Mick Sinatra: Needing Her Again Read online

  MICK SINATRA

  NEEDING HER AGAIN

  BY

  MALLORY MONROE

  Copyright©2020 Mallory Monroe

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  AUSTIN BROOK PUBLISHING

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  This novel is a work of fiction. All characters are fictitious. Any similarities to anyone living or dead are completely accidental. The specific mention of known places or venues are not meant to be exact replicas of those places, but are purposely embellished or imagined for the story’s sake. The cover art are models. They are not the actual characters.

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  MICK SINATRA SERIES

  IN ORDER:

  1.MICK SINATRA: FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE

  2.MICK SINATRA: LOVE LIES AND JERICHO

  3.MICK SINATRA: HIS LADY, HIS CHILDREN, AND SAL

  4.MICK SINATRA: IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW

  5.MICK SINATRA: THE HARDER THEY FALL

  6.MICK SINATRA: NOW WILL YOU WEEP

  7.MICK SINATRA: BREAKING MY HEART

  8.MICK SINATRA: LOVE AND SHADOWS

  9.MICK SINATRA: NO LOVE. NO PEACE.

  10.MICK SINATRA: HEAT WAVE

  11. MICK SINATRA: NOT IN MY HOUSE

  12. MICK SINATRA: ICE COLD LOVE

  13. MICK SINATRA: NEEDING HER AGAIN

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  They could have danced all night. It was that kind of wedding reception. Hammer Reese, the former CIA Director and current Special Ops Chief, was laughing heartier than anybody had ever seen before, as he walked around his ballroom like a peacock on display, and with a long cigar between his teeth. Amelia Sinatra-Reese, his brand new bride, joined in on the dance train and was leaning forward and leaning back and moving to the right and moving to the left and couldn’t stop laughing either. Roz Sinatra led the dance train and was so popular that all of the single men in attendance who didn’t realize who she belonged to, were doing all they could to get next to her. They thought she was single too. She showed up alone, after all, and although she had that big rock on her finger, most of them didn’t even notice it. The rest didn’t care. Roz was so focused on having fun for a change that she didn’t notice their attention anyway.

  But Mick Sinatra, her husband, noticed it.

  He stood in the back of the ballroom, against the wall, making no secret of where his entire focus was aimed. Although many women in attendance were giving the dangerously sexy-looking man in the Armani suit loads of side-eyes and peeps, too, Mick wasn’t giving them any looks at all. He was staring unblinkingly at Roz.

  Roz was taking peeps at him, too, in the midst of her gaiety. She was an actress. She knew how to put on the happy face. But Mick was no actor, and his displeasure seeped through his muscle-tight body like a cancer. That was why he wasn’t just taking peeps at his wife, he was outright staring. So much so that his big brother, “Big Daddy” Charles Sinatra, who stood nearby, felt as if Mick’s stare wasn’t just about watching Roz, but more about making a decision. He felt as if Mick was trying to decide if his long-time ladylove, whose behavior the week prior had angered and hurt him mightily, was worth it.

  But when one of those young, single men in the dance train moved beside Roz and slyly placed his hand on her hip, and Charles saw Mick stand erect from that backwall as if he was about to go over there and show that bastard the error of his ways, Charles hurried to the young stud. And calmly, but firmly, took him by the arm.

  “Move it along, son,” Charles whispered to the young man, removing the guy’s hand from Roz’s hip. Roz hadn’t even noticed the guy, until Charles came over.

  But the young man didn’t see where he’d done anything wrong. He looked at Charles with a puzzled look in his eyes. “Why am I required to move? What did I do?” he asked him.

  “Beat it, son,” Charles said. “If you value your life, beat it.”

  “But what did I do?”

  “This woman, whom you have been trying to cop a feel-on all evening,” Charles said, “happens to be the wife of Mick Sinatra.”

  The young man’s eyes grew wide with fear.

  “Uh-huh. That’s what you did,” Charles said. “Now beat it!”

  The young man didn’t have to be told twice. He hurried away from Roz so fast and so far that he didn’t stop speed-walking until he was clean out of that ballroom. Charles looked at Mick. Mick placed the sole of one of his leather shoes back against that backwall, and leaned back again. Disaster averted, Charles thought.

  But the fact still remained: what on earth was going on with Mick and Roz?

  That was the hot topic of conversation at the huge wedding of Amelia and Hammer Reese, and even more so at their Canadian reception. Everybody wanted to know why the power couple of all power couples wasn’t showing the united front they almost always showed in public. Instead, Roz was on one side of the room. Mick was on the other side. Why? What happened?

  But not one human being in that room dared ask the question. They figured Roz wasn’t the problem and was trying to have some fun, so they weren’t about to approach her. But they couldn’t just walk over and breech a subject like that with Mick either. Not even the big guns in the family, from casino mogul Reno Gabrini, to business mogul Tommy Gabrini, to major mob boss himself Sal Gabrini, dared ask. But Sal wasn’t above trying to get somebody other than himself to ask it.

  “Reno?” Sal said to his cousin as the Gabrini men stood together with glasses of champagne in their hands and watched their women danced in the group dance train too.

  “What?” Reno answered him. “And it better not be none of your bullshit.”

  “Why don’t you shuffle your sorry ass on over there and ask Uncle Mick what’s up with him and Roz? Go and find out what the fuck’s going on.”r />
  Reno looked at Sal as if he had lost his mind. “No, you go,” he said. “Shuffle your ass over there. We’ll wait right here for you, Sal Luca. You go!”

  Sal looked at his big brother. “Tommy, you do it then. Uncle Mick loves you. Go ask him.”

  “No, I’m good,” said Dapper Tom Tommy Gabrini. “I’m with Reno on that one. But you can go, Sal.”

  “And when Uncle Mick throws you down this mountain we’re on, for getting up in his business,” Reno said, “we’ll come down there and pick up the pieces. We’ll do that just for you, Sal Luca,” Reno added, and he and Tommy laughed and high-fived. “Trying to get us killed. Get your ass away from here!”

  Sal had to smile, too, because he knew the truth: they were big, powerful men, all feared in their own right, but not one of them had the nerve to go that far. They pushed the envelope all day long, and crossed boundaries regularly. But not with Mick.

  And the young guns of the family wouldn’t have the nerve to entertain the thought of going there. And there were plenty young guns in attendance: From Teddy and Joey Sinatra, to Bobby and Brent Sinatra, to Jimmy Gabrini and Reno’s fearless younger son Dommi, their young guns were tough guys too. But when it came to approaching Mick the Tick? They were useless. But they had their hands full anyway as all of the younger kids, including Amelia and Hammer’s son JoJo, and Mick and Roz’s twins, were running all over the place and needed constant reprimands.

  Big Daddy Charles Sinatra, they all knew, was the only one on that same level with Mick to take the dare and ask him what was up with him and Roz. But Charles didn’t have to ask. He already knew.

  But instead of wasting his time going over to Mick and trying to get Mick’s stubborn ass to at least talk to his wife about it, Charles went to the wife. To Roz. And pulled her aside.

  “Who was that guy?” Roz asked, assuming the guy that had his hand on her hip was why her brother-in-law moved her away from the dance train.

  “Some jerk,” Charles said, trying to speak over the loud music. “But that’s not why I pulled you over.”

  Roz looked at him. “Okay. Why?”

  “You need to talk to Mick.”

  “Forget it, Big Daddy.”

  “Don’t tell me to forget it. Go to him, Roz. You know how he is. You guys need to have a conversation.”

  “I’ve tried to talk,” Roz said. “You don’t think I tried? But he’s not listening. He doesn’t want to hear it.”

  But Charles was insistent. “Go talk to him, Roz,” he said again. “I mean it now. You’ve got to be the bigger person because Mick doesn’t know how to be in situations like this. And don’t get me started on stubbornness.”

  Roz knew she was stubborn. She knew there was nobody on the face of this earth who could be more stubborn than she could. Except Mick!

  She looked at Mick. He was still staring at her, looking more pitiful than powerful, she thought, and she knew Charles was right. He would never start the conversation. Especially since he was more than willing to put all of their woes at her feet as if his ass didn’t do shit. But why she always had to be the one?

  “He’s reaching a conclusion, Roz,” Charles said. “He may reach the wrong one. And you know how he is. Even if he comes to the absolute wrong conclusion, he’ll stand by it. He’ll let the chips fall where they may. For the twins if for no other reason, you’ve got to be the bigger person.”

  Roz let out a frustrated exhale. She knew Charles was telling the truth. But damn! Why did she always have to be the conciliatory one, no matter who was at fault? Why was it always up to her?

  But she looked at that brooding husband of hers again. And she knew, despite their major problems, he was worth it. She reached that conclusion the day she married him.

  Charles sighed relief when she began walking toward Mick. Thank you, Roz, he inwardly said.

  But Mick had a different reaction. He braced himself when Roz started heading his way. The last week had been hell for him, but it wasn’t the kind of hell he was used to. Emotions were involved, and his heart. Because that was what Rosalind was. His heart. The very core, the very beat of his heart. And he wasn’t ready for any kind of conversation. Fear gripped him as she walked toward him. And when she stood beside him, he realized just how unprepared for that kind of hell he truly was.

  Charles saw it too. That was why his relief turned into a frown when he saw what Mick did. Because as soon as Roz walked over to Mick and stood beside him, and before she could get a word in edgewise, Mick’s stubborn ass pushed away from that backwall and walked away. He walked away! Charles could have killed him!

  But not before Roz got in a shot. She couldn’t believe it either. He just walked away from her like reconciliation be damned. She was being the bigger person. She took the first step. She took her heart and handed it to him once again, and he handed it right back. She knew she should have left it alone! She looked at Charles with pure anger in her eyes.

  But then she looked at Mick. In truth, she was even more heartbroken than angry. And she was scared out of her mind. What if Mick was over it already? What if what happened over the past few weeks changed their lives forever and there was no going back to what used to be? He was the kind of man who discarded people all the time. What if he was ready to discard her?

  But before she could even consider that awful possibility, she heard someone yelling her name over the loud music. “Roz? Roz!”

  When she turned around, she saw that it was Trina Gabrini, the wife of Vegas casino mogul Reno Gabrini. “Come on, girl,” she said. “We’re having a dance-off. Old school versus young bloods. Come on!”

  The last thing Roz wanted to do at that very moment was dance again, let alone have a dance-off. But she wasn’t about to let Mick’s stubbornness get the best of her. Not today! She’d had her fill of drama and his refusal to even talk about it and she just wanted to have some fun.

  She looked over at Mick, who was leaned against another back wall on the other side of the ballroom, seemingly not giving her a second thought. Why should she mope around worrying about him? She went back to the dance train. She even called upon her immense acting abilities and managed to smile a great big beautiful smile, although she was hardly joyous.

  But Charles was so upset he couldn’t even fake it. He walked over to his younger brother. “What do you think you’re doing? She came to apologize!”

  “Sure about that?” Mick said.

  “Yes, I’m sure! Why else would she go stand beside your bitter ass?”

  Mick had a darn good reason why, but he wasn’t sharing it with his brother.

  Charles exhaled. “Don’t be an asshole, Michello,” he said.

  A part of Mick hardened. He wasn’t accustomed to anybody speaking to him that way. “Don’t know what you mean by that,” he responded.

  “Don’t be an asshole on Amelia’s wedding day. That’s what I mean! Our baby sister did you one big, wonderful solid. She changed her wedding song to help you and Roz.” And Amelia had. Their kid sister had changed her aisle-walk song to Stevie Wonder’s version of For Once in My Life, which everybody knew was Mick and Roz’s song, when news broke around the family that the couple’s marriage was in freefall. Nobody knew what was wrong, except Big Daddy, but they all had eyes, and they all could feel the chill a mile away. “Amelia deserves to know that you two are at least having a conversation before she leaves for her honeymoon,” Charles added.

  “This has nothing to do with Mandy,” Mick said. Amanda, Mandy, and Millie were all Amelia’s nicknames. “This has nothing to do with you either, Charles. This is between Rosalind and myself.”

  “Like hell it is!” Charles responded. “People make mistakes, Mick. Just like your ass do all the time. But when it was you who was on the other side of the grill, Roz would at least hear what you had to say. You need to talk to her.”

  “I don’t need to do a gotdamn thing,” Mick said in that harsh tone he was known for.

  “Watch your language with
me, boy,” Charles fired back in a tone he was known for too. “If I say you’re doing something, you will do it,” he made clear.

  Mick quickly looked at Charles and they exchanged a hard, cold look. Only one man on the face of the earth would ever speak that way to Mick the Tick. And he was staring at him.

  And Mick knew, deep down, that his big brother was right. He looked over at Roz once again. She was dancing and shaking those hips in such a sensual way that it was giving even Mick, despite their problems, a hard-on. What in the world was it doing for those other men in that room? And what about Billy Lancer, who wasn’t in that room, but Mick was certain he wanted to be?

  But before he could even dwell on that particular problem, yet another one of those good-looking wedding invitees, another young hothead who worked in Hammer’s nightclub that Mick didn’t know, managed to find his way by Roz’s side. And Mick’s jaw tightened. Roz wasn’t the youngest woman in that room by far, but she had that special way about her that drew people to her. But always the wrong people, in Mick’s view.

  And just watching her, and watching those guys far younger than Mick undressing her with their eyes, caused that ache deep inside of him to return. But what could he do? Turn back the hands of time? Pretend what happened didn’t?

  He exhaled sadly. “That ship has sailed, Charles,” he said to his brother. “She wants to do what she wants to do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Charles asked him, scared of what Mick was about to say. Although everybody knew Mick as the very definition of unemotional, Charles knew him best and had a totally different take. Mick, to Charles, was all emotion. Be it anger, hate, love, sadness, emotions were all he was about! And he never figured out how to handle any of them. That was, to Charles, Mick’s fatal flaw.

  But when Mick didn’t respond to his question, Charles looked at him. That was when he realized Mick was distracted.

  Charles looked where Mick was looking. And, as Charles assumed, Mick was staring at Roz again. But this time he was staring at how another guy in the dance train kept slyly bumping into Roz as if it was all in his dance moves. But Mick knew a dance move from a quick feel. Charles did too.