“He absolutely believed I was your son,” Dory added.
Mick was incredulous. “He knew you were my son.And he gunned you down anyway?”
Dory and the butcher could hear the shock in Mick’s voice too. “Like a dog in the street he gunned him down,” the butcher said.
“Are you certain it was Frankie Paletti’s men?” Bella asked. She was as shocked as Mick.
“What did I just say? Hell yeah it was his guys. They announced themselves. Didn’t you hear what I said? His underboss declared war when he came on my turf and started messing with me. I finished that war. Then Monk picked it right back up. When I get out of this bed, I’m going to finish him too.”
But Mick couldn’t get over it. “He tried to take you out even though he knew you were my son?”
“That’s what happened,” said Dory. “He and his underboss disrespected me.”
“Now he’s disrespecting me,” said Mick.
There was a long pause that nobody interrupted. It looked as if Mick was thinking it through.
Then Mick looked at the butcher. “Keep his ass on lockdown,” he ordered, “even if he feels better.”
“Need some manpower, Boss?” the butcher asked him.
“No. I’ll launch my own investigation. If what I’m hearing is true, and it was indeed Frankie’s guys, then I’ll take it from there.”
Buddy smiled and nodded. “Yes sir, Boss,” he said.
Mick looked at Dory again. He didn’t see a tough guy. He didn’t see a boss. He saw a kid. A punk kid that got in over his head. A punk kid that was about to plunge him into a war he didn’t want but knew he had to wage.
It was a damnable life. Mick wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.
He left the room.
Buddy looked at Dory and smiled. “Once you see the master at work, you’ll run on hands and knees begging him to claim you as his son.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” Dory said half-heartedly. Because he, too, was impressed.
“Disrespect is a bitch,” Buddy added. “And if we don’t tolerate it, imagine how much more Mick the Tick doesn’t.”
“And especially from a man he thinks is their staunchest ally,” added Dory. “Some fucking ally!”
But Bella knew how Mick felt about Monk Paletti. She knew he had to be hurting. She hurried out behind him. He was almost at the exit when she caught up to him.
“Mick wait,” she yelled out.
But Mick didn’t break his stride.
“You’re actually going to war with Monk Paletti? Are you serious?”
Mick stopped and looked at her. “He knew Dory was my son. He knew it, Bella. And he went for him anyway. You think I’m going to let that stand?”
“But it’s Frankie, Mick.”
“I don’t give a fuck who it is! That cannot stand,” Mick said forcefully. “If that shit hits the streets, and I do nothing about it, my family is doomed. Don’t you understand that?”
“That’s why it’s a vicious cycle,” cried Bella. “That’s why it will never end!”
“Oh it will end. Let me do nothing and it’ll end alright. Tomyend,” he said.
Bella could see the anguish in his eyes. The weight of the world on his shoulders. She always knew if anybody could carry that weight, Mick could. But even he had to have a limit. When was enough too much for him?
