“Then who?”
“Ron Toscano,” he said.
Everything seemed to go still. Teddy frowned. “Those fuckers again?!”
But Mick was stunned. He had not expected to hear that. Roz even turned around and looked at Mick. Because she knew what he had done for Ron’s supposed son. Because she knew the stakes.
Monk knew the stakes too. “Just Ron Toscano?” he asked, glancing at a now unsteady-looking Mick.
“He’s the only one I know about,” said Gagarin. “But look at me,” Gagarin cried. “I need serious medical attention. Don’t let me just remain here. I’ll die.”
Mick looked at him. And woke up from his stupor. “You kidnapped my son and tried to kill both of my other sons. You tried to kidnap my wife. You tried to murder my nephew. Your ass was gonna die anyway,” Mick said angrily, flung open the door of the SUV even as Nikki flew up the highway. Then he grabbed a screaming Gagarin and threw him out of the vehicle to his certain death.
His sudden departure silenced the van. No more screams. No more conversation. And Mick returned to his stupor.
“Close the door, Pop,” Teddy said in a voice barely discernible. But Mick heard it, and closed the door.
“What’s next?” Monk asked him. But the answer was obvious.
They had to go to Rome.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Mick’s jumbo jet touched down in Naples, Italy and a convoy of SUVs made their way to Rome where Toscano lived. The idea was to arrive so far away that they would enter into Rome before any of Toscano’s people could react. The goal was to hit his compound before he knew what hit him.
But no known faces were going to be in the first wave: Not Mick, not Teddy and Nikki, and certainly not Monk Paletti. The first wave was already well ahead of Mick’s convoy: Fifty men strong who flew over on Mick’s plane too. Their job was to penetrate the residence and subdue everybody inside.
It was not the way Mick ever had handled an assault before. But he had Roz with him, and Bella. And whether or not they wanted him to worry about them, he had Nikki and Teddy to worry about too. He knew it was not like him to be so worried, but he was. He was worried sick and he didn’t know why.
But Roz knew why. They’d already discussed it on the long flight over to Italy. It was Dory. Mick was terrified that Dory was involved. That his own son didn’t just dislike him for not being there for him or fighting to find out if he was actually his son, but he hated his guts. That was another level for Mick. All of his children had always loved him desperately despite his shortcomings in their lives. They all wanted to be with him and wanted him to acknowledge them.
Dory wanted none of that.
Which led Mick back to the same conclusion: He hated him.
Mick leaned his head back. He and Roz, atypically as well, were riding on the third row of the big Ford Expedition that met them at the airport in Naples. Roz looked at him. “You may be worrying for nothing,” she said to him.
“I can only hope you’re right.”
She took her hand and intertwined it into his hand. And she leaned against him.
“What am I going to do, Roz, if it’s true?”
It was the first time in a long time that Mick asked her for advice. She had to look at him to make sure he was the one who just asked that question. And then she laid her head back onto his shoulder. “If it’s true,” she said, “then you’re going to have to do what you have to do.”
Then she looked up again, and they stared into each other’s eyes.
“I don’t want to have to do that,” Mick said. “I can’t keep doing that.” There was pain in his voice. So much so that Monk almost turned around, but Teddy hit his leg and shook his head.
But Roz was uncompromising. “This isn’t about him, Mick,” she said to him. “This isn’t even about you or me or anybody else in this SUV. All of us can take care of ourselves. This is about our children and grandchildren. This is about legacy. If anybody is a threat to our babies, you cannot let that stand. Just like you had to go against Frankie, you’ve got to do what you have to do. I don’t care who it is. I don’t give a fuck! You cannot let that stand.”
Mick squeezed her hand and nodded. Because he knew she was one hundred percent correct. If it was true and Dory was involved, that meant he wanted to take out Mick’s children and other family members, and Roz too. Which would make him Mick’s enemy number one. If that was true.
He prayed to God it wasn’t true.
But once they arrived on the outskirts of Rome, near where Toscano lived, it would be another half hour before they received the all-clear.
“We have control of the compound,” Mick’s advance team chief said over the radio. “But Boss?”
