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It only took one phone call to one of the capos assigned to Teddy’s security last night for Nikki to get a photo of Caitlan Downs. It was always their job to photograph anybody that came near Teddy that they didn’t know outright, and one of the capos had done just that. He text the photo and, since Teddy had ordered him to get two men to her address last night to rough up the male that lived there, he sent her the address too.

She sat in her sleek Porsche Panamera looking at the photo. A beautiful woman with short red hair and small eyes. And skinny as a rail just like Teddy used to like them. That wasn’t his preference anymore. Nikki was full-figured and she noticed him checking out full-figured girls far more than he checked out the slender ones. Quinn and Ann said it was because they reminded him of Nikki. Although Nikki didn’t know if that was true, she did know he was far more down with the swirl now than he used to be, based on which ladies his eyes roamed to the most. It was a different day for Teddy.

But it was that kiss that concerned Nikki, a kiss he didn’t deny when she brought it up. And the fact that he allowed some woman he supposedly hadn’t seen in years to drink from his drink like she was still his woman. That bothered her too.

So much so that now that she had the woman’s address she put her car in gear and took off. She decided to pay her a visit. Not because she was scared of losing Teddy to her or anything that serious. She knew Teddy loved her deeply and it would take far more than some female batting her pretty eyes at him to take him away from his wife and daughter. But that woman did provoke something inside of Teddy. She saw it in his eyes after they made love in the shower and she confronted him. She had to find out for herself what that provocation was, and if this woman meant him (or their marriage) any harm. Her motto nowadays? Nip shit in the bud before shit had a chance to come out. She wanted a face to face with this bitch.

Based on the address, Caitlan lived on the Main Line in suburban Philadelphia and Nikki found her residence with ease. A nice home, although modest by Sinatra standards, Nikki parked on the street in front of the house, but further back from the driveway as if she was just somebody parked on the street or somebody visiting the next door neighbor.

But once she got to her destination she wondered if it was a good idea to be there after all. What could be gained by confronting this woman? She’d come off like some pathetic wife afraid of losing her man, which would give the other woman instant credibility. As if she was actually Nikki’s rival for Teddy’s affections. As if she stood a chance with Nikki’s man. But Nikki saw that look in Teddy’s eyes. She had to know what pull that woman had on him.

But it still wasn’t a slam dunk for Nikki. She still had her reservations about this bold stroke of genius, or insanity , of hers. In the past, when she heard rumors of some woman showing interest in Teddy, she’d just let it play itself out. What was the change now? Was it only that look she saw in Teddy’s eyes? Or was it Nikki getting older, and wiser, and knowing firsthand that females nowadays would burn down the whole house if they couldn’t have the man inside of it.

While she was contemplating her decision, a car sped past her and turned into the driveway at Caitlan Downs’ home. Nikki sat and watched as the woman she recognized from the photo as Caitlan got out of the car and began to head toward the front door. Based on the club-type clothing she was wearing, it appeared as if she had been out all night. She hadn’t been with Teddy because Teddy was fast asleep in bed when Nikki left the house to go check out a few leads on who might be sending threats of retaliation that had their dockside ships on standby all week. Teddy had leads. She had leads. And a strike against a likely target was being planned. But neither Teddy nor Nikki were one hundred percent comfortable that they had the right target.

After she checked out the leads that led nowhere, she thought about that woman from last night and decided to get what info she could get on her. And that led to this: Nikki parked outside the woman’s home watching the woman walk toward her front door. She looked even better than her photo. Which didn’t help Nikki’s state at all. But it was what it was. She unbuckled her seatbelt. Now, she felt, would be a good time to introduce herself.

But before she could open her car door, the front door of Caitlan’s house flew open and a man, who appeared to be badly beaten himself, came rushing out of the house. He grabbed Caitlan by her bone-thin arm, yelling at her, and flung her inside the house. But when Nikki saw him slap Caitlan to the floor as he was slamming the door shut, she grabbed her gun out of her glove compartment, hopped out of her car, and in her slacks and tucked-in sleeveless blouse and heels, she ran across the lawn to the front door.

Even though she knew Teddy was going to kick her ass, she’d seen too many attacks in her lifetime to know a domestic situation that could become a homicide situation in a heartbeat. And although it felt strange that she would be running to the rescue of a woman who just might want to upend her life with Teddy, she couldn’t sit by and let it happen. Homewrecking was bad, but it was no capital offense.

The front door had been slammed so hard by that man that it had slightly bounced back open. That was why, as soon as Nikki ran up to the door, she could hear a woman’s voice screaming from inside. It was a shockingly scary scream.

With her weapon by her side, she flung the door all the way open and immediately saw the man lift Caitlan in the air and then body-slammed her to the floor. She screamed out in pain. He immediately picked up a bat as if he was about to finish her off.

“Drop it right now!” Nikki yelled out at the man as she hurried toward him, her Glock aimed directly at him.

Surprised, he turned around quickly, saw Nikki, and then before she could react he took that bat and knocked that gun out of her hand, causing the gun to scurry across the floor and underneath the sofa. And he kept coming for her.

Nikki grabbed hold of that bat, too, and they struggled for control. But when Nikki realized he was far stronger than her and would eventually take control of that bad, she decided to hold onto him, lift him up, and then she did as he had done to Caitlan and body-slammed him to the floor.

As he writhe in pain, she straddled his body by sitting on top of him, grabbed that bat, and slammed it against his neck, effectively choking him. Caitlan, seeing her chance to flee, ran out of the house.

The man struggled, moving his body side to side as he fought to break free and to remove that bat from his neck.

He was strong enough and scared enough to remove the bat, and then he knocked Nikki off of him and attempted to get on top of her. But she was fast of foot, much faster than he was, and she was able to get on her feet and with that positioning take back that bat and beat him down.

At first it was still a struggle as he continued to try to get up and take that bat away from her, but the more she beat on him the less of a threat he became. But she didn’t let up. Now she was angry at his ass, and was screaming at him, and she wasn’t going to stop beating on him until he had no fight left in him.

By the time Teddy and his bodyguard had arrived at the house and ran inside, the man was unconscious.

“Nikki!” Teddy called out and ran to her. She was standing there, breathing heavily, as Teddy took the now-bloody bat from her and tossed it aside. His bodyguard checked the man’s pulse. It was still strong.

Nikki, now exhausted, plopped down on the coffee table. That was when Teddy saw the blood on her.

“You’re bleeding,” he said to her as he lifted her chin and realized it was a nosebleed. “Hold your head back,” he ordered her.

“I’m okay.”

“Like hell you are. Hold your head back,” Teddy ordered again as he pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it against her nose. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to her.”

“Talk about what? And didn’t I say hold your head back?”

Nikki leaned her head back as far as it could go. “I wanted to introduce myself.”

“Why? What the fuck you need to introduce yourself to her for? I told you it was nothing.”

“You also told me our guys were going to handle him.”

“They did handle him.”

“They did a lousy job,” she said, her head leaning forward and Teddy pushing it back.

“Hold your head back!” he yelled at her again. Then he exhaled as she held her head back once again. “When I heard you screaming when I was running up to this house, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. You scared the shit out of me.” Then he began rubbing her back with one hand as he nursed her bloody nose with his other hand. “You scared the shit out of me,” he said again as if he was coming to the realization himself that his wife in the field was spooking him more, not less, as time went by.