Later that day, after they both had gone home and showered and changed, Teddy took Nikki out to lunch.  It was his way of showing her life with him wasn’t always going to be this complicated.  Although, he knew, deep down, that it was.

The line at the front of the restaurant was long, as well-connected patrons waited to be seated, and Teddy had no reservation.  But when he made his way to the Maître d desk, presumably, Nikki thought, to get a number so that they could wait in line too, the Maître d immediately sprang into action.

“Mr. Sinatra, good afternoon,” he said quickly, as he grabbed two menus.  “Please follow me, sir.”

Teddy placed his hand on the small of Nikki’s back and pushed her forward as they made their way to a private, VIP table near the back of the restaurant.  Nikki could see many of the ladies in the upscale restaurant taking peeps at Teddy as they walked by.  Not that she was surprised.  Teddy was a very desirable man.  But it was the ladies who looked surprised.  And their looks were undeniable: Him?  With her? And they seemed to be wondering what special sauce she had to wrangle a man like that.

But Teddy saw a different look.  He saw the look on the faces of the men they passed.  And those men had an undeniable look too.  Those men, it seemed to Teddy, looked envious.  They looked as if they were wondering what special sauce he had to wrangle a woman like Nikki!  It was a thought that occurred to him every time he looked at Nikki.  Most women would have been gone by now, especially after those explosions.  Nikki acted as if they were no big deal to her. As if that craziness was just another day at the office.

After they both sat down at the table, with Teddy first holding Nikki’s chair, the Maître d handed them the menus and took their drink orders, and then left to place the order.

Nikki smiled.  “Somebody has some pull up in here,” she said.  “For real.”

Teddy smiled too, but it was one of those weak smiles.  “A little bit,” he replied as his cell phone began ringing.

He was not a bragger, Nikki thought, as Teddy looked at his Caller ID.  She liked that about him.  He also was a very busy man.  His phone had not stopped ringing since they left the docks.  And other than a few calls, he took them all.  Including the current call from Joey notifying him that the cops and firefighters had left.  The arson investigators, however, he added, were still snooping around.  Teddy ordered him to keep the lawyers onsite until were gone too.  And then he ended the call.

A waiter arrived with their drink orders, took their lunch orders, and then left the table.  Nikki waited while Teddy answered yet another phone call, and then she leaned forward.  As Teddy sat his cell phone back on the table, he noticed her cleavage and how he was going to enjoy them again when they made it back home.  Despite the stress he was under, and it was tremendous, he still managed to go hard just thinking about having Nikki beneath him once again.

But it was his stress, rather than his hard-on, that had Nikki’s attention.  “May I ask you a question?” she asked.

Teddy smiled.  “Anytime anywhere,” he responded.

“What do you do for fun?”

“Fun?” Teddy asked, still smiling.  “What’s that?”

Nikki stared at him.  “You’re joking, right?”  She wasn’t so sure!

But then his cell phone rang again.  And Nikki, this time, grabbed it from the table and answered it before Teddy could.  “Hello?”  She placed the call on Speaker.

“Who’s this?” It was a male’s voice, but that was all Nikki could make out.

“This is Teddy Sinatra’s assistant,” she said, and Teddy smiled.

“His who?” the voice asked.

“How may I help you?” asked Nikki.

“I need to speak to Teddy.”

“Is somebody dead?” Nikki asked, and Teddy grinned.

“Is somebody dead?  No, nobody’s dead.”

“Is somebody in danger of dying?” Nikki asked.

“What is this?  No.  Nobody’s in danger of dying.”

“Then give me your name and Mr. Sinatra will get back with you.”

Teddy shook his head.  “He’s not giving you his name,” he said under his breath.

And sure enough, the caller hung up in Nikki’s face.

Teddy and Nikki both laughed as Nikki sat back down his phone.  But Teddy was thinking too.  He needed one.  Desperately.  Could it work?

He looked at Nikki.  “I tried,” she was saying to him.

“You want it?” he asked her.

It was Nikki’s time to be confused.  “Do I want what?” she asked.

“The job,” Teddy responded.

Nikki looked around.  And then back at Teddy.  Had she missed something?  “What job?”

“The job as my personal assistant.”

Nikki smiled.  “There’s a job available as your assistant?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“But I was just making that up!”

“But why were you making it up?” Teddy asked.  “Because you saw that need, right?”

Nikki nodded.  “Right,” she said.

Teddy leaned back.  “So, what do you say?  You want it, or not?”

“But . . .”

“But what?”

“I haven’t even decided if I was going to stay in Philadelphia.  I’m a California girl, as you know.”

“I won’t hold it against you.”

Nikki smiled and threw a napkin at Teddy.  But then her look turned serious.  “You’re serious?” she asked.

He was.  “Yes,” he said.

Nikki felt blindsided, but in a good way.  Her life in L.A. wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.  She had been demoted.  Could barely make ends meet. And that Louie situation still hung over her head like a dark cloud.  But still!

“What will this job entail?” she asked.  “What does this mean?”

“It means you will spend the majority of your days with me,” Teddy said.  “And your nights.  Although,” he added, “the nights part has nothing to do with the job.  You were going to be doing that regardless.”

Nikki smiled.  “That sounds presumptuous of you, fella.”

Teddy smiled too.  “It does, doesn’t it?”  But then his look was serious again.  “But what do you say, Nikki?  You wanna give this a go?”

Nikki wasn’t sure if he meant their work relationship, or their other relationship.  And two people working together day in and day out would either grow much closer, or completely apart.  It was a risk.

But before she could answer his question, his cell phone rang again.  And Nikki grabbed it from the table again.  But this time, she looked at the Caller ID.  When she did, she immediately slid it back toward Teddy as if it was a contaminant.

“What?” he asked, surprised.

“It’s Mr. Sinatra,” Nikki said.

And that stressed look on Teddy’s face suddenly became distressed.  “Shit!” he said.  But then he answered the phone.  “Hey, Pop.”

Mick Sinatra’s voice, on the other end, was firm.  “Two explosions.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Any casualties?”

“No.  Nobody.  Although Joey might have been injured if Nikki hadn’t pulled him away in time.”

“Another Sinatra saved by the woman who had no fucking business being anywhere near those fucking docks,” Mick said.  “How good for us.”

Teddy’s anger rose.  “She was there on my invitation,” he said.  “And I’m grateful she was there.”  Then he looked at Nikki.  “She’s going to be at a lot of scenes like that in the future.  She’s my new assistant.”

Nikki was shocked that he made that announcement to his father when she hadn’t even accepted the position yet.  And apparently, from the silence that had ensued, it didn’t go over as well as Teddy had hoped.

And Nikki was right.  Mick hesitated, but then responded.  “Mixing work with play is not a good idea,” he said to his son.

“I know that,” Teddy responded.

“Then why are you doing it?” Mick asked.

Teddy didn’t bat an eye.  “Because she’s different,” he said.  “She can handle it.”

Nikki smiled at Teddy.

“Maybe she can,” Mick said.  “But can you?”

Teddy knew what his father meant.  He had never been in a committed relationship before, and especially one that would also involve a working relationship.  “I don’t know,” he responded honestly to his father.  But he needed Nikki.  He was smart enough to know that.

“The witness got away,” Mick said, moving on.  “And another family has attacked our family.  At least that’s what I’m hearing.  What the fuck are you going to do about it?”

“I have a call in to Bovenconti.  I’m asking for a meeting.  Just the two of us.  I have to make sure he’s behind the hit, first and foremost.”

“And if his ass is?” Mick asked.

“I’m going to have to make a deal.  He gets the guys responsible.  Simple as that.”

“Right,” Mick agreed.

“Their asses knew better anyway,” Teddy continued.  “They know no one man is bigger than the organization.  They know how we operate.  They know if they fuck up, we aren’t taking everybody else down just because of them.  Only fools and TV gangsters pull that kind of shit.  They understand how this shit works.”

“And if they didn’t before,” Mick said, “they will now.  Meet with BB.”  BB was what other Dons called Boss Bovenconti.  But only the Dons had the privilege.  “Find out where his head is at.  But don’t fall for his bullshit.  I’ve known that fucker a long time.  He can bullshit with the best of them.”

“I’ll have my antenna up,” Teddy said.

“But contain this situation,” Mick said, “before it gets out of hand.  Because if it does, it’s your ass.  I’m in Europe.  I’m in tough negotiations.  I don’t want to hear any more about any fuckups in Philly.”

“You won’t, sir,” Teddy assured his father.

“I’d better not,” Mick responded.  Then he added, “I hope it works out,” and ended the call.

“Well, well,” Teddy said, “you just got Pop’s seal of approval.”

Nikki frowned.  “How?”

“He said he hopes it works out.”

“But I thought he was talking about that meeting with that Don.”

Teddy was shaking his head.  “He was talking about you working for me and being with me.”

“Are you sure about that, Teddy?”

“Hell yeah, I’m sure!  I know my old man.”  He was the one who told him to put Nikki to the test.  She, in many ways, already past it in Teddy’s eyes.

He sat his phone back down, leaned back, and exhaled.  Nikki could see the stress all over his handsome face.

“I’ll take the job,” she said impulsively.

Teddy looked at her, and the gratitude on his face said it all to Nikki.  Until he said even more.

“I need to eat,” he said, rising to his feet. “And it ain’t on this menu.”

Nikki rose too.  She knew what he meant.  He needed stress relief.  Now that she had agreed to work for the second-in-command of the Sinatra Crime Family, she needed the same thing.

And with their food order still being prepared, and a crowd still envious that they were able to walk right in and get seated, they walked right out.