She looked over at Mick, who wasleaned against another back wall on the other side of the ballroom, seeminglynot giving her a second thought. Whyshould she mope around worrying about him? She went back to the dance train. She even called upon her immense acting abilities and managed to smile agreat big beautiful smile, although she was hardly joyous.
But Charles was so upset he couldn’teven fake it. He walked over to hisyounger brother. “What do you thinkyou’re doing? She came to apologize!”
“Sure about that?” Mick said.
“Yes, I’m sure! Why else would she go stand beside yourbitter ass?”
Mick had a darn good reason why, buthe wasn’t sharing it with his brother.
Charles exhaled. “Don’t be an asshole, Michello,” he said.
A part of Mick hardened. He wasn’t accustomed to anybody speaking tohim that way. “Don’t know what you meanby that,” he responded.
“Don’t be an asshole on Amelia’swedding day. That’s what I mean! Our baby sister did you one big, wonderfulsolid. She changed her wedding song tohelp you and Roz.” And Amelia had. Their kid sister had changed her aisle-walksong to Stevie Wonder’s version of For Once in My Life, which everybodyknew was Mick and Roz’s song, when news broke around the family that thecouple’s marriage was in freefall. Nobody knew what was wrong, except Big Daddy, but they all had eyes, andthey all could feel the chill a mile away. “Amelia deserves to know that you two are at least having a conversationbefore she leaves for her honeymoon,” Charles added.
“This has nothing to do with Mandy,”Mick said. Amanda, Mandy, and Milliewere all Amelia’s nicknames. “This hasnothing to do with you either, Charles. This is between Rosalind and myself.”
“Like hell it is!” Charlesresponded. “People make mistakes,Mick. Just like your ass do all thetime. But when it was you who was on theother side of the grill, Roz would at least hear what you had to say. You need to talk to her.”
“I don’t need to do a gotdamnthing,” Mick said in that harsh tone he was known for.
“Watch your language with me, boy,”Charles fired back in a tone he was known for too. “If I say you’re doing something, you will doit,” he made clear.
Mick quickly looked at Charles andthey exchanged a hard, cold look. Onlyone man on the face of the earth would ever speak that way to Mick the Tick.And he was staring at him.
And Mick knew, deep down, that hisbig brother was right. He looked over atRoz once again. She was dancing andshaking those hips in such a sensual way that it was giving even Mick, despitetheir problems, a hard-on. What in theworld was it doing for those other men in that room? And what about Billy Lancer, who wasn’t inthat room, but Mick was certain he wanted to be?
But before he could even dwell onthat particular problem, yet another one of those good-looking weddinginvitees, another young hothead who worked in Hammer’s nightclub that Mickdidn’t know, managed to find his way by Roz’s side. And Mick’s jaw tightened. Roz wasn’t the youngest woman in that room byfar, but she had that special way about her that drew people to her. But always the wrong people, in Mick’s view.
And just watching her, and watchingthose guys far younger than Mick undressing her with their eyes, caused thatache deep inside of him to return. Butwhat could he do? Turn back the hands oftime? Pretend what happened didn’t?
He exhaled sadly. “That ship has sailed, Charles,” he said tohis brother. “She wants to do what shewants to do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”Charles asked him, scared of what Mick was about to say. Although everybody knew Mick as the verydefinition of unemotional, Charles knew him best and had a totally differenttake. Mick, to Charles, was allemotion. Be it anger, hate, love,sadness, emotions were all he was about! And he never figured out how to handle any of them. That was, to Charles, Mick’s fatal flaw.
But when Mick didn’t respond to hisquestion, Charles looked at him. Thatwas when he realized Mick was distracted.
Charles looked where Mick waslooking. And, as Charles assumed, Mickwas staring at Roz again. But this timehe was staring at how another guy in the dance train kept slyly bumping intoRoz as if it was all in his dance moves. But Mick knew a dance move from a quick feel. Charles did too.
But when the song ended and everybodyon the dance floor began clapping, and that same man whispered something inRoz’s ear, Charles braced himself. Wasthe guy nuts? But Roz smiled and nodded,as if she appreciated whatever he had said to her, and then the guy left herside and headed for the bar.
Mick pushed away from thatbackwall. But instead of heading over toRoz where Charles assumed he was heading, Mick headed for the bar too.
The man, a Montreal native and one ofthe managers at the hugely popular nightclub Hammer Reese owned, leaned overthe bar counter. “Two beers,” he said tothe bartender working the reception, who also happened to work at Hammer’snightclub too. The bartender quickly sattwo beer-filled mugs up on the countertop.
“Thanks, Dave,” the manager said witha smug grin as he grabbed the mugs. “I’mabout to get laid, my boy, and with a high-class bitch at that! She thinks I’m just getting her a drink. But in truth? I’m just getting her started.” He laughed and then quickly turned tohurry back over to Roz. But he turned soswiftly that he didn’t realize Mick was upon him. He almost bumped into Mick, and almostspilled both drinks. “Damn!” he said,surprised. “Excuse you!”
But instead of allowing the managerto sidestep him, as he was attempting to do, Mick leaned his mouth to the man’sear. “Touch her again,” he said to himin a hard monotone that sounded like, and was, a warning.
The manager, confused, looked at Mickangrily, ready to fire back at him. Until he realized he was looking into the coldest green eyes he’d everseen. And suddenly, as if
