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It was well after two a.m. when Nikki finally heard their front door open and close and Teddy ascending the stairs. She could only imagine where he’d been all this time, but she was more concerned about him than where he’d been. She was lying in bed, on her back, but she hadn’t slept a wink.

When he walked into the bedroom, he saw that she was awake. But he didn’t say a word. He went into the bathroom, removed his clothes and keys and phone, and took a shower. Nikki was a little disappointed that he didn’t bother to at least say hey to her even after he saw she was wide awake, but that was just Teddy being Teddy. He wasn’t a moody man, but he was a broody man. And his broodiness, his inability to get out of his own head, was perhaps his greatest weakness.

That was why Nikki waited patiently. She didn’t just love the good side of Teddy. She loved him in his flaws too. She wished he was the kind of man that would include her in his moments of deep contemplations, but he wasn’t that kind of man. He had to figure it out for himself. He was a loner by nature and wasn’t interested in changing.

After he showered and dried off, he didn’t bother to put on any pajamas as he got in bed beside her. Although she wore a gown, it took him all of two seconds to lift that completely off of her and toss it aside. And although he still hadn’t said a word to her, not one word, he began kissing her with a desperateness that made her know he needed a release right then and there or he was going to explode. And given what happened at his father’s house, she was more than willing to accommodate him. That scene, and the events of that week, had her uptight too. She needed a release almost as much as he did.

That was why she was ready for his entry from their kissing alone. But he went down on her anyway, which only fired up their bodies even more, and by the time he moved back up and entered her they were both near their breaking points.

He started out doing her hard and it only got harder from there. He didn’t let up. They were rocking it out from the sheer fierceness of his pounding, and neither one of them wanted to slow-walk their passion. They sped. That adrenalin pumped harder as he continued to take her there. For several long minutes they were locked together, arm in arm, banging. They didn’t want to ease up.

Because it felt exactly the way they needed it to feel. It felt as if they were riding to the top of the rollercoaster’s peak, but never quite going over. Over and over they teetered on falling back down, but they stayed at the peak.

And when it was time for that rollercoaster to make its descent downward, and that snatch occurred that left their hearts still at the top as the coaster flew down, was what it felt like when they came. As hard as they could cum, they came. Teddy was still pumping and Nikki was still receiving until he had poured out every single ounce he had within him.

When he was poured out, and when Nikki’s sensations had ebbed, he got off of her and collapsed. She had already collapsed before he even moved.

It took many more minutes before either one could say a word. Their hearts were still catching back up to their bodies.

It was Teddy who finally spoke. “Frankie drove you and Kimmie home?”

“He said you told him to. We would have preferred to ride home with you.”

“I had some thinking to do.”

It was his way. “I know.”

Then more silence.

“What did Pop discuss with you?”

“He didn’t discuss anything with me.”

“Frankie said when I stormed out of his house he was telling you to stay back, that he needed to talk to you.”

“That’s what he said, but I told him I was going with you. Although you left me.” But she understood why. “After you left I got the baby, and Monk took us home.”

Teddy glanced at her. But she could tell he wasn’t satisfied even with that answer. “What is it?” she asked him.

He looked away from her. “Pop knows.”

Did she miss something? “Pop knows what?”

“That I’ve been meeting with Rarsi. That’s why he fired me.”

Nikki frowned. Something wasn’t computing. “Wait a minute. Hold up. Why would you have been meeting with Rarsi?”

Teddy continued to just lay there.

Nikki turned her body onto her side, to get a full look at him. He wasn’t pulling that silent shit on her now. This she had to hear. “Why would you be meeting with Potter Rarsi, Teddy?”

“He gave me an offer that I would have been crazy not to consider.”

Nikki’s eyes widened. “An offer? An offer to do what?”

“He wants to make me the head of the Bengino crime family.”

Nikki was hoping what she was hearing wasn’t true. “But he’s the head of the Bengino syndicate.”

“He’s looking to retire,” Teddy said, and then he looked at her. “And Pop knows he wants me.”

That news took it to a whole other level. “How would he know that? You told him?”

“Hell no. I wouldn’t tell him something like that. He would have fired me on the spot just for mentioning it.”

“Then how does he know?”

“Rarsi undoubtedly told him. He wouldn’t go behind Pop’s back. But he’s certain I’m a better fit for his organization than Pop’s. I think that’s why Pop went on vacation with no spies to tell him what was going on for a change.”

“But what would his going on vacation help? He needed time to think about it? I don’t get it.”

“He wanted to test me. He wanted to see if I was worth fighting for. But I proved I wasn’t.”

Nikki stared at Teddy. “What do you mean you proved it?”

A sadness came over Teddy’s face. “After the week I’ve had, I proved I wasn’t worth a damn, let alone worth fighting for. Rarsi can have me, is probably what he’s thinking now.”

This was some heavy news for Nikki to take. “Is that why neither one of you believed Rarsi was involved in what happened with our capos and our ships?”

Teddy nodded. “That and the fact that he’s a standup guy. He doesn’t play games. If he wants to take you down, he’ll tell you so.”

But Nikki was distressed. “Why did you keep all of that from me, Teddy? I thought we were partners in every aspect of our lives. Why couldn’t you have told me what was going on?”

“Because it’s a decision I have to make for myself. I wanted no interference.”

Nikki was offended. “ Interference ? What you decide with affect me too. And Kimmie!”

Teddy rubbed his forehead. “I know it will. You don’t think I know that? But Rarsi is right. Even Frankie tried to warn me before I went to work for Pop. Because me and him? We’re like oil and water. We never mixed and we never will.”

Nikki was afraid to ask it. “So does that mean you’re leaving Mick and going to work for Rarsi? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Teddy was afraid to say it. “Seems like,” he said. Then he looked at Nikki.

But Nikki didn’t know what to say either. Until she thought about it. “If you take over the Bengino syndicate, where does that leave me? It’s one thing for me to be the underboss of the Sinatra family because at least by marriage I’m a Sinatra. The Bengino family isn’t about to let me have anything near a leadership role in their organization, let alone be your underboss. There’s no way. If you make this move, where does that leave me, Teddy?”

It was a major question. One Teddy had been processing too. But he knew his answer wasn’t going to be a satisfactory one. But it was something he’d been thinking about for a long, long time. “You’ll either be the new boss of the Sinatra crime family,” he said, “or you’ll be my wife.”

Nikki stared at him with shock in her eyes. Did she hear what she thought she just heard? Was he giving her an ultimatum ?

“Did you say or ?” she asked him.

Teddy couldn’t believe he had said it either. But he had. And he meant it. “Yes,” he said to her, although he knew as soon as he said it that if she remained with Mick and he departed, the chances of their union surviving such a seismic separation would be a resounding zero.