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Marco and Vivian were in Mick’s massive backyard playing out on the basketball courts when Teddy and Nikki made their way across the lawn.

“They’re back,” Marco said as he dropped the ball and began hurrying toward them. Vivian hurried behind him.

“How did it go?” Marco asked them.

But Teddy was in no mood for discussions out there. “You and you,” he said, pointing at both young men, “come with me.”

Nikki fell in line behind both of them as they followed Teddy inside.

Marco was confused, but he didn’t say anything. One thing he knew for sure about his father was that he didn’t play. Something had happened. And that something involved his best friend, he was willing to bet on it. But what was it?

And the fact that Vivian didn’t put up any resistance nor asked any questions, concerned Marco, too, as they followed his father across the lawn to one of the guest houses in the far east corner of the property.

Inside the guest house waiting were the family heads: Mick and Big Daddy, and Reno, Sal, and Tommy. They were all standing in a line. Two chairs were in front of them. Teddy plopped Vivian down in the chair. Marco sat down beside him. Then Teddy and Nikki went and stood in front of the chairs too.

“What happened?” Marco asked them.

“When did you plan on telling us that you worked for the Bengino family too?” Mick asked Vivian.

Marco was floored. “He what ?” Then he looked at Vivian. “You worked for the Bengino crew?”

“I did a few jobs for Denny before I left Philly. That’s all.”

“What kind of jobs?”

“I ran product to South America. But that’s all I did. I don’t know nothing about no ambush or no explosions. I wasn’t involved in any of that shit.”

But Marco was suspicious now too. “Sure about that?”

“I’m positive. How would I know about how to explode a big cargo freighter? I can’t even swim, but yet I’m gonna plant a bomb beneath a boat? It’s not possible!”

Everybody looked at each other. Even Marco saw the problem.

“That’s the thing, Vivian,” Teddy said. “How would you know where that bomb was planted?”

Marco stared at his friend.

“It was never made public,” Nikki added.

“But somehow you knew about it,” said Reno. “How could that be, Vivian?”

Vivian suddenly had nothing to say. But Marco was livid. He angrily grabbed Vivian up by his shirt and ran with him until he slammed him against the wall. “You mean to tell me you were plotting against my family?”

“I didn’t do nothing though!” Vivian proclaimed. “They wanted me to, but I didn’t do nothing though!”

“Who wanted you to?” Mick asked him. “Who?”

“My brother roped me in.”

Teddy frowned. “Who’s your brother?”

Vivian didn’t want to snitch on his own blood, but he knew he had no choice. “Your dock supervisor. Renardo.”

As soon as Nikki heard the name, her heart dropped. “ Renardo ?”

“Renardo is your brother?” asked an astounded Teddy.

“Same father, different mothers. He’s the one that recruited me to do it.”

“To do what?” Marco asked him. Mick could tell he was still floored by the news too.

“He recruited me to help Denny Bengino take out three of your old man’s capos. He didn’t care which ones. Just as long as they were made-men and high up in the pecking order. We were instructed to make all three look like separate suicides.”

Mick’s jaw tightened, and so did Teddy’s, but they held their peace. They needed answers. Then they’d get their reward.

“Renardo was behind it?” Nikki asked.

“He paid us after the job was finished. He paid Denny, anyway, and Denny paid me.”

“How much?” Marco asked.

“Not as much as he promised.”

Marco slammed his back against the wall. “How much?!”

“A hundred grand a piece,” said Vivian, wincing from the pain.

Marco exhaled, and looked at his father and uncles.

“That ain’t chump change,” Reno said.

“After he paid you,” Teddy said, “what else he asked you to do?”

“Nothing.”

Marco slammed him again.

“He told me to keep an eye on Marco. That’s all!”

“Marco? Why?” asked Teddy. “Was he your next target?”

Vivian shook his head. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t have been that simple.”

“Damn right it wouldn’t have been,” said an angry Marco.

“I mean they didn’t tell me the plans. They just gave me that one assignment, paid me, and that was that.”

“You were successful,” said Teddy. “There’s no way they’re going to get rid of you. Now what was your next job?”

“I’m telling you I didn’t have one yet.”

“Not yet hun?” asked Nikki.

Vivian was beside himself. He was not supposed to be exposed!

Teddy began heading for Vivian. “What was your next job, asshole?” he asked him.

“I didn’t have one,” Vivian yelled out quickly. “Renardo told me to wait and see.”

“When did he tell you that?” Teddy asked him.

“A couple days ago.”

Marco stared at his two-timing friend. “Is that why you were so insistent on coming with me to Philly? Was that the reason, Viv?”

Vivian looked Marco dead in the eyes, with regret in his eyes. “That was the reason. Yes.”

Rage engulfed Marco and he leaned back and began punching his friend. Nobody stopped him as he beat him down to his knees.

“Kick his ass,” Mick said. He deserved it after what he did to their capos.

But Marco needed no encouragement. It was betrayal of the highest order for him. He beat his friend all the way down to the floor.

But then Teddy stepped in when Vivian, now in a fetal position on the floor, started coughing up blood. “Don’t kill him,” he said and pulled his son up and away from him. “We may need him later.”

Then Teddy looked at Mick. “What you think, Pop?”

“Stonegate,” Mick said. Stonegate was one of Mick’s most isolated safe houses.

“But Rarsi’s over there. You want him in the same house as Potts?”

Mick looked at Teddy with his infamous I said what I said look.

It was an odd decision to Teddy, but he didn’t argue with it. His judgement all week so far was shot. He had to rely on his old man’s. Teddy nodded to the two capos in the room and they stood up Vivian and dragged him out of the guest house.

But Mick looked at Teddy and Nikki. “Which one of you made Renardo supervisor?”

“I did.” Teddy knew the fallout. He spoke up before Nikki could.

But Nikki wasn’t about to let him take the fall for her. “I did,” she said.

“You again,” said Reno. “If it’s not you screwing up, it’s Teddy. What’s the matter with the two of you all of a sudden? Better get your acts together. That’s what you better do.”

“For real,” Sal agreed.

“You work people to exhaustion,” said Tommy, “and that’s what happens. They screw up.”

Dapper Tom was right, and everybody in that room knew it, but Teddy and Nikki were accustomed to the Gabrinis being tough on them even when they didn’t screw up. The Gabrinis were just old-school that way. But they did screw up. They took the criticisms because they had it coming to them.

“Why didn’t you send Renardo’s name over to Tech-quarters to run a background, Nikki?” Mick asked her. “They cross-check for connections, that’s the point of a background. Because Vivian is affiliated with Marco, Marco’s name would have come up. And we would have had Vivian’s ass dead to rights before he pulled this shit.”

“When I promoted him, he was already working at the docks,” Nikki said. “He already had background completed.”

Mick frowned. “You always run a new one before promotions. You know that, Nikki!”

“I didn’t know it,” Nikki said defensively, “or I would have done it.”

“You did know it.”

“I didn’t.”

Mick was incense. “If your ass didn’t know to run a new background on a promoted dock hand, then what are you doing as my underboss?”

“I’m not your underboss, I’m Teddy’s,” Nikki fired back.

But that only added fuel to Mick’s fire. “What the fuck that’s supposed to mean? What syndicate Teddy owns? Which one? Where is it? Answer that, motherfucker!”

“Okay, Pop, that’s enough!” Teddy stepped in before it got violent. “What’s done, is done. It’s done now.”

Mick was floored by that too. “What the fuck you mean it’s done now? My children could have been killed!”

“I know that. You think Nikki doesn’t know that too? But you will not put all that at Nikki’s feet. This shit ain’t Nikki’s fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?” Sal asked.

“It’s mine!” Teddy yelled so loud that it felt like pure pain. Nikki placed her arm around his waist.

“But Nikki should have done a deep background before she promoted the guy,” said Marco. “That’s just the truth.”

Teddy looked at him angrily. “What do you mean she should have done a deep background when your ass didn’t do it before you brought Vivian around our family!”

“How was I to know he would do something like that? I’ve known him for years.”

“And Nikki’s known Renardo for years. So don’t try to put that shit all on her.”

“I’ll put it on anybody I wanna put it on,” Marco shot back. “If she would have done her job, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Period! The twins would have never been in that ambush.”

“Don’t you dare!” Teddy said as he grabbed Marco and both men were going for each other. Teddy grabbed Marco’s shirt. Marco grabbed Teddy’s shirt and tried to wrestle with him, too, but the men fought to keep them apart. Even Nikki was yelling for Teddy to let go.

But he wouldn’t. And Marco wouldn’t. And all of them fell over a table and ended up on the floor. Teddy was still holding onto his son, Maro was still holding onto his father, and everybody else was still trying to tear them apart.

Everybody except Mick.

It looked to Nikki that he wanted them to fight it out the way he and Teddy had fought. But she was looking at it wrong. Mick didn’t want them to fight at all. He was immobile because that guilt was weighing him down. Because Teddy had the same strained, anguished relationship with Marco that Mick had with Teddy. That no child of Mick’s represented his successes, and great failures, the way Teddy did.

But Big Daddy and the Gabrinis were finally able to wrestle control when they managed to pry Marco’s hands from Teddy and Teddy’s hands from Marco. And they all were able to stand back up.

“Everybody settle down,” Big Daddy said. “And I mean everybody!” Then he settled down himself. “Mick, put in the call to bring Renardo in. Teddy, you and Nikki get out of here. Go to bed. Tommy’s right. You two look like you’re dead on your feet. And Marco you stay away from them. At least for now. We’ll figure this out after everybody’s had some rest. Now get out of here!”

Nikki took Teddy and hurriedly left. She didn’t want her husband fighting with his son because she knew Teddy. He wasn’t like Mick in that regard. He couldn’t just brush that shit off. That would devastate him. And Big Daddy was right: they could barely stand up. She gladly got her husband out of there.

And Marco, who couldn’t believe he was ready to fight his own father, got out of there as well. His best friend betrayed him? He needed air.

And the Gabrinis, who rarely seen drama like the Sinatras laid it down, left too.

But Mick stayed back. After making the call to bring Renardo in, he looked at Big Daddy. To Big Daddy, Mick looked lost. His trademark defiant look was gone. “It’s my fault. Isn’t it?”

Big Daddy had to take a moment to exhale. “What part of it?”

“All of it.”

“Let’s look at that. The fact that you’ve been working Teddy and Nikki as if they were Hebrew slaves isn’t in question. The fact that you’ve been setting them up to make all kinds of errors and display all kinds of poor judgement because their asses are always too exhausted isn’t in question either. The fact that I’ve told you time and time again to ease up on those two, and to force Teddy to delegate more, then yes. It’s absolutely your fault. Who else’s fault can it be?”

Mick knew Charles would tell it to him straight like Roz would. But that didn’t mean he wanted to hear it.

“But the real question is,” Big Daddy said, “what are you going to do about it?”

Mick didn’t have to think long. Or at all. “After we catch every one of the assholes that tried to kill my children, I’ll deal with it then. But right now? I don’t give a fuck.”

Mick left the guesthouse too.

Big Daddy watched Mick leave. He had to raise him and their now-deceased sister because of their dysfunctional parents. And because of that influence, he knew Mick got a lot of his ways from him. But Mick took it to another level. So much so that it made Big Daddy feel a chill down his spine just watching him. He’d never, not in all his years on earth, seen a colder human being than he saw in the eyes of his own kid brother. But yet, he’d go through fire for his family. He’d die for them. It was a chasm of contradiction unlike any Big Daddy had ever seen. He’d never known anybody like Mick.