Name: Michael Liam Downey, “Mickey”

Age: 56

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York.

Current Residence: Chicago, Illinois.

Status: Retired. Founder and former CEO of Downey Industries, Former CFO of Anastasio Shipping, Former venture capitalist and investor for Bonanno Construction.

Aspirations: Having his cake and eating it, too.

Hobbies: Wood-working, gun collecting, story-telling, and breaking the law.

Parents: Paul “Pauli” Downey and Maeve O’Malley

Grandparents: Patrick Downey and Rosa Bruno, Seamus O’Malley and Maura McLaughlin.

Siblings: Rosa Downey LaPosa, Magdalena Downey

Children: Thomas “Tommy” Gates (Mary Gates), Katherine “Kiki” Downey (Theresa Anastasio), Giovanni “Joe” Downey (Theresa Anastasio)

Significant Other: Mary Gates

~~~

People said he had a knack for making money, had the ‘luck of the Irish’, but making money wasn’t about luck. It was about exploiting weaknesses and capitalizing on strengths. Sometimes it was in how he structured the thing, sometimes it was in how he used people’s weaknesses against them, sometimes it was both. He had no problem using his fists or a gun to make a point but he far preferred manipulating assets and brokering an intricately layered web of quid pro quos. That way, no one knew what had hit them until he was long gone and even then they could never quite finger him. He liked the tactical advantage it gave him. He liked the finesse involved in money work. It was a thinking man’s con. Better yet, money didn’t argue, money didn’t fight back, but it sure as hell talked. Money was tangible, by its very nature quantifiable, one either had it or one didn’t.

Even when it never existed in the first place, he thought with a chuckle.

—First, I Love You (Downey #1)

It sickened Mickey to think of all the wasted years without his son and he blamed them all, the Feds, Theresa, and Frank. But he could see that Tommy and Mary were happy here and he could continue to allow them this illusion that their tranquility came from his absence. Because he knew the truth, that Kiki and Joey had always been and would remain safe and happy with him and Mickey didn’t have to give up one to have the other. In fact, someday in the future when they would all be together as a whole family, Tommy and Mary would come to see that being the man in charge was actually the only thing that kept all of them safe.

Yes, very soon, Mickey would be released from his promise to stay away. And maybe then when they were all a family, Tommy would be able to see what Mary used to see, what his other children saw, not just a man who would kill for them, but a man who would die for them… the man underneath it all.

—Second of All (Downey #2)

“I never promised to leave my family unprotected. I merely said I was—”

“‘I’m going to lay down my weapons and just be your father’,” Tommy mocked then turned and doubled his pace back towards the tunnel.

Mickey jogged after him. “That’s what I was doin’—son, for God’s sake, stop and listen!”

Tommy stopped suddenly. He whipped around and jabbed a finger at his own chest. His messy hair flopped in his face.

“That’s my job. It’s my job to protect the innocent and go after the bad guys. Not yours. Why can’t you grasp this basic fact?”

“A man who doesn’t protect his family is nothing! Less than nothing. I’d rather be dead. You wanna do it your way, that’s fine, but I’ma do it my way. Now, I’m giving you the respect of sharing my thoughts on how that could work with you. You’re damn well gonna give me the respect of letting me finish my goddamn thought!”

Tommy blinked and stepped back.

True, Mickey thought, that might have come out a bit harsh. But, grown man or not, Tommy was still his son.

—Third Time’s The Charm (Downey #3)