Teddy Sinatra_Chains For Love

by Mallory Monroe

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  It was 2am when Mick Sinatra’s private plane landed at the airstrip. Teddy, along with Nikki, was seated in his Corvette. They were still reeling from what happened earlier. They were still amped up.

  Nikki looked over at Teddy. He had his tuxedo jacket tossed in the backseat. But with his fashionable suspenders over his white shirt, he still looked elegant. And he was gripping the steering wheel.

  Nikki didn’t try to talk him down to make him feel better. She didn’t try to tell him it wasn’t his fault and he did the right thing and everything was going to be alright. Those words didn’t mean shit to either one of them. Teddy did what he had to do. They knew that. But people died. Innocent people who had no skin in the mob’s game. There was no making that feel better. There was no making that harsh reality go away.

  When the doors to the plane opened, and the steps came down, Nikki looked at Teddy. “What do you think he’s going to say?” she asked him.

  Teddy smiled a joyless, bitter smile. “‘Well, Teddy, fucked up again I see!’ Or something to that effect.”

  “Sometimes you have to make split-second decisions. Sometimes it’s the wrong decision. He can’t fault you for that.”

  Another bitter smile by Teddy. “Wanna bet?” he asked, and then got out of the car.

  Nikki’s heart went out to him as he made his way over to the waiting SUV: his father’s ride home. She watched as Teddy nodded at his father’s bodyguard and driver, both of whom were standing outside of the SUV, but he didn’t even try to pretend everything was alright. Everything wasn’t alright. And because his concern for Nikki’s safety was what precipitated his action, Nikki knew it wasn’t alright either. She felt almost as much guilt as Teddy felt.

  Almost. Because Teddy, as he waited, was loaded with guilt.

  And when Mick Sinatra’s big frame filled the doorway of his plane, and he made his way down those steps and toward that SUV, Teddy could tell his father was pissed. Even Nikki, who remained in the car per Teddy’s earlier instructions, could tell it too.

  “Welcome back, Boss,” the bodyguard said.

  “Welcome home, sir,” said his driver as the driver quickly opened the back-passenger door.

  Mick didn’t respond to either greeting, which he rarely ever did anyway. He, instead, moved to get inside of his vehicle and take his tired ass home. He stopped long enough, however, to acknowledge Teddy’s presence.

  Mick, at first, just stood there, not looking at Teddy, but looking straight ahead. Then he spoke: “Bovenconti’s dead. All of his men dead. Fiona Mara, Shawny Lungren, other guests: dead too.” Then he looked Teddy dead in the eyes. His anger was contained like an impending volcanic eruption. “Tomorrow morning. In my office,” he said, got into his SUV, and slammed the door behind him.

  Teddy watched as the driver and bodyguard quickly got in, too, and the SUV sped off.

  Nikki looked at Teddy as he stood there, and then as he made his way back to his car. Teddy looked, to Nikki, like death itself.

  That night at his house, as they sat on the floor in front of the wall-sized window that overlooked the daunting lake, Nikki laid Teddy’s head on her lap, and softly rubbed his hair. Teddy closed his eyes, as if he could stop reliving that scene, as he enjoyed the tenderness of her hands.

  And it worked. His warring mind finally began to settle down. Tomorrow was a new day, filled with its own problems, not least of which was facing his father, but he was going to experience Nikki’s warmth and love while he could. Nikki and nothing else.

  He didn’t think he could bear anything else.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  “This is your father’s office?” Nikki asked. “This is Sinatra Industries?”

  “This is it,” Teddy said. “Why?”

  “It’s humungous, Teddy!”

  Teddy knew what she meant. It was an enormous structure of glass and stone and stood out as one of the most beautiful architectural designs in the city. “And it’s one hundred percent legit,” Teddy said to Nikki as they entered the rotunda. “Pops make sure of that.”

  “Then why would he want you, who runs his import/export, hardly legitimate business, to come here for a meeting?”

  “Logistics only,” Teddy said. “He’s been out of the country so long, he has to get back to his office and make sure his people hadn’t burned it down yet. It’s just easier for him.”

  “Is that why he made you his underboss?” Nikki asked. “To make it easier for him?”

  “Hell yeah that’s the reason. He has a wife now, and two small children. He doesn’t want to make the same mistakes with them that he made with me, Glo, and Joey.”

  Nikki looked at Teddy when he made that statement. He rarely talked about his childhood, and she never pushed him. But even Stevie Wonder would have been able to see that Teddy, and all of his siblings, had daddy issues. Nikki could see it vividly. She had daddy issues, too.

  Teddy and Nikki stepped onto the elevator. Nikki moved over to the buttons. “Which floor?” she asked.

  “Top floor,” said Teddy.

  Nikki smiled and pressed the top button. “Why am I not surprised?”

  Teddy didn’t smile. Nikki could see the stress on his handsome face. She moved up to him and began straightening his tie. “I don’t know your father very well at all,” she said, “but I know enough to know that he hates uncertainty in the head of his organization. He made you his number two because he has a lot of faith in you.”

  “He had a lot of faith in me.”

  “He still has it, Teddy. Why wouldn’t he? You’re tough, but you’re smart too.”

  “He didn’t have a gun, Nikki. He didn’t have a gun! What I did? And the carnage it caused? No excuse.”

  Nikki stopped fumbling with his tie and rested her hand on his chest. She looked into his eyes. “You’re right,” she said. “No excuse. No excuses.”

  Teddy appreciated her honesty, and the fact that she would not go down bullshit lane. He leaned in and kissed her.

  Then the elevator doors opened, and they stepped off.

  Nikki and Teddy were in the reception area just outside of Mick’s office, chatting with Gloria while Blair Conyers, Mick’s longtime executive assistant, suspiciously eyed all of them. But although she was Gloria’s supervisor, Gloria knew it was only a matter of time before her father promoted her again. She was able to negotiate a contract that Blair almost lost, and she did it before her father returned to Philly, as he had instructed her. She was on her way.

  Blair picked up her phone, listened, and then hung up. “Your father will see you now,” she said to Teddy.

  Nikki looked at him. She was as nervous as he was. He squeezed her hand and then went into the office.

  If he was stressful before he walked in, he was doubly stressed after he entered his father’s office. Not only was Mick sitting behind the desk, but Joey and the Bevin twins were sitting in front of the desk. What the, Teddy thought, as he made his way toward them.

  “Have a seat,” Mick offered.

  But Teddy folded his arms and remained standing. “I’m good,” he said.

  “Suit yourself,” Mick said and leaned forward. “Okay, gentlemen, I’ve been out of the country for a week. One week. And I had to cut very sensitive negotiations short because of what? Not Sinatra Industries. They know what I expect them to do when I’m not around. But my other business matter is a different story. You act as if you don’t know shit. Two explosions. The suspect onsite got away. A fucking shootout at a party and B.B. Bovenconti’s dead. Fiona Mara’s dead. Shawny Lungren’s dead. Innocent fucking people are dead! What the hell happened?”

  Joey and the twins looked at Teddy.

  “After those two explosions happened,” Teddy said, “I needed to have a meeting with Bovenconti to find out if he was involved.”

  “Wouldn’t that be obvious?” Mick asked.

  “That’s what I told him, Pop!” Joey said.

  It took all Teddy had t
o restrain himself. “I’m not starting a war based on incomplete information. Pop agreed with me,” he said to Joey. Then he looked at Mick. “Was he a likely suspect? Yes. Of course he was. The likeliest. But I needed more facts. I needed to look Bovenconti in the eye and --”

  “And do what, Teddy?” Joey asked. “You know he’s gonna deny it!” Then Joey looked at Mick. “I told Teddy we should have hit those bastards back that same day. Like you would have done. Now it’s been a week and we haven’t done shit. And what happened at that party was a freaking fiasco!”

  “I needed to look Bovenconti in the eye,” Teddy continued as if Joey’s diatribe never occurred, “and take the measure of the man.”

  Mick was staring at Teddy. Sizing him up. Taking his measure. “Your conclusion?” he asked.

  “He denied involvement.”

  “But?” Mick asked, still staring at Teddy.

  “But my sense is that he was involved.”

  Joey nearly jumped out of his chair. “See?” He was directing his ire at Teddy. “What did I tell you? I told your ass he ordered those fires at the docks! I told you! I told your punk ass!”

  When Joey said those last two words, Teddy’s restraint was gone. He grabbed his kid brother by his shirt and, with one fluid motion, flung him up from his seat and slammed his back against the wall. The Bevin twins jumped up from their seats, too, but Mick motioned for them to sit their asses back down. They sat down.

  Teddy pointed his finger in his brother’s face. Their faces were so close, Joey could smell Teddy’s aftershave. “I’ve had it up to here with your bullshit,” he said. “I’ve had it up to here with your whining. And your complaining. I’ve had it, Joey!” He slammed Joey’s back even harder against that wall.

  Then he said those words Joey dreaded to hear. “You’re fired,” Teddy said. “You’re fired and that fucked up crew you hired is fired too.”

  The Bevin twins knew that meant them. They wanted to aid Joey, but they were too afraid of Mick.

  “All or your asses are fired,” Teddy continued. “And it goes into effect immediately.” Then he released Joey.

  Joey, stunned, looked at their father. The Bevin twins were looking too. “He can’t fire me, Pop,” Joey said. “Tell him he can’t fire me!”

  But Mick was not going along. He leaned back in his chair. “He can,” Mick said, “and he just did.” Mick had taken Teddy’s measure, and he did not find him lacking.

  But Joey was another story. Joey couldn’t believe it. “He can fire me?”

  Mick was stunned also. He was stunned that Joey didn’t understand the depth of Teddy’s power. “Who did I put in charge?” Mick asked Joey. “Who? You? Or Ted?”

  Joey reluctantly answered. “You put Teddy in charge. But--”

  “There is no fucking but!” Mick had had it with Joey’s shit too. “Ted is in charge! And the move he made was the right one. You get clear intel before you even think about hitting another family, especially since we were the ones who started the shit in the first place! Ted is in charge. Nobody else runs my organization but Ted. Am I clear? I always have been, but for some reason your ass thought I wasn’t clear.”

  Mick exhaled. He didn’t have time for this shit. But Joey had to understand why Teddy was in charge. “You don’t become the underboss of my organization just because you’re tough,” he said. “Teddy’s the toughest man I have. He’s got the kind of toughness natural born leaders are made of. But he’s got brains too. You have to have brains too, Joey! You have to see the obvious, and then see more than the fucking obvious! Sometimes you’re right. Sometimes you’re wrong. But you’re never impulsive. And you’re never just a loudmouth tough guy.”

  “Teddy was impulsive at that party!” Joey pointed out. “All those people are dead because of one woman. His so-called new assistant. Because of Nikki. Teddy was impulsive!”

  Teddy and Mick exchanged glances. Not because of what Joey said. But because they were amazed at how immature he still seemed to be.

  But Joey saw the way they looked at each other as something more sinister. His father always, but always, took Teddy’s side. No matter what. And the fix was in again. Joey could feel it in his bones.

  It was time for him to go there.

  “You’re going to let Teddy fire me,” Joey asked his father, “even though I have the intel straight from the horse’s mouth?”

  Teddy frowned and looked at Joey. “What are you talking about?”

  “I have the suspect your ass let get away,” Joey said.

  Teddy was stunned. This time, Mick was too. “What do you mean you have him?” he asked.

  “My guys have him. I tracked him down, and we have him. We’ve been working him over to get him to flip and tell us what the hell is going on.”

  Mick stood from his desk, prompting the twins to stand too. “Where is he?” Mick asked.

  “At a Safe House,” Joey responded.

  Mick grabbed his suit coat off of the back of his chair.

  “Why wasn’t I told?” Teddy was asking his brother as Mick began hurrying from behind his desk.

  “Let’s go,” Mick said to Teddy as he hurried past him.

  Joey smiled and hurried behind his father. The twins smiled and hurried too.

  Teddy wasn’t smiling, but he hurried too.

  When they made it outside of the office, and Mick saw Nikki sitting against the wall, he stopped in his tracks. Joey almost bumped into him he stopped so abruptly.

  Nikki stood to her feet.

  “Hello,” Mick said to her.

  “Hi,” she said to him.

  “You’re my son’s assistant now.”

  Did he have a problem with that, Nikki wondered? “Yes, sir,” she said.

  Mick looked her up and down in a way that made Nikki want to run and hide. But then he nodded as if he approved. “Good,” he said. He was relieved to see that Teddy had enough sense to keep her. And then he continued on his way.

  Joey and the twins looked at Nikki, as they continued to follow Mick.

  Teddy squeezed her arm. “Wait here until I get back,” he said to her, kissed her on the mouth, and then kept walking too.

  But Blair and all of the assistants, and even Gloria too, were staring at Nikki. Who was this woman, they all wondered, that even Mick Sinatra would stop to acknowledge her?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The suspect, the man at the docks Teddy had shot in both legs to keep him from running away, was not only still nursing those wounds but new ones too: he had been badly beaten. Repeatedly. But as soon as Teddy saw him, he smelled a rat.

  The men guarding him, two members of Joey’s crew, nervously and quickly stood to their feet when the door opened and they realized not only had Joey, their immediate boss, walked in, but the big boss, Teddy Sinatra, and Mick Sinatra, the boss of all the bosses, walked in too.

  They had been playing cards at the table when the bosses walked in, and their guns were at the ready. But Mick, like Teddy, was staring at the suspect.

  The suspect was on the floor, rope tied by the neck and feet, and he was in bad shape. His legs were turning black. His eyes were bulging out. He’d been tortured.

  “Get him up,” Teddy ordered, and the men quickly grabbed the suspect, without regard to the suspect, and dropped him down in a chair. The suspect screamed out in pain.

  “Who is he?” Mick asked Joey.

  “Roger Caulfield,” Joey proudly said. “He’s a pyrotechnic expert who also knows how to set it off in the explosives field too. He’s usually hired by mob types when they need a quick fire or two.”

  “And you found him how?” Teddy asked.

  “I found his ass,” Joey said. “What difference does it make how?”

  But Teddy remained suspicious. He was told this guy got away, and he was told by members of Joey’s team. He had men of higher caliber than any on Joey’s crew looking for him. But Joey found him? Joey? Teddy was suspicious as hell.

  Mick moved closer to
the suspect. “My name is Mick Sinatra,” he said.

  The suspect looked up at him through the little slit in his eyes that had not yet closed. “I know who you are,” he said.

  “You also know that two of my ships were destroyed,” Mick said. “I understand you destroyed them.”

  The suspect didn’t respond, which Mick also expected. “Why?” he asked.

  The suspect hesitated, but it was obvious to Mick and Teddy that he was going to spill the beans. “It’s what I do,” he said.

  “Who paid you to do what you do?” Teddy asked.

  Another hesitation. Then the suspect said the word: “Bovenconti,” he said.

  Although Joey and the twins were smiling at their triumph, Teddy was staring at the suspect. And he wasn’t buying it. The only thing the suspect apparently responded to was torture. He was tortured into saying that name. But was he saying the truth? And Teddy was no-nonsense. What good was a confession, he thought, when it wasn’t the truth?

  To everybody’s surprise, Teddy pulled out his loaded gun, grabbed the suspect by the throat, flipped him back until his chair was on the floor and Caulfield was on that floor still in that chair. Teddy placed his gun in the suspect’s mouth.

  Joey moved to stop Teddy, but Mick pulled Joey back. There was always a method to Teddy’s madness, and Mick knew it. He stared at his son.

  “You said you knew my father,” Teddy said to the terrified suspect. “But you know me too, don’t you? I’m the fucker that shot you in both legs. Remember me?”

  The suspect was nodding, and sweating bullets, and staring down at that gun in his mouth.

  “You know I’ll be more than happy to finish what I started,” Teddy continued.

  Caulfield nodded nervously.

  “When I pull this gun out of your mouth,” Teddy said, “you’d better tell me the truth or I’ll put it right back in, and I’ll unleash a load in that mug. You understand what I’m saying to you?”