Sal Gabrini: His House of Cards Page 17

  “I didn’t need a DNA test,” Sal said as they walked.

  “I needed to see it,” his son responded. “I’ve been Rudy Balotti’s son all my life. Now I look at a test and I’m not? It’s tough.”

  Sal looked at him as they walked. He was a handsome young man with features that looked completely Gabrini, and nothing like Rudy Red. “Rudy never told you?” he asked him.

  Rudy, Junior shook his head. “I had no idea until Fran said it to you. She thought I knew, but I didn’t. And then I saw it. As soon as she said it, I saw me in you.”

  Sal’s heart squeezed in pain. He didn’t see his son in him, but he felt his son in him.

  “I didn’t want to do that to Fran, she was my father’s, I mean, Rudy’s girlfriend. He told me to protect her until the heat was off. That’s why I was holed up in her apartment. I never dreamed you were the heat. But I couldn’t let her kill you. That’s all I knew. I couldn’t let her kill you.”

  Sal nodded. “Thank you.”

  They stopped walking. His son looked at him. “Where do we go from here?”

  Sal stared at him. “As far as you want it to go.”

  Rudy liked that response. “I appreciate that.” Then he extended his hand and realized something as they shook. “I don’t know what to call you.”

  “Sal is okay.”

  “You sure?”

  “For now. We both have to get used to this. My wife has to get used to this.”

  Rudy nodded. “Understood.” Then they shook. “I’ll keep in mind everything we discussed. I’ll be in touch, Sal.”

  “Take care of yourself,” Sal said, heartfelt, and watched his son as he walked away.

  Rudy, Junior left the beachfront hotel where Sal and Gemma were staying, and made his way across town. He parked his car, got out, and got into the waiting limousine.

  “Thanks for the meeting. I know you’re a busy man.”

  There was no sound from the other side of the car.

  Then finally Rudy looked at Mick Sinatra. “My old man is dead,” he said to him.

  Mick seemed nonplussed. “Rudy Red is dead. And now you get to take over his organization.” He looked at Rudy. “And you’re Sal Gabrini’s son.”

  “Sal Gabrini planted that bomb that tried to kill my dad. Some of his men are saying Sal went to the hospital and finished him off. I’m no son of his.”

  “The same men who told you all of this are the same men who left Rudy at that warehouse to die.”

  Rudy looked ahead. “I’ll take care of them. Don’t you worry about that.” Then he looked at Mick. “I can be the inside man for you. I can tell you everything you ever want to know about Sal Gabrini’s outfit. About Sal Gabrini himself.”

  Mick seemed to consider the proposition. Rudy’s heart was hammering.

  “He’ll trust me with everything,” Rudy continued. “Just like my old man did. I can deliver the goods, Mr. Sinatra. You can count on me.”

  “In exchange for?” Mick asked.

  Rudy felt better. He at least was entertaining the idea. “In exchange for protection,” he said. “You put my organization under your protection and I’ll deliver the goods for you. It’ll be a no-lose situation for you, sir.”

  Mick stared at the young man. He was young but he wasn’t fearless. Mick could smell his fear. He had a long way to go. “Rudy loved you very much,” he said. “He was a good father to you, I’ll give him that. He would turn over in his grave if he knew his beloved son, the new head of his organization, was crawling to me to take care of him.”

  “I’m not crawling,” Rudy made clear. “I’m asking. I know what’s needed for that organization I’m the head of to survive. I need your protection.”

  “Sal Gabrini can protect you,” Mick pointed out.

  “Not the way you can,” Rudy proclaimed. Then a bitter look crossed Rudy’s handsome face. “I don’t want his protection,” he said. He looked at Mick. “What do you say, Mr. Sinatra? Will you do it?”

  “I say I’ll see,” Mick said. “It’s been fucking child’s play so far. Now it’s the grownups time.”

  “Fran came close to doing the job for you.”

  “Nobody’s doing shit for me,” Mick said angrily. “I finish my own job.” Then he dismissed Rudy with a wave of the hand. “Get your snitching ass out of my fucking car.”

  If that was anybody else calling him a snitch, they would have been dead. But this was Mick the Tick. Retaliating against Mick the Tick was like retaliating against a nuclear bomb. Only a man with a death wish would try.

  Rudy swallowed hard. His heart was already hammering. This was already tough enough. And then to get no firm commitment? But what could he do? Nobody rushed Mick the Tick. He’d better be glad he agreed to meet with him in the first place. “I’ll wait to hear from you, sir,” he said, and got out of his car.

  Gemma was relaxing in the tub when Sal walked into the bathroom of their hotel suite. He leaned against the door jamb and stood there momentarily, watching his wife with her head leaned back, her eyes closed, her arms dangling over the claw foot tub with a glass of Sherry, in one hand, dangling too. Her beautiful dark breasts were just above the water, and they stood out plump and high, with nipples ready for his mouth.

  They’d been through a lot these last few months. She’d been through too much. But they made it through every one of those storms, and were stronger for it. He swallowed hard. He loved that woman over there. He could hardly believe how fortunate he was to be her man. To be the one she came home to. To be the one who got the added bonus of fucking her every night. Something, he thought, as he pushed off of the door jamb and made his way into the bathroom, he planned to do right now.

  Without saying a word, he dropped his low hanging sweat pants, revealing a cock pumped and primed for her bare ass, and he got in the tub behind her.

  Gemma smiled when she felt his hands move her body forward, as he got in behind her. She smiled even greater when she realized his cock was already hard.

  She glanced back at him as he sat down. “You okay?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I couldn’t be better.”

  “How did it go?”

  “It’s early. It’s still too new. We have to take it slow.”

  Gemma agreed. “I’m just so happy he saved your life. I’ll always love him for that.”

  Sal wrapped his arms around her, and leaned her back against him. “And I’ll always love you,” he said.

  She smiled and looked at him. “You’re a regular touchy feely guy these days,” she said.

  “Like hell,” he said. Then he looked down at her mouth, not with a tough guy gaze, but with the gaze of a man in love. “I’ve got your touchy feely right here,” he said.

  And then he kissed her. Long and lovingly. He held her chin in his hand and would not let her go. And just like that Gemma knew that her relaxing, quiet bath was about to get busy.

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