Romancing Sal Gabrini 2: A Woman's Touch Read online

  She stopped reading and thought about that. What if it didn’t work out with Sal? Would she be able to handle it? She knew intellectually she would. But would she emotionally? She’d been in love before, many times before, but never this deep. And never ever with a man like Sal. If he left her, would she go to pieces? If she had to leave him, would she be able to?

  She closed her eyes and tried to relax again. Stop with the questions, she inwardly urged herself. That was why she knew she had to take this slow. She couldn’t allow her life to become all about him. She couldn’t allow the things that used to bring her happiness, such as her independence and her freedom, to get swallowed up in the whirlwind called Sal. She couldn’t allow herself to forget about how much she loved the fact that she had her own house and her own car and her own business. She couldn’t suddenly think that she had nothing, unless she had Sal.

  Her phone began to ring in the midst of her thoughts. When she saw that it was Trina, she answered immediately. “Hey, girl,” she said, placing the call on Speaker.

  “Where are you?” Trina asked. “Still home?”

  “Yup. But not for long.”

  “Sal with you? In the same room, I mean?”

  “No, he’s upstairs.”

  “Good. So how did it go?”

  Gemma smiled. “Now you know good and well I’m not about to discuss that with you.”

  “Not that! Give me some credit, Miss Jones! I’m talking about your parents. Did you bring it up?”

  “Oh, that. Yes, for your information, I did bring it up.”

  “And? Has he finally agreed to meet them?”

  “He has, I’m happy to say.”

  “Oh, good. Reno and I were really worried.”

  This interested Gemma. Reno and Trina, after all, knew Sal far longer than she did. “Why would you guys be worried?”

  “You’re still young, Gemma, you’re only twenty-nine, but you’ve been around that block a time or two. You know how it goes. A man who doesn’t want to meet the folks is usually a man not all that into you, and not all that serious about having a long-term relationship with you.”

  Gemma nodded. That was why she loved Trina and viewed her as her big sister. She helped her to keep it real. “Yeah, that’s usually what it means,” Gemma agreed. And, if she was to further admit the truth, she still wasn’t one hundred percent certain that it still didn’t mean that with Sal. She knew he was serious, and into her on many levels, but how serious and just how deep into her he really was, was the million dollar question.

  “But you said he’s agreed to meet your parents, so that’s wonderful,” Trina went on. “You won’t have to bring it up again.”

  Gemma smiled. “I didn’t bring it up before,” she reminded her friend. “It was you who brought it up. It was you who guessed it. I just confirmed your guess.”

  “But like I said, we were concerned. We know Sal Luca.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “He’s a good guy, an exceptional guy really. He’ll kill you if you cross him, but he’ll give you his last if he trust you. He’s a rare breed.”

  “He’s a saint,” Gemma said with a smile.

  “I’ll never tell that lie,” Trina said, and Gemma laughed.

  Trina went on. “But he does love the ladies,” she said. “You and I both know that.”

  Gemma had to nod. She knew it.

  “And speaking as a woman married to a man who had to give up all of those females, too, it is not an easy process for them. There may be stumbles along the way.”

  Which, Gemma inwardly thought, was one of her greatest fears. “I know,” she said. “And I appreciate the fact that you don’t try to sugarcoat it, Tree, or try to make Sal out to be what he’s not. I know how much you and Reno want this relationship to work.”

  “Oh, do we. You are so perfect for Sal. And we believe Sal’s perfect for you.”

  Gemma smiled. “Thanks, Tree. It doesn’t hurt to hear that somebody’s pulling for us. Thanks.”

  “You’re quite welcome. But that’s not why I called.”

  “Change the subject, Sue. That’s you, Tree.”

  “That’s me,” Trina agreed. “But the reason I’m calling is to invite you guys out tonight. The PaLargio just opened up this new jazz club and Reno thought it would be a blast for the four of us to check it out together.”

  “Oh, that sounds great, Tree. I’ll have to check with Sal before I can confirm, of course, but if he’s game I certainly am.”

  “Great. Call me later with the particulars.”

  “And we still need to get together to discuss the inventory, don’t we?”

  “We can talk about it tonight,” Trina said.

  “That’ll work,” Gemma said, they said their goodbyes, and ended the call.

  After the call, Gemma took a few sips of her coffee. But just as she was about to get back to reading the news, her doorbell rang. She looked at the Cartier Ballon Bleu wristwatch Sal had given to her a month ago. It was only seven-thirty.

  When she walked into the living room and looked out through her peephole, she saw two men standing there. Since she didn’t know them, she didn’t open the door.

  “Yes, may I help you?” she asked as she stood at the door.

  “We’re here to see Sal.”

  This surprised Gemma. “Sal?” she asked.

  “Mr. Gabrini, ma’am. He told us to meet him here.”

  Did he, Gemma thought. He didn’t tell her any such thing! “May I ask who’s here to see him?”

  “Chazz Charski,” said one. Gemma remembered the name from last night. She also remembered how utterly displeased Sal was with him.

  “And who else?” she asked.

  “Will Murelli, ma’am.”

  Gemma remembered that name too. “Just a moment,” she said, sat her coffee on the side table, and then headed upstairs.

  Sal was still in her bed, but he was no longer asleep.

  “You’re awake,” she said with a smile, as she entered the room.

  “I thought I heard the doorbell.”

  “You did. Two men are here to see you.”

  Sal looked at her. “What men?”

  “Chazz Charski and Will Purelli.”

  “Murelli.”

  “They said you told them they could come.”

  Sal nodded as he threw the covers off of his naked body. “I did.” He sat up, his feet on the floor.

  “You didn’t mention it to me,” Gemma said.

  Sal looked at her puzzled. “Why would I need to mention it to you?”

  It was an obvious reason, this being her house the most obvious, but not in Sal’s world. Gemma was fast realizing it too. She was learning that, in Sal’s mind, what was hers was his and, she hoped, vice versa.

  “Come here and give me a kiss,” he said as he laid down on his back, his feet still touching the floor.

  That was the most sensible thing he’d said yet, Gemma thought with a smile as she walked over to him. He pulled her on top of him, and pulled her into his arms.

  “You smell good,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  He kissed her.

  “What do I do with your friends downstairs?” she asked.

  As soon as she said it, a look of alarm came on his face. “You didn’t let them in?”

  “No. Of course not!”

  Relief returned. “Good. You’d better not. You don’t know those people. Just because they say my name don’t mean shit.”

  He kissed her again.

  But he still hadn’t answered her question. “So what am I supposed to do with them?” she asked again.

  “Whatta you think? Let’em in. Make’em some coffee.”

  Gemma smiled and shook her head. That Sal. “Yes, sir,” was all she could manage to say.

  “But first,” he said, and kissed her yet again. This time even more passionately. She could feel the press of his member, and the way it was slowly expanding against her. S
o much so that she began to wonder if they were going to do something before she went to work.

  As soon as she thought it, it was as if he had thought it too.

  “I want a real kiss this time,” he said.

  Gemma smiled. “What kiss requires you to lay down like this?” she asked him.

  He smiled too. “The kind that I have every intention of giving to you. And only you. And since I rarely get this particular kind of kiss nowadays, I have to have it every chance I can.”

  And they tongued kissed long and hard. It reminded Gemma of his sacrifice to be with her. All those business trips he had to make, landing in all of those different cities and countries, and how the women had to be accustomed to Big Sal giving them some. Now he only gave it to Gemma. That had to be a major sacrifice for him.

  Sal put his hands on her hips as he kissed her. But just as she suspected, his hands moved further down, underneath her robe, and he began removing her panties.

  Once the panties were removed, he opened her robe and moved her further up on his body. Then he slung her onto her back, turning her on just by the suddenness alone, and moved his own body down and between her legs.

  When he began to kiss her down there, she smiled and relaxed. “What about your friends waiting outside of my front door?” she asked in an almost breathless whisper.

  “They can wait.” Sal began to lick her down there.

  “And what if,” she said, sighing from that wonderful feeling, “they start ringing the bell again, get no answer, and leave?”

  “They know better than that,” Sal said, licking her with longer strokes. When he began to eat her, she arched. When he ate her deeper and deeper, and took one of his sensual bites into her, she screamed.

  Two hours later, at her law office in North Vegas, Gemma leaned back in the swivel chair behind her desk. After that session with Sal this morning, she ended up bathing again, putting on her outfit - a light blue skirt suit, and hurrying to her office, leaving him in deep discussion with his two visitors. Now she was on the phone, and the conversation was on the verge of contentiousness. Her paralegal, Barbara Jiles, was standing beside her desk. Marsh Denning was seated in front of her desk.

  “I understand you’re a busy man,” Gemma said to her phone mate. “I’m a busy woman. But my secretary has phoned requesting payment, my para has phoned requesting payment, and promises were made. But we still haven’t received a single payment.”

  She listened. She even rolled her eyes, prompting Barbara and Marsh to smile.

  “I understand that, Doug,” she said. “But this is a business too. We can’t keep---” And then another round of listening, this one longer than the previous one.

  “I understand . . . No, it’s true, there are times . . .” Then Gemma had it. “You have five days,” she interrupted the man on the phone. “If I do not receive a payment for my services rendered within that time, be prepared to hire more lawyers and owe even more money because you will be sued.” And instead of waiting for his heated response, she hung up the phone.

  “Don’t you hate when it comes to that?” Marsh asked.

  “Hate it,” Gemma admitted.

  “Thanks boss,” Barbara said. “We were getting nowhere fast with him.”

  “Mark the calendar,” Gem ordered her para. “Five days and five days only. Our word is all we have in matters like this. Once he realizes we mean business, hopefully he’ll pay up.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Barbara said, and began leaving.

  “And if he doesn’t pay up?” Marsh asked. “You’ll take him to court?”

  “I’ve done it before.”

  Marsh laughed. “You’re a better man than I am. I just give up.”

  “Well maybe you can afford to give up. I can’t.”

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  That sounded odd to Gemma. Why would he hear anything about her state of finances? “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “Little birdy told me that you were having a little something-something with Salvatore Luciano Gabrini.”

  For some reason Gemma hated to have Sal’s name tossed around like that. “Oh yeah?”

  “Oh yeah. That’s what I heard.”

  “And who exactly did you hear this from?”

  “Courthouse gossip. What else? I asked if anybody knew you when I first hit town, and a few people mentioned that they did. But then one or two mentioned that weren’t you the lawyer dating Reno Gabrini’s cousin. I said who the heck was Reno Gabrini. They said he owned the PaLargio. When I heard that, it was like ‘nuff said. Gemma done good. She’s rolling in the dough, right?”

  “Wrong,” Gemma said.

  “So that guy you were kissing on yesterday right there in the courthouse lobby wasn’t Salvatore Luciano Gabrini?” Marsh smiled. “I did my homework, you see.”

  “Right. Well. Let’s get one thing straight right here and right now.”

  “Uh-oh,” Marsh said. “Sounds like Come to Jesus meeting time.”

  But it was no laughing matter to Gemma. “I agreed to meet with you, although you showed up without an appointment, because you needed the consult. But what I am not interested in is anything beyond a professional relationship with you or anybody else. Is that clear, Marsh?”

  “Completely,” Marsh replied. “Perish the thought that I could ever want anything more than that with you.”

  “Sure buddy, and you were just playing around at that convention in Seattle.”

  “No I wanted to fuck you then,” Marsh said with a laugh. “You turned me down twice. That was good enough for me.”

  Gemma looked at him. At least he didn’t deny it. She leaned back in her chair, studying him. “So what is it that you need from me?”

  Marsh reached into his briefcase, pulled out a thick file, and tossed it onto her desk.

  Sal, still at Gemma’s house, had showered and dressed, in Versace head to toe, as he sat on her bed and made a phone call. When his big brother Tommy answered the phone, he smiled.

  “Hey there,” he said.

  “Hey, love,” Tommy replied jovially. “Where are you? Still in Jersey?”

  “No, I’m in Vegas now.”

  “With Gemma?”

  “Certainly not with Reno.”

  Tommy laughed. “I miss you, but if you’re spending time with Gemma, that’s all right then.”

  Everybody in Sal’s circle loved Gemma, and everybody was convinced that Gemma was great for Sal. Sal agreed. “How’s that wife of yours? How’s Grace?”

  “She’s good. She’s turning Trammel into a very successful company, although she still struggles, as a female business owner in such a male-dominated trucking industry, to get the respect she deserves. But she’s fighting the good fight.”

  “Good for her.” Then Sal paused. Ever since their abusive father recently died, and died in such a dramatic, heart-wrenching fashion, he’d been worried about his big brother. “What about you?” he asked him. “How are you?”

  There was a pause on Tommy’s end. It had been tough enough. Then he spoke. “I’m okay,” he said. “I miss you,” he said again.

  “Miss you too,” Sal said, although it wasn’t easy for him to speak so affectionately. He and Tommy had always been close, with people even calling him, wrongly, Tommy’s shadow. But that was how close they were. Yet after their father’s death, it was Tommy who seemed to be clinging to Sal.

  “How did it go in Jersey?” Tommy asked him.

  “Terrible. I got ambushed when I was trying to pay some of my guys.”

  “Ambushed? You wasn’t hit or---?”

  “Me? No. They took out two of mine though.”

  “Damn, Sal. Do you know who called for it? Or was it random?”

  “Nothing’s random when it comes to a Gabrini, you know that. And I don’t know yet. Some of my men are on it, including Chazz. If he doesn’t fuck that up too.”

  “I know you aren’t going to tell me,” Tommy said, “but I’m asking anyway. What was the
payoff for? Why were you paying off some guys?”

  “I owed them for a job they did for me.”

  “What job?” Tommy asked and got nothing in return, as he suspected he would, but radio silence. Sal didn’t discuss the other side of his life with anybody, not even Tommy.

  “So,” Tommy said, moving on, “when do you think you’ll be back here in Seattle?”

  “Not right away, that’s for sure. Gemma’s still . . .” Sal ran the back of his hand across his eyes.

  “Still what?”

  “She’s still hesitant.”

  “About the fact that you live in a different state?”

  “That’s part of it, yeah. And the fact that I have another side of my life that’s still murky to her and not, in her view, on the up and up. She’s a good girl, you know? She’s not used to a guy like me.”

  “She should thank her lucky stars she has you, Sal. And don’t you forget that. Stop selling yourself short. You’re the best around.”

  Sal smiled. Of course his brother would think so. But he also knew that Tommy was really the only person he felt he could share his innermost feeling with. He could talk to Gemma too, but not when it concerned Gemma. “I don’t know,” he finally said.

  “You don’t know what?” Tommy asked.

  “I had to handle some messy business in Jersey. As usual.”

  “Other than the ambush?”

  “Yeah.”

  There was a pause of concern on Tommy’s side. “What kind of messy business?”

  Sal hesitated.

  “What, Salvatore?”

  “Patty busted out.”

  Tommy frowned. “Patty Pacheco?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He busted out of prison?”

  “That idiot busted out. And he tracked me down.”

  “Well what did he want?”

  “Money to get lost.”

  Tommy hesitated. “You didn’t give it to him?”

  Sal didn’t respond.

  “Oh, Sal!”

  “Don’t you oh, Sal me! What was I supposed to do? That man served five years in prison for me. Was going to serve ten years if he wasn’t able to break out.”