When he realized the Dons were staring at him, he smiled. “You’re afraid?” Carp asked him. “What are you afraid of?”
“He said he was unafraid,” DeLuca responded. “Not afraid.”
“Carp’s right,” Teddy said, disagreeing with DeLuca. “He said for once he was unafraid. That means all those other times he was afraid. Just not this time.”
Mick laughed. “You guys,” he said, as he sat at the head of the conference table. It was DeLuca’s table, but he sat at its head.
“Good morning,” Teddy said. “The meeting started at ten, and it’s already eleven, but so what, right?”
“Right,” Mick said, and nobody took it any further.
But as the meeting progressed, as they discussed the fallout from the Provensano hit, and how pleased they were that there was no notable fallout, Mick was humming again.
All of them looked at each other and frowned at Mick. “What?” Mick asked when he saw them staring disapprovingly at him.
“You’re humming,” DeLuca said.
“So?”
“So stop it,” Teddy said. “What do you think this is? The PTA? Cut it out!”
Carp smiled. “He thinks he’s in his sewing circle,” he said.
Teddy and DeLuca expected Mick to go off on Carp. Carp always took it too far. But Mick was in such a good mood, even Carp wasn’t going to rain on his parade.
“Just give me the threat assessment,” Mick said to Carp.
“There is no threat,” Carp said. “Not even chatter on the line. Nothing.”
“Provensano’s loyalty was only as deep as those men you took out,” Teddy said. “You were right, Mick. He was a powerful man who didn’t understand his power. His reach was only surface deep.”
“What about the families in business with him?” Mick asked this as his cell phone began ringing. “Do we have all of them onboard?” He pulled out his phone and looked at his Caller ID.
“We have them all,” Teddy said. “They prefer to be in league with us anyway. They know, with you in our corner, the sky’s the limit for them. Provensano gave them the sky to, but there were limits.”
The call was from Mick’s office. He ignored it. “They understand that I’m not taking them anywhere? Do they understand that you three are going to run the operation?”
The three Dons glanced at each other. “Yeah, sure,” DeLuca said, and Mick’s cell phone rang again. When he looked at the Caller ID and saw that it was Deuce McCurry, he answered quickly. Deuce was Roz’s driver now.
“Hello, Deuce, what is it?”
“Miss Graham has told me to prepare the car, sir.”
Mick frowned. “So why are you telling me this? Do what she told you to do. Are you under some kind of misguided impression that she can’t tell you what to do?”
“Oh, no sir. Never that. But it’s where she wants to go, sir. And the fact that she’s packing her bags.”
Mick’s heart dropped. “Where does she want to go?”
“She wants me to drive her to New York, sir. She apparently is going back home.”
Mick felt as if he had been sucker punched. Just when he thought they were crossing over to that place of love he’d never been, she was leaving him? “Don’t take her anywhere,” Mick said, with bite in his voice. “I’m on my way.”
And despite the protestations of the three Dons, Mick got up and left.
DeLuca, especially, was beside himself with disbelief. “Over a dame?” he asked with incredulity in his voice. “You have got to be kidding me!”
“I wonder what he’s gon’ do to her?” asked the oldest maid.
“Beat her ass, what else?” said the younger one.
“Give her a black eye, you can count on it,” said the youngest. “Mr. Mick ain’t gon’ stand for this.”
They were in the parlor, scrubbing down the entire room, and the talk of the house was Mick and Roz.
“He tells his whole household staff that she’s moving to Philly,” the middle maid said, “and she ain’t here but a week before she’s looking to leave again. I know you’re right. He ain’t gonna stand for that.”
“Y’all don’t know nothing about nothing,” the oldest maid said as she wiped down the window sill. “So stop all that gossiping.”
“Who’s gossiping?” asked the youngest maid. “I was standing right by Deuce when he was talking to Mr. Mick. I heard Mr. Mick tell him that woman wasn’t going no-where and if she tried he was gonna kick her ass.”
“Quit lying,” the oldest maid said. “That don’t even sound like Mr. Mick. You need to quit.”
“That’s him now,” said the middle maid urgently and they all hurried to the front window of the parlor as Mick’s Lamborghini sped up to the big house and stopped near his limo. Mick hurried out, spoke to Deuce, who was standing by the limo, and then hurried inside.
“Button it all,” the oldest maid said, “and get to work!”
All three maids began working feverishly as Mick entered the house. But he didn’t give his parlor, or them, not even a glance. He hurried upstairs.
Roz was in his bedroom, putting the last of her clothes into her suitcase, when he walked in. Like the maids downstairs, she heard when he drove up too, so she wasn’t surprised by his presence. Nor his anger.
He tossed his keys on the dresser, opened his suit coat, and placed his hands on his hips. He looked like a man beside himself, not with anger, but with pain. “What’s going on here, Rosalind?” he asked her.
“I was going to call you,” she said.
“And tell me what?”
Roz exhaled. She knew he wasn’t going to like it. “I’ve got to go back to New York and stay until the end of the semester, Mick.”
Mick frowned. “What are you talking about? We took care of that before you left town last week. You put your assistant in charge. Your assistant agreed. Why are you back on that again?”
“Because the students won’t agree. Marge called. She said the students are rebelling. They don’t want her.”
“Then tough! That’s who they have.”
Roz knew he wouldn’t understand. “It’s not tough, Mick. That’s not how this works. It’s something I have to take care of.”
“You took care of it. You put that woman in charge and they will have to live with that. I’m not having you in one state and I’m in another ever again, I told you that. I don’t care how close they are. That part of our life is over.”
“Everything is so black and white with you. But it’s not that simple. I can’t just leave those students hanging like that! They signed on to work with me. They don’t want to work with Marge. Since they’re paid up for this semester, it’s my duty to teach them until the end of term. Then they can either sign up with Marge next term, or go elsewhere. But at least I would have finished what I started and they can’t complain about that.”
But Mick felt frustrated. Because she wasn’t seeing this from his perspective at all. She wouldn’t just be going to those students, he felt. She would be leaving him. She would be alone in a different state without the same protections he could give her here. That was the part that stung. That was the part that she wasn’t addressing at all. “I thought we agreed that that part of your life is over, Rosalind. You are staying here where I can look out for you.” Then he frowned. “What’s with you anyway? Have you already forgotten what happened last week? Do you realize what kind of jeopardy you were in? What if I was out of the country and couldn’t get back before that DA filed charges? What if she couldn’t back down after she filed because the victim was a Broadway Director and the public wouldn’t accept the fact that she filed charges and then changed her mind? You would have been looking at years in prison, Rosalind.”
Roz nodded her head. “I understand what you’re saying. But everything you just said could have happened right here in Philly too.”
“No, it could not have,” Mick said. “Philly is my territory. I have businesses in New York, but I don’t wield t
he same power there. That’s why it took me nearly twenty-four hours to get you out of there, and I was on the verge of a heart attack the entire time. If it would have happened here, on my turf, you would have never been arrested. Be assured of that. You’re safe here.”
“It’s only for a couple months, Mick. Just until the end of the semester.”
But Mick was shaking his head. The idea that she could be away from him, and some calamity happened again, was too much. His number one job was to keep her safe, and that was what he intended to do. “No,” he said. “You aren’t taking that chance. You’re not going. Period.”
Roz was angry now. Who did he think he was? “I have to go.”
“The only thing you have to do is what I just told you to do. You aren’t going, Rosalind. Period!”
Roz knew what she had to do. If she didn’t stand up to him now, she would crawl through their entire relationship. He would come to hate that in the long run. She zipped her luggage.
Mick frowned. “What do you think you’re doing? I said you’re not going.”
“I’m not one of your men, Mick.”
“You’re not going!”
“Watch me,” Roz said defiantly, slung her suitcase off of the bed, and began heading out of the room.
Mick was so amazed by her defiance that it took him a few seconds to fully realize it. She was actually leaving? When he realized that she actually was, he was furious.
“Rosalind!” he yelled. “Roz!”
But she was already on the landing and heading down the three flights of stairs. Mick hurried behind her, but didn’t catch her until she was nearing the front door and the maids were coming out of the parlor.
“Roz!” he yelled, grabbed her by the arm, and turned her around. When he saw his maids, he barked. “Get the fuck out of here!” he yelled at them, and all three, terrified, hurried back into the parlor and slammed the door.
Mick looked at Roz. He held her by the chin. “You don’t defy me,” he said between clenched teeth. “Nobody defies me.”
He grabbed her so forcefully that she dropped her luggage. He all but dragged her up the stairs. He stopped on the second floor landing, where there was a bench. He sat down, threw her over his knee, lifted her dress, pulled down her panties, and was about to spank her bare ass. He was going to teach her a lesson about defying him if it was the last thing he did.
But Roz wasn’t having it. She wiggled and pushed and turned to break herself free. Her ass was like a moving target, because Mick could not get an aim on it. They were so loud on that landing that many of the downstairs staff, including the chef, had come out into the living room area. The maids, who had shut themselves up in the parlor, came out too. They couldn’t see what was going on upstairs, but they knew it was bad.
Although Mick was determined to teach Roz a lesson, Roz was even more determined not to allow Mick to teach her shit. She did all she could to break free. But Mick was far too strong. He applied the pressure he needed to commence his spanking.
Roz braced herself for the impact as Mick lifted his hand. But as he sat there, with her across his lap, he came to himself and realized what he was about to do. So he was going to spank her now? Was this how he was going to handle all their disagreements? By forcing his will on her? By hurting her?
And he knew he couldn’t do it. He could never harm a hair on her head. He put his hand down, and released her from his grasp.
Roz hurried up from his lap, reassembled her clothes, and looked at him with fury in her eyes. And she left his side and hurried back downstairs.
Mick realized his error almost immediately. He realized his strong arm tactics might have just sealed their fate without realizing he was even damaging it. And he panicked.
“Rosalind!” he yelled, as he hurried behind her. “Rosalind!”
His staff was dumbstruck with disbelief when they saw the great Mick Sinatra run down those stairs chasing after some woman. They knew they could lose their jobs just for standing there, but it was like rubbernecking at a terrible wreck: they couldn’t take their eyes away. The idea that their boss, looking like some bewildered lover, would allow a woman to reduce him to that level, amazed them. She was in trouble now. They were certain of it. Mick Sinatra was not going to let a woman handle him the way she was handling him, and live.
But when Mick caught up to Roz just as she was about to hurry out of the front door, and he grabbed her again, Roz saw something different in his eyes. He was not the man who dared to be defied this time. He was not beating his chest and ready to spank her ass because she wouldn’t go along with him. All she saw was pain.
“Don’t leave like this,” he pleaded with her. “Please. I let my fear get the best of me. I was out of line, Rosalind. I’m sorry.”
Roz was stunned as she stood there.
“I thought I was teaching you a lesson,” he admitted. “But I was wrong. I should have known you can take care of yourself. You can make your own decisions. You don’t need me to teach you shit.” A distressed look appeared on his face. “I’m the one who will have to learn.”
But Roz started shaking her head. She knew he’d never been in this kind of intense relationship before. She knew they would have growing pains. But she also knew she had to make it clear that he was not going to disregard her. “You’re learning a lesson about our relationship, Mick,” she said. “But you’re learning the wrong lesson. You can teach me many things. But the one thing you can’t do is treat me as if I’m one of your men.”
Mick stared at her. She could tell he was truly listening to her. So she kept talking. “You have to respect me enough to know that I’m not trying to usurp your authority or wear the pants in our relationship or anything close to that. I know there will be many times when I’m going to have to do what you tell me to do despite what I want. And I will do it. But this isn’t about what I want. This is about other people, and what I promised to deliver to them. I thought they would accept Marge. They always have when she subbed in for me. But they haven’t accepted her as their permanent instructor. And I can’t just say tough and bump it. I’ve got to do something about it. I have to go and finish the term.”
Mick exhaled. He knew she was being who she was: a woman of conviction. He didn’t want her to go, but if staying meant compromising herself, he wouldn’t have it any other way. But he still worried about her.
Then Roz did something she never dreamed she would ever do. She asked for his permission. “Can I go, Mick?” she asked.
Mick stared into her gorgeous eyes. He stared into the eyes of the woman who could destroy him, not with weapons, but just by leaving him. And he was going to do everything in his power to do right by her. But his number one job was still to protect her, and to keep her safe. “Only on one condition,” he said to her.
She stared at him. “What?”
“You stay at the Carson. You stay in my penthouse where I’ll know my men can keep you safe.”
Now Roz looked distressed. “But my apartment is paid up for this month,” she said, “and I can easily get a thirty-day extension for next month, which will be the end of the semester.”
“Either you stay at the Carson,” Mick said, “or you will get on my plane and fly back here every night. Pick your choice.”
Roz knew she wasn’t about to get on anybody’s plane every single night, no matter how luxurious and comfortable. She wasn’t big on flying to begin with. That was a nonstarter.
She also knew the mere fact that Mick was now agreeing to let her go back to New York was a huge compromise on his part. She had to compromise too. “I’ll stay at the Carson,” she said.
But neither one of them were celebrating. Because they knew they had just dodged a bullet. They knew, if their twosome was ever going to work, they were going to have to make it through a lot more days like this. Mick picked up Roz’s luggage, placed his hand on the small of her back and escorted her out to the waiting limousine.
After they walked out, the staf
f continued to stand where they were. It was as if they were seeing a man they had never seen before. He not only didn’t beat her down for defying him, but he actually apologized to her! He apologized! They heard it with their own two ears! Some looked at each other with disbelief in their eyes. Some scratched their heads in puzzlement and confusion. But all of Mick’s workers, from the youngest to the oldest, went back to their duties with a newfound respect for Rosalind Graham.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Three weeks later, and Roz was back in town to spend the weekend with Mick. She entered the lobby at Sinatra Industries ready to head toward the public elevators. But things had changed dramatically. There was a time when she would enter the lobby and be just another face in the enormous crowd. But not anymore. Now, as soon as she entered the building, the lobby manager hurried from his perch near the back and made his way to her side.
“Miss Graham,” he said jovially as he arrived. “Welcome back to Sinatra Industries, ma’am!”
“Thank you,” Roz responded.
“Mr. Sinatra told me to personally escort you to his office. Please follow me to his personal elevator.”
They began heading toward the elevator. Roz hadn’t announced she was coming. She didn’t call for Mick’s plane the way she normally did, or call for his limousine. She rented a car instead and took a slow drive back. She thought she’d enjoy a drive alone-and she did enjoy it. But he apparently had people following her all the way. She never once saw any of them, and was amazed at how efficient they were, but she was certain they were there. The fact that Mick had his lobby manager meet her, when she hadn’t even told him she was coming, proved it. It also proved that it was a brave new world she was living in. Although she loved it because Mick was in it, she sometimes missed her old life too.
When she and the manager rode the elevator to the top floor, and the doors opened, she told him she could take it from there. But the manager was insistent. “Mr. Sinatra told me to bring you to him, ma’am,” he said, as he stepped off too. “I’ll have to do my job.”
Mick Sinatra: For Once In My Life Page 22