“Call a meeting for next week,” Micksaid, staring at the coastguard as they continued their rescue efforts. “I want every family under my umbrella here,in Philly, and tell them it’s not optional.”
“Everybody?” Joey asked.
“Everybody,” said Mick. “Except the DiGenovas.”
Joey looked at him. “You think Frankie DiGenova was behind thisshit, Pop?”
“Just do it,” Mick said. Then he handed him the keys to hisEscalade. “And get your cane out of thetrunk of my vehicle. You look ridiculouswith that stick or branch or whatever it is you’re using.”
Joey frowned. “But I didn’t put acane in your truck,” he said.
“I keep one there,” Mick said, “justin case you ever needed it. Go get it.”
Joey took the keys from his fatherwith bewilderment in his eyes. Hisfather would do that for him? He put acane in his truck just in case they were off somewhere and his son neededone? It made him inwardly happy.
But as he walked to his father’s truckwith his stick for support, the pain still excruciating, he was a little pissedtoo. Acts like putting a cane in histrunk in case Joey might need it was what a loving father would do. But why was his love always a secret tothem? Why were all of his children stillamazed when he did something lovingly for them? It shouldn’t be that way, Joey felt. But it had been that way his whole life. And even now, he was still shocked when his father did something thatdemonstrated his love. And that, toJoey, was the tragedy of Mick Sinatra.
Roz saw Joey limping toward Mick’sSUV as she ended her call. It was, atfirst, Gloria who had phoned her. Butthen Billy called and she answered his call. And he wanted to know, as she suspected, if she’d decided yet. But she told him she was in a family emergencyand would talk to him later. She alsotold him she hadn’t made up her mind yet. “Where’s he going?” she asked Mick.
“Who were you talking to?” Mick askedher.
Roz, accustomed to his non-answers toher questions, started not to answer his. But she wasn’t him and, in that respect, didn’t want to be. “It was Gloria,” she said. “She said Security picked them up from themall and she and the twins were back at the house safe and sound. She was checking on Teddy.” Roz wasn’t ready to mention Billy Lancer yet.
Mick’s mind was on his dock crewanyway. He was seething, she could tell,but she knew he had to keep it together because the Feds were already breathingdown his neck. Revenge had to be happen,but very undercover. Even Roz understoodthat.
And then it was Mick’s cellphone thatrang. When he answered and heard thatvoice, he glanced at Roz. And Roz knewwho it was before he said her name. “Bella, I don’t have time,” he said over the phone. Bella was Gloria’s biological mother.
But then he listened as Bella talked,which was Bella’s way. No matter whatMick said, she was going to be heard. And then, when he began talking back to her, he moved away, out ofearshot of Roz, which she didn’t like. But she never tried to ever get in between Mick and his baby mamas. But as the years had come and gone, it wasgetting harder, not easier, for her to accept.
And when the call ended, and Mickreturned by her side, he didn’t say a word. And she knew, if she said something, it would only start anargument. And she wasn’t trying to getinto it with Mick, at a time like that, over Bella Caine. That would be playing right into Bella’shands!
But as they stood there, watching thecoastguard continue to search but turn up nobody lately, Roz realized whatJenay and Amelia and every other woman in the family didn’t seem tounderstand. Being married to Mick wasthe toughest thing any woman would ever have to do. Because he was a man who kept his owncounsel, who shut down debate, who would kick you to the curb if you decided togo your own way. And the fact that hewas the don of all dons, and was always up to his sleepy eye in problems andsituations and one crisis after the other one, was a challenge they couldn’tbegin to understand. Mick was highmaintenance beyond belief. It was afull-time job loving him. But as Roz wasgetting older, she also realized, standing there, that it was wearing her out.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the boatman whohad rescued Mick and Teddy came over and said.
“Oh, hi,” Roz said.
“I don’t mean to be greedy, and Itried to give you folks a chance to settle back down, but a deal is a deal,” hesaid.
“Oh, right!” Roz said. She and Mick both had forgotten. “And you’re correct,” Roz added. “A deal is a deal.” She looked at Mick. “Pay the man,” she said.
“You’re making me pay for my ownrescue?” Mick asked.
Roz smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“How much did you promise him?” Mickasked.
“Just pay whatever you think yourrescue is worth,” Roz said.
“Um, excuse me, ma’am,” the boatmansaid. “But I would prefer if you paid mewhat you think his rescue is worth.”
Roz found that an odd request. “What difference would it make?”
“Because you love him. You probably would put more of a dollar signon his rescue than he would.”
Roz laughed. Even Mick found it amusing. “You’re right about that. How’s twenty-five thousand?” she asked theboatman.
The boatman’s mouth gaped open. “Ah, that’s what I would call big money, yesma’am. You would definitely be keeping your word to the letter if you pay methat amount.”
Roz looked at Mick. “Pay the man,” she said.
Mick was annoyed by what heconsidered an excessive amount, but he also knew he and Ted would have beendead had she, and that boatman, not acted as swiftly as they had. “Do you at least have Zelle?” Mick asked him,and the boatman grinned. He had it.
And as Mick got the man’s phonenumber to do a quick money transfer into his bank account, via Zelle, he didn’teven give that amount a second thought. Roz was not a frivolous person. She wanted him to pay out what she felt the job was worth. But his mind had already moved on.
