“And that’s when Cold took over,” Jimmy supplied, blinking slowly.
“Yup,” Rowena said proudly. “My big brother is all about opportunity. After a few years of the Luchesi brothers trying to murder the crap out of each other and exhausting all their resources, Roddy got his Gentlemen together. He waited for the perfect time and made his move. He drove them all out and made Strassen Springs his bitch.”
“So, wait,” Jimmy stuttered, trying to keep up, “who killed the Don?”
“Who knows,” Rowena said with a shrug. “Maybe Matteo. He’s a total shit. I mean, we’re technically like third cousins or something? But fuck them. Everybody thinks Roddy did it to start the little gang war, but all he did was jump at the beautiful opening those idiots gave him. He didn’t kill Rafaello. One of his shitty kids probably did.”
“But all of them are back,” Jimmy continued to press. “The three sons. They’re here in the city. That’s what they told Rod last night. I mean, Cold.”
“Yeaaah. Which is super shady. The Luchesis finally learned to play nice and they rebuilt elsewhere, but they still have a lot of ties here. Who knows. They might just be in town for a wedding.”
“Or they’re planning something,” Jimmy said slowly.
Rowena tapped Jimmy’s nose. “Gold star for you!” She hopped up, heading into the kitchen and pulling several bottles of alcohol out of her purse. “You don’t need to worry. Roddy is a big boy, and he can handle this.”
Jimmy frowned, watching Rowena mix up a fruity smelling batch of drinks. He didn’t feel very reassured, a knot starting to twist up in his stomach. He hadn’t really thought about it, but Cold was in constant danger.
Rival gangsters, the cops; he wondered if that was part of why Cold made such an effort to keep him at arm’s length. Maybe the distance was to protect Jimmy.
Finding the Christmas mugs in the cabinet, Rowena filled the reindeer with alcoholic slush and handing it to him, cheering, “Drink up!”
Jimmy cringed at the tart bite when he took a sip. “God, what’s in this?”
“Raspberry vodka, orange vodka, sweet and sour mix, blue curaçao.” Rowena rattled off the ingredients with a smirk. “But I sort of fucked up the portions, so it’s mostly a shit ton of raspberry vodka.”
Trying to stomach the sweet concoction, Jimmy took a few more sips. Rowena had already finished hers and was pouring another.
“Come on,” she said with a clap of her hands. “It’s dress-up time!” She marched straight to his closet, and Jimmy didn’t even try to stop her, though he did follow, grinning as she picked out slim black jeans, a white dress shirt, and a red blazer. She pawed through his drawers, pulling out black suspenders and a red bow tie to match the jacket.
Jimmy couldn’t deny Rowena had excellent taste, more than happy to let her pick out his clothing.
“Wear your sneakers again,” she said, pointing at his feet. “And, oh! Where’s that ring? That pretty ruby one?”
“From my mom?” Jimmy said with a blink.
Rowena kept digging until she found the jewelry box, humming happily as she picked it out. “Yes. This one. You should totally wear it! It’s fuckin’ gorgeous. Red is definitely your color.”
Jimmy took the ring, trying it on his fingers. It fit pretty well on his right ring finger. It was beautiful, although he wished it was clean. “Maybe,” he said. “I mean, I just got all that stuff back. I don’t want to lose it.”
“You won’t lose it,” Rowena assured him. “Now, hurry up and get dressed!”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jimmy said obediently, laughing as Rowena gave him some privacy to get ready. When he stepped out of his bedroom, she pounced to make some adjustments and fix his hair.
She also made sure Jimmy finished his drink before they left, and when they got in the limo, she had Jerry take them out to eat first. Rowena insisted on paying for their food, ordered more drinks, and by the time they finally arrived at the club, Jimmy was already quite tipsy.
As they walked up to the door, Jimmy gawked at the line of people waiting to get in. All Rowena had to do was smile at the bouncer, and he opened the door immediately to let them through.
“Have a fun evening, Miss Legrand!” he said politely.
“Thanks, babe!” She blew the bouncer a kiss, dragging Jimmy inside with her. “Come on, Jimmy! Let’s fuckin’ boogie!”
Rain was the name of the club, a massive two-story building with a dance floor on each level and four bars in total. It was loud and noisy, surprisingly full for early evening on a Sunday. Rowena held Jimmy’s hand, practically skipping onto the dance floor as infectious techno music thundered through the speakers.
Rowena was a fantastic dancer, moving flawlessly even in her tall heels. She grinded her body down to the floor and popped effortlessly back up with a smooth curl of her hips, rocking to the music without ever missing a beat.
Jimmy wasn’t too bad on his feet, loose enough to let himself go and relax. He threw his hands up, enjoying the thrum of the bass pounding beneath his sneakers, twirling around and laughing.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had been out dancing, laughing when Rowena grabbed his hands and gave him a spin. They had both managed to dance off their buzz after several songs, panting and sweating. Sensing sobriety approaching like an alcoholic superhero, Rowena led Jimmy off the floor and to the closest bar.
