Mick couldn’t believe it. “A fucking mad house! Where’s my child?”
“She’s in the car with Drakos. But he’s handling it, Boss. He’s handling it.”
But just as Leo was saying how Oz was handling it, the car that Oz was now chasing turned a corner way too sharply and began spinning out. By the time Oz turned that same corner, the car was flipping several times.
“That’s right, motherfuckers,” Oz was yelling. “You’re getting what your ass deserves!”
And then the car landed in a ditch.
Gloria looked up when the car stopped and saw Oz reaching beneath his seat to a compartment. He pressed a button and a gun fell into his hand. “I’ll be back,” he said like he was the Terminator, and hurried out of the car. When he ran to the car, he saw that the gunman was dead, but the driver was still alive. He immediately placed his gun in the driver’s head. “Who sent you?” he asked him.
The driver was moaning and groaning. He was on the verge of dying, and Oz knew it. “Who sent you, motherfucker?” Oz yelled. But it was too late. The driver died in his arms.
Oz was angry. Was he one of Mick the Tick’s men?
But while he took that moment to ponder that thought, a third man Oz didn’t realize had been thrown from the vehicle was crawling out of the dry ditch behind the vehicle with his gun ready to fire. And as soon as he was able to maneuver his badly injured body good enough to take a shot at Oz, he took his shot.
But another shot was fired, too, and took the gunman out. Oz ducked when he heard both shots that rang out at the same time. The one that was aimed at Oz missed wildly. The one that was aimed at the gunman, was spot on. Oz looked at the downed gunman, and then he quickly pivoted to see who had shot him.
When he saw Gloria standing there, with a gun in her hand, he was floored. He couldn’t believe it. She was Mick Sinatra’s daughter, which might have explained her accuracy, and he knew he shouldn’t have been surprised. But he was. He stood there stunned.
And he wasn’t the only one. Leo and his men had turned that same corner and caught the action just as Gloria was firing her shot. And they slammed on brakes.
“She shot him!” Leo yelled into the phone. “She shot him, Boss!”
“What are you talking about? Who shot whom?”
“Gloria. Your daughter. She shot the gunman. The others in that car appears to be dead from the accident. But there was one left. One about to take Drakos out, but Gloria took him out. She took him out. The threat is over.”
Mick, who was riding in the back of his Escalade, had to remove the phone from his ear to compose himself. The blow by blow Leo had been giving him was killing him. But now it was over? He put the phone back to his ear. “Are you certain there isn’t a back channel?”
“We’ve got another vehicle canvassing. There’s no one else around. The threat’s over and Gloria’s okay.”
“Thank God,” Mick said. Then he added: “Where’s Gloria now?”
“Drakos is running to her, and hugging her. And now he’s on his phone.”
“Was Drakos hit at all?”
“No, sir. Thanks to Gloria.”
“Okay, good. Good. What about you? Was your cover blown?”
“No, sir. We’re still far enough away.”
Mick had taken her to the range, as he had done all of his children at some point. “Get out of there then,” he said, “but stay close.”
“We’ve got to find out who’s after Drakos,” Leo said. “He’s apparently got some very aggressive enemies. Think we should call in Teddy?”
“No,” said Mick. “I’ve got reinforcements on their way already. Don’t you worry about that. My daughter’s safety is your only worry. I’ll handle Drakos.”
“Yes, sir,” Leo said, and Mick ended the call.
He leaned his head back.
“Everything okay, sir?” his driver asked him.
But Mick didn’t respond. His heart hadn’t stopped hammering yet. His family in danger was what he feared most in this life. But Gloria didn’t buckle under pressure. That he was pleased to know. Very pleased.
“That’s my girl,” he said in a breathless whisper. “That’s my girl.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After spending over two hours on scene talking with the Apple Valley Police and explaining how the attack went down, Oz and Gloria were free to go. Oz insisted to police that he had no idea why they would be randomly targeted that way, suspecting it might have been a robbery/kidnapping gone wrong, and he also told the cops that he was the one who fired the gun that Gloria had fired. In total self-defense, he made clear. And the police accepted every word he spoke. That was the kind of weight the Drakos name carried in that town. They wouldn’t hesitate to lock him up after a barroom brawl, but something major like a killing? They wouldn’t dare. The chief on scene made clear that no charges would be filed. They believed his story.
But Gloria, on the other hand, wasn’t buying it.
She looked at him as he drove them away from the scene. He still had on a hat, and he had an unlit cigar between his teeth. He was still that larger-than-life Oz. But he was subdued too. All of that talking he had done with the police had turned into total silence as he drove. But when her staring wouldn’t cease, he finally looked her way.
“Plan to tell me who they were?” she asked him when he looked at her.
“As I told the police,” Oz started saying, but Gloria cut him off.
“I’m not talking about the cover story,” she said. “Who were those guys, Oz?”
Oz continued to drive instead of looking her way. But he also cut the bullshit. “I’m not sure,” he said.
“But they were mob guys, right?”
“I’m not sure,” he said again. “But probably, yes.”
“So, you do know my father?” Gloria asked.
“I know of him. I’ve never met him, at least not that I can recall.”
“You know of him,” Gloria asked, “because you’re in the same line of work he’s in?”
Oz froze on that question. She was asking him far more than he was willing to reveal. But he also knew, after tonight, after what she did for him, she deserved the truth. At least the part he knew for sure himself. “Yes,” he said. “A part of my life is in that same line of work.”
“The biggest part of your life?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No. Not even close. But that part sometimes has a way of overwhelming all else.”
“Like tonight.”
Oz nodded. “Like tonight,” he said.
To his shock and relief, Gloria didn’t ask more questions. It was as if she was trained to go just so far down that dark, despicable road.
But Gloria’s silence had more to do with what she saw in his eyes. His eyes, whenever he looked at her, were deeply troubled, and she couldn’t figure out what it was. It wasn’t terror like it should have been after what he’d been through that night. Nor was it fear. But it was something so powerful, and emotional, that it spooked Gloria too. “What’s wrong, Oz?”
Oz continued to stare at the road.
“Oz, what is it?” Gloria asked again.
He finally looked her way. “You saved my life,” he said to her, and his look lingered before he looked away from her.
When he said those words, Gloria realized why he looked so troubled. It was her. She was troubling him.
And Oz said it again, as if it was still registering with him. As if he still couldn’t believe her bravery. “You saved my life, Gloria.”
Gloria stared at him. “Yes, I know,” she said.
“But how? I don’t mean how! I know how. But I mean, you had that gun all along?”
“I carry a gun, yes.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? I’m Mick the Tick’s daughter, remember? I’m that girl. It’s a requirement in my family.”
Oz shook his head.
Gloria looked at him. “What?”
“Of al
l the dames in this little town,” Oz said, “I had to run into the one dame who understood that life.” Then he laughed in that big, boisterous Oz fashion. “I am one lucky bastard!” he proclaimed.
Gloria smiled and shook her head, too. “You stupid,” she said with a grin of her own.
But as their gaiety died out, and they both were looking at the dark road ahead of them, Oz was still in shock. Was it possible, he wondered? Did he just find that special lady that could truly understand, and maybe even accept, his other life? A good woman who wouldn’t condemn him outright, or abandon him when terrible times came? His big brother abandoned him once, when Alex decided to walk away from their family’s crime syndicate and head to America to make his fortune, leaving it up to Oz to be their sadistic father’s righthand man. And he and Alex were closer than brothers.
He’d never gotten that emotionally close to another human being since then. He was close to his nephew Jordan, but even with him he kept a safe distance too.
But Gloria was different, he thought. Most women kowtowed to him as if he was bread’s butter, and their reasons always had to do with his wealth or his power or how good he was in bed. But it never had to do with him.
But with Gloria, who didn’t take the least bullshit from him, it seemed to have everything to do with him. And she knew her way around a gun too? And she didn’t flinch when he was in danger, but took action to protect him? He’d been his family’s protector most all of his life. Now he just might have a partner that could protect him? That could love and care for the person he was, warts and all?
It wasn’t going to be a perfect affair. She was Mick Sinatra’s daughter, a man he just might be at war with. There was nothing going to be perfect about it! But he had a massive feeling that if he didn’t take charge of this woman while he had a chance, he might never be so fortunate again.
He looked at her. And took that chance. “I want you to stay with me tonight,” he said to her.
Gloria stared at him, too, and then she broke their stare and looked forward. She wasn’t going to lie to herself. She liked Oz. There was something about him that was so decent that it made her feel safe with him. But at the same time, she was scared of Oz too. She was scared that he’d do like all the men before him had done and break her heart. Her heart might not be safe with him.
She looked at him. It wasn’t his looks or his body or even his charm that was winning her over. It was something intangible about him that made her feel that if she walked away from him, she would live to regret it.
“I want that too,” she said to him.
Oz didn’t smile, although he was inwardly elated. Because he was inwardly horrified too. Was he insane? Who in their right mind would even think about falling for Mick the Tick’s daughter?
But then again, he thought with an inward chuckle, who ever said Oz was sane?
They rode to his apartment at The Drakos, to spend a night they both believed could forever bind them, in adject silence.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
He was on top of her, with his penis deep inside of her, as he made love to her in a way that made her feel as if she was dreaming. Oz paid attention to her as he did her. Just as he was on his plane, he was a patient lover in his home too. He was not a selfish lover the way, when she first met him, she was certain he would be. He didn’t toss her on his bed and hurry through it. He didn’t snatch off her clothes and give her a quick bang. He, instead, turned down the bedding, and they both removed clothing and got into his bed. And he kissed her, and held her face, staring at her, and then he moved down the length of her. He kissed her and sucked her and made her so wet that she thought she was going to cum from his oral alone.
But she held on, because he was so patient with her. And by the time he moved back up, and entered her, they were already in a groove. He was pumping his joy into her at a steady pace, and she was holding onto him, loving the feeling, as he pumped. They were moving together, in a slow-motion sync that surprised even Oz.
He held onto Gloria as he fucked her as hard as he could. He kept pushing into her, deeper and deeper. He wanted her to experience what he was experiencing. He wanted her to cum first.
When she came, his heart sang with happiness. Because she looked so sweet when she came. And he knew he had done what he most wanted to do: he had satisfied his lady.
And then he came too.
It was an outpouring of love and affection for the woman in his arms. Nobody else, in all his escapades, could compare.
Because they were in his home, and under covers in his bed, it felt even more special to Gloria. She’d never loved like this before, and with a man who knew how to be as gentle as he was rough and tough. And as he continued to push that massive rod deeper inside of her, and as he continued to pump his ass off, she came again. Just like that. She was arching her back and enjoying the sensations and cumming harder than the first time.
Before all was said and done, she would cum a third time too. For the first time in her life, she came three times in a row.
But that, she thought deliciously, was all Oz.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Gloria thought last night was a dream until she opened her eyes and saw Oz lying next to her, staring at her. She smiled. He already was.
“Good morning,” he said to her.
He was on his side, his entire naked body exposed, while the sheet was around her waist. “Good morning,” she said, and turned on her side too. “Aren’t you going to serve me a big breakfast in bed, on a silver platter, like they do in the movies?”
“Is that what you want, my dear?”
“Yes, Mr. Drakos, that is exactly what I want.”
Oz smiled. “Sounds like a personal problem to me,” he said, and Gloria laughed and pushed him. His upper body was so massive, her push didn’t budge him.
Then her look turned serious. “How do you feel?” she asked him. “About last night I mean?”
“You and me last night, or that other thing last night?”
“Both,” Gloria said.
“You and me? Great.”
“And that other thing?”
“Not so great. I don’t know who was behind it yet.”
Gloria thought about that. “Are you in danger?” she asked him.
Oz was shaking his head. “No, babe. Oz is not in danger. But the fucker who ordered that hit is.”
“You’re certain it was a hit then?”
“Oh, yes,” said Oz. “They tried to take my ass away from this earth last night. But don’t worry. They’ll get what’s coming to them.”
“Once you find out who they are,” said Gloria.
“Correct,” said Oz.
“Then there’s you and me. You said you and me were great.”
Oz smiled. “I did say that, didn’t I?”
But Gloria wasn’t smiling. She looked into his big eyes. “Why?”
Oz’s smile left too. “Because that’s how I feel, Gloria. I feel like we just might have something special going on here.”
Gloria nodded. “I feel the same way.”
“But have no illusions,” Oz made clear. “Being the girlfriend of a man like me is not going to be easy.”
“I know,” she responded. Then she smiled. “Most men aren’t that quick to slap the girlfriend label on their lady.”
“Oh, I’m slapping that label on your ass real quick,” Oz said. “Just like a slapped that ass last night.”
Gloria laughed and pushed him again.
“Ouch!” he said playfully.
“That’s what I like about you, Oz.” Gloria said.
“Like not love? Okay, I’ll take that. What is it that you like about me?”
“You come back.”
Oz didn’t understand what she meant. “I come back?”
“You have adversities, but you don’t let them define you. You come back to yourself. You bounce back.”
Oz stared at her. “Do you?” he asked her.
Gloria thought
about it. “I try,” she said, “but I’m not going to lie. It’s not been easy. I guess I’m just really coming into myself. I don’t have enough experience yet.”
“You’re going to be fine. You know that right? With or without me.”
Gloria looked at him. Why did he say without him? “Yes, I know,” she said. “But I think I’d rather be with you than without you.”
Oz smiled. “Me too, baby,” he said and kissed her. Then his look turned serious again. “Whenever you’re in trouble, and there’s no talking it out,” he said, “I want you to look into my eyes. My eyes,” he added, “will tell you what to do. In other words, look to me when you’re in trouble. I’ll do everything in my power to get you out of there. Okay?”
Gloria almost wanted to cry it sounded so sweet to her. She knew God was her refuge in time of trouble. No man was going to take that throne. But she understood what Oz meant. He was her man. He would look out for her. That was what he was saying. “Okay, Oz,” she said. “Okay.”
“Good,” he said, as he rubbed her one more time. Then he began getting out of bed. “Come shower with me.”
Gloria slowly began getting out of his bed as he headed for the bathroom. She also realized he was right to say with or without him. Because she couldn’t let him or their brand-new relationship define her. Even he realized he was too risky a bet for her to put all her eggs in his one basket.
But just because a thing was right generally, and just because it made total sense for her to keep her egg-in-basket options open, she knew, with this specific man, that wasn’t going to happen. The way she saw it right then and there was that it was going to be Oz or nobody. She knew she didn’t have a good track record when it came to men. She knew she’d been reckless in her past relationships and seemed to pick men who were just terrible for her. The absolute worse for her.
But Oz was so different to her. He stood as a man among boys compared to her previous affairs. That was why she was going to do this thing. That was why she was going to go all-in on that relationship no matter the cost, because somehow, deep within herself, she knew this particular man was worth the risk.
Oz Drakos: Loving Mick the Tick's Daughter Page 12