Mick Sinatra 4: If You Don't Know Me by Now

by Mallory Monroe

  “Don’t worry, Belle,” Alberto Pennisi said. “Michello will find her.”

  “He’ll not fail in this task,” Demetrio Gastone echoed. “She is his daughter too.”

  Harold Ziccardi just squeezed her arm, showing affection even with no words.

  Roz didn’t know any of the mafia men in her home, not one of them, but Bella seemed to know all of them. And she seemed to take comfort in their words.

  “Thank you, Don Ziccardi,” Bella said, placing a hand on his hand. Then she looked at Mick. “But what have you found out?” she asked him. “Do you guys know anything at all yet?”

  Mick nodded. “We’ve got a lead,” he said.

  This surprised Roz. “A lead?” she asked.

  Mick looked at her. “Yes,” he said, and removed his grasp from Bella. “I’m going to check on it.”

  “I will go too,” Bella said anxiously, and the mafia men laughed.

  But it was no laughing matter to Mick. “You know better than that,” he said to her sternly.

  “So what am I supposed to do?”

  “Wait here,” Mick said, “until I return. Okay?”

  Bella attempted a soft smile that only highlighted her beauty. “Because you are asking me to wait patiently,” she said, “I’ll wait.”

  Roz wanted to throw up. What an act! Was Mick falling for this?

  Apparently he was, because he ordered Teddy to come with him, and the mafia men, without being told, were ready to go their separate ways too. Whatever the lead was, Roz knew it was big. The fact that mob bosses, rather than their subordinates, gave him the intel directly, automatically made it big.

  But as the others walked out of the door, with Mick showing them out, Bella and her flunkies gave Roz a grin. They had Mick snowed and everybody else, and there wasn’t a damn thing Roz could do about it.

  Until Mick came back in, and walked up to the ladies.

  “What is it, Mick?” Bella asked, moving ahead of Roz as if she was the first lady in charge. “Have you thought of something else?”

  Mick walked past Bella and her flunkies and up to his wife. He placed his arm around Roz’s narrow waist and pulled her against him. He turned his full attention to Bella. “In case there is any misunderstanding,” he said, “I want to clear it up. This lady right here is Rosalind Sinatra. She is my wife. She is the mother of my two youngest children. She is my life. If you, or anybody else attempt to disrespect her, or otherwise mistreat her, I will not be disappointed. I will not even be upset. I have to care too much for a person for them to disappoint me. I will beat the shit out of you. I will leave you lame or blind or both if you think about disrespecting this woman right here. You know me, Bella. You know my capabilities.”

  Bella’s smile was gone. Her softness, and coquettishness, and innocence were gone too. Even her flunkies were cowered.

  “I know you have to leave,” Roz said to Mick, “but just so we’re clear.”

  Bella swallowed hard. She knew Roz didn’t have the nerve to go there. She just knew it!

  But she knew wrong. “Bella told me,” Roz boldly said, “that you and she are still an item. She told me that you and she, in fact, are still sleeping together.” Roz looked at Mick. “Is that true?”

  Mick frowned. “Hell no!” he said, and looked at Bella. “Others may peddle those lies about you and me. Others may claim you still hold some special place in my heart. But you and I know each other. We know what bullshit that is. Now you set the record straight.”

  Bella immediately began to smile. “I was just playing with her,” she said nervously. “She knows I was just playing.”

  “She doesn’t know any such thing,” Mick said, “because she and I do not play that way. You are my child’s mother, and for that I will always respect you, take care of your financial needs, and treat you well. But I will never do anything to disrespect my own wife. Understand that too.”

  He kissed Roz. “Kick her ass out if she tells any more jokes,” he warned. And then he reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a pistol. Bella and her flunkies immediately moved back against the wall, nearly falling back in shock. “Use it,” Mick said seriously, “if you have to.”

  Roz knew he wasn’t serious like that, but she was enjoying it anyway. “I will,” she said to him, he kissed her again, and then he left.

  Bella and her flunkies stared at Roz. They, like so many others who dared to try to test the Mick and Roz union, had a newfound respect for Rosalind Sinatra.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Teddy was the first to eyeball Devin Terranz in the club, and he and Angelo began moving in that direction. Some of the females who saw the two good looking strong men began elbowing each other. Especially when they saw Teddy.

  “Who is that?” one even asked so loudly that Teddy heard her despite the deafening music. He smiled, but kept moving.

  Devin was keeping it moving too. He was drinking and having fun too. The club was jumping, it was well after midnight, but even through the thick crowd of people, through the dancing bodies and those standing around and drinking and talking, Devin could see Teddy’s advance. And as soon as he realized who it was making his way toward him, he dropped his drink and took off.

  “Tell Dad he’s on the move!” Teddy ordered as he ran after Devin. Angelo ran back out of the front entrance.

  The door to the back entrance flew open and Devin ran out like as fast as he could. He knew his life depended on his speed. Nobody had to tell him that Teddy Sinatra, Mick the Tick’s son, was running after him for the hell of it. He wanted blood. Devin’s blood. That was why Devin knew he was running for his life.

  Angelo, out front, jumped in the backseat of the waiting SUV. Mick, along with the driver, was upfront.

  “He’s running out back, boss,” Angelo said as he jumped in.

  “Go!” Mick ordered the driver, and the driver sped away from the front of the nightclub and drove toward the back.

  Outback, Teddy was running so fast he was able to make up a half of Devin’s distance in a matter of seconds. Devin couldn’t believe how fast Teddy was. He jumped one fence, and then another fence, and was about to jump a third one before Teddy’s speed caught up with him. He felt a hand grab him by the seat of his pants.

  Teddy threw Devin to the ground, punched him twice, and shook him. “Don’t fuck with me, boy!” he yelled. “Or you’ll find out what it means to be fucked!”

  “What do you want with me?” Devin was asking, playing dumb. “What do you want with me?”

  “I wanna dance with somebody,” Teddy said, playing dumb too. “You left before our dance.” He stood him up. “Come on, you cocksucker!” He began walking with him back toward the club.

  They didn’t have to walk far, just near the backside of the club, before Mick’s SUV sped up and cut them off. Angelo jumped out, and he and Teddy tossed Devin into the backseat. Teddy sat on one side of him. Angelo sat on the other side. The driver began a slow drive away.

  Devin, already bruised from Teddy’s punches, looked at Mick.

  “You know me?” Mick asked him.

  “You know I do. Everybody do.”

  “Are you Devin Terranz?”

  Devin wondered if there was a chance they didn’t know who he was. But it was a fat chance. “Yes,” he said.

  “Are you Marco Terranz’s brother?”

  “You mean am I the brother of the man your daughter killed? Yes.”

  Mick hesitated. He was still reeling from the fact that word had reached the Dons about Marco’s death. He had covered it up. Nobody was supposed to know. “Who would have told you a thing like that?” he asked Terranz.

  “Who do you think? That daughter of yours. She’s been telling a lot.”

  This surprised Mick. “Has she now?”

  “That’s why I started talking all that talk. That’s why I started claiming I was going to kill her ass. It was just talk. I’m a truck driver, I’m no killer. But I didn’t like what I heard.”

  M
ick turned toward him. He looked into his eyes. “You’re lying,” he said.

  Devin’s confidence began to waver when he saw that cold look in Mick’s eyes. But he stuck to his story. “No, I’m not,” he said. “I’m telling you the truth. I was just talking. I was just making noise.”

  Mick continued to stare at him in a way that unnerved him. Even Teddy was terrified of his father’s stare. No man scared him. No man. But his father did. “Find a stopping spot,” Mick ordered his driver.

  Both Teddy and Angelo knew what that meant. Angelo even looked at Teddy. But Teddy was staring at his father.

  Devin, however, was pleading for understanding. “I don’t know if she was telling the truth,” he said. “All I know is my brother was fooling around with her. Yes, he was married and it was wrong. But she was wrong for fooling around with him.”

  “She didn’t know he was married, you prick!” Teddy interjected. “She doesn’t fool around with married men. So cut it out.”

  “Okay, okay. But he was married, that’s a fact. And he was fooling around with her. That’s a fact.”

  “She had ended it when she found out he was married,” Teddy said. “They weren’t together when he disappeared.”

  “But he’s gone! My brother is gone. And nobody knows a damn thing.”

  The SUV stopped in a wooded area off the beaten path. Mick got out. Teddy and Angelo knew their job was to get Devin out. And they did.

  As soon as Devin got out, Mick pulled out a gun. Devin held up his hands. “I’m not lying to you,” he pleaded. “I was just talking.”

  “Who were you talking to?” Mick asked.

  “Nobody! I was just talking.”

  Mick shot him in the arm.

  He cried out, as he fell to his knees. Angelo began looking around for any witnesses. Teddy was looking at his father.

  “Who were you talking to? Who hired you to kidnap my daughter?”

  Devin was shaking his head. “You’ve got it all wrong,” he said. “I was, I wasn’t . . .”

  Mick shot him in the other arm.

  “Okay!” he cried, the pain unbearable. “Okay!”

  “Tell him the truth,” Teddy ordered. He didn’t want to see another man dead over this. “Just tell us what you know. Did you kidnap his daughter?”

  Tears appeared in Devin’s eyes. And he nodded his head. “Yes,” he said. “But it was supposed to be a joke. It was supposed to be my chance to scare her into telling what happened to my brother. That’s the way it was presented to me.”

  “By whom?” Mick asked.

  “Some lady.”

  Mick was surprised. A lady again? “A lady?”

  “Some lady, yeah,” Devin said. “I didn’t know her. She left the money at a drop off and I had to wait for further instructions. I did. I was told to go to this backroad. I don’t even remember where it was, but I went there. And there she was, waiting in her car. She got out, asked if I was looking for her. I said I was.”

  “What did you do to her?” Teddy asked anxiously.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re lying!” Teddy yelled.

  “I thought I was going to drive her to another location where they were going to get the information out of her. That’s what I was told. I was going to finally find out what happened to my brother. They didn’t want me to do anything there.”

  Teddy and Angelo looked at Mick. “Where did you drive her?” Mick asked.

  “Nowhere,” Devin said, fighting the pain. “Somebody else drove up, some guy I never met before. And then I was knocked out. When I came to, they were gone.”

  Mick lifted Devin up and flung him against the SUV. He put the gun to his head. “I do not believe you,” he said. “What did you do to my daughter?”

  Devin was in pain, but he knew he was not going to live if he didn’t come clean. Although his chances were already slim to none. “I roughed her up,” he admitted. “The lady said I could. She said she heard I’d been accusing Gloria Sinatra of killing my brother, and she wanted to make it right. She said my brother was an ATF agent. He served his country well, she said. And she wanted to make it right. So she told me where to find your daughter, and there she was.”

  Mick’s jaws tightened. Teddy wanted to kick Devin’s ass right then and there, but he knew they needed more intel.

  “Are you’re telling me she was waiting for you?” Mick asked him.

  “She was! I’m not lying about that! She was expecting me like somebody had told her that I just wanted to talk to her or something.”

  “What did you do to her?” Teddy asked.

  “I roughed her up, I told you. But I wasn’t allowed to use any weapons. I wasn’t allowed to kill her.”

  “Then this guy did come up, and stopped me.”

  “Describe the guy.”

  “Some guy. Some black guy. I can’t tell you how he look. They all look alike to me.”

  “Just keep talking,” Teddy said.

  “The guy put her in the car, and took off. That was the last I saw of her or heard from that lady. I never saw her again. That’s the truth.”

  “Describe the lady,” Mick said.

  “Who?” Devin asked as if he was playing for time. “Your daughter?”

  “Not his daughter,” Teddy said. “The lady, you idiot! The one that got in touch with you.”

  “She was tall. Attractive lady. Black. Said her name was Beverly, or something like that. Bev or something. I don’t remember! I only saw her once.”

  “What about my sister?” Teddy asked. “She was unconscious when you finished roughing her up?”

  Devin hated to admit it. “Yeah,” he said. And quickly added, “But she wasn’t dead,” as if that was going to lessen his punishment.

  It didn’t. Mick killed him on the spot. And then began hurrying into the SUV, phoning Roz as he went.

  Teddy and Angelo were surprised. “What is it, Pop?” Teddy asked.

  “Get in,” Mick said. “Clean up the mess,” he said to Angelo.

  “Will do,” Angelo said.

  Teddy got in. “Get me home,” Mick said to the driver, and the SUV took off.

  “Answer the phone,” Mick was saying. “Answer the phone, gotdammit!”

  “Pop, what is it?” Teddy asked again.

  Mick pressed Deuce McCurry’s number. “The description,” he said.

  “Of the lady?” Teddy asked. “What about it? Is it somebody you know?”

  “Her mother,” Mick said. “He described Gloria’s mother.”

  Teddy’s heart pounded. “Bev. As in Bella? Geez, Dad. And she’s with Roz at the house. And the twins!”

  Deuce came onto the line. “Aim your gun at Bella Caine right now,” Mick ordered him, “and secure my family!”

  “It’s too late, boss,” Deuce said.

  Mick’s frowned. “What do you mean it’s too late?”

  “I was just about to phone you. Bella Caine phoned the cops on Mrs. Sinatra, and they’re preparing to arrest her even as we speak.”

  Mick’s heart fell through his shoe. He looked at his driver. He didn’t have to tell him to go faster. He didn’t have to tell him shit. He already had the pedal to the floor.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Who allowed this shit to happen?” Mick was yelling at his men as he hurried up the steps toward his front door, his suit coat flapping in the wind.

  “We couldn’t stop them, boss. We tried but we couldn’t. They had a warrant for her arrest!”

  Teddy was astounded too, as he hurried behind his father. There were so many police cars on their property, so many sirens blaring and lights flashing that you would have thought they had cornered fifty terrorists. But it was all for Roz. Or, Teddy corrected himself. It was all for Mrs. Mick Sinatra. They thought they had the big fish now. They thought they’d caught, through his wife, the big one at last.

  When Mick and Teddy walked through the front door, Roz was just being handcuffed. And Teddy knew why they waited. They wante
d the big man to witness it himself. They wanted to see if they could provoke him to respond aggressively so that they could haul his ass downtown too.

  Mick was close to losing it. When he saw them handcuff Rosalind, he almost lunged at them. But he maintained his cool. Bella and her flunkies were in the room, too, and Joey, but he didn’t even look their way. His entire focus was on Roz. “Take those cuffs off of her,” he said between clenched teeth.

  “No can do,” said the arresting detective. A captain no less. They were pulling out all the stops. “She gets the same treatment as any other criminal we process.”

  Mick was about to respond, and Roz knew it. She was angry herself, but she didn’t want Mick endangered too. “They’re just trying to incite you, Mick,” she said. “It’s you they’re after. Don’t let these bastards win!”

  The captain looked at Roz. “You’ve got a lot of mouth for a murderer,” he said.

  “You’ve got a lot of mouth for a dead man,” Mick shot back.

  The captain looked at him. “Are you threatening me?” he asked. “Are you threatening me?”

  “I’m telling you that you are not arresting my wife. I’m telling you that.”

  “Oh, yeah? And I’m telling you I don’t give a fuck who you are. I’m telling you that I’m not bought and pay for like the rest of those bums downtown. I’m telling you that she will be arrested, she will be prosecuted, and if she is found guilty she will go to prison! How do you like those apples?”

  “He doesn’t eat apples,” Teddy said. “He don’t like’em so much.”

  The captain looked at Teddy. “A wise guy, I see. Who are you supposed to be?”

  “What’s the charge?” Mick asked the captain. The last thing he needed was his son caught up in this too.

  “Assault. Kidnapping. Possibly murder. We saw that tape you didn’t want us to see. We saw the carnage in your daughter’s condominium, too. Oh, we’ve got plenty on our charge sheet, don’t you worry about that, Mr. Untouchable. You might be untouchable.” He smiled a bright yellow smile. “But your old lady is not.” Then his look turned angry as he looked at his men. “Get her ass out of here,” he ordered.