Big Daddy Sinatra: There Was a Ruthless Man (The Sinatras of Jericho County Book 1) (16 page)

Then
he exhaled.
 
“Get some sleep,” he ordered
her.
 
“We’ve both had a long day.”

Jenay
closed her eyes more than happy to sleep.
 
It had been a long day, alright, he was right about that.
 
But it had also turned out to be a
magnificent night.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

He
was still asleep.
 
After she’d gotten up,
showered and dressed, he was still asleep.
 
He’d already told her he was not a morning person, and rarely got up
before nine.
 
But it was nearly ten.
 
And he was still fast asleep.

She
thought he would want to go downstairs with her, to get Miss Beatrice Moynihan
and the rest of his employees straight, but she couldn’t wait any longer.
 
As she looked at him snore, she knew he was
too tired and was sleeping too peacefully for her to even consider waking him
up and disturbing his rest.

She
went downstairs.
 
To the tiny office that
Beatrice had decided would be hers.
 
She
grabbed the files she had been reviewing yesterday afternoon, and headed for
the office that had to be hers: Beatrice’s office.
 
Not because she was on any power trip.
 
She wasn’t.
 
But she was the GM.
 
If she
expected the staff, from Beatrice on down, to respect her as GM, she knew she
had to become the boss.
 
Charles was her
boss, and she was theirs.
 
The one thing
she already figured about Charles: he didn’t play.
 
If he made her the general manager, he
expected her to act like the GM.

Megan
was filing in Beatrice’s office when Jenay walked in.

“Where’s
Miss Moynihan?” she asked.

“She
hasn’t made it in yet, ma’am.”

“She
hasn’t?”
 
This news surprised Jenay.
 
“What time is she usually here?”

“Whenever
she gets here,” Megan responded.

Jenay
looked at her.
 
“You mean she had no set
schedule?
 
She comes in whenever she
feels like it?”

“Pretty
much.
 
Yes ma’am.”

Jenay
couldn’t believe it.

“Do
you need to use her office, ma’am?” Megan asked her.

“I do,
yes,” Jenay responded.
 
“If it’s not a
great inconvenience for you.”

“Not
at all,” Megan said. “I can finish filing anytime.”
 
She began grabbing her files.
 
“I heard Big Daddy was back in town and was
coming over today anyway.
 
If I were
you,” she warned Jenay, “I’d stay out of his way when he shows up.
 
I know I always do.”

“And
who’s Big Daddy?” Jenay asked as she sat behind Beatrice desk and made space
for the records she had to review.

“Mr.
Sinatra,” Megan said, and Jenay, who had been only mildly paying attention,
looked at her.
 
“He’s the man who owns
Jericho Inn.”

Jenay
stared at Megan.
 
“They call Charles
Sinatra
Big Daddy
?”

“Yes,
ma’am.
 
I thought you knew.”

“But
why?”

“I’m
not entirely sure,” Megan mused.
 
“Maybe
it’s because he has all those hunky sons.”

“So
his children mainly call him that?”

“No,”
Megan quickly said.
 
“They don’t call him
that at all.
 
They seem to hate the
name.
 
It’s the people around town who
calls him that.
 
But I don’t think it’s a
term of endearment or anything like that.”

“Why
not?”

Megan
smiled.
 
“Because!
 
He can be so . . . I don’t know.
 
He’s kind of mean.
 
But I can’t let Miss Beatrice hear me saying
that.
 
And she hates when I call him Big
Daddy behind his back.
 
She hates the
term too.
 
But mainly because she doesn’t
feel he’s a good enough man to deserve a nickname of any kind.”

“I
see,” Jenay responded, unsure how to process such information.

“I’ll
be in the break room if you need me,” Megan said, as she began leaving.

“Oh,
and Meg,” Jenay said.

Megan
looked at her.
 
“Yes, ma’am?”

“Let
me know when Miss Moynihan arrives.”

“Sure
thing,” Megan said, and left.

It
would be another hour, but Megan did what she was told and notified Jenay as
soon as Beatrice arrived.

“She’s
at the front desk,” Megan said.

Jenay
immediately left the financial records she were reviewing and made her way to
the front desk.
 
Beatrice was preparing
herself a cup of coffee.

As
Jenay walked over to her, Charles stepped off of the elevator and entered the
front desk area too.
 
He was pleased to
know that neither one saw him.
 
So he
didn’t announce himself, and stood back.

“Good
morning,” Jenay said to Beatrice.

Beatrice
didn’t bother to turn around.
 
“Good
morning.”

“I
need a copy of your schedule.”

“Yeah,
sure,” Beatrice said noncommittally.

“I
also need a list of the unoccupied rooms.”

Beatrice
sighed.
 
“I told you yesterday there are
no unoccupied rooms.”

“I’m
sure there is somebody who checked out this morning.”

“There
are no vacancies,” Beatrice said.
 
Then
she looked at Jenay.
 
“None.
 
Alright?”

“Good
morning ladies,” Charles said, and both ladies turned.

Charles
began heading behind the front desk.
 
Jenay was relieved to see him, since she was getting nowhere, once
again, with Beatrice.
 

Beatrice
was surprised.
 
“Mr. Sinatra,” she said.
“I didn’t think you’d be back today.”

Charles
turned on the computer.
 
“How many empty
rooms do we have, Bea?” he asked her.

“Empty
rooms?” Beatrice asked, careful not to look at Jenay.
 
“We have several,” she said as he pulled up
the vacancy list.
 
“Quite a few.”

Jenay
looked at Beatrice, ready to call her on her lies.
 
“You told me there were no vacancies,” she
said.

“You
misunderstood me,” Beatrice claimed.

“You
told me that repeatedly,” Jenay responded, refusing to go along.

“You
misunderstood me,” Beatrice said again.

“Don’t
misunderstand me,” Charles said as he printed out the vacancy list and then
looked up at her. “You’re fired.”

Beatrice
and Jenay both were stunned.
 
Especially
Beatrice.
 
“Fired?”

“Fired,”
Charles said.
 
“And that was no misunderstanding.
 
Hand me your keys.
 
Then clear out your desk.”

He
grabbed the vacancy list off of the printer.
 
Beatrice, still in shock, handed him her master keycards.
 
“But Mr. Sinatra,” she started.
 
But Charles would have none of it.

He
ignored her.
 
“Let’s go see the rooms,”
he said to Jenay, and began heading toward the elevators.

Jenay
looked at Beatrice, she was just as stunned as she was, but she followed
Charles.
 
She was amazed at how little
compassion he showed for his employee, but she knew to be an effective boss,
she would have to make unpleasant decisions too.
 
Although, even with a woman like Beatrice who
probably hated her guts, it wasn’t going to be as easy for Jenay to pull off.

They
stepped onto the elevator and leaned back against the rail.
 
As soon as the door closed, Charles placed his
hand on the back of her neck and began to rub her.
 
They kissed on the lips.
 
“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked.

“You
were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to disturb that.”

“Good,”
he said with a weary smile.
 
“It’s eleven
o’ clock and I’m still barely awake.”
 
He
yawned.
 
“I’ve got to go home and change
and get to my office.”
 

Jenay
looked down at Charles’s attire.
 
She’d
already noticed that he was wearing his suit pants and dress shirt from last
night.
 
She didn’t realize how wrinkled
they looked today.
 
Probably had
something to do with the way he flung them off last night.
 
“You aren’t returning to New York?” she asked
him.

“No.
 
My partners can handle it.
 
They claim they need me, oh how they need me,
but it’s bullshit.
 
They can manage just
fine.
 
Besides, they want to invest in
this coffee house far more than I do.”

“A
coffee house?” Jenay asked.

“To
rival Starbucks, they claim.
 
We’ll
see.
 
If the price is right, I’ll go
along.
 
If it’s not, I won’t.”

Jenay
smiled.
 
“The venture capitalist at
work.”

“There
you go,” Charles said as the elevator stopped and the doors prepared to open on
the fourth floor.
 
He looked at
Jenay.
 
“Come and pick me up this
evening,” he said.
 
“I’m taking you to
dinner.”

Jenay
liked that.
 
“Okay.”

They
stepped off of the elevator and began walking along the sleek corridor.
 
“I’ll program my office address in the Jag’s
GPS before I leave.”

“But
how will you get home and to your office if you leave your car with me?”

“Transportation
is never a problem around here.
 
I’ll get
Megan or even my son Donald to pick me up.”

Megan
, Jenay thought.
 
Pretty.
 
Young.
 
Sweet.
 
She looked at Charles as they walked.

Charles
looked at her.
 
“What?”

She
decided to be blunt.
 
“So is Megan one of
your bed warmers too?”

He
smiled.
 
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

“Me?
 
Jealous?
 
Of course I’m jealous!
 
What do
you take me for?”

Charles
laughed and placed his hand on her lower back.
 
A guest walked pass, and looked back at them.
 
“No, there’s nothing like that going on.
 
I don’t fool with kids.
 
She’s far too young for me.
 
They have to be old ladies like you to get my
attention.”

Jenay
smiled.
 
“Then I can spare Meg long
enough to drive you home.”

“Oh,
you can, can you?”
 
Charles asked with a
smile of his own as they arrived at the vacant room.

“But
wait a minute,” Jenay said.
 
“I thought
you said you owned a car dealership.”

“I
do.
 
My son Donald works there.”

“So
you have many vehicles then.”

“That
I personally own?
 
No.
 
Just the Jag.”

“You
own a car dealership, but you only own one car?”

“That’s
correct.
 
I can only drive one car.
 
I only own one car.
 
But that was before I met you,” Charles added
as he swiped the master keycard and they entered the room.

Jenay
felt some kind of way as she walked into the room.
 
Not about the room, but about what Charles
had said.
  
It sounded as if he was
serious about building a future with her.
 
The fact that he had come back from New York early, just because he
didn’t like the way she sounded on the telephone, spoke volumes to her.
 
Although the job was still stressful, and she
hated that Beatrice had to lose her position like that after so many years
working here, but the personal side was shaping up just fine.
 
Better than she could have ever hoped.

“This
is one of our standard rooms,” Charles said as they walked around the
room.
 
Like the hotel itself, it was a
gorgeous room, and Charles seemed pleased.

“As
you can see,” he said, “the maid staff keeps it in tiptop shape.”