Page 48 of Teddy Sinatra: Go Your Own Way
“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.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Teddy was already in bed when Nikki, in her bathrobe, came back into the room.
“How’s Duke?” he asked her.
“Still running his mouth. You’d think nothing ever happened to him the way he’s going at it. I remember the days when you would have to stay in the hospital for weeks after surgery. Now he’s out in two days and acting like he’s completely healed.”
“He isn’t though.”
“I know that. But he doesn’t. He’s resilient.”
“And young and dumb,” Teddy added.
Nikki smiled. “I’m just happy he’s doing so well.”
Teddy nodded. “Me too. What about our ball and chain? How she’s doing?”
“She’s sleep. I was talking with her nanny. She doesn’t feel anything that’s happened has affected her in any way. But I’ll keep making certain she stays away from it as much as possible.”
