Mick Sinatra: The Harder They Fall Read Online Free Page A

to them too.”
    Roz closed
her eyes.   Show business was the worst
cut-throat business there was.   Sometimes
she hated that she bore its taint.   “Okay, Jerl,” she said.
    “You
understand, don’t you, Roz?   It’s always
the lesser of two evils.”
    “And it’ll
always be that way until somebody stands up.”
    “Agreed,”
Jerry said.   “But it won’t be me.   Not this time.”
    Or any other
time, Roz thought.
    “But I’m glad
you understand,” Jerry said.
    “Kinna
won’t,” Roz said, “and I don’t blame her.   We’re failing the young people coming up after us.   If we don’t stand up, they’re going to have
to take this shit lying down too.”
    “But what am
I supposed to do?” Jerry asked again.   “I
can either produce a play and employ a full cast and crew.   Or I can stand up and cost an entire cast and
crew their livelihoods.   Which road would
you take?”
    Roz hated to
admit it, but there was no way around it.   “The one you’re taking,” she said.   But she wasn’t going to wallow in it.   “Bye, Jerl.”   And she hung up the
phone quickly.
    Then a knock
was heard on her office door.   Usually it
was her secretary giving a warning knock before barging on in, or her husband,
the only person who could enter unannounced.
    But when she
saw Mick walk through her office door, an odd sensation washed over her.   It was as if seeing his face again reminded
her that the past wasn’t king, but her new life was.   And she needed to embrace it again.
    That was
why, surprising even herself, she jumped up from her desk, ran across the room,
and threw herself into Mick’s arms.
    Mick grabbed
her and held her.   He even lifted her
into his arms and she wrapped her legs around him.   But what should have elated him, worried him.   Was Cathleen right?   Had something, or somebody spooked Roz and
she needed him to protect her?   He was
late for a meeting already, but he was glad he came.   He had to make sure she was okay first.
    He leaned
back.   He needed to see her eyes.   By her little display alone, his own eyes
were now fraught with concern.   “What is
wrong?” he asked her.
    “I miss
you,” Roz told him.   “That’s all.”
    But her big,
beautiful eyes were telling him a different story.   Mick didn’t take shit from Roz either when
she didn’t shoot straight with him.   He’d
kick her ass, and she knew it.   “What is
wrong?” he asked her again.
    Roz could
feel his strong arms tighten around her waist.   It was almost an unconscious move by Mick, a move she wondered if he
even realized he was making, but she knew where it often led.   She moved to get out of his grasp, to test
him.   When he wouldn’t let her, but
tightened his grip even more, she knew her instinct was right.   She was bullshitting him, and he knew it.
    She gave
in.   “I’m just . . . It’s been a rough
day,” she admitted.
    Now they
were getting somewhere, Mick thought.   He
put her back on her own two feet.   “Tell
me how,” he said.
    Roz began
moving back behind her desk.   Mick
watched her tight ass move beneath her tight skirt as she walked.   But when she got behind her desk, and saw the
strain on Mick’s own face, she exhaled.   “I should be the one worried about you,” she said.   “How are you?”
    Mick knew
what she meant.   “I’m okay.”
    “Is the
dinner date with the kids still on?”
    “It’s still
on,” Mick said.
    “Joey still
invited?”
    Mick
hesitated.   “Yes,” he said.
    “Please
don’t change that, Mick.   What he did was
reprehensible, but he’s still your child.”
    “The only
reason he’s still alive,” Mick admitted.
    Roz stared
at him.   “What about the Gabrinis?   Have you spoken to them since it happened?”
    “No,” Mick
said.   “They reached out.   But I’m not there yet.”
    “You have to
put yourself in their shoes, Mick,” Roz started.
    “I don’t
have to put myself in any fucker’s