Mick Sinatra: For Once In My Life

by Mallory Monroe

  “But you’ve never dated any of them. If I can be blunt, and you said I could, you never gave a damn for any of them. Never put one man on them, let alone an entire detail, and they were the mothers of your children! But this dame comes along, and excuse me for calling her that. The lady comes along. Rosalind Graham. And now you seem to be more concerned about her than you are about yourself! What does this mean, boss? I’m not used to this, and the men aren’t going to be used to this. They may not be as all-in on this detail the way they would be if it was you. They aren’t used to you caring about anybody to this extent.”

  It felt like a stab through the heart. Not intentional. Leo didn’t realize how his honest words affected Mick. But they did affect him to his core. “I understand your confusion. And how the men might be confused too. So let me clear it up. Rosalind Graham is my lady. There is nobody else on the face of this earth who has ever held the position she now holds in my life.”

  Leo nodded. He was stunned by such a revelation, given that it was Mick the Tick making it, but he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “And if my men have any doubts about how seriously they should take their assignment, let them know that when they guard Rosalind Graham, they guard me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Let them further know that if their lack of seriousness causes any harm to my lady, then---”

  “They already know,” Leo said. “They will answer to you.”

  “No,” Mick said, shaking his head. “If their lack of seriousness causes anything at all to happen to my lady, there will be no answer to give. I will kill them.”

  Leo saw that undeniable look in Mick’s eyes. He understood the stakes. “I’ll make that clear to them, sir.”

  Mick nodded. And stood erect. “Now I’m going to bed,” he said.

  “I take it this will be a blind follow?” Leo asked.

  “Goes without saying,” Mick responded. “She can never know even one man is tailing her. She wouldn’t like it. She wouldn’t feel it’s necessary.”

  “And what if they find out something disturbing?” Leo asked. He was treading in sensitive territory again, but the question needed to be asked.

  “Disturbing how?” Mick asked.

  “What if she’s screwing another man? Shit like that. Do you want them to report that?”

  Mick frowned. “Hell no,” he said. “They don’t report on her. They guard her. They aren’t her spies, they’re her protectors. And they had better behave that way.”

  Leo nodded. That was what he loved about Mick. There was never any ambiguity with him. “Yes, sir,” he said.

  Now, one week later, Roz was riding around Philly, going from open house to open house, thinking she was flying solo, only to have a team of Mick’s men somewhere around everywhere she went. And Mick and Leo assumed she was none the wiser.

  But when she met Mick at the restaurant for dinner later that evening, and she made her way to his table, she decided to humor him. She was learning a lot about his ways. And she knew, if he had men following him around, he certainly had one or two following her. She wasn’t bragging, but she honestly felt that Mick cared deeply for her.

  “We made it,” she said as he stood up and helped her to her seat.

  Mick wasn’t sure what she meant. He looked at her as he sat down too. “Come again?” he asked. “Who’s we?”

  “Me and Joe and possibly Moe.”

  Mick stared at her. Did those assholes blow their cover already?

  Then Roz smiled. “You have a guy on me. Don’t you?”

  Mick hesitated. “Why would you think so?”

  “Because it’s true.”

  “You’ve seen them?”

  “No. But I know you. It’s true, isn’t it?”

  Mick smiled. “Don’t you worry about that.”

  “You’d better be glad I’m a faithful person, or I wouldn’t like it one bit.”

  Mick laughed. And then the waiter arrived, and took their drink orders.

  “How did it go?” Mick asked, after the waiter left.

  “Not good. I saw plenty places, but they were all too something, or not enough of something else.”

  “You don’t’ have to find anything. You know that.”

  “You’ve made that clear. But I need my own. I don’t want---”

  “You don’t want to be considered my whore.”

  Roz smiled. “Not just that. It’s just that I can’t rely on another person so totally like that. I want to find a place with a reasonable rent.”

  “A reasonable rent?”

  “Something I can afford. My savings can only carry me just so far. Because if I don’t find a job soon, I may have to accept my brother’s offer and high tail it to Belt Buckle, Tennessee.”

  Roz realized Mick looked perturbed. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “What did I say?”

  “What didn’t you say? You said you were looking for a cheap place to live.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “You said you were relying on your savings to get you by.”

  “So?”

  “And when your money runs out, you threaten to pack up and leave to become a waitress in some backwater town.”

  Roz still didn’t get it. “I still don’t see what I said wrong.”

  Mick studied her eyes. “You do understand that you’re my lady? You do understand that, right?”

  Roz smiled. “Yes,” she said. “Yes.”

  Mick didn’t like revealing so much of himself to anybody, including her, but he was getting upset. “Finding a cheap place to stay is a negative,” he said.

  Roz was puzzled. “A negative?”

  “Relying on your savings to get by? Double negative.”

  Roz smiled.

  “Moving to Bible Belt, Tennessee---”

  “Belt Buckle, Mick!”

  “Whatever. Moving there, leaving me and moving there, is out of the question.”

  Roz stared at him. She knew, when she agreed to move to Philly, that it would come to this. “What are you saying?” she asked him.

  “You’re my lady. You’re Mick Sinatra’s lady. That has to mean something to you.”

  Roz frowned. “It does!”

  “Then act like it does. Because Mick Sinatra’s lady doesn’t look for the cheap place. She thinks bigger than that. Mick Sinatra’s lady doesn’t rely on her savings to get by because he takes care of her. He buys her a house. He buys her a car. He takes care of whatever she needs taken care of. Nothing but the best, Rosalind. Understand?”

  Roz exhaled, and then she nodded. She understood. But first that tragic situation with Barry, and then this decision to pack up and move to Philly. It was a lot to deal with at one time. “It takes some getting used to, Mick,” she admitted. “I’ve never been in a relationship like this in my life. I’ve always had to take care of everything. I’ve always made all of the decisions for myself. The idea that somebody else will have a say in that process isn’t something that I can just sign off on and wash my hands of. It’s going to take time.”

  Mick reached out and took her hand. “I like your toughness, Rosalind. I do not care for weak women and there is nothing weak about you. I like your integrity, I like your moral authority, I love your ability to be true to yourself. But you’re not in this life alone anymore.” Mick swallowed hard, as an even deeper realization struck him. “I’m not in this life alone anymore,” he added, with even more feeling. “We both will need to remember that.”

  Roz placed her second hand on top of their clasped hands. “I’ll do my level best,” she said with a smile. Then she thought about something she had meant to bring up long ago. “And thank you,” she said to him. “I think now is the perfect time to thank you.”

  Mick had no clue what she was thanking him for. “For what?” he asked.

  “For handling my ex. For giving Carmelo a taste of his own medicine.”

  Mick didn’t expect her to know anything about that. He would tell her in time. But not until t
heir own relationship was sealed and he was certain that his “antics” would not run her away. “How did you find out about that?” he asked her.

  “Betsy saw him. She said his beautiful face was all bruised and cut and he was walking with a limp. He wouldn’t tell her why. He, in fact, avoided her at all costs. So she asked around. His friends said he told them that he had accidentally shot himself and fell through glass, but they didn’t believe it. His friends believe some angry husband got a hold of him for disrespecting his wife. But when I heard about it, I figured it wasn’t an angry husband, but an angry boyfriend more like.”

  Mick smiled. And nodded his head. “More like,” he said.

  “How did you even know who he was? I mentioned him in passing one time, but that was months ago. How could that have stayed with you?”

  “Because of the effect his actions still had on you. You may have mentioned what he did to you in passing. But what he did hadn’t passed.”

  Roz nodded. “No. It was a sad chapter in my life. Before I got involved with you, it kind of was a big part of my life. But lately, after having you in my life, I haven’t given that joker a second thought.”

  “Good,” Mick said. “But I have. I had Danny track him down for me. And then I paid him a visit. He has since removed all of your images from the internet. It’s not a zero sum game, you understand. There are undoubtedly photos out there somewhere that will never be found. But it’s as close to perfect as we’re likely to get.”

  Roz felt such a strong onslaught of emotions that she had to fight back tears to contain them. Mick had yet to tell her that he loved her. He, in fact, just verbalized to her that she was his lady. But his actions, once again, eclipsed his words. He walked the talk. She’d never met a man quite like him. “Thank you,” she said.

  Then Mick smiled. “And I beat his ass too,” he added.

  Roz laughed. “Even better,” she agreed.

  And then she lifted up, leaned over, and kissed him.

  After they ate dinner and left the restaurant, those feelings of joy remained with the couple. They sat in the backseat of the limousine, side by side, and held hands as Deuce McCurry took them on a slow drive back to Mick’s estate. They were both facing forward, with their heads leaned back. Mick had business that needed to be taken care of. There was never a time when he didn’t. And if this was any other lady in his limo, he would be on his phone the entire ride. But this wasn’t any lady. Rosalind was in his car. Yes, his Rosalind. He was too busy dealing with the fact that his feelings for her were growing with each passing day, and he had to deal with that. He was not a man who verbalized his feelings. Even when he was enraged, he didn’t discuss why. But he needed Rosalind to know.

  He turned his head toward her. She turned her head toward him. “I have a friend. Reno Gabrini. He owns the PaLargio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.”

  Roz could hardly believe the rarified air she now traveled. Her boyfriend was a friend of a man who owned the PaLargio. The PaLargio! Her boyfriend owned the Carson-Benning, which was a huge deal too, but the PaLargio was in a class by itself. And Mick just casually said that the owner was a friend of his. She actually pinched herself.

  “Reno is a tough guy,” Mick continued. “I’m very impressed with him. They don’t make’em any stronger. He and I are a lot alike in that department. But he did something that I never dreamed was possible for guys like us. He managed to convince a lady, a great lady, to fall in love with him. Not in love with his money. Not in love with his dick. In love with him. And they’re a great couple. Reno and Trina. The best. They fight like cats and dogs, but they love each other.”

  Roz smiled.

  Mick frowned. “But it got me to thinking,” he said. “If Reno could be this lucky, maybe I can be too. Now I know there’s a difference. I know I’m harder around the edges than Reno, and he’s a man of honor, while I’ll never make that claim.” Mick gave Roz a hard look. “I know I’m not there yet, but my hope is that one day I’ll become the man you can respect and love the same way Trina loves Reno. I pray that one day you can look at me and declare me good, even though I’m not. But because you believe it, I’ll work my ass off to become that man. I’ll become that man. That is my dream of dreams, Rosalind. One day, I pray, we can get there.”

  Roz stared at Mick and smiled a smile more fraught with the burden of reality than the levity of fantasy. She placed her hand on the side of his strong jaw. She looked at his thick swath of brown hair, his super long eyelashes, and his beauty. He was beauty and the beast. “You silly man,” she said with a shake of her head, her big brown eyes staring into his big green ones. “That day has already come.”

  Mick’s heart squeezed with a kind of emotion that he had never felt before. He stared into her eyes, and saw so much love and caring there, that he realized he was living a dream. And he placed both his hands on the side of her gorgeous face, and kissed her.

  Roz closed her eyes and moved into his kiss. Just to feel his mouth on hers was a powerful appetizer for the feelings she knew were soon to follow. Because just as surely as Mick was giving his all in his kiss, he was never so far removed that he didn’t know how to handle his business at the same time. He reached down to one of the buttons in his limousine as he continued to kiss her, and the blackout shades went up around the entire backside. Those eyes on the outside were prevented from seeing them now, as well as the eyes of the driver inside.

  He slid her onto his lap, still kissing her, and cradled her in his arms. Roz was so into his kiss that she didn’t realize he had also unzipped her dress until it was slinging off of her shoulders, and her bra was being lifted above her breasts.

  Roz found herself leaning backwards as Mick kissed her neck, her chest, and then kissed and sucked her breasts. And what she loved about Mick’s lovemaking was his staying power. He didn’t suck a few sucks and was done. He feasted on her breasts. He kissed them, he fondled her mounds, he sucked her nipples until they were so hard and filled with so much sensuality that Roz thought she was going to cum just from the way he fed on her.

  But Mick was slick with it. While Roz was still enraptured by his mouth on her mouth and her neck, and his wonderful treatment of her breasts, Mick’s hand was now under her dress and was massaging her vagina. She was so into the attention he was giving her upper body, that she didn’t realize he had removed her underwear. She didn’t realize it until she felt his fingers rub her clitoris. By the time they slinked inside of her folds, and was soaking in her wetness, she could feel the pulsations. But if she thought Mick was ready to put his penis in and be done with it, she was wrong.

  Mick laid her onto the elongated seat, opened her legs, and moved his head between her legs. When his tongue began to lick her, she smiled and closed her eyes. It felt like a familiar wonderment. But soon he was eating the way Mick ate: heartily. He was giving her not just tongue, but a tongue lashing. She was pushing down on his head, trying to push away from the heightened sensuality, but Mick held her down as he mouth-fucked her. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  Mick loved the way she tasted too much to give her an inch. He knew it was intense. He knew she loved it more than she thought she could bear. But he knew she could bear it. And he kept eating her until his cock was so stiff it was unbendable. He knew then it was time.

  He pulled down his pants, and then guided his penis slowly into her wetness. As soon as they connected, her wetness with his pre-cum and his stiffness, it was another world for them. And when he began to fuck her, when he began to glide his cock deeper and deeper inside of her, they both were moaning and grunting to the rhythm of his every move.

  They were fucking long and hard. Mick held her hips as he moved his own hips with every thrust of his dick inside of her, and Roz reacted to every thrust with movements of her own. They were completely together now. The world was literally outside their window, and would have been shocked to see her legs so wide open and his naked ass so tight as his cock fucked her, but neither one of them co
uld ever feel more humbled. Sex might have been in the air of that limousine, but love was in their hearts. Roz had been in love before, even though it was nothing like this, but Mick never had. He wasn’t used to fucking the woman he loved, or even the woman he cared this greatly about. He’d never come close to this. And it was exhilarating. It was everything he could have hoped for and so much more. He looked at Rosalind as he fucked her. He stared at Rosalind as his cock sank into her wetness and made that beautiful sexual sound. It was Rosalind. His Rosalind. She was the one who made them pop.

  And they popped until they came. They made love until they were both fucking so fiercely that even Mick thought he wasn’t going to be able to bear it. And by the time they finished, with his cock red and sore, and her pussy red and sore, they thought it was going to be painful. They had gone too far. But it wasn’t painful at all. It was too beautiful to bear pain.

  But by weekend’s end, the wonderment frayed. It started when Roz received a call from Marge, her assistant teacher and the person she had tapped to take over as the instructor of record. The students were rebelling that decision. They didn’t sign up for Marge, they said, they signed up for Roz. And Roz knew the students were right. They signed up to learn acting from Roz Graham, a lady who had had a taste of success, not Marge Whitfield, a lady who had not. She had to return to New York.

  But she also knew that Mick was not going to like it, and might not want to let her leave. But she had an obligation to conclude and a charge to keep. And she was going to keep it.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It was a Monday morning meeting in Vito DeLuca’s office. Carp Bianchi was there. Teddy Stefani too. Mick was late, as usual, but nobody complained. They were a part of his inner circle at his pleasure, and each one of them understood that. But when Mick came in, not excusing his lateness or even discussing business, but humming a tune, they looked at each other.

  Then he started singing what he was humming: “For once unafraid,” he sang, “I can go where life leads me. And somehow I know I’ll be strong.’