Amelia was also smiling at Ashley’s choice of clothing: a pair of hotpants and a halter top. Ashley was known as the super-party-girl before Monk married her and moved her into his world, but her reputation preceded her in Jersey too. “Girl, what club you just came from?” she asked her niece.
“No club, Auntie Millie. It’s late. We were in bed.”
But Amelia also noticed that Monk and Big Daddy did not so much as shake hands, and neither man was smiling or looking cordial at all.
And after Ashley and Amelia stopped with the small talk, Monk got down to it. He was seated on the edge of his seat and was looking stern and uncompromising the way he usually looked to Amelia. “How can I help you, Big Daddy?” he asked his father-in-law.
Big Daddy was surprised that Monk jumped right into it. And especially with Ashley right there beside him. “Ashley, leave the room,” Big Daddy ordered her.
But Monk’s temper flared. Those Sinatra brothers were his least favorite people right now after what went down. And they both had a habit of treating Ashley as if she didn’t matter: as if she was still just the unserious party girl with not a brain in her head. She had grown accustomed to letting them treat her as less-than their golden child Carly, but he wasn’t tolerating it. “This is her home,” he pointed out to Big Daddy. “She doesn’t have to leave any room in her own home.”
“So you let her sit in on your mob shit when I told you before you married her that that was not allowed?”
“She doesn’t sit in on anything, Big Daddy. But that doesn’t give you a right to try to control her in her own home.”
“So she controls your house?”
Amelia looked at Monk. Didn’t he know better than to try and mix it up with a man like Charles? She understood his irritation, but still. It was Charles. It was Big Daddy. He earned the right to be respected.
But Monk felt he’d earned that right too. “Ashley is not in control of this house,” said Monk. “I control this house.”
“You control this house but yet you can’t control your wife when she’s running the street with other men. Yeah, I heard about that. But yet you control this house?”
Monk had it up to here with those rumors, and was disappointed that Big Daddy went there, but he knew what he was doing. He was angry at Monk about the war, and everything else was collateral damage. “I don’t control my wife any more than you control Jenay.”
Amelia and Ashley glanced at Big Daddy. They both knew how sensitive he was about Jenay. They all thought Jenay had died after being caught up in another one of Mick’s messy situations. It nearly broke Charles. When it was discovered that Jenay was, in fact, still alive, it still took a lot out of him. But he didn’t say a word. He let Monk have his say.
“Ash has her own life,” Monk continued, “and I let her live it.”
But Big Daddy wasn’t trying to hear it. He looked at Ashley. “Leave the room,” he said to his daughter again.
Ashley thought Monk’s objection settled that. Besides, she wanted to know what was going on with his visit and all of the increased security anyway. Not meaning to be disrespectful, but it was her irritation with Big Daddy’s order that caused her to roll her eyes.
But as soon as she rolled them, Big Daddy jumped up, grabbed her by her halter top, and slammed her slender body against his powerful body. “Roll them again,” he warned her in no uncertain terms.
Monk jumped up and pulled Ashley away from her father. But Ashley could see the concern in her father’s eyes. She knew, at the end of the day, nobody could possibly love her more than Big Daddy did.
But in truth, Big Daddy wasn’t just concerned for Ashley’s wellbeing, he was anguished about it. In moments like this, he wished he’d never approved their union. “I told you I don’t want my daughter caught up in your mob shit, Monk,” he said with clenched teeth. “Didn’t I tell you to keep her out of that part of your life?”
“And I do, Big Daddy!” Monk said with equal anguish. “I do!”
Both men stared into each other’s eyes. And they saw the same thing: fear. And it was all because of their love for Ashley. Big Daddy realized Monk no more wanted Ashley involved in their craziness than he did. He backed down.
When Big Daddy sat back down, Monk looked at Ashley. “Why don’t you take your aunt to the parlor? We’ll only be a few minutes.”
But Ashley was nobody’s fool. “Does all of this increased security have to do with my family?” she asked Monk.
Monk didn’t involve her in his mob life, but he didn’t lie to her either. “Yes,” he admitted.
It was something Ashley didn’t want to hear. But she exhaled. “Then I’m staying,” she said, and sat back down.
“There ya’ go,” Amelia said inwardly, appreciating Ashley taking a stand.
Monk looked at Big Daddy. She would have never known anything had he not shown up here. But Monk respectedAshley’s right to know what was happening in her own family. He sat down too.
“How can I help you, Big Daddy?” he asked Charles again.
“Make a truce with the family,” Big Daddy said.
