The manager, stunned, turned backtoward the bartender. “Was that?” theman began asking.
But the bartender was alreadygrinning and nodding his head, and he finished the manager’s sentence. “That was Mick Sinatra,” he said. “You know, like John Gotti? Like Al Capone? Yes it was that guy!”
“And the woman?” the man asked, hiseyebrows netting.
The bartender answered that questionfor him too. “Mick Sinatra’s wife,” hesaid. “The woman you were trying to bumpand grind is Mick Sinatra’s wife, yes, sir, yes indeed.” He was unable to stop grinning and noddinghis head.
The manager nearly dropped theglasses of beer when he realized what he’d done, but he sat them up on the barcounter instead. And then he quicklytook off toward the back entrance. Whenthe bartender looked, the young manager was running. The bartender laughed. He couldn’t wait to tell the club crew, hethought happily.
But before he could call one of thewaitresses over who was also working the reception, the announcement they’d allbeen waiting for came over the loudspeaker. “The bride and groom are leaving! The bride and groom are leaving! Everybody come outside and see them off to their enchanted honeymoon!”
And everybody in the ballroom hurriedoutside, to see Hammer and Amelia on their way.
CHAPTER TWO
By the time Mick made his wayoutside, Amelia had already tossed her bouquet and Nikki, the fiancée of Mick’soldest son Teddy, had caught it. Andwhile Hammer was saying his goodbyes to Trevor Reese and Carly, and to theGabrinis, Amelia looked around. When shefinally saw her brooding big brother, she quickly ran up the steps and over toMick. She hugged his neck and whisperedin his ear. “Don’t lose Roz, youmotherfucking idiot,” she said to him, and then kissed him on the cheek and ranback down the steps before he could slap her. The newlyweds kissed their little boy, got into their just-married,decked-down limo, and were whisked away.
Mick leaned against one of thosemassive pillars Hammer had all around his compound, and watched them driveaway. Don’t lose Roz, Millie hadwarned him, as if he was the one who caused all that shit. As if he could just lose Rosalind theway he could lose a coin.
He looked over at Roz. And found himself staring at her again. Why couldn’t he stop staring at his ownwife? Losing her wasn’t an option, thatwas the conclusion he’d reached even before Amelia’s little warning, but how inthe world was he going to win her back when he wasn’t able to hold aconversation with her yet? In thatballroom, when she approached him, he was so afraid she was coming to tell himthat their marriage was over, he couldn’t bear to hear it. And he just walked away. He wasn’t losing her, not to the great BillyLancer, not to anybody. But he wasn’tready to forgive and forget either.
But he noticed a trend. After Hammer and Amelia left, all of theSinatra and Gabrini clan were hugging Roz and comforting Roz and saying theirgoodbyes to Roz as they piled into their various limousines. Even Mick’s underboss and closest son Teddy,and his daughter Gloria, were solicitous to Roz. And although all of them nodded theirgoodbyes to Mick at a distance, and his twins came and gave him a hug goodbye,too, they were looking at him as if they just knew he was the one at fault. What could sweet, angelic Roz ever do? But he didn’t give a shit. They could believe whatever they wanted tobelieve. It wasn’t any of their businessanyway.
He watched as the twins got into thelimousine with his grown children, Teddy, Joey and Gloria, and Teddy’s fiancée,and drove away. Teddy was in charge ofthe twins while their parents, who were both leaving Canada to handle businesselsewhere, were out of town, just as Hammer and Amelia’s son JoJo would bestaying with his Hammer’s brother Trevor Reese. It was all laid out. But Mickfelt as if he was in a fog, and nothing was clear.
“Talk to her,” Charles said as hewalked up to Mick and slapped him on the back. But even Charles didn’t worry about a response. He just stood there, for nearly half an hour,as Roz and Charles’ wife Jenay, and his grown children, hung around and talkedwith other attendees unrelated to the family. Until Jenay was ready to go. Charles squeezed his brother’s shoulder, said his goodbye, and he andhis family got into his SUV and, as the last of the family members to leave,took off too.
Roz waved them off and then realized,as she looked around, that all of the family were gone. A few guests lingered, and they were talkingto each other in the massive driveway, but they were friends of Hammer’s.
Roz lingered, too, and beganconversations with Hammer’s household staff, but not because she couldn’t pullherself to leave. She was still holdingout hope that her stubborn-ass husband would come to his senses and at leastagree to talk to her.
But when she glanced his way, to seeif it was even possible, he did it again and walked away. This time down the steps, right past her, andto his waiting SUV. They’d arrived inMontreal separately: him on his company jet and she on his private plane. And he apparently planned for them to returnthe same way. Mainly because he plannedon heading to Belarus after the reception, and Roz planned on heading toCalifornia to meet with producers, but also because they were, in fact,separated.
She got into her limousine and herlongtime driver, Deuce McCurry, prepared to pull off. Deuce wanted to say something about thecouple’s woes, since he’d been in Mick’s employ for decades, but decided it wasbetter left unsaid. He drove withoutinput. But when he glanced through therearview mirror and saw Roz wiping tears from her eyes, even he became worried. He’d never seen them in such a state. Was it the beginning of the end for Mick andRoz?
Mick was on the passenger seat of hisSUV, with two other vehicles filled with people Mick didn’t know in front ofhis vehicle, and Roz’s limo led the
