Page 24 of Nikki Sinatra: For Her Lover
“From where?”
“Istanbul. Our biggest from them yet.”
“Firearms only?”
“Mainly yes. A few ins and outs thrown in. I going to need a supervisor on scene. But in the meantime, I may have to show up in the morning and take care of it myself.”
“I guess that means Nanny’s staying over again tonight.”
A regretful look appeared in Nikki’s eyes. “And we won’t get to see Kimmie awake again tonight, yes, that’s what it means. Sometimes I wonder what kind of mother am I.”
“You’re a hard-working mother who’s home most of the time. You’re an excellent mother. I’m the deadbeat dad.”
“You are not. And if Kimmie heard you say that she’ll sayquit lying, Daddyin her tiny little girly voice.”
Teddy laughed.
“She’s Team Daddy all the way.”
“She’s my girl. Now all I need is a boy and I’m good.”
But as soon as Teddy said it that sense of dread they both felt at the very thought of bringing another child into their highly volatile lifestyle overtook them. And especially not right now. There was no way Nikki would agree to that right now.
She got out of bed and began putting back on her clothes. “You should have installed a shower up in here is what you should have done.”
“There’s a bathroom. You can always take a birth bath.”
“Or I can finish my work and take my Teddy-filled ass home and get in my own bath tub.” He laughed. “How about that?”
“I agree,” he said as he got up and began dressing too.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Less than an hour later, as Teddy was seated at his desk reviewing the final audit report while on the phone with the auditors that compiled it, and while Nikki was seated at her desk reviewing the deep background checks of the three men she had in mind to replace Mike Driessen, she got a text.
She knew she had to meet Juda after she left the office, but when she saw that text her eyes widened and her heart began to pound. She had to read it again to make certain she had read it right. When she was certain, she jumped up from her desk without turning off her computer. “I’ve got to make a quick run,” she said to Teddy as she grabbed her phone and keys and began hurrying out of the door.
Teddy was surprised. She knew he didn’t like her out this time of night. “A run where?” he asked her. “Nikki?”
But Nikki had already left the office.
“Let me call you back,” Teddy said to his auditors and ended the call as he ran out behind her. But by the time he got outside, Nikki was already speeding out of the gate.
Teddy hopped in the Bugatti and took off behind her. He flew out of that gate the way he usually did and turned left because he saw her turn in that direction. A car was coming toward him when he sped out into the highway to make that left turn, and although the car slammed on brakes, it was going too fast. And Teddy, though certain he was going to make that turn before that car could make it up to him, had miscalculated. The oncoming car t-boned him with a crash so violent that it slid Marco’s Bugatti nearly fifty feet across the highway. It didn’tstop its skid until they both crashed into a garbage truck in the opposite lane.
Teddy was sandwiched between the garbage truck and the car that had crashed into him, and the airbags had deployed. But he felt like crap. Not because he was in any physical pain: he wasn’t. But because Nikki had gotten away without explaining herself, Marco was going to kill him for wrecking his car ( a car Teddy had given to him), and that damn airbag had wallowed him. It had knocked the breath out of him.
But it was emblematic of how he felt. Because he felt wallowed too.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Two police officers were eating a late dinner at the Burger King across the highway and witnessed the crash. They dropped everything and hurried over. Although no one was injured, Teddy was cited for failure to yield and for overall reckless driving. But all he wanted to do was find out where Nikki had gone, and what led her to take off like that. But he had to remain where he was and answer the cops’ questions.
Once the interrogation was over, and just as he was about to call for one of the deckhands to loan him a car, Roz Sinatra, the wife of Mick Sinatra, was driving toward the crash in her brand-new Bentley. She had attended a play at a community theater where she wanted to scout out a young actor that was taking the city by storm. She had decided, based on his performance alone, to sign him to her talent agency. And he, of course, agreed. She owned one of the premier talent agencies in the country, with offices now in New York and L.A. as well. And she was a renowned Broadway actress in her own right. Why wouldn’t he agree? But when she saw Teddy standing on the side of the road with the cops, and saw that horrific crash, all that cheerfulness flew out the window. Her heart sank, And she pulled over to the side of the road and was about to get out. But Teddy came over to her.
She pressed down the window when Teddy ran over. “Don’t tell Marco,” he said to her. “I don’t wanna hear it tonight.”
But Roz was confused. “Don’t tell Marco what?” Then when it registered, she looked horrified. “Good Lord, Teddy, is that Marco’s Bugatti? Was he involved in this crash?”
