wasn’t about to stand for her own husband.
“How are you, Pop?” Joey asked with a smile.
Of all of the children, Joey, it seemed to Nikki, seemed to be the one who wanted Mick’s
love the most. Teddy wanted his approval the most. Gloria wanted his attention the most. But
Joey wanted his love. And that, to Nikki, made Joey the loser. Love was always the hardest
thing to get.
Mick didn’t respond to that lame question of Joey’s, a question meant to curry favor rather
than inquire about his feelings. Especially since, as even Nikki could see, that Mick was pissed.
It was all over his handsome face, as he sat down on the chair between the two sofas.
Everybody else sat down too.
But as quickly as they all had sat down, Mick quickly stood back up and walked over to
Gloria.
Gloria’s heart was pounding when her father walked up to her. She didn’t realize it, but she
had moved even closer to Teddy.
Mick placed his hands in his pants pockets. He was a tall, imposing man. Nikki saw why
Gloria would appear so frightened.
But he just stood there, staring at her. When she finally looked up at him, he spoke. “Take
them off,” he said.
Everybody knew what he meant. How could she think she would get away with wearing a
pair of dark shades in a well-lit house, with nobody bothering to call her out on it, was the
question Nikki felt she should have been asking when they drove over. But instead, all Gloria
wanted to know was if she was concealing her wounds. Since that was all she wanted to know,
that was all Nikki told her. Gloria was a Sinatra. She was stubborn as hell too.
And a little foolish, Nikki realized, because Gloria, on her father’s asking, did not remove
her shades.
“Glo,” Roz said, and it was obvious in her voice that she was warning her stubborn
stepdaughter.
But before Gloria could heed the warning, Mick snatched the glasses off of her face himself.
When he saw her two black eyes, the anger in his own eyes were undeniable. He placed his
hand on Gloria’s chin and lifted her face. He stared at her still-swollen eyes. “What
happened?” he asked.
“I fell,” Gloria said.
Mick’s anger rose because of her lie and he raised his hand to slap her across the face. But
Roz intervened. “Mick, don’t!” she cried.
To Nikki’s shock, Mick’s hand remained airborne, but it didn’t land on Gloria’s foolish face.
He put his hand back down. “What happened?” he asked his daughter again.
“There was a fight,” Gloria said.
“And?”
“He tried to rape me, but I fought back and he didn’t do it.”
Mick nodded, as if the fact that she wasn’t raped made it easier to bear. But then, to Nikki’
surprise, he turned his angry eyes away from Gloria, to Teddy!
And Teddy, as usual in his family, bore the burden. “I’m on it,” he said, but Mick tossed
those shades at Teddy, and went and sat back down.
“What’s your job, Ted?” Mick asked him.
Teddy knew where he was going with that. “To protect the family. Just like your job.”
“Does it look like you protected Gloria?” Mick asked.
Teddy exhaled. “No. But I can explain--”
“Who did it?” Mick asked.
That was the hard part. “Gio,” Teddy said.
Mick frowned. “Gio? Gio Savarino?”
Teddy nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Mick’s jaw tightened. “Tell me his ass is six feet under.”
Teddy swallowed hard. “No, sir. Not yet,” he said.
“It’s not Teddy’s fault,” Gloria said in defense of her brother.
“Shut the fuck up!” Mick yelled at Gloria, confirming what Nikki knew would be his
response. “Why didn’t you call me when that shit went down? Why didn’t you pick up a phone
and call me, Gloria?”
“Because you just said it,” Gloria said. “You want him six feet under. That’s why I didn’t call
you. Because I knew you would kill Gio!”
Mick frowned. “What the fuck you think is going to happen to him? He gives my daughter
two black eyes. What do you think will be our response? A pat on the back? A slap on the
wrist? A fucking hero cookie?”
“Teddy will beat him up, but he won’t kill him,” Gloria said.
“Like hell I won’t,” Teddy responded quickly and Gloria, surprised, looked at him. “Well
what do you expect, Glo? You can’t let a fucker like that get away with that shit. He’ll kill your
ass next time if I let him get away!”
Nikki could tell Mick was satisfied with Teddy’s response, even if Gloria wasn’t. But Mick
was still pissed. His big green eyes still had that fiery anger inside of them.
“He’s in hiding?” Mick asked Teddy.
Teddy nodded. “We haven’t been able to find him. And we searched everywhere.”
“Apparently not everywhere,” Mick said.
“I thought Glo had kicked him to the curb. I thought they were over with, or I would have
warned her about that joker.”
Nikki expected Gloria to tell her father that her relationship with Gio had ended before Gio
showed up at her door, but once-bitten, apparently, was enough for this family. She had
already clammed-up.
“But we’ll find him,” Teddy said.
Mick exhaled. “Tell me everything,” he said to Teddy. “Leave nothing out.”
“He told Gloria he was there on my orders,” he started saying.
But Roz cut him off. “He’s not talking about that,” she said. “I don’t know what he’s talking
about,” she added, “but it’s not that.”
“I’m sayin’,” Joey said.
Teddy, deep down, knew it too. He just dreaded going there. Because it was worse than
even Mick probably knew. “I made a side deal,” he admitted.
That surprised Nikki and Roz. A side deal?
But Mick apparently already knew, because he didn’t seem surprised at all.
“I made a side deal,” Teddy continued, “with Sammy Matanzas.”
“The guy we call the Lizard, Pop,” Joey said.
“I know who Sammy is,” said Mick. “What was the deal?” he asked Teddy.
“Weapons for cash.”
“How much cash?” Mick asked. “Don’t fuck with me.”
Teddy paused. Then confessed. “Ten million,” he said.
“Damn,” said Roz. “That’s not a side deal. That’s a main deal, Teddy! And your ass didn’t
tell Mick?”
“It had nothing to do with Pop,” Teddy said. “This was my thing.”
“Your thing?” Mick asked. “Your thing in my fucking name?”
“I didn’t use your name,” Teddy said. “I used my contacts from before I even started
working for you. Sammy knows me. He knew I was good for it.”
“Oh, yeah? How did that work out for you? Were you good for it? Because I’m hearing it
didn’t work out so great. I’m hearing you weren’t good for any of it. Am I hearing right?”
Teddy ran his hand through his hair. “Yes, sir,” he said. “You heard right.”
That was what Mick loved most about Teddy. He never skirted blame, or his responsibility
when shit went south. “What happened?” he asked him.
“At our first meeting,” Teddy said, “a couple of wise guys tried to whack us.”
“Who’s us?”
“Me, Joey, and Gio. But I took care of their asses.”<
br />
“You had better.”
“I did. But come to find out, Gio was working with them.”
Mick frowned. He hadn’t heard that. “Working with them? What do you mean? Gio was
two-timing us?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Who the fuck with?”
“The two guys who tried to whack us worked for Milo Jalarni,” Teddy said. “Gio had teamed
up with MJ’s men.”
“With Milo?” Mick asked. “Gio was working for Milo?”
“MJ claims he wasn’t. He says his men were working for Gio on some side shit he thought.
He claims he had no idea they were coming for me and Joey. Says he wouldn’t do that to you.”
“You believe him?”
“No, sir.”
Mick hated to hear that. Everybody could tell he hated to hear that! “Does he deny stealing
those weapons?” he asked.
Teddy nodded. “He denies any knowledge. On that I believe him.”
Joey looked at Teddy. He hadn’t shared that belief with him.
“Why would you believe MJ didn’t know about that heist,” Mick asked, “but he knew about
the ambush? There’re no coincidences. The two has to be connected.”
“They are,” Teddy said. “I’m sure they are. But when I met with MJ, I saw fear in his eyes,
Pop. Somebody bigger than his ass driving this, and they have him running scared. They might
have even forced him to participate.”
Mick frowned. “Are you out of your fucking mind? Milo runs the Jalarni crime family. He’s
no fucking stooge! He’s a top tier boss. Nobody’s gonna run him scared but me.”
“It’s just my observation, Pop,” Teddy said. “I know fear when I see it. I saw fear. I saw
crippling fear in MJ’s eyes.”
“Could it be you?” Nikki asked Mick.
Everybody looked at her. Joey frowned. “What are you talking?” he asked her. “Pop
wouldn’t work behind Teddy’s back like that, and then play crazy like he don’t know shit.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Nikki said.
“Then what do you mean?” Gloria asked. “Because I’m with Joey. Our daddy wouldn’t do
anything like that. Not behind Teddy’s back like that.”
They were so off from what Nikki was trying to say that it stunned her. But at least Teddy,
Mick, and Roz didn’t appear clueless. Although Mick was staring at her as if he was staring a
hole through her.
“Tell us what you mean,” Teddy said.
“What if it was an inside job,” she said.
This intrigued Teddy. “An inside job?” he asked. “On Sammy’s people’s part?”
“No,” said Nikki. “On your father’s people’s part.”
Joey frowned. “What? That’s even crazier!”
But Teddy wasn’t at all dismissive. Neither was Mick. Mick even looked down at Nikki’s
sizeable breasts, and then back into her eyes, as if he found smart sexy. “Explain,” he said to
Nikki.
“You said it yourself, sir,” Nikki explained. “You said that guy, MJ, wouldn’t be running
scared unless he was running from you. Teddy said he saw pure fear in the man’s eyes. Is it
possible that somebody inside your organization could be forcing him to betray you?”
“You mean like Gio?” Teddy asked. “Not possible. He doesn’t have that kind of power.”
“He’s not even as powerful as I am,” Joey said, “and I’m not up there with Pop and Teddy.”
“Is there someone in the organization who is?” Nikki asked.
And that was when it occurred to Teddy. And it jolted him. He looked at Mick. “Is it
possible, Pop?” he asked him.
“Is what possible?” Joey asked them.
But Mick was in deep thought. It was possible, Teddy could tell, or Mick would not have
been in such a deep contemplative state. “The heist I heard about,” Mick finally said. “Tell me
exactly how it went down.”
“I sat up the drop off of the weapons and the pick up of the cash,” Teddy said.
“At the same place?” Mick asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Where? Copperfield?” Copperfield was a massive warehouse that Mick owned.
“No, sir. At a hotel near the service entrance. A transfer truck was waiting. While the
shipment was supposed to be unloading onto the transfer truck, with our men on guard, Joey
and me went inside to pick up the cash. We saw it. Sammy came through. But then all hell
broke loose, the truck containing the arms took off outside, and somebody iced Sammy and
snatched the cash inside. We ended up with four dead men and nothing.”
Mick shook his head. “Which hotel?” he said.
“The Filton on Commonwealth,” Teddy said.
“But why would you go there for something that big?”
“I do a lot of drop offs and pickups there and never had any problems before. Come to
think of it, you’re the one who got me started going there. You’re the one who told me to use it
if I needed a fresh place.”
“You know why I told you, right?” Mick asked.
Teddy had no clue. “No, why?” Teddy asked.
“Because my consigliere owns it,” Mick said, and it was a startling revelation.
Teddy was dumbstruck. “Shit, Pop! He owns that shithole? Are you fucking kidding me?
Nikki’s right?”
Roz looked at Joey. “Who’s the consigliere?” she asked.
Joey shook his head. “Some big wig who advises Pop. It’s all secretive. They won’t tell me
who he is.”
Roz didn’t know this person either.
But Teddy was floored by the possibility. “Damn, Pop,” he said, and then rose to his feet.
“I’ve got to track his ass down.”
“No,” Mick said, rising too, which caused everybody, including Roz this time, to rise. “You
track Gio’s ass down,” Mick ordered Teddy. “I’ll find my guy. And don’t plan on doing shit to
Jalarni until you hear from me. I want intel first, and you need to see what Gio knows, before
we go to battle with Milo.”
“Yes, sir,” Teddy said.
Then Mick exhaled. He was still pissed, everybody could see it. “Side deal,” he said with
clenched teeth, and then he walked over to Teddy. And with a balled fist, he punched Teddy so
hard that Teddy lost all control and fell to the floor. It was a devastating blow.
Mick hovered over him menacingly. “Try that side shit again,” Mick said to Teddy, “and I
won’t go so easy on your ass!”
But that wasn’t going easy to Nikki. “You didn’t have to hit him,” she said to Mick.
Why she wanted to say that, they all thought. Because Mick turned on her like he was
turning on a dime. “You don’t tell me who the fuck I can hit,” he said with a frown on his face.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
Nikki could feel her heart drop, but she didn’t back down. “You didn’t have to hit him,” she
said again.
“I hit him, Gotdammit! I hit him!”
Roz hurried to Mick, and took him by the arm.
“You have the gumption to stand up,” Mick said to Nikki, “and that’s good. You have every
right to stand your ground. But don’t go too far with me, young lady. I’m not the one to fuck
with!”
That fiery look in Mick’s eyes cowered Nikki. She couldn’t lie. She was terrified!
Mick knew it too. That was why he held back most of his fire. He liked Nikki, or he would
have blistered her ass. He, instead,
jerked away from Roz, and began heading back toward his
office.
But Teddy wasn’t cowered. Not after the way Mick had spoken to Nikki. He couldn’t stand
for that, or it would always be that way. He, Glo, and Joey deserved it. They were his blood
and they had to take it. But Nikki didn’t have to take shit. She didn’t deserve anything but
respect from Mick. Because Teddy knew his father wouldn’t let him talk to Roz that way. He’d
kick his ass and then kick it again. Why should he let his father talk to Nikki that way?
And Teddy made up his mind. Mick himself taught him to never leave a stone unturned. If
he allowed his father to disrespect his woman, there would be no end to the maltreatment.
She would be as helpless as he and his siblings sometimes felt in Mick’s presence. And Teddy
felt Nikki had enough to deal with just being his woman. She wasn’t going to deal with Mick’s
shit too.
He got up off that floor as Nikki was hoping he would, but then he began to charge angrily at
his father.
When Nikki saw it, her heart fell through her shoes. “Teddy, no!” she cried.
Roz was mortified, too, when she saw it. She knew her husband. She knew what he was
capable of! “Teddy, no!” she yelled.
Even Gloria and Joey were yelling too. They all yelled it at the same time. Teddy no, they
were yelling. Don’t do it, Teddy!
But as soon as Mick turned around, not just because of what they were yelling, but because
of the terror he heard in their voices, Teddy did do it. He ran up to his father with the kind of
anger he reserved for enemies. And with all the strength he had he balled up his own fist and
knocked Mick Sinatra, the man he feared more than any human being on earth, the fuck out!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
When Mick turned around, he saw his son coming at him. He saw that his fist was balled
and his face was filled with rage. But Teddy had gotten in Mick’s face before after Mick
knocked the shit out of him, and he assumed this would be like all those other times. He
always came at Mick, but he always stopped in his tracks. Mick expected nothing different.
Except everything was different. Because Mick saw Teddy coming, but was stunned when
he didn’t stop. When Teddy, his oldest living son, raised that fist to Mick’s chin and punched
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