"Hey, Never Miss, get over here, Mushy’s got a job for yous," Nick ‘Twisty’ Leftfoot yelled from the end of the club, that was to be called ‘The Gangsters Club’, a new speakeasy in downtown Chicago, owned by Marcello Marchiano, but his friends called him ‘Mushy’. He was the Don of the Marchianos at 24 years old. His father, the Great Don, Rinaldi, passed away just one year earlier. The death was from natural causes, to an extent. Rinaldi spent a good deal of his life, drinking and it caught up to him. But in the business, those were good odds. Mushy, himself, was a handsome young man and the women all let him know it. He was respected by many in the business, even Bobby Balzone, the son of Eddie Balzone, who took over after his father passed away, but less than natural causes. It seems, from what the talk was on the streets that Eddie and one of his associates had a disagreement and that led to Eddie being found in a garbage can by his own Hit Man, Willie ‘two eyes’ Baneti.

"Never Miss, what are you doing? Come here, already," Twisty complained looking at his friend with one of his ‘what’s going on?’ expressions, Dominic Fagani, Jr. had come to know well over the last 15 years they were friends. Dominic nodded at him and walked towards the other end of the bar. His walk was consistent, not fast, not slow, just every step seemed to flow together, one into the other with a perfect precision that made him seem taller than he was and command attention no other member of the Marchianos gang could have, at times, it included even Mushy. Dominic was only 27 years old, but his face was stone most of the time, except for a few smiles and laughs when Twisty or Mushy would bring up some past good experience they all had. This face and his demeanor made him seem older to the wise-cracking Twisty and the over-aggressive Mushy. Dominic had grown into one of the most handsome and eligible bachelors in Chicago, the other two most handsome and eligible were in that room, according to Twisty. He called them all the Elite Bachelors Club and there wasn’t a woman that had met them that didn’t try to marry at least one of them. None of them had succumb to the temptation and for Dominic it wasn’t something he thought about much. He had girls, here and there, they were sweet and nice, some were not so nice, but all the same he respected them and liked them for the moment, but no one caught his eye. If Dominic ever spoke, which he hadn’t seen his parents and brother were killed, he would have told them he wasn’t interested in finding a wife.

After his parents died, Dominic had lived with his Uncle Leo. Dominic, Mushy and Twisty would get into a lot of scraps back then, but Rinaldi Marchiano was always there to help them out. It wasn’t just because he was Mushy’s father or that he treated Dominic like a son and Twisty like a nephew, it was more than that. He taught them how to protect themselves, he talked about the business and specifically to Dominic about his ‘talents.’ Talents that included his solemn demeanor and ability to listen to directions well. As the trio of friends, grew up, they began to take their own place in the ‘business.’ Twisty was good at talking, he’d done it all his life, so he become the ‘front man’ for acquiring the ‘donations’ from the local vendors. Dominic went down a much different path, his lack of speech and ‘talents’ for shooting a gun with precision earned him his nickname at the age of fifteen, affectionately given to him by Twisty, Never Miss. And it fit him perfectly.

Now, Dominic was famous throughout Chicago and New York for his success rate as a ‘contract killer’ as well as feared by most of the local riff-raff. Thus, leading him to become Mushy Marchiano’s Hit Man.

In regards to marriage, where Dominic wasn’t looking, Twisty often picked up the slack for both of them. He was always interested, not necessarily in a wife, but certainly a girlfriend. He had a lot of those, even if the girls, themselves, didn’t know it. Twisty was a charmer, many had said so and Dominic agreed. He bought them furs and jewelry, but his intention were not always honorable, so to speak. But Dominic would also agree that Twisty showed them a good time, he had never seen one complain. Mushy was a bit different from his friends, he was looking for love and he had been for a long time. He wanted to get married and have children. He wanted to carry on the Marchiano name and to find a wife. What Twisty and Dominic didn’t know was Mushy was planning his wedding day ever since he met Maria Tortelini, a girl who grew up in Chicago and stepped into Mushy’s life just last week at his cousin’s wedding. She was a bridesmaid and he was the best man. Maria walked down the aisle in her pink chiffon dress and hat and stole Mushy’s heart. By that evening they were dancing, laughing and soon, Mushy believed they would be married. However, first, his objective was the club. He had been working on the design, acts and such for months now and in just one week, The Gangsters Club would be open for business and drinking. The Law of Prohibition didn’t necessarily apply to the East Side of Chicago or to Mushy Marchiano. It was the most profitable venture the Marchianos ever had.

Dominic looked at Mushy waiting for the job details.

"Hey, Never Miss, how you doing tonight?" Mushy said, smiling at him. Mushy was always pleasant when a person was his friend. Dominic had never had problems in that area with Mushy and Mushy never had problems with Dominic. He was one of the best friends, Mushy had ever known, excluding Twisty, who was his best friend and always would be in Mushy’s eyes. Dominic nodded to Mushy.

"I’ve got a job for you," Mushy said ending the pleasantries and speaking strictly business. Dominic listened. "I want Lenny Copaneli to pay for what he did to my cousin, Louie…" There was a slight pause, Dominic stayed focused. "Permanently." Dominic nodded and turned away from the two, walking towards the door. "He had no right to ice Louie and that no good crook is gonna pay," Dominic heard Mushy say to Twisty as he walked out the door.

It was dark as Dominic stepped outside the club. He liked the nighttime, he liked to walk also. It was one of his favorite things to do. He often walked for hours at night. Of course, he liked it better when he was at a beach or boardwalk, instead of the dirty Chicago streets. But this would always be home to him. He grew up on this streets, his parents and brother died and these streets and he figured one day he would die here, too. The only problem with talking walks, it wasn’t a good thing to do in his line of work, too many competitors and enemies. So, Dominic would just think in his apartment instead. He thought about a lot of things. It was a dangerous thing to think, it too often lead him to thinking about his parents and the night they died. A few years ago, his thoughts would often rest on Frankie Lentini and his brother, Charlie who killed them in cold blood. Something Dominic had held inside him since that night unleashed itself two years ago when he was able to repay them for the debt. Mushy and Twisty wanted to help, but Dominic wouldn’t allow it. He had found out where they were hiding, since many of the Marchiano gang wanted them dead for various reasons, and he left Mushy and Twisty at Club 32, down the street. He boarded a plane to New York, approached the two at their rat invested apartment. Even at that time, Dominic’s reputation followed him and they knew who they were standing in front of and who was not walking out of that apartment that night. A few hours later, Dominic was back on the streets of Chicago, walking home to his own apartment. The nightmare had finally ended for him. Now it was just memories that would live on in his thoughts. Those were much easier to deal with, Dominic thought.

Dominic never thought about the killings themselves, he seemed to find a detachment from it since the beginning. It was a job, it was for the family and it was a part of the business. He felt more comfortable with his guns than he did with his friends at times. They were cold, detached and reliable. He trusted in that.

He looked up at the sign for the street, Alley’s Way and went down it. At the end of the street, he saw lights on the third floor of an apartment building he knew was Lenny Copaneli’s. He walked inside, nodded to the clerk sitting at the counter and not paying any attention to him.

"Hey, Never Miss," he heard a man’s voice say from behind him. Dominic turned quickly and looked down the barrel of a .45 pointed at his chest. He didn’t flinched, but a small sigh escaped his lips. He wasn’t interested in a fight. He hated fighting. "I figured it would only be a matter of time before Mushy would send you after me. I admit it was a little quicker than I thought, but hey, yous are good, aren’t you, Never Miss," Lenny continued, walking a step closer and cocking the hammer back on the gun. "I guess this is where the legend dies, huh?" Lenny smiled, the gun went off, but Dominic had already moved to the right slightly, kicking Lenny’s left leg out and causing him to fall. Dominic grabbed his gun, twisting his arm and turned the piece back on Lenny.

"Hey, it was…" the rest of the sentence was silenced by Dominic’s trigger pull. Lenny’s body crumpled to the ground. The manager was hiding under the desk once the shooting started. He slowly peeked out. Dominic was leaning down looking at him.

"Hey, he was a creep," the man said quickly. "I never liked him. He never paid his rent." Never Miss reached into his pocket, the man jumped away from him. "Hey, I don’t have nothing to do with him," he said, putting up his hands to his face. Dominic shook his head slightly and pulled out the money he had in his pocket. He stood up and placed the money down on the counter. The man peeked out from behind his hands, looked at the money and then back to Dominic. Dominic stood looking at the man for a moment as if he was going to say something. "Yea, for the wall damage, right?" Dominic nodded and turned to walk away. "I love those Marchianos, always know how to treat a business owner, yous know." Dominic turned back to the man after a moment, looking at him strangely and then shook his head and walked out.

"Of course, all of their people ain’t too bright, that’s for sure," Dominic heard the man say. He smiled to himself. It didn’t surprise him anymore at the ignorance of people and the more that didn’t know how to communicate with him, the better, he thought. It was just a waste of time, anyway. Most people who talk a lot don’t have anything to say and most of the time, talking just gets in the way, he thought to himself and walked back to the club and the awaiting Mushy and Twisty.

As he approached the club doorway and crossed the street, he had just looked down, he felt someone fall into him and then onto the ground.

"Watch where you’re going, you big lug," the girl said. She looked up at him for a moment as he turned to look down at her. "You’re tall, ain’t ya," she said partly laughing and starting to get up. He reached down his hand to her, she looked at him again before taking it and letting him help her up. "Thanks." She looked at him again, strangely and then her green eyes darkened. "Don’t think that wes friends now, alright. I ain’t like that." She said, backing away a bit. "Don’t you talk?" She said, staring for a moment and then shrugging her shoulders and walking away to the club door. He followed her. "Okay, I don’t need a tail, buster," she reached down and pulled on a black tail hanging from her behind as part of a costume. "I got one, alright."

Dominic took a look at her again as she knocked on the door, three times. She was average height, red hair that twisted all over her head in some sort of hairdo, Dominic wasn’t sure about. Her nails were long and covered in deep red nail polish. Her face was made up heavily with red lipstick that outlined her lips. She turned to him once more and he caught her beautiful green eyes which sparkled as she stood there under the street lamp light. Dominic smiled at her, standing with her hands on her hips now and an upset expression on her face. He reached down slowly, she jumped a bit, but relaxed when he only took her shoulder and moved slightly past her to knock on the door. His knock had a rhythm to it and in a moment, the door opened. Dominic stood to the side and gestured for her to enter.

"Thanks," she said, walking through. She slightly turned back to him. "I’m sorry about out there, there’s a lot of bums on the streets. A girl’s got to be careful." Dominic nodded at her and looked at Twisty who was approaching them now.

"Hey, look at what the cat dragged in," Twisty said, walking up to Dominic and smiling at the girl. She took off her long coat that had covered most of her outfit and body. Both Dominic and Twisty keep focused on her as she placed her coat over her arm and looked towards them. "It’s a…cat," Twisty said, uncertain of what that costume was supposed to be, but the hairdo indicated ears and there was a long black tail attached to the black and white costume, which showed off the curves in her figure nicely. That’s what the two men standing and looking at her at that moment were thinking.

"It’s Pussy Kat, actually," she said in her low and think New York accent. "I’m here to see Mushy Marchiano about working at his new club."

Twisty and Dominic exchanged a quick look. Whether one spoke and one didn’t, there was no mistaking what the look meant…Pussy Kat was in.

"…Bye. Bye…blackbird," Pussy Kat smiled and winked at the end of the song. Instantly, her face changed from seductress singing about lost love to a young girl anxious and nervous standing in front of Mushy Marchiano. There was a silence that made Pussy Kat’s stomach turn butterflies, but she stood her ground, looking from Mushy to Twisty and Dominic. The first two were sitting at a small round table. Dominic was standing to the right of it, staring at her. It would have given her the creeps if his eyes hadn’t been so soft.

"Alright, Pussy Kat, you’re The Gangsters’ Club new singer," Mushy said with enthusiasm and stood up walking towards Pussy Kat." He smiled at her and they shook hands. "Yous got another name, one your mama gave you?" He questioned.

"Emily," she said looking down quickly and then back at Mushy. "Thanks, Mr. Marchiano I appreciate the job."

"Yous got a great voice, toots. I’ll say that. Where did you say yous was from?" Twisty added, standing next to Mushy now.

"New York, but I’ve been to Chicago, Boston, all the big cities really. Someday I’m going to Paris, the City of Lights where people sing all the time." Pussy Kat stopped herself, looked at them and her face changed again, it was tougher somehow, voiding of emotions. "Anyway, I appreciate the job."

"I hope you plan on staying in Chicago for a while," Twisty added. Mushy hit him on the shoulder. "What?"

"Leave the girl, alone. She’s the singer." Mushy said. "It was nice meeting you, toots. I’ll see yous on Thursday opening night."

"I’ll be here," she said and walked towards the door. Dominic was standing there as she approached. "Hey, thanks if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t of gotten into this place. I owe yous," she looked at Dominic. "You don’t talk, do you?"

"Never Miss don’t talk," Twisty said walking up to them. "He’s not into conversation, so to speak." Pussy Kat nodded her head.

"That’s a shame," Pussy said, walking through the door Dominic opened for her. "There’s probably a nice voice to go along with those eyes," she smiled at him and left.

Twisty started to move forward. "I’ll just see if I could walk…" He was held back by Dominic’s hand. He looked up at him and smiled.

"Twisty, would you get over here," Mushy said, annoyed. Twisty kept the smile don Dominic for a moment and let out a quick laugh before joining Mushy at the bar.

It had been a month since The Gangsters Club had opened and Pussy Kat had sang to very enthusiastic crowds. Mushy was pleased the club was bringing in full crowds every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Not to mention people were already starting to use it to book parties, celebrations and anniversaries. It was a hit and Mushy Marchiano was making it big on the club scene.

"Come on, Dominic give me a ten spot, I need to impress this girl tonight," Twisty looked up at Dominic who wasn’t looking at him, but across the room, scanning it for problems. "Come on, it’s only a ten spot you know I’m good for it. She’s special, really. I like her." Dominic looked at him for a moment and pulled a 20 dollar bill from his pocket handing it to Twisty and walking a step away. Twisty followed him. "Hey, thanks, you’re a pal." Twisty smiled and walked back to where Mushy was standing with a few waitresses.

The last set by Pussy Kat had finished and the crowds were winding down to only about a dozen people, mostly friends and regulars. Dominic liked this time of the night. Less people and less problems, he thought.

"Hey, Dominic," he heard Pussy Kat say from behind him. He turned around and looked at her. He liked it when she was done with her sets and she changed into a regular dress. Her pretty red hair was up was clasped in the back with a barrette and it fell on the sides. She was very pretty, he thought to himself. "Hi." She said, quickly and took one step towards him. He had learned a lot about Dominic from Twisty and the guys that came to the club. She had decided to call him Dominic, it was a nice name and better than ‘Never Miss’. That wasn’t really a name, she thought. He didn’t indicate it bothered him, so she had continued. "Listen, I was wondering…I mean…" she looked nervous again and sighed, looking down. Dominic reached out his hand and touched her shoulder, she jumped a bit at the touch, but looked into his eyes determined to spit out what she was saying. The touch was soft for someone who looked as he did. She didn’t think it would be so soft. He looked at her, his eyes held anticipation. "Well, the thing is, I kinda wanted to ask you…if you would walk me home. I have a guy who keeps following me and I…" Dominic nodded at her and walked away for a moment. She wasn’t certain about it all, but she thought he agreed to walk her home. She watched him walk up to Mushy and realized he was going to ‘tell’ him before he left. She was getting better at interpreting his motions.

"Hey, Never Miss," Mushy said, counting the money in piles in front of him. He looked up at Never Miss. Dominic looked towards Pussy Kat for a moment and turned back to Mushy.

"Yea, go ahead. I’ll all set here. I was gonna close up," Mushy said putting the money into an envelope next to him. "Here," he reached over and pulled out a few bills handing them to Never Miss. "Show her a good time," he said, smiling. Dominic shook his head no and walked back to Pussy Kat.

"I’ll take it," Twisty said, reaching for the money, coming up behind Mushy. Mushy moved it away.

"Ain’t you got enough," Mushy said to him and watched Dominic offer his arm to Pussy Kat. "What’s with that?" Mushy asked Twisty.

"Pussy Kat’s had some problem with a guy from the club following her home the last few nights," Twisty said, sitting down on the bar stool next to Mushy. "I suggested she ask Never Miss to walk her home."

Mushy nodded and handed Twisty the bills in his hand. "Listen, Twisty, do me a favor." Twisty nodded.

"Yea, Mushy, whatever you want."

"Go see Tommy tomorrow about the New York shipment," Mushy said. Twisty nodded.

"I’m on it. Have a good night, Mush," Twisty said walking out of the club. He saw Pussy Kat and Dominic on the other side of the street. He smiled and shook his head before walking to his car.

"Thanks for doing this, Dominic," Pussy Kat started as they rounded a corner. She told him where to turn as they walked further down the street. She liked walking with him, it was quiet, but nice. Dominic wasn’t like the other guys she knew. He was respectable, she thought and somehow, she trusted him. Maybe it was his eyes. They walked most of the way in silence until they reached the steps of the apartment building located on Alley’s Way. Dominic stopped at the steps and looked at her for a moment. He remembered this place all too well.

"Yea, yea I know it’s a rat hole, but I couldn’t find anything else in my price range, so to speak," she said, laughing a bit.

"Hey, toots, how you doing, tonight?" A man said coming from the side of the building. He started to walk towards Pussy Kat, but Dominic stood in his way.

"Listen, you creep, leave me alone," she said, quickly. "You’re a bum, do you know that? You think it’s fun to scare women all alone at night." Dominic turned to her and looked at her with an expression that told her not to continue.

"So yous brought a friend home tonight, it’s about time, toots," he said looking Dominic up and down. "I know yous. Yous look familiar." Dominic took one step towards the man. The man took a step back. "Yous called Never Miss, right?" He said, moving back a bit. Dominic took Pussy Kat’s arm and led her into the building. "Yea, well, that’s fine, I didn’t like her anyway. She’s got a loud mouth and I’m sick of her kicking and screaming," he said in a tough voice. Dominic stopped and turned back to the man who had entered the building now. "Good luck, buddy." He said, passing him. Dominic watched him for a moment and looked at Pussy Kat.

"He’s a bum, he likes attacking women," she said, trying to keep her voice strong, but Dominic could hear the fear in it. He indicated for her to stay and followed the man into the stairwell.

"Dominic, don’t worry about it. He won’t bother me anymore," she said as he disappeared through the door.

"Ain’t no use when he gets something into his head, there ain’t no stopping him," the man behind the counter said, looking at her. "Yous friends with him?"

"Wes work together," she said, sitting down on an old chair next to the wall.

"Yea, you work over at Marchianos club, right?" The man asked. Pussy Kat nodded.

"Never miss ain’t a bad friend to have. Not all there in the head, you know, but he’s good protection." Pussy Kat stood up and walked to him.

"There ain’t nothing wrong with him. He just don’t talk. Maybe he don’t like to, besides I hear men talking all the time and nothing useful comes out, you know." Pussy Kat said in defense of Dominic.

"Yea, alright, toots, yous probably right. I ain’t got nothing against Never Miss. I like him, he keeps to himself and I ain’t never had no problems with him," the man said quickly and walked away from the counter to a back room. Pussy Kat sighed and sat back down on the chair. In a moment, Dominic walked through the door, carrying the man who had assaulted her many nights. He threw him onto the streets outside. The man squirmed away and ran down the street, not looking back.

Dominic turned to Pussy Kat. She was looking at him in shock now. Dominic turned and started to walk away. She caught his arm.

"Thanks." She said, softly. He turned to her and smiled a bit. "Listen, do you want to come upstairs…to talk." She laughed quickly. "I mean…to…"

Dominic smiled and kissed her hand, before walking out the door. She watched him for a moment and then smiled, turning to the stairwell and walking to her apartment.

Later that next day, Pussy Kat was awoke by a knocking on her door.

"Hey, Pussy Kat it’s me, Twisty," she looked at the door for a moment, grabbed a robe and opened it slightly.

"Yea, what do you want, Twisty, it’s early." Pussy Kat said, trying to make herself look presentable.

"Nice place you’ve got here," Twisty said, sliding his way in the door. He turned to her and then turned away. "Hey sorry, toots, I’ll wait until you change."

Pussy Kat walked into the small bathroom, the only other room in the apartment and changed into a comfortable dress.

"What’s this all about, Twisty," she said, returning.

"You got dressed fast for a dame," Twisty said, smiling at her. "That’s a good sign."

Pussy Kat put her hands on hips and looked at Twisty. "Hey, you’re moving today." He said, looking around for a suitcase.

"What are you talking about?" Twisty found one under the bed and started packing clothes into it. She stopped him. "Twisty, start talking."

"Mushy said you’re moving today. You got a promotion. It includes a new place over on Williams Street."

"Williams Street? That’s those fancy apartments on the corner?" She said, questioning.

"Yea, Mushy don’t want you living here no more. It’s a rat invested worm hole for morons." Twisty continued packing her clothes.

"Mushy said?" She questioned. Twisty turned to her.

"Not exactly, but I’m certain you understand, toots." Twisty smiled at her. "I think he likes you, he ain’t never brought up a dame’s issue with Mushy before and let me tell you something he ain’t easy interpreting an entire thought from him." Twisty smiled again.

"Dominic did this," she smiled to herself.

"Yea and he’s coming to help, so move it, toots. He won’t like it if we make him wait," Twisty said. Pussy Kat immediately went to work and within ten minutes everything in the place was packed.

Dominic walked through the door with a man following him quickly. Dominic did not look pleased at all as the man consistently asked him questions. Twisty recognized him instantly and steered him clear of Dominic.

"Ace, what are you doing here? Mushy told you to wait at the club," Twisty said, nodding at Dominic as he passed him and moved Ace outside the door. Dominic nodded back and turned to face Pussy Kat.

"This is your doing, I understand," she said, trying to sound angry, but gratitude was in her voice. "I ain’t complaining, it’s just you could of told me before Twisty barged in here." Instantly, Dominic moved towards her with a concerned look on his face. She smiled, "nah, he didn’t try anything. But that’s not the point." She stood face to face with him and realized that she understood what he meant when he looked at her. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, reaching on her toes to reach him. "Thanks," she said and reached down handing him a bag. Dominic smiled at her. She reached down picked up a few more things, laying on the floor, Dominic took them from her.

"That’s about it, I didn’t have much," Pussy Kat looked around one time and nodded her head at Dominic. "Let’s go see my new place." Dominic watched her walk out the door and was about to follow when he got the glint of her Pussy Kat dress hanging in the closet. He was about to get it himself, when he stopped and smiled. That would be the next thing, he said. That outfit was horrible. She should get a new one, he said to himself and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

"Look all’s I’m saying is, Mushy promised me in on the next job," Ace Tortelini said to Twisty as Dominic passed them. "And what is with him?" Ace said, looking towards Dominic. "And why are we all at Pussy Kat’s place?" Ace Tortelini was Maria’s brother and Mushy had been nice to him on account he wanted to marry Maria and he wanted to make certain her family liked him. Unfortunately for Mushy, Twisty and the entire Gangsters Club staff, Ace was becoming an annoying latchie that constantly wanted ‘in’ on everything. Mushy had him running the operation of the bootleg liquor down at the pier for about a month and he was a regular at the club. Everyone knew him and Twisty and Dominic didn’t trust him.

Twisty shook his head and moved Ace towards the stairs following Dominic. "Alright, here’s what I’m going do for you cause I feel for you, Ace. You can come with me to talk with Tommy ‘Mad Dog’ Linguini today. I’ve got some dealings with him for Mushy. But you don’t talk, you get it. I’ll do the talking, you do the driving." Twisty followed Dominic who was walking with Pussy Kat now to the car. "But first we gotta get Pussy Kat into her new place," Twisty handed him a box he was holding. "And yous are going help."

"Yea, yea, no problem, Twisty. I got it covered," Ace took the box and carried it to the car passing by Dominic and knocking Pussy Kat over. Dominic caught her in arms, but the suitcase and items he was holding dropped.

"What is your problem, Ace? You near trampled me," she said, letting Dominic help her up. He looked at her for a moment, she turned to him. "I’m fine, I just wish some people had better manners," she smiled at bit at her ability to so easily interpreting what he was saying with his eyes. It was amazing, really, she said to herself. I guess talking is overrated, she thought. Dominic and Twisty picked up the items, Twisty complaining about Ace the entire time and Dominic nodding in agreement.

"The things wes gotta do to keep the peace," Twisty said, finally, getting into the car. Ace was heavily into a conversation with Pussy Kat as Dominic got in the back seat. Ace was turned around in the car, smiling at her.

"So, yous Twisty’s girl, are you? I thought you headlined the club cause you had talent," he said, smiling again. "It don’t matter, toots, yous got talents in other ways." Twisty hit him hard on the arm. "What did you do that for?" Ace said, Twisty shook his head and started the car.

"I ain’t no one’s girl, Ace," she said, annoyed and avoided looking at Dominic. "I got a promotion from Mushy."

"Ah, Mushy’s moonlighting on the side, with yous, eh?" Ace said.

"Look, Ace, it ain’t none of your business and if yous say anymore Never Miss is going to ice you…and I ain’t stopping him. Pussy Kat is a lovely singer, ain’t shes, Never Miss?" Twisty said, looking in the rearview mirror. Dominic nodded and smiled toward Pussy Kat. "And she ain’t no one’s girl…yet," he said, pausing and shifting his eyes towards Dominic. "Mushy didn’t like where his star was staying, so she is being moved. That’s all. And it still ain’t none of your business. Mushy is one woman type of man and right now, that woman is your sister, so keep it shut."

"Yea, I was just curious, that’s all," Ace said and decided to end the issue for the moment. Twisty parked the car outside the Wilshire Apartments on the corner of Williams Street. There was a red awning outside with a stone staircase, two beautifully ornate loins awaited on each side of the staircase posts. Twisty, Ace and Dominic got out of the car. Pussy Kat stepped out, took one look at the stone staircase, the loins and the gold trimmed doors and went back towards the car. Dominic’s hand caught her arm and he gently smiled and turned her back to the stairs.

"No, listen, it’s nice, I mean, it’s real nice, but I can’t go in there. I ain’t of that breed," Pussy Kat said quietly. "Thanks," she looked at Dominic, "but no thanks."

"Aw, honey, don’t worry about it. These people they gotta do the same things you do, eat, put on the pants one leg at a time and all…" Ace was cut off by Twisty pushing him out of the way and taking Pussy Kat’s hand.

"Don’t worry about it, toots. They will love you. You’ll see. You’re with the Marchianos and ain’t no one gonna mess with you. There’s a whole n’other world in Chicago. It involves nice girls who work very hard getting nice apartments and things so that they can be respectable. Like they should be, you understands, toots." Twisty put his arm around her for a moment and stood facing the Wilshire entrance. "Yous moved up, honey, enjoy it." Twisty said, smiling towards Dominic and leaving her suitcase and box on the stairs. "Listen, Never Miss, I gotta go. Got some business, I’ll take Ace with me," Twisty said, indicating for Ace to drive. "Yous get Pussy Kat settled in, alright." Dominic nodded and extended his arm for Pussy Kat to take. She did and gave him a quick, nervous smile. He touched her hand gently.

"My bags," she said, laughing a bit, at how overwhelming it all was. Dominic shook his head no and looked towards the man coming out of the entrance.

"I’ll take care of your bags, miss," the man said. He was dressed in yellow and red suit with a small hat on his head. Pussy Kat had seen bellboys before, but none of them had ever talked to her.

"Thanks," she said. Dominic handed him some money, he took it and smiled.

"Sure, anything for a friend of Dominic," he said, tipping his hat towards them.

Dominic and Pussy Kat strolled through the lobby. It looked more like a hotel and not where people lived. Men and Women nodded towards Dominic as they passed.

"It’s really big," Pussy Kat whispered to Dominic as they stood in the elevator. Dominic smiled at her. The elevator attendant looked back at them and smiled.

"Don’t worry, Miss, you’ll get used to it," he said and opened the elevator door. "This is your floor, the seventh." Dominic inidcated for Pussy Kat to go out. "Don’t worry, Never Miss, I’ll take care of her," the man said, sincerely. Dominic nodded at him. "Maybe we’ll see you around more now, eh?" He called to him as Dominic met Pussy Kat and led her down the long hallway to a door that read 7201. He pulled out a key from his pocket and opened the door, letting her in. He stopped at the door and handed her the key.

"You ain’t staying," she said, disappointed and took the key. Dominic shook his head no and started to walk away. She stepped out of the door, quickly. "Say, Dominic," she said. He stopped a few feet away and turned back to her. "I can cook a mean linguini dish, if you’re interested. Five o’clock before the club opens, alright." Dominic nodded at her and walked down the hall. Pussy Kat smiled and turned back to face the apartment in front of her. She closed the door and walked into her new place.

The rooms were big, with the most luxurious furniture she had ever seen. There was a small kitchen to the left which opened into a dining room, fully funished with a table and chairs. She stepped down into the living room which held a long wraparound white couch. There were glass doors leading out to a verdana which overlooked the city. It was break taking. Pussy Kat smiled and reentered the living room. Moving to her right, she saw a hallway. The biggest bathroom she had ever seen was on her right and a bedroom on her left. She walked in. The bedroom had a beautiful king size bed with an ivory laced skirting and a big comfortable-looking white bedspread. There was a vanity and chair towards the left of the room and a door leading to a full-sized bathroom on the right. Pussy Kat inspected all of the room, before coming back into the livingroom and sitting down on the comfortable couch.

She looked at the glass covered table in front of her and hadn’t noticed the flowers before. Beautiful long-stemed roses in a crystal vase stood at the center of the table. A small white card lay beside it.

"To the most beautiful singer in Chicago," it read and it was signed by Mushy Marchiano. At the bottom of the card it read, "The flowers are from Never Miss, the place is from me. Enjoy, toots. See yous at the club tonight…I means that."

Pussy Kat smiled and put the card down, picking up one of the roses from the vase and smelling the beautiful scent. She laid back on the couch, clutching the rose to her chest and closed her eyes. Her thoughts were still on Dominic Fagani and his soft, brown eyes.

"Hello, is there anyone here?" A high pitched squealing voice said from behind Dominic and Pussy Kat, who were exchanged in some sort of conversation that involved Pussy Kat talking and him nodding towards her. They both turned to face the girl who walked into The Gangsters Club. "I was told to meet Mushy Marchiano here," she said. Both Dominic and Pussy Kat pointed towards the back of the club and refocused on each other.

It had been several months since Pussy Kat had moved to Wilshire and Dominic was a regular dinner guest at her house by now. She made him everything from spagetti to fetticune and everything inbetween. To say she was a good cook was an understatement, Twisty and even Mushy would eat at her place sometimes and Mushy always referred to her meals, ‘like Mama used to make.’ She learned Silician dishes as well from a friend of Twisty’s who he was going with for a while, but had moved on just last week to some new girl. Pussy Kat couldn’t keep them all straight and to be honest, even his own friends had difficulty. When Mushy was introduced to her a few days ago at the Club, he get calling her Twisty’s last girlfriend’s name, Angie. It was a big mess, finally Twisty decided he wanted to be single for awhile. So for two days, he didn’t dance or talk with a girl, keeping himself focused more on business matters. It was starting to get on Mushy’s nerves. Dominic loved the times he spent with Pussy Kat, she would talk for hours at her place with him and he loved listening to her voice. When she wasn’t trying to be the tough girl, that is. She had a sweet voice, soft and touching, Dominic never hesitated to bring her flowers or something special before a show and often, she sang to him during her sets. Of course, the audience didn’t know, but Twisty, Mushy and some of the regulars were well aware of the budding romance.

"Mushy Marchiano," the girl with a high-pitched voice said walking up behind Mushy. Although Dominic was a few feet away and listening to Pussy Kat, he kept an eye on the new girl, just in case, he thought.

Mushy turned from talking with Twisty and looked up at the girl. She was average height with blond hair that was neatly pinned in the right places. She was pretty with a round face and very beautiful eyes. Her stature was round, but fit her nicely and Twisty was immediately up from his seat and kissing her hand.

"I’m Twisty Leftfoot," he said. Mushy stood up and joined Twisty.

"I’m Mushy Marchiano," Mushy interjected, looking at the girl.

"I’m Candy Love. That’s my professional name," she said, laughing a bit. "I’m your new singer."

This time, both Pussy Kat and Dominic looked at her. Pussy Kat stood up walking towards Candy Love with Dominic closely behind her.

"We have a singer, toots," Mushy said and started to turn away.

"You don’t understand, I’m your star. Pussy Kat is good and all, but I’m the one that the men are going go crazy over," she said, smiling and walking towards the stage. She looked over at Fingers Malone, Mushy’s piano player and handed him some music. "Hit it, big stuff." Fingers shook his head and started playing.

"The minute you walked in the joint," Candy started, slow and sultry. All their eyes turned to her. Twisty smiled. As she finished the number, Big Spender, she was seated on Twisty’s lap. She stood up and took her bows, trying to look professional, but Pussy Kat could tell she hadn’t worked a professional job in her life. Pussy Kat wasn’t as refined as her, but she had had professional gigs before The Gangsters Club.

"See what did I tell you, you are want me," Candy said, changing back to her high pitch tone of voice that caused both Dominic and Mushy to cringe a bit. Twisty was clapping enthusiastically.

"You’re good, toots," Twisty said, walking up to her.

"Thanks, sweetie." She said back to Twisty. "So when do I start?"

Pussy Kat looked at Mushy, he caught her look and looked back towards Candy.

"You can sing on Wednesdays and Sundays…for now," Mushy said, quickly and turned away from them. He was met with Candy, Twisty and Pussy Kat all talking at the same time and complaining. He turned around, shot a glance to Dominic, who shrugged his shoulders.

"That’s enough," Mushy said and instantly everyone stopped talking and looked at Mushy. "Candy, yous are not the star, Pussy Kat is and right now you work two nights a week that’s it. If yous do well, I’ll up you to Friday night…" he paused and looked Pussy Kat. "You can open for Pussy, I’m done. The decision is made. Any agruements and I’ll throw you all out. Understand?" They all nodded in agreement and Mushy walked away into his office past the stage.

"It’s all over for you, Pussy Kat," Candy said, looking at Pussy. "Once they hear me, there ain’t no going back." She turned and flipped her hair at Pussy and walked towards the door.

"Hey," Twisty yelled after her. "Hey toots."

Candy stopped at the door and looked at Twisty for a moment. "Yea."

"Can I buy you dinner?" He said, smiling. Candy looked him over again and took his arm. She glanced once more at Pussy Kat and walked out with Twisty, starting to talk about how great she was. Twisty agreed.

"Can you believe her?" Pussy Kat said, sitting down on the stage. "I need new material, I’m going have to get backup singers, something." She sighed and put her head in her hands. Dominic watched her for a moment. He walked to her, extending his hand. She looked up at him. "You don’t understand, Dominic. She’ll eat them alive. Did you hear that? I’m not bad, but it’s all over when Candy Love steps on that stage." Dominic shook his head and took her hand pulling her up. He gently touched her face and softly looked into her eyes. Slowly he leaned down towards her lips, she moved closer to him. Their lips met as they both closed their eyes and took the kiss in. Dominic slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him as she melted into his embrace. After a few breathless moments, he slowly ended the kiss and stepped back a bit. She looked up at him with a dreamlike expression. He had never kissed her before, not so intense, not so…she felt weak for a moment, but he held her arm firmly and looked deep into her eyes.

"I knew how you feel about my singing," she said, softly to him. "And I appreciate it, really." He smiled and touched her face once more and then started to move away. She held his hand. "Do you have to go?" She asked, nicely. He nodded to her and looked at her again. "Dinner? Yea, I’ll prepare something," she said looking away. He looked back at her again. "What?" She said, trying to understand what he was trying to say.

"He wants to take you to dinner, Pussy," Mushy said from the place he had been standing next to the bar, since Candy had left and Dominic had kissed her. She jumped a bit at the sound of Mushy’s voice.

"Oh," she said, quickly, looking at Dominic. "Yea, that would be great. I’ll be ready at 5, alright," she said and Dominic nodded.

"Hey, Mushy, thanks on both accounts," she said, smiling a bit at him. Mushy nodded to her. He knew what she meant for helping her out with Dominic and for keeping her as the star of the show.

"Anytime for my star, toots," Mushy said, smiling at her. Pussy Kat picked up her coat and walked out the door.

"Yous got a way with women, Never Miss," Mushy said after she left. Dominic walked towards him and stood next to him. "It’s not that I’m surprised it’s just you ain’t ever been so interested in a dame before." Mushy looked at his friend for a moment. "What do you do at her place every night?" Mushy asked, Dominic’s expression told him the answer. "Alright, so she’s a respectable girl, that’s a good thing. Leave it to you to find a respectable singer in Chicago, who can cook and she’s easy on the eyes, if yous know what I mean." Dominic nodded. "Yea, I figured you would. So, tell me one more thing," Dominic looked at him. "You want to do more than dinner, right?" Dominic nodded at Mushy. Mushy smiled and put his arm around him. "That’s what I thought. Yous know you could marry her. That’s a respectable thing to do." Dominic nodded. Mushy shook his head. "Yea, of course you would have to ask her. That would be a problem." Mushy said, laughing a bit. "But you’ll figure out a way, that’s for certain." Mushy laughed again. "I ain’t never seen anyone who can communicate like you do, Never Miss. You know I’m curious about one thing. You still remember how to talk, right?" Dominic nodded again at Mushy. "That’s good," he said, moving pass him to a box of money on the table. "Now, listen, I know yous ain’t gonna take it, but I want yous to show the lady a good time tonight. Take her to Fecetti’s alright. It’s a respectable place, and I should know, our beer is sold there, you know," Mushy laughed and Dominic smiled. "Now take it and show your girl how respectable you are, Never Miss." Mushy said, handing him the money. Never Miss took it and smiled at him. "Yea, you’re welcome. Don’t forget about the job though, eh? Midnight at the pier." Dominic nodded and started to walk away.

"Hey, Never Miss," Mushy called to him. Dominic turned back to him. "When yous see Twisty there tonight with that new singer, tell him not to forget either." Dominic nodded and walked out of the club.

Mushy smiled and took his coat, looking over towards Fingers Malone, still playing softly at the piano.

"Hey, Fingers, lock up would ya? I got a hot date, too with Maria." Fingers nodded at him. "What you can’t speak now either…" Mushy said, looking at him. "It’s like a epidemie."

"Epidemic, Mushy," Fingers said.

"Yea, whatever. I gotta go. She gets upset if I’m late," Mushy said and left the club.

That night turned into one of the best and longest night for Dominic and Twisty. It started off good enough. Dominic picked up Pussy Kat and took her to Fecetti’s. She was all dressed up in a pretty purple dress that outlined her features and her red hair was flowing all around her face. Dominic was always impressed with how pretty she was without all that make-up she wore at the club. It was when Twisty and Candy met up with them at the restaurant that things turned sour. Candy provoked Pussy as much as possible and Pussy Kat didn’t back down, no matter how many looks Dominic threw her or how persistent Twisty was about them getting along. It ended with Dominic taking Pussy Kat home and Twisty taking Candy home. They both knew they had a meeting for later and agreed to meet outside Pussy’s place. Now Dominic and Pussy Kat were sitting on the couch in her apartment and Pussy was complaining about Candy.

"I can’t believe that Mushy is gonna let her sing. She could kill someone with her talking alone. Honestly, where does someone learn to talk like that…it’s like a cat being pulled at by the neck," she said and Dominic let out a laugh. She looked over at him. "Oh, that was funny, was it? Well, how funny is it gonna be when she steals my job," Pussy started to get up, but Dominic held her hand and pulled her back to the couch. "Don’t try to convince me that she won’t because I know people like her. I’ve seen them all over the place." She moved closer to Dominic. "This club I once worked for in New York. There was this girl who acted just like her. You know what happened to her?" Dominic shook his head no. "She got plugged, that’s right. Just because she was annoying. I’ve seen it happen." Dominic laughed again. "Oh you don’t think it can happen, believe me it can." Dominic moved a bit closer to her until they were inches apart and shook his head, smiling at her. "You just think I’m a walking joke tonight, don’t you?"

He shook his head no and leaned in kissing her. The kiss lead into more and soon he was over her on the couch, kissing her neck.

"Dominic, baby, don’t you want to take this into the bedroom," she said softly. He looked at her and stood up. "Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I just thought," she said quickly, standing next to him. She took his hand and looked at him. In a moment, she was swept off her feet as he carried her into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed, took off his hat, laying on the bedside table before kissing her again and moving onto the bed.

A few hours later, Pussy Kat was sleeping soundly on his bare chest. He smiled and kissed the top of her head. He glanced at the clock on the table that read quarter to midnight and slowly got up and out of the bed, leaving her still sleeping. He dressed quietly in the dark. When he was done, he looked at the vase of red roses he had given her just yesterday that was placed on her dresser. He walked over took one out and walked back to the bed. He kissed it and laid it on the pillow by her head, before picking up his hat and holster and walking out of the bedroom.

Dominic walked out of the Wilshire and into Twisty’s car parked in front. Twisty looked over at him when he got in.

"Good night," he said to Dominic. Dominic nodded. "Yea, me too," Twisty said. Dominic looked over at him. "Hey, I got charming qualities…to dames." Dominic smiled and they pulled away from the corner and towards the pier.

They met Anthony Granaldi at the pier, he was standing with Ace Tortelini and Paulie Benetti, who worked for Mushy’s operations also. Both Dominic and Twisty knew them all and they knew what was going down here tonight. A big shipment was coming in from New York and the last few nights Balzone and his guys had hijacked the pier taking Mushy’s stock of liquor. Mushy wanted it stopped and Ace said he thought he knew who was helping Balzone. He had told Mushy it was Paulie, but both Mushy and Twisty wanted to know for themselves…and of course, Never Miss was asked to join them, just in case there was any trouble with the shipment that night.

"Hey, Never Miss," Paulie said, walking up to Dominic. "I didn’t expect to see you here tonight."

"Yea, well, Mushy thought it would be a good idea and he don’t get out as much as he used to," Twisty said to Paulie. Paulie laughed, but Twisty could tell he was nervous. He looked at Ace and Anthony for a moment, before turning back to Paulie. "Yous got anything you’d like to say before the shipment comes in."

"No. It should be right on time. I got a call from the supplier a few hours ago," Paulie said.

"Uh-uh, how yous doing, Anthony," Twisty said, turning towards Anthony now. That gave an opportunity for Paulie to draw his gun on Dominic. Twisty turned quickly and tried to pull his gun, but Paulie saw it.

"Don’t ever think about it, Twisty," Paulie said. "Now, put it down slowly. Yous too, Never Miss." Twisty took his gun out slowly and placed it on the ground.

"What is this, Paulie. Yous been loyal to the Marchianos since yous were a kid," Twisty said.

"Yea, well, it paid better when I was a kid," Paulie said, looking quickly towards Ace. "Put it down, Ace." Ace put his gun down on the ground. Paulie moved towards Never Miss slowly. "Alright, Never Miss, put the guns on the ground, slowly, or I’m gonna shoot Twisty here." Never Miss stayed focused on Paulie. "I ain’t kidding, I’m am gonna make him a permanent soprano," Paulie said aiming the gun lower on Twisty.

"Alright, no need for that," Twisty said, looking at Paulie. "Look we can talk this out, I’m sure Mushy’ll…"

I’m through talking, Twisty. Mushy don’t like me, everyone knows it. That’s why I got this piece of shit job at the pier. Ain’t that right?"

"Yea, but he didn’t know you’d hate it so much," Twisty said.

"What are you deaf and mute," Paulie said to Never Miss. "I am gonna plug him right now." Paulie cocked the gun back and looked at Twisty. Never Miss took the opportunity and grabbed the gun, breaking Paulie’s hand with his other hand. Paulie fell to the ground in pain and Never Miss turned the gun on Paulie as Paulie looked up.

"Okay, okay. You’ve won, I’ll talk to Mushy," Paulie said on the ground, still clutching his hand.

"It’s a little late for that now, Paulie," Twisty said looking at him. "Can you believe this bum," he turned towards Antony, who was pointing a gun at Twisty now. Twisty looked back at Never Miss. Never Miss looked at Anthony and refocused on Paulie. "Will you got a load of this," Twisty said. "What are we having a Mexican Standoff. Now, cut it out," Twisty said, bringing his elbow to Anthony’s nose. Twisty took Anthony’s gun and shook his head at Paulie. "Now, wes are going take this Mushy and sort it out there." Twisty caught Antony out of the corner of his eye reach for a knife. "If you even try that, I will get upset and then Never Miss will get upset and it’ll be a big…" Twisty words were cut sort by gun fire coming from the other side of the pier. Twisty ducked, Antony started to run, Never Miss pulled him back and put him next to Paulie who was reaching for his own knife. Never Miss pointed the gun at Paulie, who instantly put up his hands. Ace ducked behind a crate on the pier and waited for the gun fire to stop. Twisty joined him a few seconds later, leaving Never Miss on the pier with Anthony and Paulie on the ground, there hands over their heads.

A few more gun shots were heard and one of Balzone’s guys named Eddie Fish came up behind Never Miss. Never Miss instantly took his arm that was coming around his own neck and flipped him for one hand on the ground. Anthony and Paulie ran as fast as they could away from the pier. Never Miss turned his gun on Eddie, who was backing away from him. He debated a moment in his head about icing him and decided to pull him up by his collar and drag him off the pier. The gun fire stopped as Eddie was explaining all the way to the car about Balzone and what he would do to Never Miss if anything happened to him. Never Miss put Eddie into the car and tied him with some rope from the truck, gagging him with his handkerchief. He walked back to the pier as Twisty and Ace were coming out from behind the crate.

"Hey, is the excitement over?" Twisty said looking at Dominic. He was looking around the area. When he was certain, he didn’t see anymore men, he moved over to Twisty and nodded. "Good, alright, where are they?" Twisty said, looking to where Anthony and Paulie were. Dominic shook his head no. "Alright, well you did good, Never Miss, you saved my life again." Twisty started to walk back to the car, Dominic caught his arm and shook his head no.

"The shipment," Ace said, coming up behind Twisty. Dominic nodded at Twisty.

"Yea, I remembers," Twisty said, watching as the boat came into port. After the boat was docked and Twisty and Ace secured the shipment of liquor, Dominic turned to Twisty and looked at him. "Yea, we’re gonna Never Miss," Twisty said, looking at Ace.

"You ain’t gonna deliver the shipment yourself," Ace said from behind the truck that the crates went into."

"Nope, that’s your job, Ace," Twisty said. "Me and Never Miss have other duties to attend to. Bring it to the club, back alley, we’ll see yous there," Twisty said and leaned toward Ace. "Good tip on the informer," Twisty added. Ace smiled.

"I know a stoolie when I sees one," Ace said, smiling. Twisty nodded and rejoined Dominic at the car. He looked at Eddie Fish in the back seat and smiled.

"You got a live one, eh, Never Miss," Twisty said, getting into the driver’s seat. Dominic went in the passenger side, staying focused on Eddie. "So Eddie, you feel up to talking with Mushy," Twisty said, smiling. Eddie twisted and turned, trying to talk through the gag. "Don’t hurt yourself," Twisty added.

Mushy wasn’t too pleased about Anthony and Paulie getting away, when Twisty told him the story, but he did get some information out of Eddie Fish and Ace brought the shipment into the club, which lifted Mushy’s spirits a bit. Eddie told Mushy that Bobby Balzone had sent him to get the shipment and to kill Twisty. He wanted to cause a war between the Marchianos and the Balzones, since he wanted to be the boss for all of Chicago. Mushy stayed focused on him while he spoke. All the time, Eddie was trying to get on Mushy’s good side. At the end of conversation, Mushy smiled at Eddie, thanked him for the information and stood up.

He walked up to Dominic, standing off to the right, "Take care of him, will yous. It’s getting on my nerves." Mushy said, putting a hand on Dominic’s shoulder, "and drop him off at Balzone’s club down the street." Dominic nodded and walked up to Eddie who was complaining now. Twisty and Ace got up and walked out of the club as they heard the gun shot. Dominic dropped off Eddie at the club and walked back to the Wilshire Apartments. For the first time in his life, Dominic wanted to go to someone after a hit. He wanted to look into her face and see her soft eyes looking back at him, to hear her soothing voice and to hold her in his arms.

"Hey, baby," she said, waking up slightly as Dominic sat down on the bed and placed his hat on the table. She turned over and saw the rose laying on the pillow, she smiled, picked it up and reached her arms around his chest from behind. "You want to lie down," she said, softly. Dominic closed his eyes as she unbuttoned his shirt and took it off slowly, kissing the back of his neck. She laid him down on the bed and took off her shoes and socks laying them beside the bed. She laid down on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him.

"You alright, Dominic," she said, softly listening to his steady heartbeat. Dominic touched his hand to her face and brought her head up to meet his eyes. She looked deeply into them. Her face was soft and sweet. He kissed her gently and closed his eyes. Pussy Kat smiled and laid down on his chest, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

The problem with Balzone was solved it seemed, at least for the time being. After Eddie Fish was found at Balzone’s doorstep, no more shipments were looted or even a sign of Balzone was around. It was unusually quiet. It made Mushy uncomfortable, it made Twisty uncomfortable and it made Dominic extremely uncomfortable. It wasn’t like Balzone not to be in the public’s eye and this silence was starting to get on Mushy’s nerves.

"Yous know you can’t live forever on Never Miss’s feelings here, Pussy," Candy said with a caddy tone in her voice. "He’ll grew sick of yous eventually."

Pussy Kat didn’t speak back to Candy in the dressing room. Over the last few weeks, Candy had moved up to Friday and Saturday nights and now she did three sets a night, leaving only two for Pussy Kat. Mushy tried to explain that Pussy Kat wasn’t being demoted and that he was giving her a rest. After all, she worked six nights a week. She also had Sunday off and for many months, her and Dominic went to church on Sunday. It was like clockwork and everyone knew where they could find him or her…together. When Dominic wasn’t at Pussy Kat’s apartment, she was at his house. Dominic had a nice house, Twisty often told him that when he visited. It was one of the first things he did with the money he made from Mushy. He’s a family man, Twisty would say, even though his line of work and all, wouldn’t allow it. But over the past few months, Mushy and Twisty were discussing the Dominic/Pussy Kat relationship a lot. Mushy, had other reasons for it and Candy and Twisty seemed to going pretty strong still, even though Candy often strayed with many other men that came into the club. Of course, so did Twisty with other women, but all in all, they were considered an item.

A few days ago, Mushy had learned that Antony and Paulie had ended up in Hawaii leaving the high life off of Balzone’s money. Mushy decided it was time to take care of the two stoolies. Besides he had an important question to ask his Maria and it was best that Twisty and Dominic took care of the Antony and Paulie situation, while Mushy could take care of his situation.

Mushy had told Twisty about it last night and this morning, Twisty came up with an idea which led him to Dominic’s house. It was early morning when he arrived, but Dominic was up and dressed with one small bag packed for the trip to Hawaii that day.

"Hey, Never Miss, you here?" Twisty said on the other side of his door. Pussy Kat, dressed in a pretty robe opened the door and looked at Twisty.

"Don’t you never stop working?" Pussy Kat said as she let him in.

"No, I’m always on the job," he said, smiling at her.

"He’s outside in the back," Pussy Kat said, pointing towards the backyard and the Atruim which stood there. Dominic had an obsession with plants and flowers. He had a big garden covering most of the Atrium and the backyard. It was pretty and well kept, but it always surprised Twisty when he entered it. It was too soft for Never Miss, he’s never understand it.

He saw Dominic sitting at the table in the Atrium, eating breakfast. The place settings were for two, so he figured he had interrupted his and Pussy Kat’s meal. He sat down in the seat opposite Dominic and looked at him intently. Dominic looked back waiting for him to speak.

"Hey, I got an idea, Never Miss and you’re gonna like it," Twisty said, taking a piece of toast and crunching down on it. He looked down at the toast and smiled. "That girl can cook anything, can’t she?" Dominic stayed focused on Twisty for a moment. "Listen, let’s bring the girls on vacation." Dominic stopped drinking the orange juice in front of him and looked at Twisty. "You know to Hawaii. They ain’t never been there before and neither have we. So I thought, Candy and Pussy Kat would like a little trip and frankly, I think we all could use a vacation. What do you say?" Dominic stood up looking at Twisty now. Twisty stood up quickly, "good I’ll let Pussy Kat know." He started to walk into the house when Dominic got his arm. He stared at him for a moment. "Don’t worry, you’ll still get to do the job, but we should have a little fun, too. I asked Mushy he don’t mind. He said the Club is shutting down for the week, on account of the Lt. Gunum being so edgy and all." Twisty smiled at Dominic. "See so the girls won’t have nothing to do and we don’t want to leave them alone with nothing to do, Never Miss. They could get into trouble," he said, smiling and walking into the house. Dominic stood outside for a moment and thought about the idea. He wanted to take Pussy Kat with him and he even thought a vacation was a good idea, but taking her on a job was a whole other issue. He didn’t want her involved, he liked having her around. He liked it a lot and leaving her for awhile would be hard, but that wasn’t a reason to take him with her. It thought a few more moments about it and decided if he was gonna ask her to marry him then he might as well make her understand the type of life she was getting involved with. He loved her, he knew that and he believed she loved him, so it was only fair for her to understand all of it. But just the same, it would be dangerous and he didn’t want to put her in danger. No, this was not a good idea, he thought.

He followed Twisty into the house as he was talking with Pussy Kat. She smiled as he approached and ran to him, kissing him and hugging him. Twisty smiled at Dominic. He knew Dominic couldn’t refuse Pussy Kat. Dominic shook his head at Twisty.

"All settled," Twisty said. "I’ll see yous at the airport in an hour or so. I gotta go pick up Candy." Twisty said, quickly and left the house.

Pussy Kat stopped hugging Dominic and looked at him. "Candy’s coming?" Dominic nodded. "This could be a long week." She said. He nodded again. She smiled quickly and changed the subject. "What should I wear? What do they wear in Hawaii," she said, thinking and walking to the bedroom to pick out some clothes that she left there when she stayed over. Dominic smiled and shook his head at her as she exited the living room. Well that was it, she wasn’t going to be convinced not to go. Thanks, Twisty, he said in his mind and went back outside to finish his breakfast.

The airport was anything but uneventful, Candy was constantly saying things about Pussy Kat and although she was more reserved about her statement, they still fly like wild fire back at Candy.

"So what are you gonna do, Pussy Kat, when you’re out a job," Candy had said.

"I guess I just stay at home, Candy and become a kept woman," she fired back. Candy laughed.

"Yea, until he gets sick of you," she said back. This time, Dominic stopped the fight. He stood inbetween the two women and looked at Candy. "Alright, I was joking. Jeez, you can’t take a joke?" She said, walking back to Twisty.

"Alright, so she’s a little hot headed," Twisty said and looked at Pussy Kat. "It’s not like yous help making those comments." Dominic looked at Twisty for a moment. "Alright, you take care of it, it ain’t my business. She’s your girl. I’ll take care of mine." Twisty walked away and followed Candy onto the plane. Dominic leaned down and kissed Pussy Kat, took her hand and lead her to the plane entrance.

"What am I supposed to do, lay down and die," she said, muttering under her breath. The look Dominic shot her, told her that a bad statement. "Sorry, baby, but she gets under my skin." He turned once again to her. "Alright, no more underhanded comments." He nodded. "I can refrain from insults…if she will." She quickly added as they boarded the plane. Dominic watched her and turned to Twisty, who was looking back at him from his seat in front of him and Pussy Kat.

"Don’t worry, it’ll be fine," Twisty said, reassuringly, but wondered to himself if the girls would ever stop fighting.

The trip and the girls seemed to be doing better by the time they landed in Hawaii, they had taken a boat to get to the island and both Pussy Kat and Candy were amazed at the surroundings and didn’t focus on each other anymore.

"Would you look at this place, it’s like a tropical paradise," Twisty said, walking off the boat. A pretty Hawaiian girl placed a flowered lai over his head and kissed him on the cheek. "Yea, hey, I could get used to this," Twisty added, taking Candy’s arm after she received her lai and walking away from the boat. Pussy Kat and Dominic were a bit behind the other two getting off the boat. The Hawaiian girl placed a lai over Pussy Kat’s head and smiled. Pussy Kat looked back at Dominic as she proceeded to place the lai around his neck. Dominic caught her hand and looked at her. Pussy Kat was at his side, immediately.

"He don’t like people getting that close, I’ll take it," she said, reaching out for the lai. The girl gave it to her and looked at Dominic strangely. Pussy Kat followed him as he continued after Twisty and Candy a few feet ahead. "Yous got to relax, Dominic," she said, looking up at him. Dominic looked at her, took the lai from her hand and put it around his neck, not taking off his hat for the motion. Pussy Kat smiled and shook her head at him. "Yous know sometimes, you scare me, Dominic." Pussy Kat smiled and reached out holding his hand as they approached Twisty and Candy.

"Ain’t this great?" Twisty said, looking at the group.

"It’s beautiful, Twisty, honey," Candy agreed. "Where’s are we going now?"

"Wes going exploring and to find a beach," Twisty said, smiling. Candy squealed and they proceeded to walk along with the other tourists who had arrived on the boat to the hotel on the island. Dominic let go of Pussy Kat’s hand and pulled Twisty back from the girls. "What, Never Miss, would you let go already," Twisty said, complaining. He turned and faced Dominic. "Yea, yea, I know, but wes got to find them first, before we can do anything." He straightened his shirt and looked at Dominic, "yous always thinking business, relax, enjoy the sun. Yous don’t go out much in daytime," Twisty said looking up into the clear blue sky. "Look at that, Never Miss, ain’t it just the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Stop and smell the roses once in awhile." Twisty said, patting Dominic on the back and walking back to Candy, who was talking with one of the natives who kept smiling at her and pointing in different directions about places to see.

Dominic looked towards Twisty ready to tell him that the job should get done first, before Antony and Paulie find out they were on the island, but he caught Pussy Kat looking toward the ocean. The sun shone brightly on her hair, which captured all her features from her hair to her face and the light breeze blew her dress slightly outlining her body. She looked beautiful standing there and closing her eyes taking in the warm sun. He walked up to her, casting a shadow across her face as he stood in front of her. She opened her eyes and looked up at him for a moment.

"Yous like a shadow, Dominic," she said, smiling. He leaned down and kissed her deeply. After the kiss ended, he took her hand and walked towards Twisty again. "I like shadows," Pussy Kat said looking up at him.

They found the hotel, got settled in to their rooms, one for Twisty and Candy and one for Dominic and Pussy Kat, courtesy of Twisty’s planning. The hotel was spacious and the rooms were pretty, decorated with bamboos and the same feel of the island itself. There was a nice restaurant in the hotel and a beach just outside its doors. Twisty thought he was in heaven as they all walked onto the sandy beach an hour later.

"This is the life," Twisty said, carrying a towel and looking at Candy. She smiled at him. She was dressed in a colorful bathing suit and robe. Pussy Kat approached them also dressed in a purple bathing suit and a robe, carrying a towel from the hotel room. She walked past Twisty and Candy, shaking her head. Twisty looked behind her and Dominic walked up to them still dressed in his suit, it had taken off the jacket and his hat. Twisty shook his head at him and motioned for the girls to go to the beach.

"I’ll take care of this," Twisty said, walking up to Dominic. "Come on, Never Miss, yous have got to relax, jeez, you’re impossible do you know that?" Twisty said, putting his hand around her shoulder and walking back into the hotel.

After fighting with Dominic for what seemed like an eternity for Twisty, both men reentered the beach area. This time, Dominic was wearing sunglasses, a colorful Hawaiian shirt, his brown pants and a brown derby hat. He had taken off his holster but he still had two guns, one on his left leg and the other tucked behind his shirt, undetected by anyone not looking for it. Twisty put his hands in the air as he approached the girls. Candy and Pussy Kat was laying a few feet away from each other on their own chairs with a small table between them, where two tall drinks with little umbrellas sticking out of stood. They both turned as they heard Twisty’s voice.

"I’m sorry girls, I did the best I could," he moved next to Candy and shook his head at Pussy Kat. Pussy Kat moved her sunglasses off her eyes and looked at Dominic. Instantly, she held back a laugh and just smiled at him.

"You look great," she said, standing up and walking to him. Dominic’s expression told him he wasn’t happy at all about the outfit. "Aw, come on, you’ll learn to love it," she added, kissing him quickly and handing him her drink. He shook his head no and handed it back to her. "Dominic, you’re on vacation, have a drink." Dominic looked at Twisty. Pussy Kat caught the exchange and looked back to Dominic. "You have got to be kidding me," she exclaimed, walking a few steps away from them. Candy looked up at Twisty and shrugged her shoulder, not sure about what upset Pussy Kat and not caring. She went back to her sunbathing, ignoring anything but her drink and the warm breezes from the ocean.

Twisty moved to Dominic and looked at him. They both watched Pussy Kat, put on her robe and walk away from them on the beach.

"She’ll get over it," Twisty said. Dominic shot him a look, even through his sunglasses, Twisty could tell what he was saying. "Alright, so I should have told her. Eh, maybe you should have," he said, laughing a bit at his joke. Dominic walked past Twisty, following Pussy Kat down the beach. Why did he let Twisty get him into this situation. He knew he shouldn’t let Twisty plan his love life, look at his own, he thought to himself and walked quicker to catch up with Pussy Kat.

Pussy Kat turned on him as soon as he approached her. She stopped walking and placed her hands on her hips. "Look, I don’t care what you guys do. I ain’t saying anything about your line of work or anything. It ain’t none of my business. I just sing at the club that’s all and I took a liking to you. Alright, I like you a lot, but that ain’t the point. I don’t need to be involved, yous understand. I’ll do what I’m supposed to and that’s all. If Mushy wants me to be involved then he can ask me. If you need me to be involved, yous ask me, but don’t just assume I’ll go along. Alright. Listen, I thought you liked me. I thought we was…friends. We was…together, you know," she stopped for a moment and took off her sunglasses, looking at him. "I thought we had something special between us." Dominic touched her arm, she looked away. He gently lifted her chin up to look at her. He had taken off his sunglasses and was looking directly into her eyes. "Don’t look at me like that. This is a big deal. This is a very big deal," she said, trying to hold her ground. He nodded his head and her and kept the intense stare. After a moment, he broke the eye contact and let go of her chin. He started to turn, she caught his arm quickly.

"Hey, Dominic, don’t walk away. I am talking to you." Dominic didn’t turn back, but took her hand and almost pulled her back across the beach to where Twisty was sitting putting suntan lotion on Candy. She was giggling. Dominic reached down and grabbed the lotion, squeezing the tube until it was gone, left on the ground. Twisty and Candy were staring at him. He pulled Twisty up and dragged him across the rest of the walkway and into the hotel.

"What is with you?" Twisty said as Dominic pushed him into the elevator. Pussy Kat followed. Candy was left on the beach.

The got out of the elevator at the third floor, where their rooms were. Dominic pulled Twisty along the hallway, with him complaining the entire time. He opened the door to his and Pussy Kat’s room and pushed him in. After Pussy Kat entered the room, Dominic closed the door and reached over, pulling out the photo of Paulie and Anthony that was in a folder with an address attached to one of the photos. He threw the folder at Twisty who was sitting on the bed where Dominic had pushed him. He looked over at the folder and back to Dominic.

"Alright, Never Miss, I’ll tell her, but Mushy ain’t going like this," Twisty said, looking at him. "We ain’t supposed to talk about the business, unless Mushy says so." Dominic stood closer to Twisty, a deadly look on his usually calm face. "Alright, alright." Twisty focused his attention on Pussy Kat who was staring back and forth between the two friends. "I’ll do it for you, Never Miss, being such good friends and all." Twisty stood up and took Pussy Kat’s hand leading her to a table and chairs by the window. He put the folder down on the table and looked at her.

"Alright, here’s the deal," Twisty said. "Mushy sent Never Miss and myself to take care of this two low lifes, Paulie and Antony," he said, referring to the two photos of the men. "So we found out they were in Hawaii and here we are. That’s about it, toots." Twisty finished and looked at Dominic who was looking back at him with a cold stare again. Twisty sat down and sighed. "Alright, Never Miss didn’t what you to come, but I insisted that we bring you and Candy, so we can enjoy ourselves an dhave a little vacation. Ain’t you having a good time, toots?" Twisty said, smiling at her. Dominic who was standing behind Twisty, hit him on the shoulder. He looked up quickly and looked back to Pussy Kat. "Alright, point taken. Anyways that’s the job and once we find them, they are going wish they never got involved with Balzone or stiffed Mushy on his liquor, let me tell you." Twisty said with a tough edge to his voice. "Ain’t that right, Never Miss?" Twisty turned to Dominic, smiling. Dominic did not react to the statement, other than to pick up Twisty by his shirt collar, pulled him to the door, opened it and pushed him out.

"I’m glad I could be some help," he said as Dominic closed the door on him. "Of course," Twisty said from the other side of the door, "next time yous are gonna have to be nicer."

Twisty nodded to himself, fixed his shirt and went back to the beach to join Candy.

Inside the room, Dominic was standing next to Pussy Kat at the window. She was looking away from him and looking back to the photos. Dominic moved in closer to her and touched her shoulders softly. She turned to face him. A sigh escaped her as she shook her head.

"I’m sorry, Dominic, I had no right to…" she started, Dominic looked down at her softer and stopped her sentence. They stared at each other for a moment. "You didn’t want me to come?" She said, softly. Dominic leaned down and touched her hand. "I know, you didn’t want me to come because of the danger of the job, right," Dominic nodded. "But you did want me to come with you, right?" She asked, a little quieter. Dominic nodded again and reached out touching her face. He kissed her and she smiled up at him. Problem solved, he said to himself, at least for now. She could be a handful, he thought as he took her hand and they walked to the couch in the room. A little headstrong, but just the same, she had opinions, lots of them at times, that could be a good thing, he thought as they sat down. She could think for herself and that wasn’t a bad thing in the business, he decided. She sat on his lap on the couch and put her arms around him.

"I’m glad I came, even if it wasn’t really for a vacation," she said, kissing him softly. A few more kisses resulted in Dominic’s new shirt being thrown on the floor as well as her robe and bathing suit. They moved slowly, kissing each other, to the bed. Dominic kicked off his shoes and was on top of her, kissing her back, when there was a knock on the door. Dominic looked up quickly and started to stand up.

"Don’t answer it, baby, they’ll go away," she said, sweetly from underneath him. Dominic tried to reason with himself to do as she asked, but this feeling in the pit of his stomach told him instead to get up, which he did, much to Pussy Kat’s disappointment. He pulled the gun out of his left pants leg holster and stood. Pussy Kat pulled the sheets up to her, covering her body, just as two men came charging in, breaking down the door.

A gunshot rang in Pussy Kat’s ears and she sat in fright on the bed, staring at Dominic who had pulled the trigger and killed one of the men. He now laid at the bottom of the door. The other man had his gun pointed at Pussy Kat in the bed. He was smiling. Dominic recognized him, he worked for Balzone, his name was Henry, but he couldn’t remember his last name. He was just a low life bone breaking to Dominic, he’d seen him around, but didn’t pay much attention until now. Dominic had his gun on Henry, staring intently at him, while Henry had his gun on Pussy Kat, smiling at Dominic.

"So, you got a girlfriend, Never Miss," Henry said. "Well, wonders don’t cease, eh?" He moved a step closer to the bed, Dominic cocked the hammer back on his gun, still staring at him. "Don’t get jumpy, I just wanted to take a look at her. Any dame who’s with you must be crazy." Pussy Kat wanted to say something, but she couldn’t make actual words form in her head, must less her lack of ability to speak them. "Well, look-at-here she’s a pretty thing, ain’t she?" Henry said, smiling towards Pussy Kat for a second, keeping one eye on Dominic. "So, who else did you bring with yous, eh honey? You might as well tell me, since we Never Miss won’t speak and I’m assuming you can." Pussy Kat stayed silent and keep her eyes on Dominic. "You just keep focused, toots, maybe he’ll save yous. Well, I guess talking is over, eh Never Miss. You tell Mushy Paulie and Anthony ain’t gonna be found." Henry stared at Dominic for a moment, "yous been working out more, Never Miss?" He smiled referring to Dominic’s bare chest. "Looks good. I’m impressed. Ain’t you, toots?" Dominic had moved slightly closer to Henry, Pussy Kat noticed, but Henry didn’t. "So what do you say? I take your girl and we call it a day, eh?" Henry said moving closer to Pussy Kat. Dominic moved a step in. "Don’t be stupid, Never Miss, I’ll shot her and then take it, it don’t matter to me."

Twisty ran in the door, which distracted Henry for a second, but it was enough. Dominic pulled the trigger, Henry fell to the ground and Pussy Kat held back a scream on the bed waiting for a bullet to hit her.

"Jeez, I will never get used to these tense moments, it’s enough to give you a heart attack," Twisty said, looking at the two men laying on the ground. He shut the door and tended to the dead bodies, making sure they both didn’t have any signs of life anymore. Twisty went about collecting their wallets, looking for id and their guns. Dominic put his gun back in the holster and turned to Pussy Kat, walking quickly to the bed. She was still sitting up, but her head was in her in hands now and she was shaking. Dominic held her tightly to him until she calmed down. He brought her face up to meet his. The fear was apparent in her eyes and she still couldn’t find a voice to speak. He touched her face gently and handed her the robe on the end of the bed. She took it and quickly went about covering herself under the sheets. Dominic looked at her once more, she nodded at him to say she was alright and he got up moving to where Twisty was standing over the bodies.

"Yea, wes got a problem," Twisty said, looking at the blood on the carpet and the door. "I’ll go call security whatever they are, here in Hawaii. Obviously, these bums tried to pick on tourists." Twisty said, getting up and walking out the door. "Lucky for us," he continued as he turned back to Dominic, "yous was faster with your gun." He nodded and walked out the door. Pussy Kat was standing up now, still a bit disoriented. Dominic walked over to her and walked her to the couch, sitting down on it. He held her hand gently. She put her feet up on the couch and leaned her head on his chest, he put his arm around her, holding her gently and stroking her hair. This is exactly what he didn’t want to happen. He was never listening to Twisty again, he said to himself. Dominic felt the ring still in his pants pocket. He had picked it up two days before the Hawaii trip and was planning on asking Pussy Kat to marry him when he returned. He brought it with him, thinking maybe he would ask her here, but again he decided against it and holding her at this moment, made him think, maybe he shouldn’t ask her at all. She deserved better, he thought, looking down at her. She deserved much better.

A few hours past, Twisty had talked to the security at the hotel, small as it was. It consisted of two Hawaiian men dressed in shorts and very colorful shirts. The men seemed to think it was better not to get the police involved it might scare the other guests at the hotel, so the bodies were taken care of and Twisty, Candy, Dominic and Pussy Kat were moved to a different part of the hotel. There were put in two cabanas all alone away from the main hotel. Candy spent the time flirting with one of the security men, while Pussy Kat hadn’t spoken a word since the incident, Twisty did all the talking and that seemed fine with everyone involved, especially Twisty. Twisty had suggested they all get something to eat, but Dominic didn’t want to take Pussy Kat out of the cabana that night. She was over the initial shake-up, but he knew all too well, Pussy Kat was not back to her regular self yet and he thought it was best they ordered in.

Dominic had been doing a lot of thinking since the incident. Most of it involved finding Paulie and Antony, doing the job and boarding the next flight back to Chicago. He was certain she would feel better once she was home again. Pussy Kat had been doing some thinking of her own. She wasn’t naïve towards the business. She had been around some of the New York people at clubs and such, but she was never so close to the action before. One thing that surprised her after the initial fear subsided, she had completely trusted Dominic, like she had never trusted any man before. She knew somehow he wasn’t going let Henry plug her and she took a certain amount of comfort in that. After dinner, she decided it was time to have a talk with Dominic and let him know how she was feeling, before he got the wrong impression.

Twisty and Candy had gone out after dinner to some club, they had heard about from the local security guard. Pussy Kat looked over at Dominic standing in the corner. He was looking out the window, but she could tell he was thinking. She stood up and walked to him, touching his hand. His eyes met hers and she smiled.

"I’m alright," she said, softly. The sun was setting and different shades of red and orange streamed into the room. He still wore the colorful Hawaiian shirt Twisty had got him and he had taken off his hat when they sat down to eat, it was lying on the table in the corner. She thought about how handsome he was and quickly refocused continuing with her talk.

"I just wanted you to know. I’ll admit it was a little frightening and all, but I just ain’t never had an experience like that before," his eyes kept on hers as she spoke and she started to feel strange saying this to him. She moved away a step. "I just wanted you to know that’s all," she finished and turned away from him. He walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders and softly kissed her neck. She turned back to face him. His eyes staring back at her were caring and loving and told her how concerned he was for her. She smiled.

"I can handle it, alright," she said, softly. "I want to be able to handle it. You can teach me," she touched his face. "If you want me around that is," she said, pausing a bit at the end. Dominic reached down, taking her hand and softly kissing it. He pulled back a pice of her hair that had fallen into her face and kissed her lips, sweetly. When he pulled back from her, he smiled, she smiled back. The conversation was over and nothing would ever be said about it again.

When Twisty and Candy returned early the next morning, Dominic was already out of bed and dressed as Pussy Kat woke up slightly. He kissed her gently on the lips. She turned and drifted back into sleep, he picked up his hat and holster, tying it around his arm and waist and went to get Twisty.

Dominic knew Twisty would have asked around about Paulie and Antony last night, even though Candy thought he was just taking her out on the town. Dominic had to respect him, he also was focused on the business, even it looked like most of the time he wasn’t. Dominic knew his friend well and he knew he’d have a place for him by this morning. He trusted in that. He wasn’t wrong, Twisty handed Dominic an address and told him he had borrowed a car from one of the security officers at the hotel. They were on their way to Anthony and Paulie’s hideout as the sun was beginning to rise.

"How’s she doing?" Twisty asked in the car as he drove around dirt roads. Dominic looked at him. Twisty smiled. "Good, I’m glad she ain’t permanently damaged." Dominic looked over at Twisty again and debated telling him about the ring. He was his friend and if anyone knew women it was Twisty, regardless of how many he was with. He always had an opinion and Dominic, for one of the first times in his life, wanted to hear it regarding Pussy Kat. Besides, Twisty had a lot of girls he knew involved in the business, he would know how to deal with that. Dominic would have asked Mushy, but he wanted an answer and Mushy wasn’t here in Hawaii. After a moment, Twisty turned to Dominic questioning him with his eyes.

"What?" Twisty said. Dominic took a moment then reached into his pocket and pulled out the small black box and showed it to Twisty. Twisty was more than intrigued and surprised when Dominic opened it and showed Twisty the glittering diamond ring inside.

"Jeez, where did you get that? It had to cost a pretty penny," Twisty said, quickly. "You means to tell me you’re gonna ask Pussy to marry yous." Twisty said, half in disbelief, half-impressed. He had never thought about Dominic getting married. He knew deep down that Mushy was sweet on Maria and that marriage was coming and he even could see himself one day settling down, but Never Miss, that was a whole other story. He had always been the sane one, never losing his head over some dame and all. Twisty wasn’t blind, he knew Pussy Kat meant a lot to Never Miss. After all, he thought to himself, Never Miss ain’t never stayed at a dame’s house that he knew of and he certainly hadn’t seem him spend as much time with one, like he did every night with Pussy Kat. Twisty was also sure no dame ever got invited to Never Miss’s home, but marriage. That was a whole other situation for his friend.

Dominic was still staring at him holding the ring up. Twisty closed the box himself, staying focused still on the road ahead. He shot a glance to Never Miss, who was putting the box in his pocket again.

"Do you love her?" He said and quickly added, "I mean not that you need to or anything. I was just wondering." Dominic nodded. Twisty looked back to the road with an uneasy feeling. He wasn’t sure he wanted to have this conversation with Never Miss. He didn’t want to be responsible for ruining his life if he was wrong about the dame.

"Look, Never Miss, it’s simple," Twisty said, glancing at him. "I ain’t getting involved…" he paused for a moment and Dominic waited for him to continue. He knew Twisty would have an opinion, whether he wanted to or not. "I will tell you that the best reason to get marriage is also one of the worst reasons, if you know what I mean." Dominic looked at him, strangely now. Then he nodded to Twisty, understanding what he meant. "You know you are a smart guy, Never Miss. Probably smarter than the rest of us, anyway, you do what you think is right. That’s the best advice I can give yous." Twisty pulled down another street and stopped the car. He turned to Dominic before getting out.

"I think Pussy Kat is a classy dame, Never Miss, in case yous was wondering, that is. If yous got to marry someone you could do worse. She’s pretty and, she can cook anything, that’s a good reason right there. Yous know I would have went for her if I didn’t think yous was interested," Twisty said, smiling at him. Dominic kept a stone expression on his face, Twisty cocked his head towards him for a moment. "I was joking with yous," Twisty added and got out the car. Never Miss followed, thinking about what he should do when he saw Pussy Kat again.

"Looks like we’ve got stoolies all over the place," Twisty said, looking over at three men standing with guns pointed at them. "Who tipped you off?" Twisty asked.

Paulie came out from behind Twisty and Never Miss with Anthony at his side, both of them holding guns.

"Well, it seems we have some friends in the local security," Paulie said, smiling. Twisty turned a bit to face him.

"Yea, why am I not surprised?" Twisty answered.

"So hey, Never Miss, I heard you’ve got a pretty little dame with yous. That’s what the talk is at the hotel, anyways," Paulie started. Never Miss didn’t turn towards him, he stayed focused on the three men in front of him. "Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to meet her. She’s got to be something special for you to take notice. I didn’t think you liked girls."

"You see, now, that was always you’re problem," Twisty said as Paulie and Antony turned towards him, "you were always disrespectable." Twisty dropped to the ground instantly, it seemed and rolled a few feet away. Gunshots were heard all around him. He had pulled his own gun and started shooting at Paulie and Antony. After a few moments, he realized the gun shots had stopped and Dominic was standing over him, looking down with an expression he knew all too well.

"Yea, well," Twisty said, getting up and brushing off the dirt from his clothes. "I was covering you." Dominic shook his head and headed to the car. Twisty followed him and together they put the men into a car at the hideout and let it roll into the ocean a few feet away. They watched for a moment until the car was submerged under the water and started to walk away.

"You know, that was amazing, Never Miss," Twisty said looking at him as they walked back to the car. "I wish you talked sometimes. How many bullets did you use?" Dominic stopped walking and showed Twisty his barrel which had two bullets missing. Twisty looked back at him in amazement. "You shot five men with two bullets? Cause I know I didn’t hit any," he said the last statement under his breath. Dominic didn’t indicate anything else about the incident, but had he spoke, he would have told Twisty two of the men died from cross fire when he had ducked quickly to avoid Paulie’s shot aimed at him. He figured let Twisty tell his version, it was always more interesting. Dominic never bragged about his shootings, it was unclassy, he believed, but he did have a reputation to uphold and he could always count on Twisty to help him in that area.

When they had arrived back at the cabanas, the girls were fighting again. This time, it was about costumes and dresses.

"I don’t care what you think about my act," Pussy Kat said as Twisty and Dominic approached them.

"Good, because no one else does either, honey." Candy answered back.

"Hey, toots, cut it already. Yous are supposed to be nice to each other," Twisty said, standing inbetween them. "Now, don’t be like that, honey," Twisty kissed Candy and smiled at her.

"She started it," Candy said, pointing a finger at Pussy Kat. That was it for Pussy Kat, she had enough of this flousy who thought she was god’s gift to the club. Pussy Kat lunged for Candy, Candy screamed, Twisty moved out of the way and Pussy Kat tackled Candy to the ground. Dominic pulled Pussy Kat off of Candy holding her from the waist. Hate was in Pussy Kat’s eyes and Twisty saw it.

"Alright, girls, that’s enough," Twisty said, helping Candy up. "Yous need to cool down," he said looking at Pussy Kat.

"And you need to stay out of my business, Twisty," Pussy Kat yelled back at him from Dominic’s tight hold around her waist.

"Would you control her," Twisty said, looking at Dominic and escorting Candy outside.

"She’s an animal," Candy said as they left.

"Shut it, toots. Yous ain’t at no fault here," Twisty said pulling Candy away.

"You can put me down now," Pussy Kat said, trying to twist out of Dominic’s hold. She stopped struggling after a moment and looked up at him. "I’m calm," she said trying to sound calmer than she felt. Dominic held her for another moment and then put her down, she immediately tried to move away from him. Dominic held her arm and looked at her.

"She’s frustrating, you know," Pussy Kat tried to explain. Dominic nodded at her. Dominic waited for her to say more about Candy, when she didn’t. He took her hand and walked her out of the cabana. The sun was brightly shining down as Dominic walked them to the street where vendors were lined up selling everything from dresses to flowers. He stopped in front of one of the shops selling jewelry made from seashells. Pussy Kat looked up at him.

"You want to buy something?" She said. He nodded and turned her to face the man standing behind the table.

He smiled up at her. "The gentlemen wants to buy you something, miss. May I suggest?" He said, taking a bracelet out of a box from underneath the table. It was beautiful, full of pink and white pieces of shells. "It’s a special piece, miss. These shells were found on a coral reef not far from here. It’s a sad story, actually," he said looking at her.

"What do you mean?" Pussy Kat asked, curiously and looked at Dominic who was looking back at the man now.

"Well, it is said that there was a fisherman who loved one of the villagers here on the island many years ago and he wanted to marry her, but her father forbid him to marry his daughter. The fisherman determined to win the girl, went upon the oceans to seek fortune. He returned many years later with a pink seas shell he claimed he received from the gods. The seashell held magic." Both Pussy Kat and Dominic were intrigued now listening closely to the story. "You see, the gods had placed the voice of the most beautiful mermaids in it and whenever a woman possessed it, the mermaids sang a song of love into her heart, forever binding her to the man who gave her the shell. The fisherman went to his love to give her this magical shell, but he was too late for she was already married. In despair, he tossed the shell back to the sea where it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. It is said that pink-colored shells are pieces of this old shell the fishermen tossed into the ocean…" the man paused and leaned into them. "And each piece of a pink shell still holds the magic within it to make a woman forever bonded in love to the man who gives her it." The man concluded his story and stood up straight looking at Pussy Kat.

"That is beautiful," Pussy Kat said turning to Dominic and smiling at him. She turned back to the bracelet.

The man looked up at Dominic, he nodded at him. The man smiled and took the bracelet out of the box, placing it around Pussy Kat’s wrist. Pussy Kat held it up for Dominic to see. He smiled at her, she smiled back and drew her wrist back to look more closely at the bracelet. Dominic exchanged money with the man and placed his hand behind Pussy’s back indicating they were moving on. She looked up at him and reached up and kissed him quickly.

"Thank you, sir," the man said as they walked away. Dominic looked down at Pussy Kat as they walked, she was still looking at the bracelet touching the shells on it and smiling. He decided he was going to ask her to be his wife. That was it no more debate, Dominic had made a decision and he would do it tonight before they left this place that had caused Dominic to fear losing her yesterday and realizing just how much he loved her today. It was truly a paradise as Twisty had said, he thought as they continued walking down the street.

"Would you calm down, Twisty, it ain’t going be like that?" Mushy tried to explain. "Maria and I are in love, do you know what that is?" Twisty stopped complaining and looked at Dominic standing next to him, shaking his head.

"It’s all over, that’s all I’m saying," Twisty said, sitting down at the chair in the office. Since Twisty, Dominic, Pussy Kat and Candy had returned from Hawaii a few days ago, some things had changed around The Gangsters Club. For one, Mushy had asked Maria to marry him and she accepted. Now Maria and her brother Ace were always hanging around the club, during club hours and not. It wasn’t making Twisty and Dominic comfortable, but underneath it all they were happy for their friend. Dominic expressed it best, suprisely enough, when he gave Mushy a few simple nods and smiled after Mushy announced the engagement. Dominic also shown Mushy the ring and expressed he was asking Pussy Kat tonight after the show. He had decided against asking her in Hawaii. It was best to tell Mushy first, he had thought. Mushy had been happy for his friend also and ‘discussed’ the wedding plans for him and Maria. Twisty was a bit upset to say the least. He felt his friends were deserting him, leaving him behind for dames. Twisty didn’t understand that. Sure, he loved Candy, she was sweet and nice at times and he loved her singing, but marriage, that wasn’t gonna happy to Twisty Leftfoot, at least not this year, he told himself. Maybe next year, but that was a long ways away for him.

"Look, discussion over and yous are being my best man, Twisty and Dominic will be an usher, yous understand," Dominic nodded, Twisty nodded and they all knew that was the end of the debate about Mushy getting married. "Now, I am going out there to spend some time with my Maria and you, Twisty are going to find something else to worry about." Mushy turned to Dominic and smiled, "come on, Never Miss, you got to watch Pussy Kat’s new number, she was practicing it earlier, while you were taking care of our problem," Mushy walked out the door, Dominic followed. "Yous are gonna love this one," he said as Twisty defeated, followed them out the door.

"Ain’t nothing good gonna come of this," he said, mumbling to himself and then an idea struck him. The bachelor party, he said to himself. He would have to plan the bachelor party for Mushy of course, that could be fun. Of course, the wedding was months away and Twisty figured he’d get Candy and Pussy Kat in on it, Dominic also they could plan a good bachelor party for Mushy. That would be his present to his good friend, he thought as they all walked into the club.

Dominic stood in his regular place, near the bar, in a back corner. He was visible to everyone, but mostly everyone at the club went about their business, leaving him alone, which is how he liked it. People coming up and talking to him was just a distraction from his job, which was watching the club to make sure everyone was behaving, so to speak. Normally, he wouldn’t respond to people if they approached him while he was working, but their were exceptions. Mushy for one, and Twisty, at times, and…

"Dominic, honey," Pussy Kat said coming up behind Dominic from her dressing room behind the bar. Pussy Kat was the third distraction Dominic allowed. Pussy Kat was always allowed. He turned to her slightly and looked down at her. "So yous going listen to my new song?" Dominic nodded. "It’s for you, baby." She said, sweetly and kissed him on the cheek. "Are you still coming over after," she said quieter to him. Dominic nodded again. "Good, cause I got lonely the last few nights," she smiled at him. He smiled back and touched her hand. He gave her a nod, indicating he had been lonely also. She smiled again and started to move away. He turned completely facing her and looked deep into her eyes. "What’s the surprise?" She asked, interpreting his look. Dominic shook his head no and turned back to the crowd. "You’re a tease, Dominic, do you know that?" She smiled behind his back and returned to the dressing room.

"Did you have your ‘talk," Candy said, putting up in fingers in quotes to Pussy Kat on the word talk, "with your body guard."

"I ain’t gonna succumb to your level, tonight, Candy," Pussy Kat said, trying not to get mad at her. She wanted to be completely focused tonight. She had picked the song herself, learning it over the last two days, showed it to Mushy and all for Dominic to hear it tonight. She was too excited to be provoked by Candy Love. Candy shrugged her shoulders as Pussy Kat left the room to enter onto the stage.

The audience was mostly men, as usually, but there were a few women scattered about. It was Saturday night and they were packed in wall to wall. The crowd went into loud clapping and screaming as Pussy Kat took the stage. In the back corner, Dominic smiled. Although, Candy now had the first set every night and Pussy Kat the last one, she still received a lot of attention from the men, every time she appeared. Mushy said she was a classic, where Candy was a quick fix. Pussy Kat hadn’t been pleased with the statement, but after venting for a while to Dominic she decided to let it go and put in some new numbers.

She stood on the stage, the microphone in front of her. She looked towards the back of the room, smiled at Dominic, even though she couldn’t see him clearly and turned to Fingers to start the music. Fingers immediately starting playing ‘I wanna be loved by you.’

She started the song, using hand gestures and body movement to indicate each word, the men were going wild, yelling and clapping as she continued into the chorus of the song, which, if anybody could see him, was being sung to Dominic completely.

‘I wanna be loved by you, just you.. and nobody else but you. I wanna be loved by you alone," she continued, throwing all her emotions and feelings into the number. Dominic was completely taken in by the beautiful red-haired singer standing on the stage, looking at him with soft, seductive eyes which lowered at exactly the right moments in the song. Her body swayed back and forth as she continued, accenting every curve she possessed. Dominic had always loved her singing and she usually came up with interesting and ‘cute’ movements to do to the songs. She was always interesting to watch, putting everything she had into her songs, but this was completely different from Pussy Kat’s normal style. Her numbers were bouncy, upbeat and fun. The crowd loved them. This one was sultry and seductive and her moved matched the rhythm completely, sending the men in the room into wicked thoughts about her, and in particular Dominic who starting thinking about how much he wanted to make love to her later that night.

"It ain’t bad, is it?" Mushy said, coming up behind him and carrying two drinks, one obviously for Maria who was sitting at the head table down front with him and Twisty.

Dominic didn’t turn to Mushy, but only nodded slowly, still keeping his eye on Pussy Kat. Mushy watched her for a moment and smiled at his friend. He stood there waiting for the song to end, before moving back through the crowd to Maria.

"I wanna be loved by you alone….boop-a-doop," Pussy Kat finished the song with a big arm motion and their entire house was clapping and yelling and standing up, indicating how much they liked it.

"She keeps them interested," Mushy said from his place behind Dominic still, "I will say that about the girl. She’s motivated." Dominic turned to him, looking at him. Mushy smiled and patted him on the back, "it must feel nice to be the guy taking her home, eh Never Miss?" Mushy said, walking away from him and back to Maria, who was complaining to Twisty about Pussy Kat’s outfit and how high cut it was.

Pussy Kat took her bows as Fingers went into a playing a bouncy song and Pussy Kat was helped off the stage by several men. She thanked them, but declined their offers of drinks and company walking back to the dressing room.

An hour or so later, everyone was cleared out the club and Pussy Kat, dressed back in a simple dress, had retouched her make up to make it softer. She knew Dominic didn’t like all that grease paint.

"Does he talk in his sleep, honey," Candy said, caddy like as she picked up her dress and was ready to leave for the night. She stood in the back of the small room.

Pussy Kat turned to her with angry eyes, "He don’t need to talk, he feels his way through everything," she said, "his touch is worth a thousand words, believe me," she said and turned quickly to walk out of the room. She bumped into Dominic standing at the doorway. Instantly, she blushed and Candy laughed, Dominic shot her a glance as Candy walked by him.

"I’m sorry," she said not looking up at him. "She just gets me going, yous know." Dominic handed her a red rose, she took it and looked up at him. He smiled at her and offered his arm to her. She took it and they walked out of the club into the cool January night.

"Dominic, can’t you say something?" Pussy Kat said, softly as they walked up to her apartment. He turned to her in confusion. "I mean Twisty said you can talk, it’s just you don’t want to. Why?" She looked for a moment at him as they entered the elevator. After they arrived at the apartment and Dominic closed the door. Pussy Kat took off her coat and placed it in the closet to the right of the door. She walked past the champagne bottle chilled in a bucket on the table and the two glasses next to it and turned back to Dominic questioning him again. He had taken off his coat and suit jacket, leaving his hat at the table by the door and followed her to the living room.

"Now come on, there must be some reason why you ain’t spoke," Pussy Kat continued, looking at him. "It is cause of your line of work?" Dominic walked up to her and reached down taking her hand. "Alright, did something happen? Did you wake up one day and decide I ain’t talking?" She had looked away for a moment, thinking about the reasons why he didn’t speak. When she turned back to him with another question, Dominic was on one knee in front of her, holding the black box in front of him. Pussy Kat took a breath in and stared at the black box.

"Is that for me?" She said, quietly. Dominic nodded and opened it, revealing the glittering diamond ring inside. She stood back a step and tried to say something, but couldn’t speak for a moment. He took the ring out of the box, placing the box on the table next to him. He held the ring to the finger ready to put it on and stopped, looking up at her. Pussy Kat was still staring at the ring, still in shock.

"You’re asking me to marry yous?" Pussy Kat finally said, thinking how stupid a question it was. Of course, he was asking her. She started to say yes and stopped herself, looking at him. Dominic looked at her questioning in his eyes.

"Why don’t you just ask me, Dominic. Just once say something," Pussy Kat said. Dominic shook his head and stood up. He started to walk away, maybe he was wrong, he said to himself. He thought she understood. Maybe marriage wasn’t a good idea. If she was asking him these things now, what would she be like after the wedding. She just didn’t understand and he couldn’t explain it to her or anyone. After his family died, he took an oath of silence. It was tradition. He had seen his father do it once when his Uncle died. Of course, it was only for five days out of mourning. He had taken it to a new level, after seventeen years. But he never had much to say to begin with and when he said his last words to his mother in that street on that horrible night, it didn’t do any good, they all still died. So what use was talking, he thought to himself. It never did him any good. He loved Pussy Kat, he thought she knew that. He wanted to marry her, to come home to her, something soft, something real. He had never felt that from any woman before and he didn’t want to lose her, but he wasn’t going to talk, not now. She understood what he was saying and she either answered the question yes or no.

"Listen, Dominic," Pussy Kat said, touching his arm. He turned back to her. "I’m sorry, I want to marry you…" she paused, Dominic looked at her. "Yes, yes I will marry you," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back and placed the ring on her finger. "It’s beautiful, Dominic, I means real beautiful. I love it!" She said, looking at the ring on her finger the entire time. Dominic reached around her waist and pulled her in, kissing her and picking her up off the floor a bit with his hold. He continued the kiss for longer than usual. When he did end it, Pussy Kat’s eyes were still closed. He smiled at her and touched her face gently. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

Dominic took her hand and walked her to the couch. Pussy Kat noticed the bottle of champagne now and smiled at him.

"When do you do all these things?" Pussy Kat asked and then put up her hands quickly. "Never mind, I don’t want to know." Dominic poured two glasses and handed Pussy Kat one. She drank it down, quickly, looking at him.

"Sorry, I just made the biggest decision on my life, I needed a drink," she said. He shook his head and poured her another glass. The night ensued as Pussy Kat talked and Dominic listened intently. She had drunk five glasses of champagne. He had finished his one and had placed the glass on the table over an hour ago.

"I was thinking, maybe I should get some back-up singers," Pussy Kat said. She had kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on the couch after the last drink. "You knows, just to spice up things in the numbers and all. Maybe, I should hold auditions or something, give a chance to some new girls. We could add in some dance steps and make our own act." She drank the rest of her glass down and stopped her hand motion towards the Champagne bottle quickly, looking at Dominic. "I’ve got our new name…Pussy Kat…and the Kittens!" She exclaimed and jumped up from the couch. The quick movement and the glasses of Champagne hit at once and she fell back on the couch. Dominic was instantly touching her arm and looking at her. She laughed quickly.

"I think I had a little too much to drink," she said, leaning against him. Dominic nodded his head. He picked her up and took her to the bed, laying her down and pulling the blanket up to her. He smiled at her as she drifted off into sleep. Dominic lay down next to her and started thinking about what she had said. Pussy Kat and the Kittens, it could be interesting. Mushy would like it. Unfortunately, Dominic has thought maybe she’d settle down after they were married. He didn’t want her to work and he certainly didn’t want her to sing songs like tonight to men giving them ideas about his girl. Dominic wouldn’t have said it even he did speak, but he was jealous of the way other men looked at her. He knew it was the act and all, he also knew her tough voice and attitude was just a cover to protect herself from those types of men. Deep down, he knew the girl named Emily, who curled up in his arms at night and talked about her dreams and wishes. Emily was soft and sweet, loved to cook and got excited about the simplest things from flowers to candies. That’s the girl he loved and that’s the girl he always would. But he knew he couldn’t tell her that and no interpreting from Twisty was going to make it come across to her correctly. He’d have to talk…he pondered on that thought for a moment and closed his eyes as Pussy Kat crawled up on his chest, snuggling next to him. They both went to sleep for that night and Dominic decided he’d figure out a way to tell her all the things he never spoke, somehow.

It was several weeks later when Pussy Kat set up auditions for her Kittens. It was to be this coming Saturday before the club opened for business. Twisty and Ace had been more than excited, thinking about all the young girls who would be coming to the auditions. Candy, on the other hand, was anything but pleased. She had been complaining to Twisty, Ace, Mushy and anyone else who would listen, which included Dominic and it was starting to get on his nerves. Not to mention that with all the planning and preparation Pussy Kat was doing, including writing dance numbers and rehearsing most of the time and his own jobs for Mushy, they hadn’t seen each other much since that night they become engaged. It always seemed like one or the other was busy. Pussy Kat hadn’t cooked a dinner in weeks and Dominic wasn’t around the club during the day as much, Mushy had a lot of things to do for his own wedding and he pulled Twisty and Dominic with him as much as possible. They had fittings for the tuxedos and Maria was constantly sending Mushy on some errand from flowers to napkins. The guys were all starting to wonder about this marriage thing with Maria Tortelini. Ace was living the high life on Mushy’s money and he was getting his nose in every part of the business possible. It was making both Twisty and Dominic uncomfortable.

"Would you shut it, Twisty. I just gotta go down to the jewelers and pick up the rings," Mushy said.

"Mushy, the weddings over two months away," Twisty said, complaining yet again about having to do these chores with Mushy. "What about Marco and Sergio?" He said, changing the subject.

"They’ve skipped town, don’t worry those two lugs will show up they always do," Mushy said, walking up to Dominic. He had been standing, leaning on the bar and waiting for Pussy Kat. They had made plans to see each other tonight. She had insisted they weren’t spending any time together, so Dominic had planned to take her out. It was Monday and the club wasn’t open tonight. He decided he would take her to a nice restaurant, no speakeasy tonight. Mushy had told him he wouldn’t be needed after this morning’s job and Dominic was looking forward to spending some time with Pussy Kat.

"Listen, Never Miss, I need you to keep your eyes peeled for Marco and Sergio," Mushy said as he approached him. Dominic looked at him with a look he never gave Mushy. It was almost as if he said no. Twisty was even taken back by it.

"What is with you now, Never Miss?" Mushy said, annoyed. This wedding was taking its toll on Mushy, he had never been frustrated with Dominic before. "Look, wes all got a job to do. Deal with your issues later," Mushy said, walking out of the club. Dominic and Twisty stared after him. Twisty walked next to Dominic.

"I know he’s touchy, it’s this wedding, it ain’t a good idea," Twisty said, looking at Dominic. Dominic nodded at him. "Listen, you still go out with Pussy Kat. You twos deserve some time alone. I ain’t saying nothing, but Ace was cutting in on your girl Saturday night." Dominic turned towards him, quickly, "yea don’t worry I steered him clear of her, but I think Pussy Kat’s lonely and Ace was feeding her a good line, you know what I mean. About communications and all, it was ridiculous, I told her. Anyway, she didn’t do nothing. You know, Pussy, she talks tough, but inside I think she’s just a little girl and she loves you, Dominic. She was just talking with Ace, cause I think, she wanted someone to talk to, no offense." Twisty said, quickly and patted him on the back. "Don’t worry about it, she’s your girl. She told Ace that herself and proudly showed him the ring," Twisty smiled at Dominic and walked out of the club. Dominic was less than enthusiastic to say the least, when Pussy Kat arrived a few minutes later. First, he had to tell her they couldn’t go out tonight, which set her into a fit, he had never seen before. Then he had to somehow explain he knew about Ace and her talking with him the other night. When all that was accomplished and she understood what he was saying, she was not at all happy about it.

"So you think I’m moonlighting with Ace do ya?" She said, defensively. Dominic could hear the tone in her voice and reached out his hand to touch hers. She pulled it away. "Well, that’s just great, Dominic. It’s not like I know what you’re thinking or anything." Dominic looked at her and she turned away. He pulled her back to him. She pulled away again, but he held her firmly. "Oh so now what? I’m going to be held here." Pussy Kat said, looking at him with eyes that hurt Dominic. Didn’t she know he believed her? Didn’t she know he was just trying to say he was sorry? He sighed and looked down briefly. Her next words stung more than anything else.

"You know what, Dominic, this isn’t gonna work. I mean let’s be honest." Dominic keep looking at her, knowing what she was about to say, but trying to stop her from saying it. "Look, I need some time, alright. We never see each other anymore, which I can handle and all, it’s not that," she shook her head and looked down. "It’s just that no matter how much I cares about you, it won’t ever change, you know. Look it’s my fault, I should have seen it coming. I don’t never win in the end, Dominic. I think we shouldn’t see each other for a while." Dominic looked down at her with intense eyes. She looked away. "Can I go now?" She said, softer. He wanted to make her understand that she was being ridiculous and he loved her very much. She stared at him, suddenly with cold eyes. "Yous going ice me now?" She said, hurtfully and Dominic instantly let her go, walking away from her. Rage built inside of him, he would never ice her. What was she thinking? He said to himself. He was tempted to say something back to her for the first time, but her next statement hurt more than she could of known.

"You know it’s a shame, Dominic, I thought you were a nice guy, but underneath it all, all yous know about is killing people and I’m alive, guess that’s too difficult for you to handle, ain’t it?" Pussy Kat said with anger, taking off the ring and placing it on the bar. Dominic never turned around as she started to walk out. "Stick to dead people, Dominic, they don’t talk, do they?" she said and walked out the door slamming it shut behind her.

To be Continued...

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