CHAPTER NINE
“Mick, slow down.”
But he kept pumping.
“Mick, that’s too hard. Mick? Mick, it’s too hard. Mick?”
When he still kept going, Roz pushed her naked body up and out of his arms. “I like it hard too, but damn. Not that hard!” She looked at him with a fixed frown on her face. “What’s wrong with you?”
Mick Sinatra was breathing heavily when he finally stopped pounding her.
Then he let his arms, that had been wrapped tightly around Roz, fall to his sides.
He was still buried deep inside of her, and they both were still feeling the reverberations of his pounding, but even he knew he had gone too far.
“What is it?” Roz asked him. “You’re acting like you . . .”
Mick looked at her with that don’t you dare try it look he gave to anybody that attempted to question his motives. “Like I what?”
“Like you’re trying to brand me. Like you’ve got some point to prove.”
When Mick’s hard green eyes grew weary, Roz wondered if she’d hit the nail on the head.
It was four in the afternoon, East Coast time, and Mick had phoned and told her to meet him at the house for a quick one.
It sounded like a good idea to her, something they rarely did, so she hurried home too.
But he had gone overboard even for Mick. “Tell me what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me.”
Roz gave him a hard look. “Really? That’s what we’re doing? If you don’t want my black ass to be all up in your white ass you’d better tell me what’s wrong with your ass.”
Then Mick exhaled. He needed to get it off his chest anyway. “A couple assholes threatened to take out Teddy if he didn’t give up some of my territory. We naturally couldn’t let that stand.”
“Naturally,” said Roz. “But were they capable of doing that? Was it a serious threat?”
“No. But the very fact that they would even say some shit like that meant we had to pay them a visit. So we paid them a visit. When we approached them, they took off running. Teddy took off after one of them, and I took off after the other one.”
Roz was already worried. “And?”
“And I lost him. And you know why I lost him?”
“Because he was faster and probably younger than you?”
“Hell no. His ass was fat and slow.”
“Then why did you lose him?”
Mick hesitated and then answered her. “One of my knees gave out on me. I couldn’t run anymore.”
Roz tried not to smile, but she could never do the poker face. She burst into laughter. Which she knew would anger him, but she couldn’t help herself.
It angered him. “That’s funny to you? You think that’s funny?” Then Mick slapped her hard as he could on her naked butt.
“Ouch!” she cried out in pain and grabbed her butt cheek. She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Still think it’s funny?” Mick asked as his phone began ringing. He grabbed it from the nightstand and looked at his Caller ID. When he saw that it was Tommy, he placed his phone on Speaker and answered the call. “What?”
“We’ve got trouble, Uncle Mick. Major, major trouble.”
“Oh Lord,” Roz said.
“What is it this time?” Mick asked.
“It’s TJ.”
“What about TJ?”
“There’s been a shooting at his school.”
Roz snatched the phone from Mick. “Is he alright?” she asked anxiously. “Are you telling us TJ’s been shot?”
“No. He hasn’t been shot. They’re saying he’s the shooter, Roz.”
Mick and Roz both were floored. “TJ?” they asked at the exact same time.
“That’s what they’re saying. Reno and I are still in Alberta heading for the airport. We should be back in Seattle in a couple hours.”
“Have they arrested him?” an extremely concerned Mick asked.
“Not that I know of. The police picked up Grace and is taking her to the school now. We have CNN International on Reno’s phone and they’re saying he’s holed up in a classroom with hostages.”
“This don’t make no sense,” said Roz.
“They said his name yet?” asked Mick.
“No, not yet. Or at least they aren’t telling their audience yet. But that can change any minute.”
Mick leaned his head back. He immediately went into thinking mode the way he usually did when he heard news that hit that close to home.
“Reno’s calling Sal and Gemma now,” said Tommy. “We need Gemma to get there too.”
Mick heard him and frowned. “Gemma? What’s her ass gonna do?”
“He’ll need a lawyer, Uncle Mick. She’s the best.”
“We’re talking about a school shooting, Thomas!” Mick was now angry. “He doesn’t need a gotdamn lawyer, he needs a miracle. Your ass better call Hammer Reese!”
Then he settled back down. They all knew it was beyond-serious when Uncle Mick was losing it too. “I’m on my way,” he said, and ended the call.
“So am I,” said Roz as she pulled Mick’s dick out of her and got off of him.
“Your ass aren’t going anywhere,” he said as he got out of bed too.
Roz knew there was no way she was staying back on this one. “Mick, I have to go.” Her butt cheek was still burning from his lick, but she was willing to fight him on this one. “I can’t sit this out. They’re talking about little TJ. TJ, Mick!”
Mick knew it was insane too.
“Teddy will be here for the twins,” she continued. “But I have to go.”
Mick exhaled. He never liked Roz anywhere near anything that could be perceived as dangerous. But she was right. This was different. “Get dressed,” he said, as he hurried to get dressed himself.