Mick Sinatra: Love and Shadows

by Mallory Monroe

  The medical staff ordered all non-medical people out of the room, closing the door as Charles, Joey, and the guards left and walked back down the hall toward the foyer. Roz was still holding a crying Gloria, but she was still able to run that household the way Mick taught her to run it.

  “Get back on your posts,” she said to the guards. “Nobody is allowed on this property unless his name is Mick Sinatra.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the men said, and left out of the house.

  Roz anxiously looked at Charles. “Where is he?” she asked, and Gloria, worried about Mick, too, looked up from her stepmother’s shoulder.

  Charles was exhausted, they could see it in his eyes. “He’s still out there fighting, Roz,” Charles said. “You know how he is. He’s not leaving until he gets that rat bastard Alessio Valtone between his teeth, and spit his ass out.”

  Roz knew exactly what he meant.

  “Where are the twins?” Charles asked. “They’re okay?”

  “They’re in the safe room under heavy guard, and with their nannies,” Roz said. “They’re fine.”

  “Did we take heavy losses, Uncle Charlie?” Joey asked.

  Charles hated to admit it, but had to nod his head. “They were waiting on our ass,” he said.

  Roz was shocked. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “They were waiting on us,” Charles said. “It was as if the plans Mick laid down, the entry points we were going to take, and the way we were going to battle, had been drawn up by them. We had no element of surprise. None.”

  Joey was amazed. “How can that be?” he asked his uncle. “Did somebody tell Valtone?”

  Charles looked at Joey. When he realized who that person had to be, namely Amelia, Joey was ready to run back to that guest house and get some answers. But Charles, who was twice his size, grabbed him by his jersey and stopped him in his tracks. “She’s under heavy guard,” he said. “Your father will handle it.”

  Joey was angry and sad and now heartbroken that everything had gone so wrong. And that Teddy was in that room fighting for his life. And they had no idea if his father made it out alive. And Amelia. Did he read her all wrong?

  Tears began to appear in his eyes. And he turned, not to his uncle, whom he loved; but to Roz, whom he adored. And Roz pulled him into her arms, too.

  It was nearly three hours after Teddy’s unconscious body had been hurried in. The entire family were in the living room, and all of them had warring thoughts. They were worried about Mick. They were worried about Teddy. They were anxious to put their claws into Amelia Valtone.

  Especially Charles. It took all he had not to go into that guest house and beat the shit out of her. But all of this gangster shit was out of his depth. He could fight with the best of them. He could come for you even more vicious than you came for him. But he believed Amelia, and brought Mick and Teddy along for the ride. Now Teddy was fighting for his life, and Mick was still absent. It was only fitting, he felt, that Mick handle Amelia in that gangster way she apparently responded to. Because Charles now realized that she was just as gangster as Mick.

  “Mr. Sinatra is arriving!” the front gate guard announced over the intercom, and everybody jumped up and ran

  It wasn’t lost on Roz that Gloria and Joey, the two children that gave Mick the most fits, beat her and Charles running out of that door. They loved their father with the kind of love that bordered on hero worship, and the idea that he could have fallen today was unthinkable to them. To Roz and Charles, too, if they had to admit it, as they made their way outside, too.

  Joey and Gloria were at the door of the bullet-ridden SUV as soon as it came to a stop. But what was sad to Charles was that, when Mick stepped out all in one piece, there was an awkwardness between father and children. It was obvious as day that Gloria and Joey wanted to hug him and show how much they were relieved to see him again, but Mick carried himself in such a way that showing affection toward him seemed almost insulting. He loved his children. There was no doubt in Charles’s mind that Mick loved his children with an undying love. But he didn’t know how to show it. Even in a time like this.

  “You’re okay, Dad?” Gloria asked, who appeared especially concerned.

  “I’m alright. How’s Ted?”

  She shook her head, as an even deeper look of concern came on her pretty face. “He’s still in surgery,” she said. “We don’t really know.”

  A defeated look came over their father’s face. But he knew he had to carry on. He looked at the men that were still in the SUV. “Take the rest of the day off,” he said to the war-weary fighters. “It turned south on us,” he said bluntly. “I should have seen it coming. It won’t happen again.”

  They tried to explain to him that it wasn’t his fault, but Mick didn’t want to hear it. Because it was his fault. It was his fault believing that he could have put any faith in Amelia Valtone. “The damage assessment team will take over,” he informed them. “I’ll let you know where we go from here.”

  And then he began walking, with his children on his heels, toward the steps where Roz and Charles were standing.

  “Uncle Charlie said it looked like they were forewarned,” Joey said as they walked. “Is that true, Dad?”

  But Mick, being Mick, didn’t answer those questions. His eyes were on Roz. He had been terrified today. Terrified for his son, who still was not out of danger; for his brother, whose children would have never forgiven him if he had led him to the slaughter, and he would have never forgiven himself; and for his men, many of whom didn’t make it. It was Roz he wanted. And, in truth, it was Roz he needed.

  He walked up the steps. To Charles surprise, he had no awkwardness around Roz. Their eyes locked onto each other, and she opened her arms. And to everybody’s shock, Mick didn’t hesitate. He went into her arms, and they wrapped each other up.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Mick and Roz, still arm-in-arm, went inside of the home. Mick steered them to the room occupied by the medical staff, where a nurse was posted outside. Mick went to open the door, but she stopped him.

  “He’s still in surgery, sir,” she said. “You can’t go in just yet.”

  Roz found it reassuring that Mick’s imposing presence didn’t stop her from doing her job.

  Mick opened his white coat and placed his hands on his hips. His hair had fallen over his forehead, and his eyes were red and weary. He saw more than he bargained for today, Roz could tell. “Have they given you any updates?” he asked the nurse.

  “No, sir,” the nurse replied.

  “What the fuck do they think we’re supposed to do? They have to tell us something!”

  “It’s just that they’re still in surgery, sir. They can’t stop and give updates.”

  Roz knew it, too. She began ushering Mick away. “He’s in good hands, babe. He’ll be fine,” she said.

  Mick kept walking, but then the weight of what had happened captured him off-guard. He fell against the wall and remained there. Roz, stunned, went to him and rubbed his shoulder. She’d never seen him in such a state. She looked down the hall. No-one but the nurse, who was not paying attention, was visible. “What is it, Mick?” she asked him.

  “I should have never brought children into this world,” Rosalind. If Theodore dies---”

  “He won’t,” Roz said firmly. “He can’t.”

  “Adrian is dead because I’m his father. Gloria is dating these awful old-ass men because I’m her father. Joey is still harboring all kinds of resentment because I’m his father. And now Ted.”

  But Roz knew he wouldn’t want her to baby him. He was just having a tough moment. She knew he wouldn’t want her to pity him. “Why don’t you go take a shower? Do you want something to eat? I’ll prepare something to eat.”

  And just like that, Mick became Mick again. “I’ve got some business to take care of first.”

  Roz understood. “I’ll go with you,” she said, and began walking before he could object. Roz knew he had to go there with Ame
lia. She wanted to be there so that he didn’t go too far.

  And when Charles realized Mick and Roz were headed to the guest house, to Amelia, he broke away from Gloria and Joey and followed them. Like Roz, he knew what Mick was capable of. He’d seen his temper displayed. He had to protect Mick from himself.

  They walked slowly toward the guest room: Mick, Roz, and Charles. Mick was even walking slower than the other two. Roz and Charles both wondered if their concern, that Mick would lose it with Amelia, was misplaced.

  But as soon as they entered the heavily guarded guest room, and Amelia rose to her feet asking how did it go, Mick’s cool resolve broke. And before Roz or Charles could even react, Mick ran across the room, grabbed Amelia by the arm and jacked her up against the wall.

  Charles and Roz both hurried over there.

  “What are you doing?” Amelia asked, her attractive face contorted more with anger than fear. “What are you doing?” she asked again. “All I said was how did it go!”

  “How do you think it went?” Mick asked. “How do you think an ambush goes?”

  “An ambush?” Amelia asked as if she was shocked. “You were ambushed?”

  “It’s the strangest thing. Everybody I’ve been meeting up with lately all say the same thing. All of them point to you. You’re the force behind everything that’s happening. Your name always manages to come up. Why is that, Amelia? Why is it, when we laid out plans of attack, our enemy knew them to the exact specification? Why is it that my son is fighting for his life right now as a result of that substantial leak?”

  “Teddy was hit?” Amelia asked, surprised.

  Mick slammed her against the wall. “Tell me what’s going on and you tell me right now!”

  “Nothing’s going on, Mick! I’ve been right here the whole time. I haven’t contacted anybody. I’ve been in this guest house, unable to piss without somebody right on my heels, the whole time!”

  “Alessio Valtone said you were behind everything. And he’s not the only one to tell me that. He’s just the latest one.”

  “Lessi’s lying!” Amelia insisted. “He knew he was going down and decided to torment me one more time. He’s lying, Mick!”

  Mick pulled out a switchblade and flicked it open. Charles’s big, green eyes grew even larger. “Now hold on, Mick. We aren’t going to do anything like that!”

  “Tell me what’s going on,” Mick said to Amelia. “Or I swear you will not be telling anybody anything else.”

  Amelia felt fear for the first time in a long time. “He’s lying. They all are lying. I had nothing to do with anything that happened to you. He intimidated those people by killing some of their family members and threatening to kill the rest of them. They were going to say exactly what he told them to say to their dying moment. But it wasn’t me! I wasn’t behind any of that shit!”

  “How could she be behind what happened at Valtone’s place, Mick?” Roz asked him as she stared at that switchblade, too. “She was here all along.”

  “She got the word to Alessio,” Mick said.

  “But how, Mick? They confiscated her phone. She had nothing to get any word to anybody.”

  But no argument was persuasive to Mick. Somebody set him up, and the only unknown variable in the room was Amelia. He lifted her chin with his hand, and moved closer to her. She was a very beautiful woman: the black version of his mother. And he had to admit his heart was uncertain about her. He wanted it not to be so. He wanted it to go away!

  But Mick the Tick was no dreamer. He looked at what was before him and saw it for what it was, not for what he wanted it to be. He put the blade to the cheek of her pretty face.

  “Mick, wait,” Charles said as he moved even closer to his siblings, too.

  Amelia felt the tip of the blade as it touched her soft face, and her fear became anger again. “What are you going to do, Mick? Take me out the way your old man took our mother out? You’re known to turn on your own. You turned on your own son, didn’t you? Adrian was his name? You turned on your own underbosses, didn’t you? Even Danny Padrone, your right-hand-man, didn’t stand a chance working for you. Is that what you’re going to do to me? You’re going to take me out because of what some sick fucker like Alessio said to you? Because of all of those weak men he intimidated into lying on me? You’re gonna take me out on his fucking word? Revenge is a bitch, don’t you know that? Alessio is avenging me for the death of his father. That’s what this is all about!”

  Mick stared at her. And suddenly, it was as if a bulb had just gone off in his head. And he saw the light. Roz saw it in his eyes. Charles saw it too.

  “What is it, Mick?” Charles asked him.

  “I’ll be a motherfuck!” Mick said. His eyes were no longer bearing into Amelia. His eyes were a long way away from her now.

  “What is it?” Charles asked again. “Talk to us, Mick!”

  Mick looked at his brother. “Danny Padrone,” he said.

  Charles knew who he meant. Danny Padrone was once Mick’s right hand man just like Amelia said. But what about him? “What about him?” Charles asked.

  Roz knew Danny, too. “He was one of the underbosses you took out after they ambushed us at the doctor’s office that day. The day you fell. What about Danny, Mick? What is it?”

  Mick was still considering the possibility even as he spoke. “One person has been on every hit with us since this shit went down,” he said. “One person has known our plans all along because---”

  “Because why, Mick?” Charles asked.

  Mick looked at his brother. And looked at his wife. “Because she was my driver every time,” he said. And then he looked beyond them, at his driver, Carissa Caine.

  Carissa was standing in the back of the room where she usually stayed. Seen but rarely heard. And she frowned. “What did I do?” she asked.

  “You kept working for me,” Mick said, “even after I iced your own cousin, Danny Padrone.”

  Roz and Charles looked at her. “Her cousin?” Charles asked.

  “When Amelia said it,” Mick said, still staring at Carissa, “I knew it was true. Danny never admitted to me that they were kin. He was too busy telling me that she worked for Teddy Stefani’s crew back in the day. And she did. But I checked you out,” he said to her. “You also shared blood with Danny Padrone. The man I took out. Revenge is a bitch, just like Amelia said. You just had to wait for the right opportunity.”

  She began to back up, and was about to foolishly make a run for it, but Amelia, to Mick’s shock, grabbed the switchblade from Mick’s hand and threw it violently at Carissa. It hit her in her stomach. Enough to incapacitate her. But not enough to kill her quickly. Carissa fell to her knees.

  Mick was still astonished that Amelia had those kind of skills, skills on his level of skill, but he didn’t delay. He hurried over to Carissa. Roz followed him.

  But Charles remained with Amelia. He was beyond astonished. “Damn, girl,” he said. “Don’t tell me I’ve got another Mick on my hands!”

  Amelia smiled. She really loved Big Daddy! But then her smile left. She was genuine earlier. “How’s Teddy?” she asked Charles.

  While he answered, Mick and Roz were confronting Carissa. She was on her knees, holding her gut and crying out in pain, and Mick crotched down to her level. And he didn’t have to say a word. She looked at him. And just as he had suspected: she was dying to talk.

  “It wasn’t about revenge,” she said. “I loved Danny, but I wasn’t losing my life over him.”

  She winced as the pain intensified. But she had to have her say. “He killed my father,” she said.

  “Who killed your father?” Roz asked her, grave concern in her big eyes.

  “Alessio Valtone,” Carissa said. “He killed my father, and kidnapped my mother. He was going to kill her, too, if I didn’t cooperate with him. I would never have if he had kidnapped my mother only. I would have come to you for help. But he killed my father first. When he did that, I knew he meant business. I knew my mother was
next. I knew I had to do exactly as he told me to do. For her sake.”

  “But Alessio Valtone is dead now,” Roz said. “You’ll never know where he had your mother. Why didn’t you tell Mick when you realized he was dead?”

  “My mother phoned, after we got back here,” Carissa said. “She was safe. He let her go after I told him about your plan for attack. I figure you were going to kill me if I told you what I’d done. Why should I put myself out there like that, too? I never thought you’d figure it out. I figure Amelia would take the blame if the shit backfired. She always does.”

  And then Carissa began to grow faint, and her color was fading right along with her. “I never would have gone there,” she said, “if he wouldn’t have killed my father. I hope Teddy dies. You deserve it.”

  And then she fell over. Dead.

  Mick stood up. And looked at Amelia. There still were trust issues. They still, as sister and brother, had a long road ahead of them. But Carissa was right. Amelia always took the blame.

  And she knew it too. She finally stood erect. She was bold again. “Now,” she asked, “can I finally get out of this bitch?”

  Charles smiled. “Yep,” he said. “We’ve got us another Mick on our hands, Roz.”

  Roz laughed. Even Amelia and Mick had to smile, too.

  But when Mick thought about his son, and the fact that he was fighting for his life thanks to what Carissa had done, his smile quickly evaporated.

  Later that same day, the doctors came out of surgery with their verdict: it would be a slow recovery. It could take weeks. But Teddy Sinatra, that bear of a strong man, was going to be just fine.

  Mick and Roz both gave God the glory.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  And then, two months later, Rosalind Graham-Sinatra was fulfilling her two-week, limited engagement on the West End in London, one of the most glamourous theater districts in the world. And if they thought the threat died when Alessio Valtone died, they were sadly mistaken. Either that, or yet another enemy of Mick’s had risen up in his stead.