Mick Sinatra: For Once In My Life
Mallory Monroe
PROLOGUE
The Gulfstream 650 flew out of the clouds with a thunderous entry, and touched down and taxied until it came to a rolling stop. Across the airstrip tarmac, Danny Padrone was waiting. He stepped out of the front passenger side of the Cadillac limousine, and buttoned his suit coat. He was the muscle, the man who always met the plane, and today was no exception. Carissa Caine got out from behind the wheel and opened the driver’s side back passenger door. This was her first time working for the great man, but Danny had schooled her well. She was an experienced driver. She chauffeured rich guys all across Pennsylvania for nearly a decade. She was ready for this.
“So Danny?” She yelled across the hood of the limo when the noise of the jet quieted down. “You’re tight with him or what?” Danny ignored her. “Where you think he’s been all this time?”
She was on loan from Teddy Stefani’s crew, and had a solid reputation working for her. But she also had a mouth on her that Danny knew his boss was not going to appreciate. Teddy Stefani had no problem with it. Mick Sinatra didn’t play that.
“Say, Danny,” Carissa tried again, “where you think he’s been all this time?”
Danny looked at her with a disgusted look. “What are you asking me something like that for? How should I know where he’s been? He’s been on business, that’s where he’s been. And it’s none of your fucking business.”
Carissa didn’t allow anybody to talk to her that way. “It’s not serious like that though,” she responded.
But Danny couldn’t disagree more. “It is serious like that! It is serious. Now I’m telling you, Riss, this is not like those other jobs. Mick Sinatra will just as soon slit your throat than entertain your questions. Your job is to open that door and drive this vehicle. Leave everything else to me.”
“But what you’re saying makes no sense, Danny. You’re trying to tell me I can’t ask the man how his trip was, or how is he feeling?”
“None of that,” Danny said forcefully. “You can’t ask him none of that shit!” Then he frowned. “What’s with you, anyway? I told you this job is different!”
Carissa smiled. She couldn’t take Danny seriously even if she wanted to. She knew Mick “The Tick” Sinatra was the real deal from way back, but she was willing to bet any amount of money that even he wasn’t as dire a character as Danny made him out to be. Nobody was. As far as she was concerned Danny was just a nervous nelly and had been for as long as she knew him.
Then Danny quickly stood erect. “He’s coming,” he said, as he nervously smoothed down his windblown hair.
Carissa looked at Danny and shook her head. What a wuss, she thought. Then she looked toward the jet as a tall figure emerged from out of the cabin and stood at the top of the steps. She saw a dashing male in a flowing white ankle-length coat, a black turtleneck shirt and black trousers, his thick hair blowing in the wind, as he began descending the steps. She’d heard of Mick Sinatra, but this was her first time seeing him in person. “That him?” she asked.
Danny nodded. “That’s him.”
“Damn, Danny.” She was smiling. “I was expecting some decrepit old coot. You didn’t tell me he looked that good!”
Danny frowned and looked at his subordinate. “What do I look like telling you that for? Watch yourself, Riss.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Carissa said. “I know how to handle myself. I’ve been driving around rich mafia types all my career. I know what they like.”
But Danny was already shaking his head. “Not him. You don’t know shit about him. He ain’t those dirty old men you’re used to chauffeuring around. He ain’t Teddy Stefani. He don’t want shit from your body, and to him you’re just another pretty face. You open this door and then close it, and then get behind that wheel and drive. No conversation. No isn’t the weather lovely. None of that shit. You drive. You hear me, Riss?”
“I hear you. I’m sure he hears you too loud as you’re talking. I got it. He’s subhuman. Treat him that way. Got it.”
Danny said something more to her, but Carissa wasn’t listening. She was too busy checking out the man in black and white. He walked slowly, but he didn’t lumber along. He floated along, as if he was gliding, as if every stride he took became three steps in one. And when he arrived at the driver side passenger door, and Carissa saw those gorgeous green eyes, she jerked her long blonde hair back, smiled her high wattage smile, and did what she knew how to do.