CHAPTER THIRTY

The convoy arrived at the Philadelphia airfield amid heightened security as Mick personally supervised the stretcher carrying Bella Caine to the waiting ambulance. Gloria got in the ambulance with her mother, and Mick ordered Nikki to ride shotgun to protect Gloria. Then Mick put Roz on the passenger seat of his Escalade and continued to check out every aspect of the security that would be a part of their convoy to the house.

Roz sat in that SUV and watched her husband work. He was barking out orders, double-checking the ambulance, doing all he could to make certain security was tight and right. And he was checking to make sure Bella was comfortable too.

But Roz didn't mind that either. Because it could have been her. Because Mick cared enough to actually leave the house and check on her, even though it was to make sure she wasn't cheating on him, that move alone saved her from the fate that engulfed Bella. Which only made Roz feel worse for Bella. She had what Bella wanted. She had the man a lot of women wanted. And as Roz watched him, she was grateful to have him.

But that didn't mean she was going to put up with Bella's or Mick's or anybody else's bullshit.

Mick finally got in behind the steering wheel of the Escalade and waited for the ambulance to pull off.

Roz watched him as he sat behind the wheel looking straight ahead, as if he was thinking about a whole lot more than getting everybody safely home.

Then he spoke words that stunned Roz. "She saved my life."

Roz stared at him for a few seconds, unable to even comprehend that statement. "Bella saved your life?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Remember I told you about those men that ambushed me in front of that strip joint years ago when I was just starting out?"

Roz nodded. "I remember."

"Bella worked at that club."

"Bella? Is that how you two met?"

Mick nodded."Yep."

But Roz thought somebody told her they met a different way. But that was beside the point. She wanted to hear how Bella could have possibly saved his life.

"She overheard a group of guys plotting to kill me and instead of just walking away, she ran and stopped me from driving to my death." He looked at Roz. "I never forgot that. That's why I can't just kick her aside."

But Roz wasn't buying it. "I'm sure that's what you tell yourself," she said.

Mick didn't expect her to say those words. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's not why you're doing all of this, Mick. Come on now. That's part of it. A big part of it. But that's not the main reason.

"She's Gloria's mother."

"That's part of it too."

"I care about her."

"You love her," Roz said bluntly.

But Mick wasn't going to be told what he felt. "I care about her. I love you."

"Both things can be true at the same time, Mick. You can love her and love me too."

Mick ran his hands through his hair and then looked at Roz. "You don't get it, do you?"

Roz frowned. "Get what? That you love Bella? Oh I get that shit."

"That nobody, and I mean nobody," Mick emphasized, "means more to me than you do. I may not show it," he added.

"And that's why I may not believe it," Roz responded with brutal honesty, and they stared at each other with a hard, glaring, sad stare.

Then Mick said words that shocked Roz again. "Some bargain you got being with me."

Roz actually smiled. Because it was the truth. "I'm no bargain either," she said, and Mick managed to smile.

"You're the glue of our family, Roz."

"You're the glue of our family, Mick."

"You know what that means?"

"What?"

"If we're both the glue, which is odd as fuck," he said and Roz laughed. "But if we're both the glue, then that must mean we're stuck together."

Roz had never thought of it that way. "I guess we are," she said as the ambulance and the large contingent of security vehicles began driving off.

Mick, regaining his no-nonsense face, drove off too.