“But Mister D said we did a good job,” said Duke.
Mick stared at his son. Did he have what it took to follow in his footsteps? He hoped not, but he had to know. “Did you agree with what he said?” he asked him.
“I didn’t, no, sir,” said Duke.
“Did you think I would agree with what he said?” Mick asked him.
“No, sir.”
“Then that’s what you go with always,” Mick said. “Your instincts, not somebody else’s. If you see that it’s crap, then it’s crap. Go with your own gut, your own eyes, your own instincts, you hear me? And you, too, Jacqueline.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“You have to give Daddy your best,” Roz said to both children. “He gives his best to you, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jackie said. Duke said nothing.
“Then you have to give him your best,” Roz said.
“The best or nothing,” Jackie said, and Roz smiled. It was from a Mercedes commercial that Jackie always repeated.
“Right,” Roz said. “The best or nothing. But here’s what I’ll do,” she added. “I’ll get Drayvon to teach you guys how to cook a real meal, okay? Nothing elaborate, you’re still too young, but something that Daddy will like. And then you can give it a shot. But ask for permission from one of us first.”
“Yes, ma’am,” both of them said.
“But in the meantime,” Mick said, “and because I’m hungry as a big dog and from the looks of you two I’m sure your mother’s kitchen is a verifiable mess, we’ll take you guys out to dinner.”
Both children jumped with excitement. “Really? Where?” Duke asked.
“Where do you want to go?” Mick asked, although he and Roz already knew.
“Chuck E Cheese!” both Duke and Jackie yelled.
“Then Chuck it is,” said Mick, and both children hurried out of the bedroom to go and get dressed. They nearly dropped the tray of burnt food, but they held on just barely.
Roz sat on the bed, and then fell backwards. Mick shook his head too. “Looking forward to it?” he asked her.
“Screaming children and games, games, games?” she asked. “Why wouldn’t I look forward to that?”
Mick laughed. Then he reached down, picked her up, and held her in his arms. She wrapped her legs around him, and they kissed again. He reached to lift her bra, to suck her some more, but Roz stopped him.
“Those two puppies have had enough feasting on them for tonight,” she said, and Mick, realizing what she meant, couldn’t help but laugh.
But kissing was still allowed, and he kissed her vigorously.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Dodge Charger stopped at the docks and Joey looked over at Irene. She was doing her nails, something that drove him up a wall because she was always doing her nails it seemed to him. “I won’t be long,” he said.
“Why do we have to come here at all?” she asked. “I thought this was your day off.”
“It is, but Teddy called me in.”
“On bullshit no doubt.”
“No doubt,” Joey agreed.
“Then why are we here? We got things to do. Nobody’s got time to be kowtowing to Teddy.”
“I know, babe, but he is my boss.”
“He’s your brother. He’s not your boss.”
“Try telling that to Pop,” Joey said, unbuckling his seat belt. “I’ll be back.”
Joey got out of the car and made his way toward the ship. When he was nearing the deck, Irene immediately pulled out her cell phone, and placed a call.
“Hey,” said over the phone. “Yeah, we just got here. He just got out. Teddy called him, so apparently it worked. Right. I’m not finding out much. Not yet anyway. Joey won’t discuss the business with me. But don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I’ll have him telling me every single one of his family secrets before I’m done with him.” Then she laughed. “And he won’t even realize he told me a thing!”
Joey made his way to the ship without giving Irene a second thought. Right now, he was singularly focused on what went wrong. He was in charge of the docks, but whenever something went wrong, Teddy was called first. Joey resented it; he felt if he was in charge of the docks, he should be in charge of all of it, but that was how it always went. If Pop wasn’t around, Teddy was the one everybody ran to.
“Where is he?” Joey asked as he stepped on deck.
“He’s in the cargo hold,” said one of their deckhands.
Joey lowered his head and made his way downstairs, to the cargo hold, where Teddy was listening to their cargo supervisor recite the numbers.
“Hey,” Joey said to his big brother. “What’s shaking?”
“What took you so long?” Teddy asked. He called Joey nearly two hours ago.
“This is my day off, Teddy,” Joey said.
Teddy frowned. “Says who?”
“Says me.”
“Says you? That’s not how it works, Joey, and your ass know it. I never gave you clearance to take leave. Especially when we have three shipments coming in today and the first one is already fucked up.”
“Fucked up?” Joey was surprised. “What happened?”
“It came in at half a load,” said Teddy.
“Half? Get the fuck out of here! How could we screw it up that bad?”
Teddy rubbed his forehead. “That’s the million dollar question because nobody knows a damn thing.”
“What port are we talking?” Joey asked as he snatched the inventory logs from their cargo supervisor. “Belize?”
“The Port of Spain,” said Teddy.
“It says full shipment here,” Joey said, looking at the logs. “What are you talking half? It says full here.”
“Yeah, when it left Spain that’s what it said. But when it got here, to the U.S. of A, it’s half.”
“Was there an intercept?” Joey asked.
Teddy was already shaking his head. “No,” he said.
Joey exhaled. “Pop’s gonna be so pissed.”
Teddy rubbed his forehead. Because he knew Pop would turn all of that rage onto him. “Tell me about it,” he said. “Motherfuckers! You need to find out what happened, Joey.”
“Me?” Joey asked. “Why do I need to find out?”
“What do you mean why? It’s your job! Your ass in charge of these docks. Pop put you in charge of shipments coming in!”
“Then why are you here, if I’m so in charge? Why they always calling you when things go wrong, if I’m so in charge?”
“You are in charge of the docks,” Teddy said. “But I’m in charge of you. They called me because things went wrong under your watch. That’s why they called me!”
“It wasn’t under my watch,” Joey said. “I wasn’t even here.”
“Exactly. And you have no idea if anybody actually checked the cargo before it shipped, do you? Because, like you said, you weren’t here.”
“Fuck you,” Joey said, and then one of the deckhands hurried in before Teddy could zig him back.
“Boss just pulled up,” the deckhand said anxiously.
Teddy and Joey looked at each other, and then made their way out of the cargo hold, off the ship, and then up to the Cadillac Escalade that they knew belonged to their father. Irene watched in Joey’s Charger as Joey didn’t even look her way as he made his way toward his father’s SUV. But she was used to that. He was a different person around his family.
Mick sat on the front passenger seat of his SUV as his sons made their way toward him, but his attention was mainly on the woman seated on the front seat of Joey’s car. He couldn’t say that he didn’t like her: he didn’t know her like that. Joey rarely brought her around him, and whenever he did, she was too busy doting on herself to hold any meaningful conversation with the rest of the family. Mick had her investigated thoroughly when she first came around, but all of his men turned up blanks. But his gut still had some doubts about her, and why a sophisticated woman like her was interested in his young, the opp
osite of sophisticated son.
“Hey, Pop,” Teddy said when he and Joey made it up to the SUV. Joey was still a little pissed with his father for slapping him at that bar a couple days ago. He said nothing.
“Did you check the cargo?” Mick asked Teddy.
“We checked it.”
“And?”
“Half of our load is missing,” Teddy said.
Mick was shocked. “Half? Are you kidding me? How the fuck can half of my load go missing, Teddy?”
“Apparently Joey’s people didn’t count the shipment on the other end,” he said.
“What do you mean Joey’s people?” Joey asked. “They don’t work for me! They work for the organization. Why you putting it all at my feet?”
“Because you’re in charge of the docks,” Teddy said. “This is a dock fuck-up.”
“Stop blaming Joey,” Mick snapped at Teddy. “This is your fuck up. You’re in charge of all operations. That includes the docks. Did you backcheck to make sure the shipments were counted before they shipped?”
Teddy knew he hadn’t. He ran his hand through his hair. “No, sir,” he said.
“Then what the fuck you getting on Joey’s case for?” Mick asked. “I specifically ordered you to backcheck each and every order so we don’t continue to have this problem, Teddy! And you don’t think you fucked up? I ought to kick your ass for even suggesting you haven’t!”
“I’m not saying I didn’t fuck up,” Teddy said. “I fucked up.”
“Like usual,” said Joey.
Teddy frowned. “Fuck you!” he said.
“That’s enough,” said Mick. “Which port?”
“Spain,” said Teddy.
“What’s Spain saying?”
“They don’t know a damn thing,” said Teddy.
“Who’s gunrunning for us over there?” Mick asked.
“Morales,” said Joey. “Hector.”
“Get his ass over here,” Mick said.
“To Philly?” asked Joey.
“Either he comes here to face me, or he coughs up the rest of my shipment. Those are his choices.”
Joey nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Mick exhaled. “Half of my cargo. I’ll be damned if they get away with this shit. Get Morales here and get him here now,” he said again.
“We will,” said Teddy. But then he stared at his father, as if he was hesitant to ask it, but he asked anyway. “How did Rome go, Pop?” he asked.
Mick let out another exhale. “More bullshit,” he said.
“So we have no exit strategy?” Teddy asked. “We’re in this shit forever?”
Mick looked at his son. He was the one who bore that guilt. “Yes,” he said.
A weary look appeared in his son’s eyes, the same look that used to appear in Mick’s when he still thought there was a chance that he’d someday lead a normal, stress-free life. “Get Morales here,” he said yet again, and then nodded for his driver to drive. His sons moved out of the way.
But then he stopped his driver. His sons moved back up to the SUV. “What is it, Pop?” Teddy asked him.
But Mick was looking at Joey. “Keep your girlfriends away from my docks,” he said.
Joey realized he was talking about Irene. “Why she can’t come?” he asked. “Teddy brings his old lady around here all the time. You never complain about Nikki being around here.”
“She’s no Nikki,” Mick said bluntly and looked at his son.
“I thought you liked her, Pop.”
“I like her,” Mick said. “We all like her. But trust takes time. Keep her away from my docks,” he ordered again, and then motioned to his driver again. This time, they drove away.
“Why would he say she’s no Nikki?” Joey asked as he and Teddy watched their father leave. “Like Nikki’s so great. What’s so great about Nikki?”
“You mean other than her saving your life that time?” Teddy asked. “You mean other than her saving Pop’s life that time?”
“Yeah, other than that,” said Joey snidely.
Teddy shook his head. “There is something wrong with you,” he said seriously, and then began heading back toward the ship. He waved at Irene as he passed Joey’s car. She was smiling and seemed nice like always, and she waved back. But he was with Pops. For some reason he wasn’t even able to verbalize, he didn’t trust her either.
CHAPTER SIX
Sinatra Industries was a sprawling, massive building of granite and glass in the heart of Philadelphia. On the top floor of that building was the office of one man: the founder, chairman and CEO, Mick Sinatra. Nikki Tarver, Teddy’s girlfriend and Mick’s newest hire, had been called to that office and her heart was racing.
“What do you think he wants?” Nikki asked Gloria as they got onto the elevator together. Gloria had been called to Mick’s office too.
“He didn’t say,” Gloria said as she pressed the elevator button to the top floor. “So there’s no point in speculating.”
Nikki leaned against the elevator wall and removed a bang from her forehead. And she stared at her boyfriend’s half-sister. They were so dissimilar that Nikki understood why their once-decent friendship would be floundering, but she knew that wasn’t the reason. Yes, they had obvious personality differences, where Gloria was more out-there than the more reserved Nikki, and Gloria was very petite, whereas Nikki was a tall, voluptuous woman with plenty of hips, ass, and thighs. Nikki always had to deal with snarky comments from ladies about her body type ever since she arrived in Philadelphia and how they didn’t know Teddy liked big women, as if being curvy was somehow a disease. But she also had to deal with overly-sexualized comments from men about how fine she was and how those same women wish they had the kind of body she had.
But Nikki didn’t care for the drama either way. And the one person she used to be able to go to and vent about it all, before she came to work at S.I., was Gloria. Despite their differences, they had been really good friends. But ever since Mick handpicked Nikki to be one of his vice presidents, a position that was far higher than Gloria’s middle-management position, their relationship had fractured. Nikki hated that it had. She really liked Glo. But she also knew Gloria had been going along with some very nasty rumors about her and how she supposedly slept her way to the top, and that was still hurtful to Nikki.
The two women of color stepped off of the elevator together on the top floor, and made their way to the big man’s office suite. Gloria was so used to being called into the principal’s office, as she referred to it, that it meant nothing to her. But this was Nikki’s first time, and her heart was pounding. She respected Mick Sinatra with an endearing respect, but like everybody else, including his own children, he terrified her too. She didn’t know from one minute to the next if he would slap the shit out of her for saying something stupid, or give her one of his rare smiles. Teddy said his father was really pleased with her and respected her, but Nikki didn’t see all of that whenever she was in his presence. All she saw was a cold, hard man who required loyalty, obedience, and excellence: a hard man to please.
Mick was seated behind his desk when the two women got permission from Blair Conyers, Mick’s longtime assistant, to enter his office. Gloria noticed how even Blair Witch, the nickname she and her brothers gave to Blair, liked Nikki too. Gloria had never been jealous of another woman before in her life, but for some reason she was jealous of Nikki. She’d never admit it out loud, but she knew, in her heart of hearts, that it was nothing but the truth. Nikki had the kind of strong, smart, independent qualities Gloria wanted. She knew she had to get from under her father’s shadow for any of those qualities to blossom in her, but she loved her father too much, and wanted to be in his life too badly, to ever leave him. As Joey would say, she had daddy issues.
“Have a seat,” Mick said to both women, and both women sat down in front of his desk. Nikki, wearing a skintight black dress, crossed her legs.
Mick, leaned back in his chair, looked down at her very shapely legs, and then looked
up at both women. “Anything happened while I was out of town that I need to know about?” he asked them.
“No, sir,” Gloria said quickly.
But Nikki thought about it before answering as quickly as Gloria had, which, Gloria realized, was one of the things her father probably liked about Nikki. But when Nikki answered, “no, sir,” as well, Gloria felt better.
“I called you two into my office because I wanted to set the record straight.”
Nikki was confused. “The record, sir?”
“I’ll fire a motherfucker who fucks with my business,” Mick said bluntly.
Both women were startled by his language, and stared at him. What? Where did that come from, Nikki wondered.
Mick looked at Nikki. “Teddy said you told him about those rumors that had been circulating,” he said to her. “He said you weren’t willing to say, or didn’t know where they were coming from.”
Nikki nodded. She had told Teddy about what she’d been hearing at work, especially about her sleeping her way to the top, so at least she understood better what he meant. But why would she be in danger of losing her job over it? She wasn’t circulating the rumors, and they sure as hell wasn’t true!
Then she realized who she suspected all along was a party to those rumors, although she didn’t tell anybody, not even Teddy, and that that person was in the office too. She wanted to look at Gloria, to see if she showed any guilt, but she didn’t. She knew, at the end of the day, Gloria was a good, honest person. She’d admit the truth. But it wasn’t Nikki’s job to get her to admit it.
“While I was on my way back to the States yesterday,” Mick continued, “I received a call from one of my senior people. They also mentioned those rumors and who they overheard spreading those rumors. She even spread them to him.” He looked at Gloria. “I’ve already discussed this with you, Gloria.”
Gloria nodded. She remembered that scene in the bar crystal clear. “Yes, sir.”
“But I feel an accused has a right to face her accuser,” Mick continued. “Nikki, meet your accuser,” he said, and motioned toward his own daughter.
Mick Sinatra: Ice Cold Love Page 5
