Her Protector

by Mallory Monroe

  “I don’t know now. He liked that Amelia lady once. She was black. Or at least half-black.”

  “You mean Amelia Sinatra? The black chick who turned out to be his old man’s half-sister?”

  They both laughed.

  “I forgot about that!” the younger cop said.

  “We forget too much. That’s what thugs like them count on. That’s why I need to get my

  hands on that file. The chick he’s dating now might be somebody we can flip.”

  “I doubt it, Boss. You know what they say about those black women. They go through hell

  for their men. And you saw how quickly she gave him that alibi.”

  “I know that,” the lead detective said. “She’s ride or die, no doubt about it. She has that

  look all over her face. But that file had something on her. Something major. If I can run that

  lead down, we may have something. And that very same chick, that very same ride-or-die,

  might just be the very person to bring that whole Sinatra crime organization to its knees. And

  not just the son. But his old man too.”

  The younger cop was astounded. “If we pull that off,” he said, “if we bring Mick and Teddy

  Sinatra down, you know what that would mean for our careers, right? We’ll move up that

  promotion ladder so fast, we wouldn’t know what hit us!”

  The lead detective grinned. “Oh, yeah. If that old black magic has cast a spell on Teddy T

  like I think it has, it just might be the very potion we were looking for to completely destroy him

  and that entire enterprise!”

  “That would be great,” the younger cop said.

  “Great? Fuck that. That would be everything!”

  The cops laughed again, as they got into their automobile.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Milo Jalarni hung up the phone and sat down behind his desk. His underboss and his lawyer

  stood in front of his desk, waiting for him to tell them.

  But the suspense was killing them. “Who was it, Boss?” his lawyer finally asked.

  “Who do you think?” Milo responded. “I want you to tell me who the fuck do you think it

  was?”

  “It was Teddy,” the underboss asked. “But how did he find out?”

  “That’s what I wanna know,” Milo said. “Who the hell told Teddy T?!”

  “He said he knew?”

  “He didn’t have to say it. Why would he give away the store this early? He said he was just

  calling to see how I was doing. Just calling. Just saying hey.”

  “So what’s the problem?” the lawyer asked.

  Both Milo and his underboss looked at him. “Are you fucking retarded?” Milo asked.

  “Teddy Sinatra isn’t going to call my ass just to say hey!”

  “You can’t use that word nowadays, Boss,” his lawyer said.

  Milo looked at him. He frowned. “What?”

  “I have a niece with that issue. You don’t call people retarded anymore. It’s not done. That

  name is dead. It’s not used anymore.”

  Milo frowned. “Get the fuck out of my face,” he ordered, “before I stop using your name

  because your ass is dead! How about that?”

  “We need him, Boss,” his number two said, “if you’re saying the Sinatras know.”

  “I didn’t say anything about the Sinatras knowing. Mick don’t know shit yet. But his boy

  knows. Teddy knows. Calling me to say hello. Fucking threat is what it was! He don’t know

  enough to launch a hit. At least not yet. But his ass knows something!”

  “Damn,” said the underboss. “I knew this would happen when Gio said Teddy took out both

  men.”

  “Tighten up security,” Milo said to his underboss. “Tell them everybody stay on campus

  until I find out what Teddy’s next move will be.”

  “You think he’ll strike before we do?”

  “He’ll need more information,” Milo said. “He’s smart like his old man. He won’t start a war

  unless there’s undisputed proof.”

  “You don’t think killing two men who work for you isn’t undisputed proof?” the lawyer

  asked.

  “Hell no,” said the underboss. “They could be like Gio. They could be over a barrel and

  forced to betray the boss for all Teddy knows. He won’t go to war just because he knows who

  the hitmen worked for.”

  “Speaking of Gio,” Milo said to the lawyer, “get your politically correct ass out of here and

  bring Gio to me. He was supposed to keep me out of this shit! He was supposed to protect my

  interest!”

  The lawyer hurried out of the office, to do as he was ordered.

  But the number two held back.

  “What is it?” Milo asked.

  “What if it’s a frame?” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if Gio’s double-dipping? What if he’s working for you, but letting Teddy know his

  every move?”

  Milo leaned back. “His ass wouldn’t pull that shit on me.”

  “He’s pulling that shit on Teddy,” the underboss said. “And with respect, Teddy might be an

  underboss like me, but he’s bigger than you. He’s bigger than every mob boss in this country.

  Except for maybe Sal Gabrini and, of course, his own Pops.”

  Milo knew his underling spoke the truth. He leaned forward. “So what do you figure we

  should do?”

  “Make Gio put himself on the line. Make him choose sides where there’s no doubt about

  his allegiance. Teddy already know he has a breach or he wouldn’t have called you like that.

  We have nothing to lose. If Gio’s double-dipping, we just have to make him do something that

  will knock out that hand that’s feeding him on the other side.”

  “How the hell we’re gonna do that?” Milo asked.

  “What does Teddy T love most in this world?”

  “Love? Who the fuck says he love anything?”

  “Think, Boss,” said his number two.

  Milo thought about it. “He respects his old man. He fears him. But Mick left him when he

  was a kid. I don’t know if he loves him.”

  “Keep going.”

  “You think he loves that woman he’s been fooling with lately?”

  “Teddy? Loving some goomah? And she ain’t even Italian? Hell no! Not her.”

  “Then who?”

  “His siblings, Boss! Joey and Gloria Sinatra.”

  “I didn’t know he loved them. I figured since they had different mothers, why would he?”

  “But he does. Those three are tight. Especially Teddy and Gloria. And guess what, Boss?

  Guess who used to date Gloria? Guess who still has the hots for Gloria?”

  Milo looked at his number two. “Gio?”

  The underboss smiled and nodded.

  “But so what? He just probably likes fucking her.”

  “That ain’t the point. Let Gio pay a visit to Miss Gloria Sinatra. Let him finally show his true

  allegiance for all to see. Not only will it end any chance he has with the Sinatras if he is double-

  dipping, but it’ll distract Teddy just enough, and have him chasing Gio rather than us, while we

  rob him blind. Gio will finally have some skin in the game. Not just that lip-service shit he’s

  been serving up.”

  Milo leaned back in his chair again. “You’re my number two for a reason, boy,” he said with

  a big smile on his face. “Unlike Teddy, I’m more like his old man. Like Mick the Tick, I pick my

  men based on their ruthlessness. Teddy pick his men based on their character. That’s why he

  promoted Gio to the top tier in his organization when his fa
ther, wisely, just had that prick as

  one of the rank-and-file.” Then he laughed. “Fucking idiot!”

  His underboss knew better. He knew that Mick was the one who promoted Gio. But he

  laughed anyway. Although, inwardly, he wondered if his boss was underestimating Teddy.

  They were laughing now, but he wondered if Teddy would be the one to laugh last.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Three days later and the delivery truck lumbered past the hotel’s front doors and made its

  way down the sloping driveway to the service entrance. The truck began backing up toward a

  big transport trailer while the service manager, Miguel, stood in front of the trailer motioning

  with his hands and directing the truck to keep coming. When it arrived equal to the big double

  doors of the trailer, Miguel motioned for the truck to stop. The truck stopped.

  Teddy and Joey, along with four of their men – an over-show of force given what happened

  at the bakery, got out of the back of the truck where their cargo was stashed, and entered the

  hotel. Four more of their men remained inside the back of the truck. Their mission: to guard,

  with their lives, the massive cache of weaponry Teddy had inside.

  Sammy Matanzas, along with his bodyguard, were waiting inside the hotel’s narrow hall that

  led to the service department. They stood alone, with a large valise sitting against the wall.

  “You are not a man who believes in timeliness, are you?” Sammy said this as Teddy and Joey

  walked up to him. Their bodyguards remained by the entrance.

  “Show me,” Teddy said.

  “I’ve got what you want.”

  “Don’t tell me. Show me.”

  Sammy smiled. Then he motioned toward the valise. “It’s all there.”

  Joey looked at Teddy. Teddy nodded.

  Joey walked over to the valise, knelt down, and opened it up in full. It was loaded with

  cash. But he checked random serial numbers in no discernible order. The last thing they

  wanted was a suitcase full of counterfeit bills. He also checked the volume. From the top to

  deep down. It took several minutes. Joey had to be sure. But it all checked out.

  Joey closed it back up, and stood up.

  “Satisfied?” Sammy asked. But Teddy was waiting for Joey’s word.

  “It’s a go,” Joey said to Teddy.

  “Now,” Sammy said smilingly, “I showed you the money. Show me my guns!”

  But as soon as he spoke those words, Miguel ran into the hotel. “They’re dead!” he yelled

  hysterically. “They’re dead! All of them are dead!”

  Sammy and his bodyguard quickly grabbed the money. But Teddy and Joey tore past Miquel

  and, along with their men, pulled out their guns and ran out of the hotel. Until the exchange

  took place, Sammy still owned that money and had every right to secure it. But Teddy still

  owned those guns!

  Teddy was shocked when he ran outside. The truck containing their weapons was speeding

  off. All four of his men inside the truck had been shot and thrown out. Shot with silencers

  before they could even fire one round, which made it clear it was no random hit and run. This

  was professional. This was planned to the last man!

  Teddy’s heart dropped when he saw that truck getting away. He ran after it, and tried to

  shoot out the tires, but he was running up that slope and by the time he, Joey, and their men

  made it to the top, the truck was gone. Long gone.

  Teddy kept running, though, which meant his men and Joey kept running too. But they

  knew it was a losing proposition. The truck was gone. Pure and simple.

  And Teddy was stunned. He had covered his bases. He had organized his preliminaries

  down to the letter! What the fuck did he miss?

  But Joey was angry for another reason. “I told you not to do business with a lizard like

  Sammy,” he was saying. “I told you! I’ll bet he was behind that bakery hit too. I’ll bet he was

  the one who paid MJ’s men to pull that shit off!” Joey was now certain it was the Lizard. “He’s

  making us look like fools!”

  But Teddy wasn’t sure if it was Sammy or not. He never made snap decisions the way Joey

  did. But he ran back to the hotel’s service entrance to find out. If the Lizard was still there, it

  wasn’t him. If he had taken his money and scrammed, before he knew what was going on, it

  was.

  But when they all ran back inside through the hotel’s service entrance, they stopped in their

  tracks. The Lizard hadn’t scrammed. He was still there. Him and his bodyguard. But both men

  had been shot dead. Miquel the manager: shot dead too.

  They were all dead, and the valise was gone. Teddy’s heart dropped through his shoe.

  “Search the hotel,” Teddy ordered his men. “Tear this motherfucker down and find that

  suitcase!”

  They ran, although they knew, like Teddy knew, like Joey knew, that this was a professional

  grab. While they were chasing that truck, those men were making their getaway!

  Joey looked at Teddy. This was the stuff nightmares were made of. “What are we gonna

  do?” he asked his big brother. He started hitting his hand in the palm of his other hand and the

  gold chains around his neck started jingling. He was in his hip-hop, baggy-jeans-and-jersey

  mode now. He was Joey the doubter through-and-through now.

  And he was mad as hell. “What are we gonna do, Teddy?” he asked again. “We just lost

  ten-million dollars, and our weapons! And, on top of that shit, we don’t have a dime to pay our

  suppliers.” He placed his hands over his head. “We’re fucked!” he said, spit spewing from his

  mouth. “We’re fucked!”

  Teddy knew Joey was right. They weren’t their old man. They didn’t have the kind of cash

  to pay up front. The half-a-mill Sammy the Lizard had given to them had been turned over to

  their supplier as a down payment. And their supplier, the Argentinians, were going to get paid.

  It was supposed to be a fifty-fifty split with Teddy. Which meant they were owed four-and-a-

  half million dollars still. And he knew it was no question they were going to get theirs. The only

  question was how.

  Teddy thought he had a well-thought-out plan. A plan that went every way it could possibly

  go wrong. And if his old man ever found out?

  He leaned his head up, and then dropped his head down. He knew, and even Joey knew he

  knew, that he was in deep shit now.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Teddy went home. He wanted Nikki desperately; he needed her desperately. But he

  couldn’t bear going to her peaceful apartment with more burdens for her to bear. What

  happened was bad enough. It was a fucking nightmare! Why in the world would he want her

  to deal with it too?

  He went home, a contemporary home high up on a hill on Lake Cosimo, with floor-to-ceiling,

  panoramic views from every room. He headed straight for his bar, and drank vodka straight

  from the bottle. He drank one gulp. A second gulp. A third gulp. He wanted to drink himself to

  death. Mick was going to kill him. There was no way around it. He was going to kill his ass if he

  found out he not only lost nine-and-a-half million dollars, but he lost an arsenal too. An arsenal

  he did not own and still owed his suppliers. Very vicious suppliers. And he didn’t have a dime

  to show for it. Not one red cent!

  But he knew getting drunk wasn’t going to solve anything. He still would hav
e to face the

  music tomorrow. That was why he left the bottle of vodka on the countertop and made his way

  upstairs. He didn’t sleep well without Nikki. It was never the same when she wasn’t around.

  But fuck it. He wasn’t disturbing her peace with his drama. Not tonight he wasn’t! Besides,

  there was no way he was going to sleep, anyway, after what he’d done.

  But what could he do about it now? His first instinct was to run to MJ’s place and fuck him

  up. That was what Joey wanted to do. But Teddy wasn’t wired that way. He still didn’t know if

  MJ was involved. He still didn’t know if MJ’s men went rogue that night at that bakery, or if

  they were under direct orders. And where was Gio? His ass had gone rogue too. Did that

  implicate Teddy?

  When he got to his bedroom, ready to throw himself onto the bed and try his best to forget

  all that shit that was trying to drive him insane, he was astonished. He hadn’t gone to Nikki.

  But Nikki had come to him! She was in his bed, under his covers, sleeping like an angel. Teddy

  could hardly believe it.

  Her iPad was on the night stand, with her reading glasses on top of it. She had been up late

  waiting on him. He told her he had to handle some business tonight. That was all he told her.

  But it was enough. She came over anyway!

  Teddy felt so emotional he had to fight back tears. And that was saying something. It took

  mountains to make him cry. But just the thoughtfulness of Nikki almost did the trick.

  He walked up to her and stared at her. He could see, through the outline of his silk sheet

  and the fact that her big breasts were exposed, that she was completely naked. Which had him

  throbbing for her in and of itself.

  But he also saw the peacefulness all over her gorgeous face. She was a woman who

  learned, through life’s difficulties, how to keep it moving. He was nasty to her that night, when

  he said he didn’t know if they had a future together, and for his nastiness she left his ass. But a

  heartfelt apology won her back. And when she forgave, she forgave entirely. When Nikki was

  in, as she told him herself, she was all in.

  He crotched down beside the bed and stared at that wondrous face. The smooth brown