who had once tried to have a real relationship with her. The same man who had been
implicated in that bakery hit and had been out of sight ever since. It went beyond betrayal for
Teddy.
When they arrived at Gloria’s condo, Teddy used his keycard and they went inside. “Glo,
where are you?” he asked maddeningly. “Glo!”
“I’m back here,” she finally said, and Teddy took off running toward her bedroom. Nikki
made sure the door was locked, and took off too. But not before looking around the place and
seeing the upheaval. There had been a mighty struggle. She didn’t see blood, but everything
that could have been thrown out of place, was out of place.
In the bedroom, Gloria was at the bathroom mirror still trying to conceal her bruises. But
when Teddy and Nikki hurried into that space, and Teddy saw her face, he was livid. “I’ll be
damn,” he said.
“Oh, Glo!” Nikki went to the opposite side of her, placing an arm around her narrow waist.
“He did this to you?”
Gloria had already shed more tears than she thought she ever could, and she nodded her
head.
“Why would he do something like this?” Nikki asked. “I thought he was a righteous dude.”
“So did I,” Gloria said, dabbing at the cut above her eyebrow. “But you should have seen
him, Nikki. It was like he hated me!”
“What did he say?” Teddy asked.
“He said you sent him over here.”
“I sent him?”
“That’s what he told me. So I let him in thinking he had a message from you.”
“That slimy motherfucker!” Teddy said. “Wait until I get my hands on him!” Then he looked
at his sister. “You said he attempted to rape you. Which means he didn’t, right?” Teddy was
hoping against hope that Gio didn’t go that far!
“He tried, but I fought back. I wasn’t going to let him get any enjoyment out of what he was
doing to me.”
“Good,” Nikki said.
“Motherfucking pervert,” Teddy said.
“But y’all can’t tell daddy,” Gloria insisted. “He’ll kill Gio if he finds out.”
Teddy frowned. “Why the fuck should you care what happens to him? Are you out of your
fucking mind? Why the fuck should you care?”
Nikki could see in Gloria’s battered eyes that she knew her brother was right. And tears
appeared in her eyes. What was wrong with her? Why was she always mixed up with the
absolute wrong guys? And the tears came falling down.
Nikki pulled Gloria’s head against her chest and allowed her a chance to sob. But Nikki
looked at Teddy. Teddy shook his head. That meeting Mick ordered all of them to attend
tonight just got crazier.
Not only would Teddy have to deal with his fuck-up at that hotel, but he would also have to
answer to his father about Gloria, and why he hadn’t tracked Gio down yet like the dog he was
and put him out of his misery. Teddy was going to be blamed for Glo’s beat down too. As well
he should, Teddy thought angrily as he went to his sister, and pulled her and Nikki both into his
arms.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
While Teddy joined in the search for Gio Savarino, Nikki went to her apartment, dressed for
success, and made her way to the office. They treated her as if she was the boss in Teddy’s
absence, so she felt a special burden to dress the part.
And she did. Everybody on that job were impressed with Nikki’s fashion sense. But she also
knew all of their admiration had everything to do with Teddy’s speech the day he fired his office
manager. Teddy told them she was his lady. Teddy told them to treat her with respect or else.
To a man and woman, they weren’t so much impressed with Nikki, she felt, as they were afraid
of Teddy.
But whatever their motives, Teddy had elevated Nikki in their eyes. And when he wasn’t in
that office, she was the go-to person.
It didn’t help that Teddy had given Nikki the former office manager’s office, and ever since
she sat behind that desk and put her purse away, the stream of questions came fast and
furious. This time was no different.
What to do about the shipment in Caracas. What to do about the problem in Amsterdam.
We need more copy paper. But her answer was the same: if it was about the docks, ask Joey,
she told them. Joey had an office in Teddy’s building. But like Teddy, he was rarely at the
office. But she told them to phone him, leave a message, text him. It was his job. Why were
they asking her?
But the copy paper? She could handle that. And when it came to personnel matters, or
matters exclusively within Teddy’s purview, she felt a need to handle those issues too. He had
enough on his plate. She wasn’t allowing any of them to phone or text Teddy about trivial
office matters. As far as she was concerned, she was going to be Teddy’s buffer. Unless it was
an emergency, and they were of capo or higher rank, they had to go through her, to get to him.
One of the assistants, a woman rumored to be one of Teddy’s ex’s, although he told Nikki he
never touched that woman and didn’t have any of his ex-girlfriends working for him, came to
her all up in arms because of another female assistant. She should be fired, the woman said.
Nikki had a pile of paperwork on her desk. Papers that the staff said needed Teddy’s
signature. She didn’t bother to look up. “And why is that?” she asked the assistant.
“Because she’s not doing her job right,” the woman replied.
“You’re going to have to give me more information than that,” Nikki said, still focused on
the papers in front of her.
“She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” the woman said with exasperation in her voice.
“Don’t you understand what I’m saying? She’s incompetent and has no business on anybody’s
job.”
Nikki looked up then. The woman seemed impatient with Nikki, but that was her problem.
Nikki wasn’t about to fire anyone based on her word alone. “Give me an example,” she said.
The woman frowned. “Why I got to give you an example?” she asked. “I’m senior to her. I
said she’s not doing her job right. That should be enough! It was enough for Arturo.”
“I have a news flash for you,” Nikki said. “I’m not Arturo. If somebody loses their job
through me, it will be because of independent verification, not just your word or anybody else’s
word. So until you can give me something more concrete, I suggest you go back to your desk
and get back to work.”
It was obvious that the woman was top dog during Arturo’s brief run as manager, and she
was disappointed that Nikki wasn’t continuing the favoritism. She gave Nikki a hard look, and
then turned to leave.
“And excuse me,” Nikki said, unable to even remember the woman’s name.
The woman turned around. “Yes?” There was an edge in her voice now.
“Anybody who attempts to sabotage the assistant in question, or anybody else, will be fired.
Summarily,” Nikki added, although she was reasonably sure that woman had no clue what
summarily meant.
But it was enough. She gave Nikki another hard look, but she left the office.
Nikki leaned back. She never cared about being the boss and having people’s livelihood in
her hands, but she never met a man like Teddy before. And for him, she was
willing to do
whatever she had to do. She knew her word was absolute around there, because they knew
Teddy had her back. But it still felt strange to Nikki. Stuck behind a desk listening to complaints
and what do I do questions all day long, wasn’t what she wanted at all.
And what was going to happen tonight at Mick Sinatra’s house? Why would he tell Teddy to
bring her along? She was pleased to be included, but she wondered why. She was still
wondering why Mick personally picked her up that day when she had no gas or money. And
why was he so upset with Teddy for not setting her up, as they called it? Mick seemed to like
her. Maybe it was because she once saved his life. Maybe it was because she stood up to him
the first time she met him. She didn’t know. But it was a heady thing to have a man like him in
her corner.
But pleasing a man like Mick Sinatra carried its own risk and burdens, too. He thought of
her as some kind of super woman because of her toughness. But would he think so highly of
her if she failed to rise to the occasion? If her toughness faltered? Would he tell Teddy to kick
her to the curb because of her weaknesses and would Teddy, a man who, like all of Mick’s
children, still sought his father’s approval and was totally solicitous to him, kick her there? She
was so intertwined with the Sinatra family that if they ended their association with her, she
would have nothing. It was a scary place to be. So much, she knew, was riding on her
relationship with Teddy. Another scary thought.
Her cell phone rang. Hoping it was Teddy, she answered without looking at the Caller ID.
But it wasn’t Teddy. To her shock, it was her father.
She answered cautiously. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby girl! How you doing?”
Baby girl? He hadn’t called her that term of endearment in years. He certainly didn’t call
her that the night she called him. It was that night in L.A., when the Super in her building had
broken into her apartment and she had to fight for her life. She called her father because she
needed help badly that night. Her father didn’t come to her rescue. Teddy did. Her father? He
all but told her to kiss his ass and never bother him as long as she lived. Now she was his baby
girl again?
“What do you want?” she asked, because she knew he had to want something from her.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush, Nikki,” he said over the phone. “I need your help.”
That was really rich, Nikki thought. Did he forget how he hung up in her face when she
asked for his help? “What do you need?” she asked him.
“I need you to come see me. At the Spot.”
But Nikki was already shaking her head. “There’s no way I can--”
“I know you can’t come right now,” he said. “I know you’re a busy lady. Your mama told me
how busy you were. But as soon as you can come, Nikki, I need you to come. I’m at the Spot. I
need you to come!”
Nikki couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t come around the corner to see her, and she knew it,
but he wanted her to come all the way to the Spot? All the way to his nightclub in New
Orleans? Was he for real?
“It won’t take that long for you to get here,” her father continued. “Your mama says the
father of that white boy you’re dating has a private plane. You could be here in three hours by
plane. Come see me, baby girl, please,” he said. “Real talk: I need your help.” Then, before she
could agree to do anything, he did as he always did in her life: he ended the connection.
Nikki hung up too. And was blown away. She still couldn’t believe it. The man who falsely
accused her of ratting him out to the Feds with such specificity that it caused him to spend five
years in prison for all that illegal shit he was doing, suddenly wanted her help? It was crazy!
And it was just like her father.
Just like him.
Come help me, he said. Take Mick Sinatra’s plane and come help me. No big deal. Was he
nuts?
But that was him. That was Ralph “Tosh” Baker. Her father. It was always his needs over
hers. It was always every man she’d ever been involved with needs over hers. It was the story
of her life. Her father made her that way!
That was also why, she knew, she was doing the work of an office manager at Teddy’s
Import/Export, doing a job she didn’t want to do at all, but doing it to help her man. That him
before her mentality. Because of her father.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A certain kind of individual, Teddy felt, spent their daylight hours in a bar. Older men and
women usually, but sometimes young people too. All hugging their beer mugs as if they were
hugging a person. Most talking about dreams they had that had yet to come true. Some not
talking at all.
But as Teddy entered the bar, ordered a beer himself, and took a seat in a back booth, he
refused to judge any of them. Because he had a theory. He believed there were so many
people in this world afraid to get out there; afraid that if they took even the smallest chance,
they’d be embarrassed or ashamed or hurt. They ceased living their lives. They were just
existing in life. They were protecting their pride, at the expense of a life in full, so that they
wouldn’t be thought pathetic.
But from where Teddy sat, he didn’t see where those broken men and women sitting in that
bar in the middle of the day were pathetic at all. At least those daylight bar-hoppers were out
and about, trying to live their lives. At least they were trying as best they could to make
something out of their time on this earth. Even if all they were doing were enjoying a drink, or
enjoying conversation, or just happy to not be alone for an hour in a day. Teddy knew what
loneliness looked like. He knew what it felt like. He was in no position, nor did he ever want to
be, to dare judge a lonely man.
That was why he knew he had to have this meeting. Because he wasn’t going to judge Milo
Jalarni either. Not until he looked the man in the eye. Not until his instincts told him to trust
every word he was telling him, or to not trust a word that was coming out of his mouth.
Milo “MJ” Jalarni, the head of the Jalarni crime family, entered the bar in west Philadelphia
with the swagger of a man with pull. He made his way to Teddy’s table. They both agreed to
keep their men outside. They both agreed to meet alone.
Milo was a tall, lean man of Sicilian ancestry who had a penchant for fine clothes, including
the long leather coat he wore, and would always have a carnation in his coat lapel and a gold
cane, not to aid in his walk, but for the style of it. He looked wholly out of place in that seedy
bar they were meeting in, but it was how MJ rolled.
What perplexed Teddy, though, was how out of place MJ would be on a Sinatra enemies
list. He respected the Sinatras and agreed to a truce with them years ago, MJ loved to say,
because they bore the same last name as his favorite singer. It was a ridiculous reason to
Teddy, devoid of anything strategic or sensible, but that was MJ. And like his favorite singer, MJ
did things his way too. That carnation and cane and long overcoat on an, at best, mild day: his
way.
He sat down in Teddy’s booth, across from Teddy, and sat his gold cane on top of the table.
“What would yo
u like to drink?” Teddy asked him.
Milo began removing his black leather gloves. “I don’t drink on the job,” he responded. “It
affects your ability to reason. It puts you at a disadvantage, which I never care to be put at.”
Teddy smiled. He didn’t drink on the job either, although he had a glass of beer in front of
him. He leaned back.
And then Milo, with his gloves off, got down to business. “Why did you request this
meeting, Mr. T?”
Teddy placed his hands on either side of his beer mug. Everybody knew he was a man who
got down to business too. “Two of your assholes attempted to kill me and my baby brother.
And then suddenly I got shit missing, a sister beaten, and dead men of my own. I wanted to see
what you had to say about that.”
Milo seemed offended. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Did I miss something? Two of my
men attempted to do you harm, you say, you and your brother, and you want what? You want
me to answer for them? That’s some odd shit.”
“What the fuck’s so odd about it? They were your men!”
“Gio Savarino’s your man! From what I understand, and I’ve only just gotten this intel, but
from what I understand he paid my men to pull that shit. And now they’re dead. But do you
see me blaming you for what Gio did to my men? Do you see me blaming you for the fact that
your ass killed two of my best men?”
“What the fuck would you look like blaming me? Gio two-timed me!”
“My men two-timed me! What’s the damn difference, Teddy?”
Teddy exhaled. He felt as if they were going in a circle. “Were your men acting under your
orders?”
“Hell no. Was Gio acting under yours?”
“You know he wasn’t.”
“Then what the fuck’s the problem?” Milo asked.
“I have a missing arsenal that has to be returned.”
Milo stared at Teddy. “A missing arsenal? How much you’re in for?”
It still gave Teddy chills just thinking about it. “Nearly ten million.”
“Damn, Teddy! That’s real money. Your old man know?”
Teddy didn’t respond to that. In the underworld, Teddy outranked even Milo Jalarni, just
because he ran Mick’s syndicate. Whether Mick knew or not wasn’t Milo’s business.
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