Page 24

Two days later and Duke Sinatra was transported from the hospital, under the heaviest security, to his father’s vast compound for in-home medical care under the supervision of their family physician and his staff. Even while he was still in the hospital he had been recovering well above expectations. He was thrilled to be back home, and the whole family was thrilled to have him back.

While all of the other young people were gathered together in his room laughing and talking with him, and while Vivian was allowed out back on the basketball courts under the watchful eye of grounds security, Marco was in Mick’s office with the other heads of the family: The Gabrinis, Big Daddy, Nikki and Teddy, and Roz and Amelia. Marco gladly joined the conversation.

Mick was seated behind the desk. Roz was seated on the arm of his desk chair. Since Duke and Jackie were back home where they belonged, there was an air of lightness to Roz again. She was still worried because the perps had to be caught, which was always dangerous, but she was at least no longer worried about her kids.

Big Daddy, Amelia, Tommy, Reno, and Sal and Nikki and Marco were all seated in front of the desk. Teddy was leaned against the wall, the back of his shoe pressed against it too, as he folded his arms. He wanted those fuckers even worse than his father did.

“What about Denardo?” asked Sal Gabrini. He was a mob boss too. He understood the stakes better than most. “Teddy told me he was on the radar for fake-suiciding your three capos even before that explosion happened. Why haven’t we gone after that outfit?”

“Same reason we’re still waiting on intel to go after Bengino’s outfit,” said Teddy. “We need more proof.”

“I can understand about Bengino’s syndicate,” said Reno. The Gabrinis had been briefed on why they didn’t just tear that syndicate down first and ask questions later. “But Denardo’s gang isn’t in that league. We can take them out in an afternoon.”

“Yeah but once you start taking out bad guys that might not have been involved with this shit,” said Teddy, “then you know what that becomes.”

“What it already is,” said Sal. “A shitshow. Led by you, Teddy. And you Nikki. Because your asses dropped the ball.” Sal frowned. “You didn’t tell Uncle Mick about those so-called suicides? On what planet was that okay? Had that been my guys I would have fired every one of them on the spot.”

“Pop did fire me,” Teddy said.

“And rightly so,” said Reno.

“Was that why Potts was recruiting you?” asked Sal.

“Nope,” said Mick. “He was recruiting Teddy before any of this happened.”

“Behind your back?” asked Reno. “And you still trust that motherfucker?”

“It wasn’t behind my back,” said Mick. “Potts told me about it before he approached Teddy.”

“And you allowed it?”

Mick hesitated. “Yes. I’m not making him stay where he doesn’t want to be.”

Reno shook his head. “I love you, Uncle Mick, but you’re a stubborn fucker. Not counting you or me or Tommy, but Teddy is the best leader of men I’ve ever seen.”

“Better than me?” asked Sal.

“I don’t know how to break this to you,” said Reno to Sal, “but Peewee Herman would have been better than you.”

Those in the room laughed. “Ah fuck you, Reno!” Sal proclaimed.

Mick’s desk intercom buzzed. He pressed the button. “Yeah?”

“Johnny Boreau is here at the gate, sir. He asks to be admitted in.”

“Send him through,” Mick said and leaned back.

And within a couple minutes, Boreau was entering the office. With news.

“It’s been confirmed, sir,” he said, “that Hal Janantoni did work for the Bengino gang. And that’s a hard confirm.”

“What about Potter Rarsi?” asked Nikki. “Was he the one who hired him?”

“That we haven’t been able to establish. Nobody’s talking over there. Their outfit is about as closed as Mr. Sinatra’s syndicate. Which meant we had to go elsewhere to get answers, which means all we got is a bunch of speculation. Was he recruited by Denny Bengino or Potter Rarsi or even Old Man Bengino? We flat don’t know yet.”

“Potts is boss over there, not Denny,” said Teddy, “and Claudio Bengino hasn’t hired anybody in years. If Janantoni worked there, then it was Potts that hired him or allowed him to be hired. Potts would have had to approve it.”

Mick and Teddy looked at each other. And Teddy knew what that meant. He pulled out his cellphone and waited for Potter Rarsi to answer. Teddy had the call on Speaker.

“Teddy T, how you be? I heard about what happened. How’s everybody doing over there? Everybody okay? The twins okay?”

“I don’t know about okay,” Teddy responded, “but they survived.”

“At least that’s good news.”

“I need your help, Potts.”

“Anything I can do.”

“Pops is going nuts over here after what happened, as you can imagine.”

“Knowing your father? Yes, I can imagine.”

Mick’s eyes hardened, but he said nothing.

“He wants me to hit Denardo,” Teddy continued, “but I keep telling him I don’t have enough intel to hit anybody. But you know how he is.”

Teddy, and everybody else in that room, glanced at Mick again. Mick remained expressionless.

“Can we meet?” Teddy asked.

“Will I be wasting my time again?”

“The way Pop’s blaming me for all this shit? Hell no.”

“Now you’re singing my tune. Where and when?”

“Same place. And now. I’m on my way.” He ended the call.

Teddy held the phone in his hands momentarily, as if he knew this could go sideways, but then he began to leave.

“Ted?”

It was Mick’s voice. He turned around.

“Keep it under control. We have questions. We have no answers. I want answers. No more fuck-ups.”

“Well damn,” Marco said.

Everybody could see that Teddy was offended. “I’ll get you answers,” he said.

But Mick saw that rage in Teddy’s eyes. He had too many points to prove, which could cause him to go off on Rarsi if Rarsi wasn’t giving it to him straight. But now was not the time. “Take Nikki with you,” he ordered.

Teddy frowned. “What are you talking, Pop? I always meet him alone. I have to meet him alone or he’ll know something’s up.”

“He already knows something’s up. My got damn kids were ambushed, that’s what’s up! Nikki, go with him.”

Nikki immediately rose to her feet. She wanted to back Teddy up anyway.

But Teddy didn’t want his wife in any line of danger. Not after what happened to the twins. “I’m going alone, Pop. That’s how we’ve always met.”

“Tell him Nikki’s onboard too. Tell him he get one, he gets the other one. You’re a tag team. Whatever the fuck you have to tell him, you tell him. He’ll understand that. Go.”

Teddy still didn’t like it, but he’d rather have Nikki with him than anybody else. They began to leave.

“I’ll go too,” Marco said.

“No hell you won’t,” said Teddy.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know your ass like that. Out there in California doing whoknowswhat while I’m around here worrying about your ass. Yet you think I’m taking you on a run with me?” Everybody was staring at Teddy. Nikki knew Teddy didn’t realize how much he was revealing in those few words he spoke. “You won’t even pick up a phone and give me a call, but yet you wanna run with me?”

“How many phones have you picked up to call me?” Marco fired back.

Teddy and Marco stared at each other. Mick stared at them both. It was a cycle so vicious that it made his stomach churn. Because he knew he started that cycle.

“Let’s go, Nikki,” Teddy said firmly, stared at his son a moment longer, and then left the office.

Nikki glanced at Marco, too, but hurried behind Teddy.

Mick got up as soon as they walked out and went to his arms cabinet. Opening it, Marco was amazed by the amount of firepower he saw. Mick began to load up. The Gabrinis, without being told a thing, began to load up with weaponry too.

Marco was lost. “What’s going on?”

“They’re going to be backup for Teddy and Nikki,” Ameila said calmly.

“Back up? But does he even know where they’re going to meet?”

Amelia looked at Marco with that sidelong, you got to be kidding look.

“What was I thinking? You’re right. Boss knows,” Marco said, and Amelia laughed. But it was no laughing matter to Roz.

Mick glanced at her after he loaded up and was about to leave. She had nothing to say to him. She was tired of all these strikes then retribution, strikes then retribution. Another vicious cycle Mick started.

And since Mick was tired of it too, but said nothing to her, either, as he left.

It was understood without a word being spoken that Big Daddy, Amelia, and Marco would stay back to protect the home front as Reno, Sal, and Tommy Gabrini followed Mick.