Roz looked puzzled. Why on earth would she want to go to Mick’s hotel when it was less than a two hour drive to Philly? “Home,” she said.
“Sure about that, ma’am?”
Roz frowned. “Yes, I’m sure, Deuce. Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“He’s in town,” Deuce said.
Roz looked at him. “He’s back home in Philly?”
“No, ma’am. He’s here. In New York.”
Roz was really confused. “Mick’s here?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s at his hotel.”
Mick was supposed to be back in Rome. What was going on? “How do you know that?” Roz asked Deuce. “He phoned you?”
Deuce shook his head. “No, ma’am.” One of his snitches at The Carson-Benning hotel called him, but that was between him and his snitch.
But Roz was a little perturbed. If Mick wanted to see her, he would have phoned her. He knew she was auditioning in New York. She even looked at her cell phone messages, just in case. But her first instinct was right. No message. “Take me home,” she said to Deuce.
But Deuce took liberties that time. “I think you should go see him,” he said.
“That’s not for you to decide,” Roz began saying, but then she looked at Deuce. He was staring at her through the rearview. And she knew him. He didn’t give his opinion unless he determined that it was vital information. Roz’s heart began to squeeze. What was it now?
“Take me to The Carson,” she said, and Deuce smiled, and did just that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Mick was standing behind his full size bar, in his bathrobe, in the penthouse suite in his hotel when the buzzer sounded. He glanced up at the TV monitor above the bar. Bella Caine was getting off of the elevator and heading for the entrance. The two bodyguards on the door made her wait when she reached for the knob. Their meeting was supposed to have been two hours ago, but Bella being Bella, Mick thought, was always what she considered to be fashionably late. Mick just considered it late, and entertained the thought of letting her ass wait two more hours. But he pressed the buzzer.
“Let her through,” Mick said over the intercom, and the guards stepped aside.
Bella rolled her eyes at one of them for not allowing her to just walk on in anyway, and she entered the penthouse.
“They are so rude,” she said as she closed the door, careful to make certain they heard her. But then she saw Mick, standing there all handsome, and she smiled and made her way toward him. “Hey, good lookin’,” she said with a smile.
“You’re late,” Mick said as he took a sip from his drink.
“You’re gorgeous when you’re pissed,” Bella said as she sat behind the bar counter in front of where he stood. “You know that?”
Mick glanced down the length of her. Of all the women Mick had been with in his life, not counting his wife, Bella was the best one in bed. And before he met Roz he used to crave her and how she used to do him. But then he met Roz. And there was no comparison.
“I want one,” Bella said to him.
“You don’t know what I’m drinking,” Mick said to her.
“I’m not talking about a drink. I want a robe just like yours. Complete with nothing underneath it, just like yours.” She smiled. “I want to be comfortable too.”
“Did he get my message?” Mick asked.
Bella shook her head. “You’re about as romantic as a rock, Michello,” she said.
“Did he get my message?” Mick asked again.
“You threw his snitch out of the window,” Bella said. “Yes, he got your message. Loud and clear. How could he not?”
“Good.”
“He’s still a fool,” Bella said. “I thinks I’m here getting intel from you, not giving intel to you. But he thinks I’m madly in love with him and hates your guts. I’ve got him exactly where I want him.”
“Don’t get cocky, Belle,” Mick said. “He’s not as dumb as you think.”
“Don’t you dare underestimate my feminine wiles. I found out for you that he was behind the raid of your facilities in Rome and Belarus, didn’t I? Your ass didn’t have a clue until I clued you in. I didn’t have to do that. I could have kept on letting him thinking fucking his fat ass was the highlight of my life. He think he’s got me exactly where he wants me, as his snitch of all things Mick the Tick, which is exactly where I want him. I know what I’m doing.”
“Just be careful,” Mick said. “I know him better than you do. He expects loyalty unquestioned.”
“Oh, please. My loyalties will always be with you and you alone. Always has been. Even when you used to cheat on me like cheating was faithfulness, I was still loyal to you.”
She and Mick exchanged a glance. Mick sipped more wine.
“What I don’t understand,” Bella said, “is why would you want him to know that you know he’s the one who tipped off the ATF? Isn’t that undermining everything you’re trying to do?”
“No,” Mick said.
“But why did you send him that message? Why did you throw Pauley Jay out of that window to send him a message?”
“Because there’s a lie about a wounded dog,” Mick said. “They claim he bites. And eventually he does. But before that, he’s too busy licking his wounds to bite. I wanted to make sure I keep him in the wound-licking phase until I can make my move.”
“But he beat you to the punch, didn’t he? He blew up your cargo.”
Mick looked at her. “He didn’t mention it to you beforehand?”
“Not a word,” Bella said. “But of course I wasn’t around that weekend, or whenever the order was given. At least, not with him.”
“With who?” Mick asked.
Bella smiled. “Why is that your business?”
“You don’t think his ass knows you’re sleeping around on him, Bella?”
“I know his ass knows I’m sleeping around on him,” Bella said. “That’s the nature of our relationship. That’s why he knows it’s sincere. We keep it open. When I’m not with him, I sleep with whomever I wish to sleep with, and he does the same. Just like it was when we were together. Remember that, Mick? Although it wasn’t supposed to be that way when I was with you. But I learned long ago about your problem. What would you know about being a one-woman-man?”
“Anything else?” Mick asked her.
Bella smiled. “Oh, I see. You’re getting rid of me. You do realize you’re missing out, don’t you?”
“Just be careful, Bella,” Mick warned. “Frankie DiGenova is nobody’s fool.”
“Alright already, I get it,” Bella said. “But what do you want me to tell him about this little meeting?”
“Tell him I plan to meet with the families later this week, and he’s not invited. He’s probably already got the message, but he hasn’t told you.”
“No, he hasn’t.”
“He probably already heard, but that’ll be a way for him to test your loyalty. To see if you mention it to him.”
“But you still won’t tell me what the end game is,” Bella said.
But Mick took another sip of his drink. That meeting he had Joey set up with the families was a ruse all along. Mick had no intentions of meeting with anyone. He just wanted to pick his moment with DiGenova, and to keep DiGenova on edge.
“You aren’t going to tell me the end game, are you?” Bella asked. “I already know that. But I keep on doing whatever you want. I keep letting you use me for your own purposes. Why? Gloria’s grown and gone. But why do I stay so loyal to you?”
“Because I’m loyal to you,” Mick said.
“If you’re so loyal,” Bella asked, “why won’t you let me spend the night?”
“I’m not talking about that kind of loyalty,” Mick made clear.
Bella laughed. “I know,” she said. Then her smile slowly dissipated. And she actually looked worried to Mick. “It didn’t go well,” she said.
Mick knew what she meant. “I thought it was going to be your best collection to date?”
“It was!” Bella said. “I put my soul into that collection, Mick. And I was at Madrid Fashion Week ready to take the world by storm again. But it didn’t go well. Now I can barely meet my payroll.”
“Your boy Frankie doesn’t help you financially?” Mick asked.
“Not a dime! And I refuse to let him anyway. A man starts giving you money, they think they own you. That’s why I don’t take money from any man but you. I want you to own me,” she said with a smile. “You’re the only man on the face of this green earth that I accord that privilege. You also happens to be the only man on earth that doesn’t want the privilege.”
Mick exhaled. “How much?”
“To meet my payroll? Ten thousand. To live after that? Whatever you can spare. You know I’m good for it.”
“Like hell,” Mick said. “You never pay me back a dime.”
Bella smiled. “That’s what I mean. You know I’m good for not paying you back a dime.”
Even Mick had to smile about that. Then he reached into his robe and handed her a check.
“You had it ready?” she asked as she gladly accepted it. “Am I that predictable?” But when she looked at the amount, she couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Mick,” she said sincerely. “All these years, I don’t know what I would have done without your support. And everybody and they’re mama knows you don’t have to give me a penny. But you always come through for me. Thanks.”
Mick raised his glass to her.
“But how did you know I’d need this much?”
“I keep tabs on those I’m responsible for. You’re Gloria’s mother. My child’s mother will never be begging for bread.”
Bella exhaled. “I truly appreciate that, Mick. Thank you. Glo is about the only thing that I’ve ever gotten completely right. I’m glad you’re her father.”
Mick didn’t respond to that. It was veering into territory he wasn’t going to veer into.
Bella, knowing his limits, saw it too. “So any instructions before I leave?” she asked him.
“About?” Mick asked.
“My golf game. I can’t see the green.” She smiled. “About DiGenova, you idiot! Any instructions for me about Frankie?”
“Don’t ever let your guard down,” Mick said. “Keep him guessing. Keep him believing you and I are just casual sex partners.”
“Sex partners,” Bella said, “when we have no sex at all. In this beautiful hotel room we could both be having ourselves a ball. But oh no. Not Mick the Saint! He gets married and suddenly becomes pious. Nobody would believe it!”
“That’s the point,” Mick said. “You want him to believe you still have the hots for me.”
Bella was offended. “Why can’t I make him believe you have the hots for me?”
“Whatever, Bella. You know what I mean. Keep him believing.”
“Until?”
“Until I make my move.”
“And what, pray tell, is your move going to be?”
Mick stared at her.
She didn’t understand his stare. “What?” she asked.
“Don’t fuck with me, Belle,” he said.
Bella frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t try to play both ends,” Mick said. “You’re be the one who’ll lose. And it won’t be pain and sadness. It’ll be death. You’re be the one who ends up dead. Don’t fuck with me.”
Bella could see that look in Mick’s eyes. He meant it. But she was still offended. “I don’t understand what you’re implying. What are you trying to say?”
“Don’t think you can try to squeeze out intel from me to take to Frank,” Mick said plainly. “You will only give him what I want you to give him.”
“And that’s what I know. Why would you even think I’d want to do it any other way? I told you my loyalty was to you and you alone. I told you that, Mick! Why would I try to two-time you?”
“Don’t fuck with me,” Mick said again. “That’s all I’m saying. Gloria loves you. I would hate to break her heart by taking you away from her. But I am no sentimentalist when it comes to betrayal. You betray my trust and I’ll break her heart all day long,” Mick made clear.
Bella swallowed hard. She knew he meant every word. He wasn’t called the boss of all bosses because he was a nice guy. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’d never two-time you the way you two-timed me the entire time we were together. Don’t worry.”
But then Mick’s buzzer sounded again, and he and Bella both looked up at the monitor above the bar. Roz was just getting off of the elevator and making her way up to the penthouse suite.
But unlike with Bella, the guards automatically stepped aside, and allowed Roz clear passage in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Roz understood why Deuce McCurry insisted she come visit Mick at his suite as soon as she walked through that door. Mick was standing there, behind the bar in a bathrobe no less, and Bella Caine was sitting at the bar counter. And when she turned to face Roz, she was smiling that smug smile she often displayed, as if she was in on a joke, and the joke was on Roz.
And almost immediately, Roz felt alone. It felt as if it was those two against her. And she so wanted Mick to prove her wrong. She so wanted Mick to come from behind that bar, pull her into his arms, and remind that Bella Caine whose woman she truly was. But Mick just stood there.
“I didn’t expect to see you here tonight,” he said to her, still surprised.
“I didn’t expect to see you here either.” Then she looked at Glo’s gorgeous mother. “Hello, Bella.”
“Hey, Roz, how you doing? I haven’t seen you in a minute.” Bella stood from her stool. “But I was leaving.” She turned to Mick, fanning that fat check he gave her. “Thanks for the money, honey,” she said. “And thanks even more for what you said.”
Mick stared at her. “What are you talking about? What did I say?”
“That I’m yours. I appreciate that.”
Mick frowned. “Get your ass out of here. That’s not what I said and you know it.”
Bella laughed. “Close enough,” she said and began making her way toward Roz and the exit. When she made it next to Roz, she winked as if she was not only in on the joke, but had a mighty secret too. And then she left.
Roz looked at Mick. “She’s yours?” Roz said, echoing what Bella had said.
“You know I didn’t say that to that woman,” Mick said. “Want a drink?”
Roz realized Mick wasn’t reading the room. He was so out of touch with her emotions that he didn’t understand what she was going through. It was about Bella, but it wasn’t just about Bella. It was about all of it. He didn’t understand how life was handing her disappointment after disappointment, and he was never hardly ever there to comfort her or make her feel as if there was still hope for her, and she was this close to being fed up with it. He came back for her birthday and bought her that yacht and that was supposed to ease her troubled mind, when they never even addressed why her mind was troubled to begin with. He wanted her to take a drink and chill. She wanted to lash out. “What was she doing here?” she asked him.
“She wanted to meet with me,” Mick said.
“What about?” Roz asked.
“About some information she wanted to give to me.”
“What kind of information?”
Mick didn’t like the tone of her question, but he answered her. “Information that she felt I needed to have.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Roz said in an even harsher tone. “What kind of information?”
“Okay now, pump your brakes,” Mick said, pointing his glass at her.
“Answer my question, Mick!”
Mick frowned. “What?”
“You heard me. I said answer my question for once. Answer the damn question!”
She was angry, but now Mick was too. “Who the fuck you think you are coming in here like this is some fucking inquisition? I answered your question! Now you can sit your ass down and relax, or you can leave.”<
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It was the wrong night for him to try to manhandle her. It was not the night. “I’ll leave thank-you,” she said, and quickly turned to leave.
Mick hadn’t expected that response. Roz was always reasonable if she was anything. But she was leaving?
“Roz?” he called after her. “Roz?” But she flung open the door. “Roz!” he yelled as she hurried out of the door.
“Gotdammit!” Mick said with clenched teeth and hurried from behind that bar, across the room, and out into the corridor. “Roz?” he said again when he saw her hurrying for the elevator. His security on duty was shocked to see him running after anybody, especially a woman. But he ran after Roz. “Roz!” he said again.
And she almost got away. The elevator door had opened, and she was about to step on. But Mick grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her against him.
“Let me go!” Roz said angrily.
But Mick kept his grip on her arm and walked her, nearly dragged her, back to his suite, slamming the door behind them. The two guards looked at each other with a did you see that look on their faces. Mick the Tick chasing a woman? They were stunned.
But inside that penthouse, both Roz and Mick were angry. Roz snatched away from his grasp and stood toe to toe with him. He stood toe to toe with her with a fixed frown on his face. “What’s wrong with you?” he angrily asked her.
“Because I’m tired of putting up with your bullshit,” Roz said, “something has to be wrong with me?”
“What bullshit?” Mick asked. “It was just a meeting!”
“A meeting you couldn’t bother to tell me about?” Roz fired back. “A meeting you can have in New York with your ex-fuck partner, when you knew I was in town too at an audition that you didn’t even bother to call and ask me about! That’s the bullshit!” she said angrily, but all Mick saw in her big, bright, beautiful eyes was pain.
And he didn’t hesitate. He pulled her into his arms. “I should have told you about the meeting,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Mick Sinatra: Needing Her Again Page 11