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Teddy and Nikki were out on Mick’s back patio with Big Daddy and Tommy Gabrini. Mick and an army of men decided to take out Denardo’s entire organization. Teddy and Nikki wanted a piece of the action, but Mick wouldn’t allow it. The twins were his children. Denardo’s gang tried to kill his children. This was his job. Reno and Sal were his backup. But he did agree to let Marco ride with them. To see what he was made of, Mick said.

Teddy was on the phone, giving his best friend Monk Paletti an update, when Roz came outside and sat at the table with them. “Kimmie finally fell asleep,” she said.

“What about Duke?” Nikki asked.

“Still running his mouth nonstop. Even Jackie’s tired of him,” she added, and they laughed. “Gloria and Amelia left town because they got tired of him too.” Then Roz smiled. “He’s recovering well, thank God. That’s what matters most.”

“Yes indeed,” Big Daddy said.

Then Roz looked at Tommy. “I’m surprised you’re still here.” Tommy was away from his family, something he rarely did. “I’m not used to seeing you solo this long.”

“I’m pulling out soon too. I just want to make sure they take out Denardo’s gang. But I don’t know how Uncle Mick does it, Roz. He never stops.”

“We told him his lieutenants could handle Denardo’s gang,” said Big Daddy. “Anybody else would have been cool with it. Not my brother. He has to do it himself.”

“And I can understand why,” said Roz, always ready to defend him. “They came for our babies. Now he’s coming for them.”

Tommy and Teddy glanced at each other. They knew taking out an entire syndicate was best handled at the capo level because of the usual casualties that would be involved, but they also knew Roz was right. They came for his babies. He wasn’t contracting that revenge out to anybody. Not even his own men.

“What about you two?” Roz asked. “Did you find Renardo?”

That was Teddy and Nikki’s job: to find their dock supervisor and take care of him. But somebody had beat them to the punch. “We found him,” said Nikki, “with a gunshot to the head.”

Roz was surprised. “Somebody killed him? Or he killed himself?”

“No, it wasn’t suicide,” Nikki said, “and they didn’t try to make it look that way. Whoever did it apparently know that their shit is unraveling and they needed to silence Renardo. So they did.”

Roz shook his head. “I liked the guy. I never would have thought.”

“That’s why you don’t think,” said Tommy, “you do. You background him no matter what.”

Nikki knew Dapper Tom was directing his comment to her, and she accepted it. He was always a straightshooter who didn’t talk as much as Reno or get involved as much as Sal, but when he spoke the family listened. He was, above all of them, a family man to his core.

Then the French doors opened and Marco came outside, a bottle of beer in his hand.

“You guys are back?” Roz asked.

“We’re back,” a happy Marco said.’

“How did it go?” asked Teddy.

“Piece of cake. We took out that outfit in three separate hits, all timed to begin at the same time so there wouldn’t be any pre-warnings. We got’em all.”

“Any of our guys fell?”

“Three were injured. None were killed.”

Everybody at that table sighed relief.

“Where’s Mick?” Roz asked.

“He went upstairs. I think he needs a nap.”

“Oh he needs more than that,” Roz said as she got up and began heading back inside the house. As soon as she left, they laughed.

“They fuck more than rabbits,” Marco said.

“I don’t know where they get the energy,” said Big Daddy.

But Teddy and Nikki said nothing. Their energy was right up there with Pops and Roz, they thought.

But after more conversation, as Reno and Sal joined them, too, the crowd eventually thinned to just Teddy, Nikki, and Marco. And Marco took another sip of his beer and then looked at his father and his stepmother. “I apologize,” he said.

“It’s not an apology if we don’t know what for,” Nikki said.

“For not staying in touch with you guys like I should have. For being caught in my own feelings and figuring Pops didn’t wanna be bothered with me so why should I bother him. That didn’t work out so well for me.”

Nikki smiled. Teddy just sat there. But Nikki knew him. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I want to help you. I’m your father,” he said and then looked at Marco. “I take that role seriously.”

Marco appreciated that. “Yes sir.”

“You’re a member of this family, but you’ve got to act like it. We’re tightknit. We come together no matter what. Look how long the Gabrinis stayed around here. Look at Big Daddy. Monk Paletti’s ready to come if we need him. Brent and Bobby and Tony and Donald and Ashley and Carly, and Bonita: All of Big Daddy’s children are ready to come if they were needed too. That’s the kind of family we are. Even me and my old man get into it more than most. But we come together too. Pop is the first person there when I need him and the last person to leave. I want to be that person for you. But you’ve got to let me.”

Marco was touched. “I will, Pops. I will.”

Then he stood up, and Teddy stood up, and they hugged each other. Nikki was touched.

“Now apologize to my wife for throwing her under the bus,” Teddy said.

Nikki and Marco laughed. But Teddy didn’t crack a smile. Which made Marco realize he wasn’t kidding. “Yes, sir,” he said. And looked at his father’s wife. “I apologize, Nikki, for throwing you under the bus. Although in truth, I don’t think it was that serious. I think I threw you under a car a little bit, but definitely not a bus.”

Nikki shook her head. And then she and Teddy both laughed too.

But then Mick opened the French door. “I thought you were sleep,” Teddy said.

“We got eyes on Denny Bengino,” Mick said. And he didn’t have to say anymore. Teddy, Nikki, and Marco took off behind him.