“He got out the very same day Amelia’s house was attacked,” Ozzie said. “I assumed you knew.”
Hammer’s heart dropped. Too many damned assumptions!
“Of course it never moved up the pipeline the way it was supposed to,” Ozzie was still talking. “I only found out about it this morning.”
“Turn around,” Hammer said, pulling out his cell phone.
“What is it, Ham?”
“Turn around!” he yelled with such a deafening voice that Ozzie didn’t hesitate turning the car around. “Get back to Amelia’s house,” Hammer ordered in a voice that was as breathless as it was suddenly rushed. He was calling Amelia’s cellphone. “Get back to her house and get there now! Big Dee’s behind this shit, Ozzie. B.D. didn’t stand for the big day. It stood for Big Dee, and she wrote it on the day he was getting out. The day he attacked Amelia’s house. Reggie’s father, who just happened to have gotten out of prison the same day of that attack, is behind this shit!”
“Shit!” Ozzie yelled, as Amelia’s phone kept ringing.
“It started with Reggie getting Lenny to hire Ostertag to ambush Amelia on that backroad,” Hammer was saying as Ozzie was speeding back to Amelia’s house. “But that was to get Millie out of the way,” Hammer continued. “That was Reggie laying the way for Big Dee to take me out without any complications. Millie wasn’t the target that night. I was! He was shooting up JoJo’s room because he assumed that was where I’d go next. From Amelia’s room to protect JoJo in JoJo’s room.”
“You don’t think he’d start something now?” Ozzie asked.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Hammer said angrily. “I spent the night at her house. My stupid ass called off security at her house when I assumed the threat was over. He might not have seen me leave. He might have just heard about what happened to Reggie the way you just found out about it, and made his way over there.”
“You can’t be sure he’s over at Millie’s house now,” Ozzie said.
“No, I can’t be sure,” Hammer said. “But I for damn sure will be making certain he’s not!”
Then Hammer turned his attention to Amelia’s still-ringing phone as Ozzie continued to speed as fast as he could back to her house: “Answer the phone, Millie!” Hammer yelled into his own phone. “Answer that gotdamn phone!”
Amelia was in her living room finishing a call with her office, and had left the phone on the side table while she went into the kitchen to grab her a bite to eat. Hammer was gone, JoJo and Ro were in Boston, and she had the house all to herself. She wanted to splurge. But the only thing she could come up with, in her badly depleted frig, was a half-eaten bowl of spaghetti she had refrigerated a couple nights before. Not her idea of splurging, but she heated it up in the microwave. Just as she did, her cellphone began ringing.
“It never fails,” she said, as she hurried through the kitchen, around the dining table, and into the living room. She was right at the phone, about to grab it, when her front door suddenly was kicked open and a man with prison-yard muscles, and with a sawed-off shotgun, stood in the doorway.
What Amelia didn’t realize was that the big man was Orson Dell, better known as Big Dee, better known as Reggie’s father.
Amelia was frozen in place.
“Where is he?” Big Dee asked angrily. “Y’all killed my daughter, now I’m killing y’all. Where is he?” he asked angrily.
But when the bell on the microwave suddenly rang, signifying that the spaghetti was hot and ready, Big Dee quickly swung his gun in that direction. And it was all Amelia needed to take off.
She jumped over the sofa, and Big Dee fired a shot that torn through that sofa, but by then Amelia was already up and running down the back hall.
Big Dee ran after her, down that back hall, too, and he fired again when he saw that Amelia was about to run into one of the guestrooms. But she was still too fast for him, as she slammed the door shut in that bedroom and locked it.
Then she ran for the window. She had no access to any gun in that room, or any other kind of weapon, and she knew she was doomed if she stayed where she was. She began lifting the window, to get out of there, but almost immediately Big Dee was kicking that door in too.
The door flew open, splintering, and Big Dee fired his shotgun again. But Amelia had already jumped out of the window. He missed again, not because he was a bad aim. He was an excellent aim. But she was already out of that window and had landed, awkwardly, on the ground.
She planned to hit the ground running, but she couldn’t. Her leg was badly sprang. She could feel the pain as soon as she landed. And it was excruciating.
But not as excruciating as a shotgun blast through her body would be, she knew, so she got up anyway, and began running, dragging her injured leg, as she wobbled along.
But she wasn’t about to outrun Big Dee’s gun blast that time. He was at the window in no time flat, and had Amelia in his crosshairs. All he had to do was pull that trigger and fire.
And he did it.
He was aiming his weapon just as Hammer and Ozzie pulled up and saw Amelia hobbling across her lawn.
And Hammer didn’t hesitate. He jumped out of that car before Ozzie came to a complete stop and fired at the gunman he saw in that window. He hit him once, and then a second time. And Big Dee was hit twice, but he kept on firing that shotgun even as he was leaning forward. He kept firing even as he fell out of that window. But he had no control over his body, and no control over his aim.
Hammer ran to Amelia, and was pulling Amelia into his arms, and Amelia was grabbing onto him as if she was grabbing onto life itself. And Oscar “Big Dee” Dell had left society as quickly as he had reentered it.
“He said I killed Reggie,” Amelia was saying. “He said we killed Reggie. Who is he?” She looked at Hammer. “Who is he?”
But Hammer pulled her closer. “He’s nobody that can ever harm us again,” he said to her. “He’s nobody.”
And as Ozzie ran to make sure that bastard Dell was dead, Hammer was pulling Amelia even tighter into his arms, and squeezing his own eyes shut. And he thank God he was going to marry a woman who knew how to fight for her life. A woman who was never going to give up. Not on herself, not on their son, and not on Hammer.
EPILOGUE
The laughter broke out like it had been imprisoned, and everybody stood around Amelia’s dressing room as if it was their day too. Reno Gabrini, the owner of the PaLargio on the Vegas Strip and a reputed former mob boss, was there with his wife Trina. Tommy “Dapper Tom” Gabrini, the head of the Gabrini Corporation and an enforcer in his own right, was there with his wife Grace. Current mob boss Sal Luca Gabrini was there with his wife Gemma. Teddy Sinatra, Mick’s son and the heir to the Sinatra Crime Family syndicate was there, along with his lady Nikki. Hammer’s brother Trevor Reese and Amelia’s niece, Carly Sinatra, were also there in that nearly filled-to-capacity dressing room. And Mick, sitting alone on the only other table in the room, was also there. Although he wasn’t laughing it up like the rest of them, he wasn’t frowning either. They took that as happiness on Mick’s part. The remainder of the family were already gathering in Hammer’s massive backyard.
As for Amelia, she was sitting at the dressing table allowing her makeup artist to apply her makeup: the final step, for her, to being fully dressed and ready.
“Leave it to our Amelia to marry a man like that,” Jenay Sinatra was saying. She was Big Daddy’s wife and was always good for a laugh. “A man who doesn’t just own a mansion. Oh no! Not Hammer Reese,” Jenay said. “He doesn’t just own a mansion. He has to buy a mountain to put that mansion on!” They all laughed.
“And to have the audacity to name it after a Roman Emperor,” said Trevor. “Now that’s my brother!” They all laughed at that too.
But Reno was confused. “What Roman Emperor?” he asked.
“Charlemagne, Reno,” Trina said. “Hammer named his mountain Charlemagne.”
“But what Roman Emperor?” Reno asked again. “I though
t he named it after that guy.”
“Oh, here we go,” Sal said, who was always getting into it with his cousin Reno. “Don’t ask him what guy, Tree. Please don’t ask him that. We’ll have to endure another round of Reno Logic, which ain’t logical at all!”
But “Dapper Tom” Tommy Gabrini was grinning and having too much fun. “What guy, Reno?” he asked him, and Sal threw his hands in the air, which made everybody laugh too.
But Reno was dead serious. “I thought he named this place after that guy on the radio,” he said.
Jenay frowned. “What guy on the radio?”
“That Charlemagne guy,” Reno said. And everybody who knew who Reno was talking about laughed.
“No you didn’t, Uncle Reno,” Teddy said, unable to stop laughing. “You thought the former Director of the CIA and the head of whatever agency he’s the head of now would name his mansion, his mountain, after a radio host?”
“That’s the only Charlemagne I ever heard of!” Reno said.
Trina shook her head and looked at Trevor. “Now that’s my husband,” she said, and they all laughed heartily at that. It was that kind of joy in the room.
Until the door was opened and Roz Graham-Sinatra, the wife of Mick Sinatra and stepmother of Teddy, walked in, and everybody went still.
Everybody took sly peeps at Mick. They didn’t know what was going on, and not one of them dared ask what was going on, but it was breaking news around the family that something went down in that marriage, and Mick and Roz were suddenly having “issues.”
Roz smiled and hugged Amelia’s neck. “Alright, sister-in-law,” she said happily, “you look so beautiful!”
“Thank you, Roz,” Amelia responded. “So do you! I like that dress, girl.”
Roz wore a cream-colored, form-fitting dress that complimented the smooth, dark tone of her skin. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad you could make it,” Amelia said as Roz glanced over at Mick.
“You and Hammer getting married?” Roz said. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Roz, an actress, was starring on Broadway in a revival of an August Wilson play and had to pull strings to get away. But it was obvious what was on her mind. She took another peep at Mick.
And as Roz and Amelia kept talking, Mick took peeps at Roz. Everybody saw the two of them glancing at each other, but nobody, not even Teddy, even attempted to joke about it. There was joy in the room, but they weren’t delirious. They weren’t happy fools stupid enough to get into Mick’s business. So they continued joking around and keeping it light and ignoring the elephant in the room.
And then the door opened again, and this time it was the man they all called the slave driver, Big Daddy Charles Sinatra.
“Okay, everybody, get to your seats,” Charles ordered. “We’re about to get this show on the road. You should know about road shows, Roz,” he said to her with a smile. “Let’s go!”
Everybody gave their good wishes to Amelia and made their way out of the dressing room. Roz glanced at Mick again as she slowly left the room, but Mick remained seated.
“You, too, Mick,” Charles said. “I want a moment with Millie.”
Mick took his time, but he stood up and began to leave the room. Charles, the only person on the face of the earth who would meddle in Mick’s business, grabbed him by his big arm. Mick looked at the hand on his arm, and then at his big brother’s stern face. Amelia looked at her two brothers.
“Everybody make mistakes,” Charles said to Mick. “Including your ass all the time. And Roz is entitled to make a mistake too. But if you fuck up that marriage to that good woman, who isn’t perfect but love your ass, I’ll fuck you up. Got it?”
Charles and Mick stared hard at each other, understanding each other. And then Charles released Mick’s arm, and let him go. Mick walked out of the room.
The wedding planner hurried in just after Mick walked out. “Two-minute warning, Millie,” the planner said. And then she was mortified. “You’re still doing her makeup?” she yelled at the makeup artist.
“I’m done,” the makeup artist said, applied a little more blush, and then hurried out of the room.
“Judy,” Amelia said as the planner was about to leave.
“Yes?”
“I want to walk down the aisle to a different song.”
Judy was floored. “A different song at this late date?”
Amelia gave her a hard look. They’d already had five or six falling outs during the planning period. Most of that time Amelia had a broke leg or she would have kicked that woman to the curb many moons ago. But now her leg was healed and it was too late. “You heard me,” she said. “I want the song changed.”
“Okay,” Judy said. “To what, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“See, that’s the kind of attitude I have to deal with, Big Daddy,” Amelia said to her brother. Then she exhaled. “I want the band to play, and the wedding singer to sing. For Once In My Life when I walk in. It’ll be my dedication to Mick and Roz Sinatra.”
“Not to the groom?” Judy asked.
Amelia looked at Charles. “You better get her before I choke her!”
“No, Judy,” Charles said. “She doesn’t want to dedicate it to the groom. That band could play the Birthday Song and Hammer will be happy. Just do as she says.”
“Okay. For Once In My Life it is. I’ll see if they know it.”
“They’d better know it,” Amelia said. “All that money Hammer’s paying them. And all that money he’s paying you too,” she added, glaring at her planner.
“Yes, ma’am,” the planner said and left, rolling her eyes as she did.
Charles laughed. “Nobody likes their wedding planner by the time of the wedding, don’t worry,” he said to Amelia. “But you’ll love her after the wedding, when you realize all the wonderful work she’s done.” Then he sat on the edge of the dressing table as Amelia stood up.
“Oh, my darling,” Charles said, almost near tears as he looked at her in her gorgeous wedding dress. “You look absolutely radiant.”
Amelia smiled. “I would say I wish my parents were here, but my mother’s dead, my stepfather tried to kill me, and I have no idea who my real father is.”
“Yup,” Charles said. “That’s a Sinatra for you.” They both smiled.
Then Charles turned serious. “Why For Once In My Life?” he asked her. “Everybody knows that’s Mick and Roz’s song.”
“I know it is too,” Amelia said.
“They why are you playing it at your wedding?”
“Because the words of that song will tell Hammer and my love story,” Amelia said, “and will, I hope, remind Mick and Roz of their love story.”
Charles was touched. He stood up and placed both hands on either side of her small shoulders. “You’re one of a kind, Millie,” he said. “Hammer should thank God Almighty he’s getting a saint like you.”
Amelia smiled. “A slight exaggeration, but I’ll take it.”
“But let me tell you one thing,” Charles said in all seriousness. “Marriage is not a zero-sum game. Hammer will mess up again. I don’t know in what way, but he’ll mess up. And so will you. But hear him out, Amelia. That’s always been your problem. You leap to conclusions without enough information. Hear him out before you make any life-altering decisions. Love him where he is because he loves you where you are, and get on with your life.”
Amelia was near tears now. “I will, Big Daddy. Thank you so much.”
“And if he messes up really badly, you call me and Mick,” he added.
Amelia laughed, wiping her makeup. “You’re going to make me ruin my makeup, Big Daddy,” she said.
“Then let’s go do this,” Charles said as she placed her arm on his. “And another thing,” he said as they headed out of the dressing room.
“Not another thing,” Amelia said.
“Just one more.”
“What?” Amelia asked.
“Stop calling me Big Daddy. I like the way you say Charle
s.”
Amelia laughed. She couldn’t help it. “There is something wrong with you!” she said, he laughed too, and they made their way out of the dressing room on Hammer’s estate.
Hammer’s huge backyard, with magnificent mountain views, was decked down for the ceremony. And everybody rose as the band began playing the Ron Miller/Orlando Murden-penned and Stevie Wonder’s version of For Once In My Life. Amelia, with Charles escorting her, slowly made her way down the aisle. JoJo, as the ringbearer, walked slowly down the aisle in front of his mother and uncle.
Mick and Roz, who were not even seated together, heard their song and were shocked to hear it. And they looked at each other. Tears were in Roz’s eyes. And although nobody saw it, because they all were watching the bride, tears began to form in Mick’s hard eyes too. He’d never loved a woman like he loved Roz, and their brand new separation, although it was something they were going to have to deal with, was devastating him.
He and Roz stared at each other the entire time, as Amelia made her way.
At the end of the aisle was Hammer, with Ozzie as best man, and with Big Daddy’s wife Jenay as Matron of Honor. And the minister.
And Hammer, seeing Amelia walk toward him to become his wife, was getting misty-eyed too. She looked amazing to him, and to have JoJo walking in front of her like the little man he was, filled his heart. He was a fool for not claiming her sooner. He had to almost lose her over something that he didn’t even do to wake him up. But he was woke now. Amelia would have to get a crowbar, he thought, to pry him away from her from that day forward.
For Once in my life, I won’t let sorrow hurt me.
Not like it’s hurt me before.
For once I have someone I know won’t desert me.
I’m not alone anymore!
For once I can say,
this is mine, you can’t take it.
Long as I know I have love, I can make it.
For once in my life,
Amelia Sinatra: What Hammer Wants Page 13
