CHAPTER EIGHT

The next morning, Roz, showered and dressed and ready for work, was at the table being served by their chef when Duke and Jackie, dressed for school, came into the dining hall.

"Hey Ma," Jackie said as she gave Roz a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Mom," Duke said as he did the same. "What did Daddy say?"

"About what?"

"Ma! About the deep background check on all those people at that restaurant?"

"Oh. I don't know. He was still asleep when I got up."

"I'll go ask him," Duke said.

"No," Roz said, getting up while taking another bite of her croissant. "I'll ask." She knew he was still naked from that marathon session they had last night. "You and J eat breakfast."

"Yes, ma'am," Duke said as Chef brought them plates of food too.

Upstairs Mick was awake and on the phone, but still in bed. Which was always odd for Roz to see. He ran a massive corporation. He ran the Sinatra Crime Family although Teddy and Nikki ran the day-to-day. And he still had to be the point person for the entire family's security. How he did it all was a mystery to Roz. But it always kept him going. He rarely slept in. Roz sat beside him on the edge of the bed.

"No knowledge at all?" Mick was speaking on the phone.

It was Nikki on the other end. "No knowledge whatsoever. He was offended that I even asked him about it."

But Mick still wasn't ready to dismiss it. He knew Beppie too well. And he had checked it out: four million dollars were indeed deposited in an offshore account owned by Beppie. "Bring him in," Mick said.

"Bring Monk Paletti in?" Nikki asked as if she couldn't believe the directive. Behind only Mick himself and Sal Gabrini, Monk Paletti, the head of the Bonaducci Crime Family, was considered the third most powerful mob boss in the world. Nobody handled him. "You want me to order Frankie to come to Philly?"

"You don't order him to do anything. He's not going to take an order from you. Tell him I want a face to face. Tell him I'm ordering it."

"Yes, sir. When sir?"

"Tonight."

"Where? Here at the docks?"

"No. Bring him to S.I. Ten pm. I should have some time to set aside then."

"Yes, sir," Nikki said with a sigh in her voice. It was going to be another long night for her. But Mick never worried about that. It was the nature of their family business and if she or Teddy or anybody else in high office couldn't handle it, then that was their problem that they had to work out on their own. Mick loved Nikki, but he was nobody's father confessor. He ended the call.

"Who was that?" Roz asked him.

"Nikki."

"Who does she have to bring to Sinatra Industries ten tonight?"

Mick hesitated. "It's a need to know," he said.

"And I don't need to know?"

He hesitated again. "That's right."

"Okay. Fine. When I start doing my undercover shit, you aren't gonna need to know either. See how that works out for you."

Mick looked at her. "Your ass better not have any undercover shit to do." Then he stared at her. "What undercover shit you got to do?"

"It's a need to know, and your ass don't need to know," Roz said and grinned.

But Mick didn't crack a smile. He didn't find it humorous at all. One of the biggest issues he had was worrying if some young stud was going to one day take his wife away from him. She was, after all, younger than Mick. She was, after all, around a lot of hot guys in her profession. She was and always would be, in Mick's eyes, that girl . But he was the master at hiding his true feelings. "The twins left for school?" he asked her instead.

"They just sat down for breakfast. They wanted to know if you heard anything on deep background yet."

"I got an all-clear there too. Seems the employee was some waitress the now-deceased shooter dated. They broke up a week ago, he wanted her back, he believed the manager was her new boyfriend, and yada yada. You weren't the target."

"So the kids are free to hang out with their friends after school today?"

"Yes."

"And I'm free to go to my office today?"

"Yes."

"And I'm right to assume you won't be home any time soon tonight given this late meeting you've scheduled with whomever?"

Mick hesitated once again. "Right," he said. "Now move," he said as he removed the covers off of his naked body. As soon as Roz saw his penis, she wanted him again. But she knew it was too late.

When she hesitated, he looked at her. "What are you doing? Move. I've got to get ready for work."

Roz stood up and watched as Mick got out of bed. Unlike most men, he seemed more virile and even more attractive to her the older he got. And she was becoming more needy for his affection the older she got. So much so that she wanted to hug him and tell him how much she loved him right then and there, but she knew it would be awkward and weird because he would see it more as weakness on her part rather than affection. And he loathe weakness and wasn't all that crazy about affection. That was why she didn't touch him or say any words of love to him. She let him go.

But he stopped his progression when he saw that look in her eyes, which was more than he used to do. "You okay?" he asked her.

She wanted to scream no , she was not okay. But she knew Mick too well. She nodded her head.

He studied her for a moment longer. He knew she wasn't okay. He couldn't remember the last time she was. But he saw it as something she had to work out on her own. And he went into the bathroom, closed the door, and left her standing there.

But once inside the bathroom, and as he stood at the commode peeing long and hard, he leaned his head back thinking about Roz, and wishing he wasn't such an asshole.