Playin' For Keeps, Pt. 3

            Izzy had just finished blow drying and styling her hair and putting on her makeup when the security system chirped.  She trotted out of the master bathroom and across the plush burgundy carpet to her dresser and checked the security monitor.  She smiled at the peppy little civic coming up the driveway.  Izzy shoved her feet into the strappy black high heels and checked herself in the mirror. 
          “I…am a beast…” She said to no one in particular.  She put on a black beaded bib choker and slipped several Celtic silver bands on her fingers.  She turned in a circle, evaluating her sporty army green skirt and off the shoulder stretchy black dress top.  “The perfect outfit to say hey!  Check me out!  I don’t fit in at all!”  The doorbell rang and Izzy sighed, shaking her head at the mirror.  “The diet starts tomorrow.”  She grabbed her handbag off the door handle and clattered down the staircase. 
        Phoenyx was sitting in front of the door, tail beating back and forth.
      “Dog when the doorbell rings, that would be when you bark to let me know there is someone here,” Izzy chuckled.  She disabled the alarm system and threw the four locks, swinging the door open at last.
        “Ow OW!” Clara grinned, flashing her eyebrows up and down. “Aren’t we looking sexy in a bad-ass sort of way!” Izzy blushed in embarrassment.  Clara had on dark wash jeans and a sparkly stretchy red top.
        “Are you sure it isn’t too much?  Do I look too country?  I haven’t unpacked half my clothes and I wasn’t sure if this was okay but I went through every piece of clothing I have out and nothing seemed to work and…”
        “IZZY!” Clara laughed, grabbing her by the shoulders.  “Deep breath…hold it…now chill,” she instructed.  “You look hot.  If I had curves like that I’d be flaunting the hell out of them!”
        “If by curves you mean fat rolls then yeah,” Izzy said with a sarcastic chuckle.
        “Girl don’t even get me started on your self-concept,” Clara warned. “You’re in my city now and I will not sit around listening to your crap. Don’t make me kick your ass.”  Izzy gave her an amused shocked look.
        “Geez, fine.  Let me feed screwball here and then I’ll be ready.”  Izzy click-clicked on her heels into the kitchen and poured Phoenyx a bowl of dry kibbles. Phoenyx looked at the bowl with general disinterest and Izzy sighed.  Izzy scrounged under the kitchen counter and came up with a handful of treats. “Fine, alright? Is that better?” She chucked the treats into bowl and patted the dog. “Enjoy, I’ll be back.  Be good.”  Izzy threw the three locks on the back patio doors and jogged back out to the front. She scrounged through her handbag to make sure she had everything.  “Cell phone, house keys, money, credit card, driver’s license…” She silently inventoried the pepper spray and compact 9mm handgun tucked to the side of her purse. “Alrighty, I think I’m ready to roll.” Clara watched as Izzy expertly messed with the four manual locks on the front door.  Izzy looked up.
      “Your manual locks work from the outside?” Clara asked, blinking in confusion.
      “Yeah, something my company came up with.  You set them in order and as the door closes, they all click into place. Then when I come back, I have one key for the knob lock, and the other key hole is a series set where I turn the key in a certain way and it springs all three upper locks open,” Izzy explained as though discussing the weather.  Clara just shook her head.
        “You’d think this was a secret hideout for covert CIA operations,” Clara smiled.  Izzy smiled back. 
      “The locks are all prototypes. The guys set me up with them to test them and see how generally usable they are…”  Clara gave her an unconvinced look.  “Okay! So I’m scared shitless of your city!  I’m sorry!  You’ve seen where I lived in Virginia.  The only thing we had to worry about coming through our doors was the occasional bear!” Izzy admitted, chewing on her lip.  She realized she must have been doing it a lot because her lip was starting to get sore.  Clara smirked at her.
        “You used to live here!”
        “Yeah before I was smart enough to be terrified! Reality is a lot simpler when you are four!” Izzy replied.
        “Well let’s get going then and see if we can put your mind a little at ease.  And if nothing else we’ll get you completely tanked at the bar and get you to relax that way!”
        Izzy snorted. “You’re too kind!” 

        The girls left the house and motored toward the downtown. Clara pointed out the best eating places, the eating places to avoid unless e-coli was a favored ingredient, parks, the library, the subway stations, and a few museums.  As they made their way along, Clara slowed down slightly at an intersection and pointed at a large parking garage and motel flanked by a run-down swanky looking bar.
        “Do not ever ever ever go there for any reason,” she said, locking eyes with Izzy.  Izzy swallowed hard.
        “Do I want to know why?”
        “No.  Probably not,” Clara responded.  Izzy nodded.
        “Duly noted.”
        Clara turned off the main road and drove down to the waterfront.  They drove under the massive pile-ons of the highway as it rose above the water.  The buildings were smaller than inner downtown.  The graffiti was more prominent and dingy little gas stations and pawnshops littered the area.  Izzy scrunched up more in her seat and stared warily out the car window.  Clara gave a little laugh.
          “Well, I was going to say you may want to avoid this area alone after dark but from the look on your face I’m guessing you probably will avoid this area before dark as well,” Clara smiled.  Izzy gave her a weak smile.
        “I think I’m going to start working from home, have food brought in and become a hermit,” Izzy said, her voice slightly more strained than she had hoped.  Her heart was cold in her chest, cowering behind her ribs for protection.  Cities just made her feel so empty and alone with the lifeless grey buildings and harsh neon lights.  Izzy’s hand strayed to her purse and she let her fingers brush over the gun in an unconscious protective gesture. 
        Clara put the car in drive and they moved on down the waterfront district. 
        “And here we have the warehouse district,” Clara reported, swinging the car to a stop before entering the fenced in area.  “There are basically a bunch of big business warehouses where God know’s what goes on.  James said that Uncle Frankie actually had a bid in on a really nice warehouse down here for his business but somebody came in from some big security firm and out-bid him at the last second.  They bid back and forth for a while but this guy offered up like, $500,000 extra and Uncle Frank said it wasn’t worth it.”
        “James is allowed to tell you that kind of stuff?” Izzy questioned.  Clara smiled.
        “I’m mean, he’s my brother.  He can’t tell me any specifics about anything, but that kind of stuff he can talk about within the extended family,” Clara replied. 
        “Gotcha.”
        Clara slowly drove on and looked over at Izzy who suddenly had a guilty, sheepish look on her face.  “What?”
        Izzy bit her lip again.  “You wouldn’t happen to know if this warehouse would have been like, 75,000 square feet, temperature controlled, with a video security system being sold by Grandan Enterprise would it?” 
        Clara looked slightly dumbfounded. “Yeeeah, I think so…”
        Izzy slapped her hand to her forehead. “Shit!”
        Clara started to smile in understanding. “…your company outbid Uncle Frank on that warehouse…”
          “Shit, shit, shit,” Izzy moaned.  She scrounged for her cell phone and found her contact list.
          “What are you doing?” Clara asked.
          “Getting my boys to find a new warehouse so I can give this one to Uncle Frank…” Izzy said, raising her phone to her ear.
          “Izzy you don’t have to…”
          “Heeeey, it’s Izzy,” Izzy said calmly into the phone. “Things are fine.  No really, I’m getting used to the city already.  Why would I lie?  I am not lying!….look, shut up, Striker, I called for a reason.  Did you know that you and by you I mean I, was bidding against Frank Romano on this warehouse down on the waterfront?...” Clara watched as Izzy narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “…Are you kidding?...You dumb piece of rat shit!!” Izzy yelled into the phone.  Clara’s eyes flashed open and she laughed out loud. “You knew??  You knew that you were bidding against Frank Romano on this fucking warehouse and you didn’t pull out?? …What’s wrong?!  Do you know who he is??...Yeah, I know who he is, he’s my uncle!  The only family I have and I’m taking shit out from under him in his own city!!...”
          “Izzy really it’s okay, I’m sure…”
          “I want that warehouse empty in forty-eight hours and all our merchandise transferred to another warehouse…well then find another warehouse…I am aware that warehouses don’t grow on trees, but it doesn’t matter because this is Brooklyn!  There are no trees!!”  Izzy put her hand to her temple and took a deep breath.  “Look, find another warehouse, move us there.  I’m giving you the rest of the week and then I will step in and it’s gonna get reeeeally ugly, okay?...good…I’ll see you at the firm in two weeks…”  Izzy snapped her phone shut and slid her gaze to Clara who was still chuckling
          “Wow.”
          Izzy sighed and chucked her cell phone back in her purse.  “I swear that man…smartest and easily the most talented guy I’ve ever met and yet every once in a while it’s like he gets bored and shoves his head as far up his ass as he possibly can just to see if anyone is paying attention…”  Izzy watched out the window at the buildings passing by.  The orange setting sun peeked through between the structures like a neon beacon, shimmering across the murky water.  “Do you think Uncle Frank will take the warehouse?”
        “I mean I think he’ll buy it from you for a reasonable price,” Clara answered.  Izzy nodded slightly as if this was an acceptable answer, never tearing her gaze from the passing cityscape.
          “That’s good.”

The sun had set by the time they weaved back through the city and parked along the street in front of Gino’s restaurant and Bar.
        “And THIS,” Clara said as they got out of the Civic. “This is the safest, greatest location in all of New York.  Best canoli in the state, possibly on the entire eastern seaboard.” 
      Izzy straightened her skirt and looked at the neat, spotlight-lit sign over the door.  She had a sudden flashback from her early childhood, remembering sitting in the car while her mother ran in to talk with her uncles.  It had easily been 20 years since Izzy had last been to Gino’s but the sign was just as she remembered it.
        “Dominic’s father owns the place.  Uncle Frank and the boys do most of their business and leisure time here,” Clara said, waving at a guy who walked out of the bar.
          “Yeah, uh speaking of Dominic,” Izzy said suddenly.  Clara turned with a devious, knowing smile.  “Hey, woah, I’m not stupid enough to think he’d ever be interested in me, that’s not why I’m asking,” Izzy said quickly, holding up her hands.  “But is he a blood relative because if he is I have mentally sinned…a few times,” she admitted with an embarrassed laugh.
        Clara laughed.  “Nope.  He’s not a blood relative.”
        Izzy sighed. “Whew.”
        “And he’s single…”
        Izzy gave her an annoyed look.  “Okay, now you’re just messing with my head.”
        “Honest to God’s truth,” Clara said, raising a hand.
        “Don’t give me hope like that!  It’ll just give me farther to fall,” Izzy laughed. 
        Clara grinned and linked arms with Izzy.  “Come on, let’s go get you sloppy drunk and see if New York starts looking a little more friendly.”

          Izzy held the door open and let Clara walk into the dim smoky bar first.  Izzy hung close as if to hide her bulky 5’6” frame behind her cousin who stood four inches shorter and half Izzy’s width.  They made their way across the main restaurant floor and walked passed the bar.  Izzy watched in the mirror behind the bar as a handful of the guys behind her at the bar swiveled and leaned back to watch the two of them walking away.  Izzy couldn’t help smirking slightly.  She followed Clara past the bar down a short corridor to a doorway that was flanked by some very lovely paintings and two of the largest most frightening men Izzy had ever seen.  They looked like huge statuaries, motionlessly stationed in front of the girls and they made the hallway suddenly look small.  Izzy stiffened and her steps faltered. 
      Clara noticed her stalling and gently linked arms with her. “Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Ms. Isabella Romano-Salieri,” Clara introduced. 
      The two men relaxed slightly and a ghost of a smile crossed the man on the left’s face as he extended a hand. “Tony Sarco, pleasure ma’am.”
      Izzy’s hand was completely enveloped in his massive bear paw but she smiled nervously and nodded.
      “Raymond Binnet,” the second guy said, shaking Izzy’s hand.  Izzy gave him the same smile and Clara pulled her between the two men and into the lounge beyond.  Izzy’s eyes darted around the room, ticking off the details of her surroundings.           
      Fifteen or twenty men were scattered around the room on couches and around tables.  Cigar smoke hung heavy in the air. The lighting was low but Izzy could make out Hal and Paulie off to one side and she could see her uncle Frank, cigar in hand, surrounded by men in the middle of the room. The entire room’s attention turned to the two newcomers and Izzy was hit with an overwhelming urge to bolt.  She took a half step back and Clara tightened her grip on her arm.
        “Eeeasy,” she smiled.  “You’re in good company.”
        Izzy swallowed hard and followed Clara across the room.  She glanced over at Paulie who elbowed the guy next to him and mouthed, “that’s her”.  Izzy could tell the room had been informed of her arrival because none of them looked surprised to see her, but a wary curiosity was present.  Izzy’s heart was a mess of palpitating quivers in her chest.  Clara suddenly stopped.
        “Wait here a second,” Clara said, slipping away from Izzy.  Izzy felt terrifyingly alone as Clara walked over to talk with Uncle Frank.  She studied the floor for a while, then picked at her fingernail, sending nervous glances toward the men who were watching her with mild curiosity.  Her head suddenly snapped in Paulie’s direction as her ears caught the words “moving truck”.  The room had fallen reasonably quiet when the two girls had entered and Paulie’s voice carried.  Izzy knew what story he was telling.  She watched as Paulie animatedly retold her moving-truck story to the five guys around him and she felt her eyes inadvertently narrow in annoyance.  All five men seemed highly amused by the tale and Izzy stood a little straighter and stared pointedly at the side of Paulie’s head. 
        Hal was watching Izzy and chuckled, nudging Paulie.  Paulie stopped the story and looked over at her, flashing his rat smile.  Izzy planted a hand on her hip and shook her head at him.  Paulie grinned a moment longer and then motioned her over.  Izzy slowly moved to the table and stood there awkwardly for a minute.
          “Good seein’ ya again little killer,” Hal smiled. 
          “You too, Hal,” Izzy smiled back and then shifted her gaze to Paulie. “Did I uh, hear you spreading vicious inflaming stories about me over here?”
          Paulie laughed a nasty little laugh. “Stories? Never!  God’s honest truth is all that’s bein’ told over here…” He stopped and eyed the large purse hanging from the crook of Izzy’s arm.  “You, uh, you packin’ that cannon tonight?”
          Izzy chuckled. “No! Geez.”
          “You feel safe enough in this crowd without it?” An amused voice said from Izzy’s left.  Izzy turned to see Dominic lean out of the shadows with a half smile.  Izzy, feeling slightly more comfortable knowing he wasn’t a relative, returned the smile. 
          “I said I wasn’t carrying the .357…I didn’t say I wasn’t carrying,” Izzy countered smoothly. She did a mental head slap and glanced over her shoulder at Uncle Frank and Clara who were still talking. “That would be a fact that I’d appreciate not having spread like a  wildfire…I realize that’s a moot request considering the moving truck story wasn’t supposed to be told either…”
          “What’s your piece of choice for tonight?” Paulie asked conversationally.  The other guys around didn’t seem too surprised by the question.  Izzy glanced over her shoulder again before answering.
          “Sig Sauer 9 millimeter,” Izzy said quietly. “It goes with the outfit.” 
          Paulie’s mouth curled into a smirk and he lit a cigarette.  He offered the pack to Izzy who tried not to look too disgusted and declined.
          “So where you comin’ up with these guns exactly?” Paulie asked, dragging on the cigarette.
          Izzy gave him a noncommittal shrug. “Here and there; friends…acquaintances.”
This gained another grin from Hal and Paulie.
        “Oh,” one of the guys at the table suddenly said, sitting forward.  “That reminds me…”  He suddenly pulled a hand gun out of his jacket and waved it at Hal.  Izzy’s eyes flashed open.  “This gun you gave me is a piece a shit!  It’s broken!  Won’t work worth shit!” The guy said to Hal.  Hal took a pull from his beer and looked at the guy.
        “This ain’t the place or time…and watch ya language,” Hal warned.  The man was undeterred.
      “Seriously though, I mean, Tony and me was on a job the other night and I was tryin’ ta…”  He sighted the gun like he was getting ready to shoot somebody.  Izzy took an inadvertent step backward and saw Dominic move forward slightly.
      “Sammy!” the guy next to the first man suddenly said in exasperation shoving the gun away from Izzy's direction.  “You dumb schmuck, we are in the presence o’ mixed company,” he said, indicating Izzy.  But Izzy was cocking her head to the side, examining the handgun.  Her geeky professional side was overcoming her nerves and she shifted forward slightly.
      “Sammy is it?  Without giving me ANY details as to what you were trying to do with the gun at the time, tell me what happened,” Izzy said.  Sammy looked at her as if unsure at first.
      “Well, uh, it was loaded with one in the chamber and when I pulled the trigger the first shot fired but then the second one…I dunno…”
      “The slide stuck?” Izzy finished.  Sammy nodded.
      “Yeah, somethin’ like that…it kinda slipped or somethin’…”
      Izzy held out her hand and gestured for him to give her the gun.  Sammy handed it to her without hesitation and Paulie gave him a slightly disgruntled look.  Izzy squatted down at the low coffee table and moved coasters out of the way.  She slid the chamber open and tipped the chambered bullet out into her hand.  She couldn’t help chuckling incredulously at the fact that there was a chambered round, the safety was off, and Sammy had been brandishing the gun around like it was a toy.  She moved the slide several times and gave a small smile.  The men around the table were watching in interest as Izzy expertly dismantled the handgun in a matter of seconds.
      “You’re gun isn’t broken,” Izzy told the man as she examined the mainspring and firing pin.  “I mean the mainspring is a little weak…pin is fine…it’s just dirty.”  Izzy scrounged in her purse and pulled out a nail file.  She scraped along the back of the chamber and shook her head at the film on the file.  She squinted at the mess.
“Really dirty…geez, Is that sand??”  Izzy chuckled quietly.  “You’re lucky the thing didn’t jam completely and blow a couple fingers off.” 
          She grabbed a napkin from the table and gently wiped down the slide, chamber and barrel.  She suddenly saw her uncle stand from his seat and she quickly reassembled the gun, put the bullet back in the chamber and slid the slide a few times. “That should help the slide from catching, oil it and it’ll be good as new. Oh, and try not to drop it in the dirt…that helps too…” She handed the gun back over to Sammy and stood away from the group.
      “Alright, you officially scare me a little,” Dominic said with a short chuckle.
      “Only a little?” Paulie chimed in, looking at Izzy with a wary respect.  "What business did you say you were in?"
        Izzy gave a girlish giggle.  “I’m harmless guys, I promise.”  She turned and respectfully made room as her uncle approached.  “Hi Uncle Frank.”
        “Hey Beautiful,” Uncle Frank said with a twitch of a smile behind his cigar.  He took the cigar from his teeth and draped an arm around Izzy’s shoulder. “So, uh, Clara tells me you might have a bit of a business proposition for me.”
          Izzy thought for a second. “Oh! Oh yes, I do actually.  There was apparently some miscommunication on my part and some things took place that should have never happened.  I want to apologize for that.  I should have handled the transaction myself.  I didn’t think my boys could manage to screw that up and yet they come right back and amaze me.  Are you, uh, still interested in the property?”
      Frank chuckled.  “Well, I’m interested in the possibility of sharing some space.”
          Izzy raised an eyebrow for him to continue.
          “See I need area to conduct…certain business interactions that cannot take place here for instance.  Somewhere a little more…private, spacious.  Conducive to particular transactions and activities one might say…”
          Izzy felt mildly queasy but she nodded knowingly.  She did not want specifics on the activities.  “Well uh, most of my business transactions take place in the corporation high rise.  We are mostly using the shelf space for various and sundry high profile products to be held before shipping.  I think with a little scheduling and a few general privacy and security agreements, we could easily both utilize the space without ever disturbing the other’s business.”
          “Okay, could I just say that was the single most profoundly vague conversation I have ever heard?” Clara said as she walked up. “Uncle Frankie you two can talk business anytime, but I promised this girl I would get her drunk tonight and so far I am letting her down.  If you let me have her tonight, you can do all the business-ing you want the rest of the week,” Clara bartered.
            “And I should probably call my boys and let them know they don’t have to empty the warehouse now,” Izzy said with a laugh.
            “Yeah if they aren’t hiding from you after that phone call,” Clara reminded. 
            “Uh, he knew way better than to do what he did.”
            Clara snorted.  “Poor guy will probably mess himself when he sees your number on the screen again.”
            Uncle Frank smiled at Izzy.  “It’s no rush, kiddo.  We’ll get details worked out sometime.  Go celebrate now. Tell ‘em to put it on my tab,” he said to Clara. Clara leaned in and gave Uncle Frank a kiss on the cheek.
          “You heard the man, to the bar!”  Clara grabbed Izzy by the arm and dragged her out of the lounge.  Izzy looked back and waved at her uncle.
          “Thank you! I’ll be in touch!”  Izzy called over her shoulder as Clara whisked her out of the room and back toward the bar.

          The main restaurant area was empty by 9:00.  The bar was smoky and sparsely populated with the beginnings of the late night crowd and the few straggling businessmen from the evening crowd who were still working to forget some apparently rough days. Izzy had called and let her boys off the hook and was nursing her third drink at the bar, feeling warm, sleepy and content.  She swirled her straw around in the mojito and smiled a little giddily at Clara.
         “I don’t hate your city,” Izzy said with a sigh.
         Clara laughed. “Well it’s your city now too, and I’m glad. And it only took a margarita, a long island iced tea and a mojito!”  Clara glanced up at the mirror behind the bar and chuckled.  “And I think you’ve made a friend.”  Izzy followed her gaze in the mirror and snorted. 
         “Ha, sloshed blonde guy at the end of the bar that’s been watching us for like, 30 minutes?”
         “Yeah.”
         “Yeah, I noticed,” Izzy chuckled, knocking her drink back.  “We’re the only females here now…he doesn’t have many choices.” Clara took a swig of her coke.
         “Okay, I don’t know how you are managing it, but I have to go pee before I wet myself,” Clara announced. “You need to come with?”
         Izzy shook her head. “Huh uh, I don’t know how much longer my vestibular system is going to work so I’m going to stay perched on this barstool since I seem settled.” 
         “Alright, I’ll be back.  You keep perching.”  Clara slid off her barstool and walked off across the room.  Izzy watched her go and when she turned back around the big blonde guy from the end of the bar had left his friends and was sloppily grinning at her from Clara’s seat.  He was a heavyset guy, not chiseled but not fat.  He was wearing a collared shirt and tie that had been loosened substantially and had an attractive enough face with short buzzed blonde hair.  Izzy guessed he was closer to 35 than 30 but his boyish face make pegging his age harder.
         “Hiii,” he said.  Izzy was pretty sure she had gotten slightly more drunk from his breath.  “So you new in town?”
         Izzy gave him a polite uninterested smile. “Yeah, just moved up recently.”  Izzy pulled her purse closer to her out of habit.
         “That’s cooool,” he slurred, swaying slightly. Izzy glanced in the mirror at the guy’s friends who were grinning and elbowing each other, sober enough to see that their buddy wasn’t getting anywhere in his quest. “I’m Jack by the way, Jaaaack Malone.”
         “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Malone,” Izzy replied, not offering him her name.  The guy seemed only slightly deterred by her standoffish attitude.
         “I work for a fortune 500 company in the City,” Malone continued with what Izzy assumed was an attempt at a charming smile.  His eyes were glassy and drool was collecting at the corners of his mouth. 
         “Mmm,” Izzy said, turning around to see if Clara was coming back yet.
         “What a pretty little thing like you doing here?  You here for business…” he slid a hand up Izzy’s leg. “…or pleasure?”
         Izzy’s eyes narrowed and she gave him a warning smile, gently pushing his hand back down. “Business I’m afraid.”
         “Too much business is no good,” Malone countered, leaning in again.  “It can stress you out…I know some ways I could help you relax…” he said, running a finger down her arm.
Izzy gave him a disgusted look and leaned away slightly, her fingers slowly closing on her pepper spray.  She suddenly turned to see a man walk out of the kitchen area.  She guessed he was in his fifties, part Italian, with slightly graying hair and a cool confident carriage.  Izzy could tell he was the type of guy who wouldn’t take any crap from anyone.  He smiled in her direction and stepped up behind the bar, wiping his hands on his apron.  Malone backed off slightly and Izzy sighed in relief.
        “Well well, I heard that little miss Isabella had returned to Brooklyn but I had to come see for myself,” the man said warmly.  “You’ve changed a bit since I last saw you.  What were you, three? Four?” 
        Izzy’s eyes suddenly flashed open.  “Mr. Cera!  Oh my goodness I’m so sorry, I didn’t recognize you!  How are you? You still running this place?”
        “Ha, it’s alright. Call me Vince.  Yeah,  I’m doing good.  I’m still running the joint for Joey Baldoni.”
        Izzy made a mental note of the last name Baldoni.  Dominic Baldoni.  It had a good ring to it.  Out of the corner of her eye, Izzy could see that Jack Malone was starting to get annoyed at the interruption.  “So Clara tells me that you all have the absolute best Canoli on the entire eastern seaboard,” Izzy smiled, draining the rest of her drink, hoping to drag out the conversation until Malone retreated or got bored.  Vince chuckled.
        “Well Clara is an expert,” Vince replied. 
        “I haven’t had a real canoli in soo long…like ten years…” Izzy figured. “I’ve been here almost a week and all I have wanted it an authentic Italian Canoli…”
        Malone suddenly scoffed and clumsily stood up from his seat. “Baby if you need a big Italian Canoli I’ve got what you need.”  He unceremoniously unzipped his pants and whipped out his stuff, wagging it at Izzy.  Izzy’s gave him an incredulously disgruntled look.  She was sober enough to be disgusted but drunk enough that she couldn’t just let the comment stand.
        “Riiiight,” Izzy scoffed, the sensible portion of her brain drowned out by the white noise buzz from the drinks. “Honey, a girl could starve to death trying to satisfy her hunger with a canoli like that.” 
        Malone’s friends all burst into gaffawing laughter.  “Oh, oh, owned!” One guy yelled. “She owned your ass, Malone!”  Malone looked furious, his face flushed red then purple and he balled up his fists.  Izzy’s logical brain was screaming by this point but she couldn’t make out what it was saying in time.  At first she thought Malone was turning to leave but he suddenly wheeled around and back handed her with a closed fist.  His whole body was behind the blow and it lofted Izzy off the barstool. 
        Izzy felt herself fly backward and smash onto a table, crashing onto the floor.  She heard a scream and knew Clara must have come back.  She vaguely heard Clara yell for help and saw Vince moving from behind the bar.  Vince grabbed Malone by the shoulder but Malone turned and flung Vince over the railing to the recessed restaurant area on the other side.  Vince’s head smacked against a table as he landed.  Izzy struggled to get her bearings and through the railing she could see Vince wasn’t moving.  The blow to the face had temporarily stunned Izzy and before she could get to her feet, Malone had staggered over and stood above her. 
        “Stupid cunt! I’m going to show you what we do to bitches like you where I come from,” he snarled; spit flecking from his lips onto her face.  There were a lot of terms Izzy could put up with being called, but that wasn’t one of them.  Even drunk she should have seen the hit coming and she was furious.  Malone may have been trashed, but she was insulted, hurt and now more than ready for a fight.  Izzy glanced over at her purse on the floor and saw both her pepper spray and her gun were out of arm’s reach.  It didn’t matter. 
        Malone reached down and grabbed her, dragging her up by her arms.  Izzy had been counting on this.  As Malone pulled her to her feet, Izzy planted one foot just outside Malone’s and with a skilled twist of her body, drove her other foot hard into the inside of Malone’s knee.  Izzy smiled at the satisfying crunch that followed.  Malone howled and staggered back.  Izzy gave him a snapping front kick to the groin and as he doubled over she drew her leg back and torqued her hips, slamming a roundhouse kick into the side of Malone’s head.  He went down like a ton of bricks and didn’t get back up.  Izzy staggered back from him. 
        “And that,” she breathed heavily, swiping the back of her hand across her bleeding lip, “is what we do to bitches like you where I come from.” 
        Men suddenly materialized around Izzy, rushing onto the scene.  Hal and a guy Izzy didn’t recognize swooped in and jerked Malone violently to his feet.  Malone groaned and hung limply from their arms, crumpling to his knees and muttering incoherently.  Izzy looked down the bar to see that Malone’s friends had abandoned him when the fight had started. The people who hadn’t taken off were watching the scene with mild interest and Izzy figured this sort of thing probably wasn’t that rare and occurrence in New York. 
        Izzy watched a couple of guys jog down to where Vince was laying and relief washed over her when she saw Vince start moving.  A warm body suddenly moved close to Izzy and a hand rested protectively on her shoulder.  Izzy turned and looked up at Dominic. 
        “You alright?” He asked seriously, his dark eyes smoldering as he stared at Malone.  The adrenaline was starting to ebb in Izzy’s blood and she was starting feel her injuries.  She drew a shuddering breath and tried to force a smile. 
        “Yeah, I’m…I’m fine…” she answered shakily, wincing at the throb in her lip. Dominic gave her a mirthless smile.
          “You’ve got the fightin’ down, but you’ve gotta work on your lyin’,” Dominic said, gently guiding Izzy over to a chair. Izzy grabbed her purse off the floor, shoved the contents back in, and limped over and plopped down in the seat.  Her hands were trembling as she inventoried herself. 
          She had a bruised scraped knee from hitting the floor and a couple bloody glass cuts on her arm from the beer bottle she had landed on. Her jaw and lip were throbbing from where she had hit the table and she could feel a bruise swelling on her cheek where Malone’s fist had contacted.  It had been quite a while since she’d been in a decent fight and this one had shaken her up a little. 
          Izzy looked up as Don Frank Romano stalked slowly onto the scene and noticed every pair of eyes in the bar turned away in respect and fear.  No one wanted to be a witness to whatever might happen.  Witnesses had a tendency to suddenly disappear in Brooklyn.  Frank walked up and stood staring down at Malone, chewing his cigar silently for a moment.  Malone was coming around more and stared up at Frank Romano with drunken fear from his position on his knees.
          “You know who I am?” Big Frank asked at last, his tone calm, controlled.
          Malone nodded and swallowed hard. “Mister Romano I diii…I didn’t know…” Izzy watched as her uncle gave the slightest head gesture to Hal, who gave Malone a hard shot to the kidney.  Izzy flinched slightly as Malone groaned and whimpered.  Izzy looked over to see Clara watching from a dark alcove.  Malone was looking pathetic and desperate. “Howuz I sposed to know she was with you? I…”  Without any warning the second guy holding Malone slugged him in the face. 
        “It shouldn’t have mattered,” Big Frank said coolly.  “You don’t eva hit a woman…but especially not my niece.”
          Blood spurted from Malone’s very broken nose and Izzy winced and turned away quickly, unable to watch anymore.  She could hear Malone choking on the blood running down his throat.  Her head was swimming and she wished her uncle would just let the guy go.  She had already settled her score with Malone.  This was excessive and pointless to her, but she knew she couldn’t say anything.  Izzy hated an unfair fight.  The entire situation was too much and tears started welling in her eyes. 
        Dominic saw Izzy look away and noticed her pained, distraught expression, and watched a tear slide down Izzy’s cheek.
          “Hey boss,” Dominic said.  Big Frank turned around slightly.  Dominic shook his head and gave a quick nixing hand gesture at his throat, nodding toward Izzy who still had her head turned away, blocking her peripheral view with her hand.  Big Frank nodded and turned his attention back to Malone.  Hal grabbed Malone’s head and forced it back.
          “Alright, here’s the deal,” Big Frank said simply, shoving his hands in his pockets.  “For one, don’t you eva let me hear about you hittin’ another woman, that’s just bad manners, you got me?” Malone bobbed his head disjointedly. “Good.  Now I’m lettin’ you live outta the goodness o’ my heart here.  Don’t eva come back in this bar or I promise you I won’t be so gracious a second time, understand?”  Malone nodded vigorously, sending drops of blood splattering onto the floor.  Big Frank stepped back to avoid getting spattered. “Alright.  Boys, take him out the back door.  Let him find his own way home.” 
        Izzy slowly turned and watched the two men drag Malone down a hallway past the kitchen and disappear.  She sniffed and looked up at Dominic.
      “Thank you,” she murmured quietly.  Dominic nodded with a soft smile. 
      “No prob.”  He walked over and went behind the bar for a minute.  Most of the guys dispersed and made their way back to the lounge.
        Vince suddenly appeared to Izzy’s right and he squatted in front of her, smiling sympathetically.  He handed her a makeshift icepack and Izzy gingerly laid it on her left cheek that was swelling quickly.
Izzy looked apologetically at Vince with her good eye. “I am so freakin’ sorry,” she said suddenly.  Vince looked confused and laughed.
        “For what?”
        Izzy sighed.  Significantly more sober, her logical brain was yelling and chastising her for being stupid.  “If I hadn’t said that he wouldn’t have gotten mad and you wouldn’t have gotten knocked out.  It’s all my fault!  I know better than to drink and speak.  It never goes well for me…”  Frustrated tears started up in her eyes again.  “It was stupid and childish and unnecessary I’m so so so so sorry.  Are you okay?”
        Vince laughed out loud, his eyes sparkling.  “I’m fine kid!  Geez.”  He gently used his thumb to wipe a tear off her cheek.  “I’ve taken much worse in my lifetime, I promise you.  I’m surprised you put up with that asshole as long as you did.  I would have kicked his ass just on basic principle as soon as he walked over.  And that was possibly the best comeback I’ve ever heard.”
        Izzy gave him a weak smile.  Dominic returned with a little first aid kit and coated a large bandage in antibiotic ointment and gently put it on her bleeding forearm.  Uncle Frank walked slowly over and Dominic and Vince moved out of the way.  Izzy lowered the icepack from her eye and looked up remorsefully at her uncle like a child about to be punished.  Her uncle just smiled down at her.
         “You alright Beautiful?”
         Izzy nodded quickly and winced at the pain in her jaw, and then grunted quietly at the pain in her cheek when she winced. “Yes sir. I’m so sorry.”  Big Frank chuckled.
         “Dear heart, you aren’t in trouble. You definitely don’t got to apologize and you don’t gotta sir me,” he said.  “I am curious ‘bout what happened.  You got it in you to fill me in tonight or will I have to be in suspense ‘til later?”
         Izzy gave a quiet chuckle and reapplied the icepack. “Uh, well it was a food double entendre that went horribly awry.”  Big Frank smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.
              “Oh this oughtta be good.”
              “I told Vince that Clara had said this place has the best Canoli on the east coast and then said all I’ve wanted since I got here was an authentic Italian Canoli…”  Izzy shifted sorely in her seat. “Well Mr. Malone thought he’d be cute and said if I wanted a big Italian Canoli he had just what I needed, and then he unzips his pants and pulls out his…”  Izzy inadvertently curled her lip and shook her head in disgust at the mental picture. “Well, even with three drinks in me I wasn’t impressed and I popped off at the mouth about how a girl could starve to death trying to satisfy her hunger with his Canoli and he didn’t like that answer,” Izzy said sheepishly.  She heard Clara cackle from over next to the bar.  Big Frank tipped his head back and laughed and Dominic grinned. 
              Izzy slowly got to her feet, rubbed her shoulder and sniffed viciously.  Her sinuses were in a world of hurt from the swelling and her vision swam.  “I mean, I know I was harsh but back handing me across the room seemed a little over aggressive.  How much of the incident did you all actually witness?”
              “We got here somewhere between your breakin’ his knee and kickin’ him in the Canoli,”  Hal said from somewhere off to Izzy’s left.  Izzy laughed and yelped at the pain in her jaw and cheek. 
              “We were gonna rush in right then but you kicked him in the head before we could get there,” the guy who had broken Malone’s nose said.  “Pretty fuckin’ impressive on those heels,” he added.  Izzy cocked him a ginger smile.  “We haven’t been introduced by the way.  Rico Mancini,” he said, extending his hand.  Izzy shook his hand.  Rico had Polynesian looking skin and was as big as Hal but very cut looking, like he was no stranger to the gym and could have been military at some point.
            “A pleasure…”  Izzy stopped for a second.  “Can I ask you a question?  It’s really uncouth of me to ask but I probably lost the right to be called “couth” when I kicked the crap out of that guy…”
            “Shoot.”
            “Everybody I’ve met introduces themselves by their first and last names to me.  Does that mean you would rather be addressed as Mr. Mancini? Or just Rico? Is there a rule?  I don’t want to offend anyone.”
Rico grinned and shook his head.  “Rico’s fine by me.  Last names kinda tell people where you’re from in the area if they actually know this area.  I’d say if you meet ‘em here, first name’ll be more than fine.  Half the guys ‘round this place go by nicknames and tags and stuff anyway.  Trust me, you’re not gonna offend anybody.”
            “Just don’t make judgments about their Canoli,” Clara chimed in.  Izzy snorted and nodded. 
            “I will never be able to eat a Canoli again,” Izzy vowed.  She gingerly leaned down and picked up her purse. Her head spun and dots danced in front of her eyes. 
            Rico and Dominic both grabbed Izzy as she teetered off balance.
          “Yikes, thanks,” Izzy stammered, regaining her balance. She managed to fish out her cell phone and check the time.  “Gentlemen, I hate to be a buzz-kill, but would you all be insulted if I had Clara take me home?  I’ve had about as much fun as I can in one evening.”  Uncle Frank nodded.
          “You sure you’re gonna be alright alone tonight?  You can come stay with your aunt and me if you’d like.  We got room,” he offered.  Izzy smiled gratefully but declined.
          “Thanks Uncle Frank, but I’ll be okay.  I’ve got to go let Phoenyx out anyway.  She’s probably destroyed everything I own already.”
          “Alright beautiful, well let me give you my personal number in case you need anything tonight.  Don’t hesitate callin’, okay?”
          Izzy put his number into her phone and hugged him. “Thank you so much for the hospitality and…everything…” She said.  Big Frank gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
         “Don’t mention it.  I may run by sometime tomorrow and check up on you.  Make sure you survived the night,” Frank said.
         “You are always welcome in my home,” Izzy replied, hooking her arm in Clara’s. “Hal, Rico, Dominic, Vince, thanks to you guys as well.  I really appreciate it.”  Izzy sighed and forced a smile.  “Goodnight to you all.” 
         The guys all said their goodnights and Clara helped Izzy slowly gimp out to the car.