Gloria was staring at him. “How do you know my father?”
Oz stared back at her. She had a way of forcing him to face facts. But that would require revealing too much of himself to a woman he was only just beginning to know. “I know of him,” he said again.
Gloria realized she wasn’t dealing with one of her old boyfriends that would let her get away with anything. Oz Drakos was nobody’s boy. “Okay,” she said. “Got it.”
“What does that mean?”
“I thought that was why you changed on me when we landed in Philly,” she said. “I thought it was because you knew my father.”
Oz stared at her. “Why would you think that?”
“Because of how you reacted when you saw my brother. Because of how you reacted when you found out who my father was. It was like you got upset with me because of who I am.”
“No, that wasn’t it at all. Not at all. I was just . . . I think I was just tired.”
“Tired of me?”
“No! Just tired.”
Gloria stared at him. He wasn’t ready to come clean with her, she decided. “Okay,” she said.
Oz knew he hadn’t convinced her of squat. But he wasn’t ready to go there. “Now answer my question,” he said.
Gloria looked at him. “You didn’t ask me a question.”
“Why was your trip home so challenging?”
“It always is with him.”
“I heard he was a tough son-of-a-bitch. With his own daughter too?”
Gloria nodded. “All of his kids. He just . . . He’s just hard.”
“Did something happen while you were home this last time?”
“I work for him.”
Worked for him how, Oz wondered. In his legit company, or in his crime syndicate? “You work at the Sinatra Corporation?”
“Yes. I have for quite some time. But when I told him I was leaving his company to do my own thing, he wasn’t thrilled to hear it.”
“Why not?”
“He didn’t want me to leave him. Isn’t that obvious?”
“Not really, no. Why wouldn’t he want you to leave him?”
“He’s just like that.”
“Controlling?” Oz asked.
“He never tells us anything positive. He never pays us any attention at all, really, unless he’s angry with us. But as soon as we even think about getting from under his thumb, he’s all upset and can’t understand why we would want to live our own lives. But he won’t even say he loves us. He won’t even say he cares about us or anything even close to that. He just wants to control us. And I got tired of it.”
Oz stared at her. His father, a vicious mob boss himself, would not have won any awards either. He understood.
“He opened another office in New England,” Gloria said. “And I knew I could run it. I even spoke up for myself and let him know how much I wanted it. But he . . . Needless to say, I didn’t get it. He didn’t think I was ready. I realized I’ll never be ready if I stayed under him.”
“What kind of father was he when you were a kid?”
“Never there,” Gloria said. “Always making promises that he never kept. I should have given up on him then. Our oldest brother, Adrian, did.” Then a sad look appeared in Gloria’s eyes. “But he’s dead now.”
Oz exhaled. Their backgrounds were more alike than she could ever imagine. She was hurting. He saw it on the plane just as he was seeing it right in front of him. And Mick the Tick was the reason.
He smiled, which was always his go-to emotion. “Stick with me kid,” he said, “and you’ll never be sad again.”
“That’s a damn lie,” Gloria said with a smile of her own, and Oz laughed a booming laugh. “Almost every time I’ve been around you,” Gloria continued, “your butt made me sad.”
Oz’s smile left. “I’m really sorry about that,” Oz said. “But I’ll tell you what: from this moment on, you stick with me, kid, and you’ll never be sad again. Deal?”
Gloria’s smile eased up. And she stared at him. For some reason even she couldn’t explain, she believed him. “Deal,” she said.
When Oz saw her expression change from gaiety to that serious look she usually wore, he felt protective of her. And he believed it too. “Deal,” he said again, as if his words alone would confirm it.
After dinner, they walked happily to Oz’s Porsche. Neither one of them fully understood why they were so happy, but they were. Especially Oz, who believed, if their relationship was allowed to blossom, she might just be his soulmate. But as soon as he had that thought, he had another thought. That his stupid ass was actually considering a relationship with Mick the Tick’s daughter. And if Mick the Tick found out, especially considering that he just might be at war with him, Mick was going to have a relationship with his life.
He knew he had to curb his enthusiasm.
He assisted Gloria into his car, and then closed the door behind her. When he got in on the driver’s side, she gave him her happiest smile, a smile that always transformed her serious face into a face of innocence to him. And just like that, he was bitten again. He wanted to take her home with him. He felt just that protective of her. But he also knew Mick Sinatra’s daughter was nobody’s booty call. He had to tread carefully.
“Where are you staying?” he asked her as he began driving off.
“At Margaret Jean’s B & B,” she responded.
“Nice place. Not as nice as The Drakos, but nice.”
“And, of course, you aren’t biased at all.”
“Not in the least!” Oz said with a grin.
Gloria loved the way he grinned. He was always so upbeat, something she wasn’t used to. And the fact that he was willing to spend time with her despite the fact that he knew about her family’s mob ties, gave her hope. He wouldn’t admit to knowing it, but she was no idiot. She saw how he reacted when he saw Teddy waiting for her. She saw how he reacted when she told him who her father was. He was a major businessman who probably didn’t want that kind of scrutiny. But he was hanging out with her anyway. That gave her hope.
“What I wanna know,” Oz said, “is how on earth do you get around without wheels?”
“It’s been easy so far,” said Gloria. “I live within walking distance to the diner, which was my main concern.”
“But the weather’s looking nasty the rest of this week. You don’t want to walk in that.”
“There is such a thing as an umbrella, Oz.”
“Didn’t you have an automobile in Philadelphia? Or was it not necessary there too?”
“Oh, it was necessary, alright, but after I bought the diner, I sold it to one of my girlfriends.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I needed the cash.”
Oz looked away from the road, he was so shocked. “Mick Sinatra’s daughter needed cash?”
But Gloria didn’t even try to smile. “I don’t want his cash. This is my thing and my thing only. I’ll be okay if the diner remains profitable, which I intend for it to remain. And then I’ll get some wheels as you call them.”