Mick studied her. Would she now show more interest in him when she realized his wealth was well above ordinary wealth? Would she act, as his other ladies always did, as if she just hit the jackpot? “Yes,” he said, and kept his eyes on her. “I became majority owner eight years ago.”
Roz nodded as if it was no big deal, and she even smiled, but she was blown away. The Carson-Benning was one of the oldest and most luxurious hotels in New York. Right up there with the Four Seasons, the James, the Waldorf-Astoria. And he owned it? The man she was worried sick about owned it? Instead of getting more excited, or seeing dollar signs for herself, Roz couldn’t help but feel at least a bit more intimidated. She knew Mick was out of her league. She already knew that. But now she knew they weren’t even in the same ballpark, on the same street, in the same town! She flapped a side swing of hair behind her ear. She was a little off-kilter now, but she was determined not to show it.
Roz should not have felt happy at this moment. This big beautiful man holding her hand right now and escorting her to his hotel room was the same big beautiful man who wouldn’t return her phone calls. He was the same beautiful man who owned the hotel his room was situated in to begin with. But she did feel happy. She felt a kind of joy the few times she’d been around Mick that no other experience could match. But she was also no wide-eyed kid. These were early days still. She remained cautious.
Mick kept his hand in hers as they rode up in the private elevator to his suite on the top floor. And when the elevator opened into that suite, Roz was not surprised that it would be the best suite in the building. Beauty didn’t capture it. The furniture was big and bold, but the color palate was soft cream and soft browns. And it all worked together beautifully. Mick had taste. There was no doubt in her mind about it.
Mick also still held her hand. And suddenly her heart felt faint. If he escorted her straight to his bedroom, she would know that was the only reason he brought her up here in the first place. Not to talk. Not to explain why he didn’t come back to her. But to get another hit. The fact that she had showed up eliminated any pretense that she wasn’t interested in him. What man wouldn’t take advantage of that? But Roz had high hopes for Mick. Why she had such hopes was a mystery. But her hope could not be denied.
And when he sat her down on the beautiful living room sofa, and poured drinks and sat down beside her, her joy could not be denied either. She believed she would have turned him down if he would have proposed a roll in the hay right away. At least she wished she would have enough self-respect to say no. But he didn’t put her in that position. She sipped champagne and crossed her legs. Mick sat in the flanking chair, crossed his legs, and sipped champagne too. He looked so tired and drained, Roz could not help but comment.
“Long day?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Then Roz suddenly had a horrible thought. “I sure hope it didn’t begin late last night when you left my place.”
That was the beginning. Mick had not been to sleep since. He had a vast empire, and it was mostly legit, but it was built on crimes. When you were buried in it as deeply as Mick was buried in it, it took a lifetime to dig out.
And then there were nights like last night, where the house of cards were trying to cave-in all at once, and he had to spend his every waking moment preventing the fall. From Pennsylvania to Florida he was in damage control. Not because the Feds were closing in, but because they would have knocked the whole thing down had the agent that rat bastard Tonk Maggio had snitched to had not been crooked as a curve and in Mick’s pocket too.
After a night like that he couldn’t go back to sleep even if he wanted to. And he didn’t. He was not the kind of man who did what he did, and had no second thoughts about it. He had nightmares about it. But he had no illusions about it. He was dealing in dirt, not because all the bad guys were picking on him, but because he was dirty. Because he was a bad guy too. Tonk Maggio’s number was up last night. One night his number was going to come due. His father once said that his brother Charles was going to die a beloved old man. Mick, his father said, was going to die a lonely old man. He was too mean to ever be loved. Mick realized long ago that he was living up magnificently to that prophesy, and then some.
But telling Rosalind about his sordid life and the fact that he had to stay up all night to sort through it would be too much for any rational being to handle. Especially one he actually liked. “I’m alright,” was all he would say about it. “What about you? Did you teach today?”
Roz nodded. “Oh, yeah. Teaching pays the bills nowadays.”
“Eventually you’ll make some decisions, yes?”
“I’ll have to. My brother’s still bugging me about partnering up with him, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. But yes, I’ll have to make some decisions soon.”
“Is your brother your only sibling?”