Page 36 of Teddy Sinatra: Go Your Own Way
“They shot at us and everything, Marco,” Jackie said. “Then Duke crashed the car, but only because he was trying to get away from all those bullets.Oh Marco!” She hugged him again. “I still can’t believe they hurt my brother like that.”
“You know what I still can’t believe?” said Marco, attempting to ease her anxiety.
Jackie pulled back. “What?”
“That you’re my auntie.”
At first it seemed so out of nowhere that Jackie didn’t know how to take it, but then Marco smiled that charming smile she adored and she began laughing too.
“That’s your auntie?” the young man with him asked with a grin on his face. “She’s younger than you are, Markie.”
“I know, right?” Marco stood upright. “Ain’t that some bull?”
“You must be Vivian.”
Marco and the young man with him turned toward the sound of Teddy’s voice. “Yes sir,” the young man said. “And you must be Teddy T.”
Mick leaned his head back and gave the young man a hard look as if he should know better than to disrespect the head of the Sinatra syndicate.
Vivian realized he was referring to Teddy the way Marco referred to him when he wasn’t in Teddy’s presence. “I mean you must be Mr. Sinatra,” he corrected himself. “Nice to meet you, sir. Sorry about the circumstances though.”
“And who are you?” Roz asked with that accusatory tone she was known for.
“My bad, Ma,” Marco said. “Let me introduce you to my family, Viv. You met my dad. This man right here is my grandfather.”
“I know who he is,” Vivian said, grinning again. “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Sinatra, sir. I heard nothing but amazing things about you.”
“Amazing?” Mick was frowning as if the word itself was insulting. “What’s amazing about me?”
Vivian lifted his eyebrows in a deer-in-headlights moment as he realized he had put his foot in it again.
“They’re a tough crowd,” Marco said to Vivian. “Just remember that. And that old broad over there,” Marco said with a grin of his own as he motioned toward Roz. Jackie and Nikki and Gloria couldn’t help it. They burst into laughter. Even Roz smiled, which was hard to do in those circumstances. But Marco was always good for a laugh.
“That’s my granddad’s wife,” Marco continued his introductions. “I would call her my step-grandma, but she’s too young and restless and bold and beautiful for that.”
“Child bye,” said Roz, dismissing her step-grandson. “What kind of name is that for a boy?” she asked Vivian.
“I was named after my dad. It’s a family name.”
“But beyond her sassiness,” Marco continued, which got Nikki and Jackie and Gloria laughing again, “she’s not too bad.”
Mick spoke up. “Careful,” he said, although there was no malice in his voice.
“I’m just joking, Sir. I know not to disrespect your wife. I know it’ll be my body print through wall if I was to be that crazy.” Then Marco’s look changed. He turned serious. “Which brings us to Duke and Jackie’s ambush. Who could bethatcrazy?”
The Sinatras weren’t about to speak of anything related to the family with a stranger in the room.
That was why Nikki changed the subject. “When you would call and talk about Vivian,” Nikki said, “I wasn’t sure if he was your friend or worked for you.”
“He’s both. He’s my best friend and he works for me. He’s my righthand man. He’s my underboss.”
“Your ass don’t have an underboss,” Teddy said.
“You do,” Marco replied.
“You aren’t me,” Teddy fired back.
“Yes I am,” Marco fired back, and Mick gave him a hard look. Because he knew that young man was, in a lot of ways, just like Teddy. And he knew they were both, in a lot of ways, just like him.
