female admirers. He appeared bored by the girls corralling him like a penned-in farm animal. Suddenly, Caterina seemed to catch his eye, and he raised a brow in interest. She smirked coyly, daring him to approach.

Pamela was shocked by her friend's audacity, because she seemed to have undying confidence that never wore off. Pamela would never be able to flirt so openly with anyone, let alone a famous stranger. She didn't think she'd want to, either.

A young server with charcoal eyes and walnut brown skin obstructed the young Leonard McCoy from view. In his gloved hand lay a tiny notebook and pen. Irritated, Caterina groaned, but the waiter couldn't hear her over the pulsing cacophony of noise.

"Welcome to Copacabana! What can I do for you ladies?"

"A glass of gin, please," Caterina drawled in her Brooklyn accent, her dark lashes fluttering flirtatiously, her aim shifting.

"Oh! And add a plate of dumplings. Elizabeth Taylor said they were one of the best things she's ever had." Caterina giggled as though she and Elizabeth Taylor were personal best friends. The waiter hardly seemed phased, jotting down her order.

The waiter smiled pleasantly towards Pamela. "And for you, Miss?"

"A water, please." Pamela was humiliated. She didn't have enough money to spend on soft drinks, like the Coca Cola she might usually order. She hadn't gotten her first paycheck yet, and she couldn't possibly think of going back to her parents and asking them for money after her unexpected disappearance.

"Get the young ladies anything they want."

Astonished, Pamela froze and watched a dark figure looming in her periphery. From the voice, he was male, and from the expensive charcoal suit, he was wealthy. Before she could turn around, she heard Caterina's energetic greeting.

"Johnny! Fancy seeing you boys here!"

Pamela peered up at Johnny Siciliano. His brown eyes, framed by lashes a woman would envy, flashed violet beneath the flicker of lights. His grin settled upon his olive face. He swept a hand through his dark, slicked-back hair, like a bona-fide greaser.

Something electric shot through her.

He appeared far merrier to her than he had when she formally met him in the store. She wondered if he had forgotten their strange interaction and her brash reaction, or if he was just shrugging it off.

Behind him, a group of men in black suits waited, the group that had been in the alleyway on that long-ago evening. Idling behind the men was a group of women, many of the same young actresses who had been talking with the famed Leonard McCoy. One of these women gripped Johnny's arm, her neckline plunging and her head resting on his sturdy shoulder.