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“You’ve made a huge success here and I was thinking maybe you’d like to expand.”
“As in?” Nick played it very close cause only six months ago they’d finally gotten Frank out of their lives.
“I have to iron out all the details, but I’m looking to get out of New York. Too much pressure and too many eyes in the wrong places.”
Probably meant the cops were on to his game and were cracking down hard.
“I figure I’ll split my time between here and L.A. but I’d like to have somebody I trust running shit in Vegas when I’m not around.”
Nick couldn’t help the smirk. “This all sounds vaguely familiar.”
“Except we’d come in as equal partners, you, me, and Samson.”
“I’ll have to talk it over with him, but I don’t know how receptive he’ll be seeing as the last time we were in business you tried to off me in Miami and frame him for the murder of a Russian mob boss.”
Frank cocked his head. “It’s a new day, Nick. You’ve got to let old grievances go.”
“Right.” Nick couldn’t wait to hear Samson’s take on this one.
“I’d also like to spend more time out here getting to know my daughter and my granddaughter.”
“Rekindling family?” Nick couldn’t help the sarcastic edge.
“And how about you?”
“Me, what?” Pissy response but fuck he was gonna make him work for it.
“You and Cheryl got a daughter.”
“That we do, and I’ve made it known I want them both in my life, but Cheryl is stubborn as shit.”
Frank harrumphed. “Wonder where she gets it from?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Just make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”
“I really hope that wasn’t a threat from a father who’s never been a part of her life.” Gone were the days when Frank was able to hold shit over Nick’s head.
“Just a request.” Frank twisted his lips. “Although I imagine those piranhas need to be fed daily.”
Nick laughed at his veiled threat. “You got nothing to worry about.”
Aweek later, Cheryl and Portia settled back into the house at Country Club Hills. She immediately put it up on the market and of course the real estate agent assured her it would sell quickly which somewhat unsettled Cheryl. The faster the house sold the faster she’d have to make a decision about staying in Vegas. Although her and Nick ended amicably they still hadn’t ironed out their relationship or his relationship with Portia.
In the spirit of finally getting her life in order, Cheryl called Frank and was to meet him in one hour at his newly renovated jazz club in Vegas. When she pulled in the parking lot she sat in the car for a full five minutes, then self-talked herself into acting like an adult. She reasoned this would be a normal father-daughter talk only most fathers didn’t run the East Coast mob, cover up murders, or threaten people’s lives. So much for self-talk.
Ten minutes later,yes, she sat in her car for another ten minutes—father and daughter stared at each other and Cherylrealized the irony. Two days ago, Portia met her father for the first time and although the situation differed, Cheryl felt like she was meeting her father for the first time too.
“I thought it was about time we talked.” Good place to start.
Frank’s brown eyes never wavered. He’d mastered the art of silence and hiding any expression that could give him away.
“I know we don’t have the typical father-daughter relationship and probably never will, but I hope we could at least come to an understanding.”
“I’m listening.” His deep voice was very hard to read.
Of course, he wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
