My smile froze. I tried desperately not to panic. After all, I reasoned, people refer to a lot of things as "her."
Boats, for example, or even...
"Boss, this is Bunny. Don Bruce sends her with his compliments on a job well done. She's going to be your moll."
The girl they were escorting into the room bore no resemblance at all to a boat.
Chapter Four:
"A doll is a doll is a doll."
-F. SlNATRA
BUNNY was a top-heavy little redhead with her hair in a pixie cut and a vacant stare a zombie would envy. She was vigorously chewing something as she rubbernecked, trying to take in the entire room at once.
"Gee. This is quite a place you guys's got here. It's a lot nicer than the last place I was at, ya know?"
"This is just the waitin' room," Nunzio said with pride. "Wait'll you see the rest of the layout. It's bigger'n any hangout I've ever worked, know what I mean?"
"What'sa matter with you two?" Guido barked.
"Ain't ya got no manners? First things first. Bunny, this is the Boss. He's the one you're goin' to be workin' under."
Bunny advanced toward me holding out her hand.
From the way her body moved under her tight-fitting clothes, there was little doubt what she was wearing under them ... or not wearing, as the case may be.
"Pleased ta meetcha. Boss. The pleasure's mutual," she said brightly.
For once, I knew exactly what to say.
"No."
She stopped, then turned toward Guido with a frown.
"He means not to call him ‘Boss' until you get to know him," my bodyguard assured her. "Around here he's just known as Skeeve."
"Gotcha," she winked. "Okay, Skeeve ... ya know, that's kinda cute."
"No," I repeated.
"Okay. So it's not cute. Whatever you say. You're the Boss."