Gemma's Daughter Page 9

  Tommy exhaled. He was already worried about his brother and sister-in-law. Sal’s attitude, that there was no way she could be a plant, was disturbing in the extreme to Dapper Tom. He believed in keeping options open when new people entered their circle. But he also knew his brother had a glaring blind spot whenever Gemma was involved. It wasn’t going to be easy to get him to see other alternatives. It wasn’t going to be easy at all.

  And when the SUVs drove through the electronic gate, and although Tommy saw that there was at least beefed-up security around Sal’s compound, he nonetheless embraced himself for Sal’s stubbornness.

  “Here goes nothing,” he said, as the SUVs stopped and he and Reno got out.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  She came downstairs after Tommy and Reno had been at the house for nearly half an hour. She’d been resting, they said. But as she and Gemma walked down those stairs holding hands, Tommy and Sal, who had been seated on the sofa, and Reno, who sat in the chair, all rose to their feet. And Tommy and Reno were floored.

  “Wow,” said Reno. “Just like Gemma.”

  Tommy noticed it too. That woman was the spitting image of Gemma. She was just younger and shorter. But there was no doubt about it: she was Gemma’s daughter.

  Marie seemed leery when she noticed two new faces in the house, as she leaned closer to her mother. But as soon as they made it into the living room where the gentlemen were standing (and gawking), Marie moved without hesitation to stand beside Sal.

  “Hi,” Reno said as she faced him. “How are you?”

  But Marie didn’t respond.

  “That’s my cousin Reno,” said Sal. “He’ll be Uncle Reno to you from here on out. Say hey to him.”

  “Hey,” Marie said with a slight wave of the hand. She seemed to move closer to Sal even as she spoke. She looked so young to Reno!

  “And this great looking guy right here, believe it or not, is my big brother Tommy. Your real uncle,” Sal said. “Say hey.”

  “Hi.” Marie smiled slightly when she spoke to Tommy. But that was no surprise to anybody in the room. Tommy had a way with females without even trying.

  But Tommy went a step further, and extended his hand. “You’re Gemma’s daughter?” he asked. He wasn’t just asking her questions to ask her. He wanted to take the measure of the young lady.

  “Yes,” said Marie as she shook his big hand.

  “Must have been shocking news to find out. Or did you already know?”

  Marie was quickly shaking her head. Too quick for Tommy’s taste. “No, no,” she said. “I had no idea. I mean, I knew I was adopted. My family, my adopted family, never hid that from me. But I had no idea the circumstances of my adoption.”

  “The circumstances?” Tommy asked.

  “What’s with the third degree, Tommy?” Sal asked. “She’s been through a lot. Let’s give her a chance to decompose.”

  “Decompose?” Reno laughed. “Isn’t that what dead bodies do? Even my dumbass knows that ain’t the right word!”

  “Dumbass,” said Sal, who was always tit-for-tatting with Reno. “You got that part right.”

  “Decompress,” said Gemma, correcting her husband’s gaff. “You know what he meant, Reno.”

  “He should say what he means, is what I say,” said Reno.

  “Have a seat everybody,” Gemma said. No way was she about to go through another round of insults between her husband and the man he loved and respected more than he’d ever let on. “Let’s just sit down.”

  Tommy and Sal sat back down on the sofa, but Marie sat close beside Sal, too. She also continued to hold Gemma’s hand as if she was some kid adrift in a foreign land and Gemma’s hand was all that kept her anchored. But Tommy saw more than innocence when he looked at her. He could see the worldliness deep within her sparkling bright eyes. He was too well-experienced with all kinds of women not to see it. Because if he knew anything, he knew women. That girl looked innocent to the casual observer, but she was no innocent to Tommy. She’d seen more in her short life than anybody probably should have, and he didn’t even know the details of that life yet. But he knew he had to find out. For the sake of his brother and sister-in-law, whom this woman had now wedded herself to and whom they appeared happy to wed themselves to, he had to be the bad cop.

  But Marie wasn’t looking at the practicality of the situation the way Tommy was. She was looking at her own survival. That was why she refused to release Gemma’s hand as Gemma had expected her to, which left her no choice but to sit on the arm of the sofa beside Marie. Not that it bothered Gemma. It didn’t in the least. She understood her daughter’s misgivings. She and Sal were all Marie knew in her new world, and she was holding onto them for dear life.

  But Tommy wasn’t the only one suspicious. Reno had his concerns too. Because as much as he and Sal fought and insulted each other, at the end of the day they were still Gabrinis. At the end of the day none of their disagreements mattered one twit to Reno. He wasn’t about to let anybody pull the wool over Sal and Gemma’s eyes, he didn’t care how beautiful she was packaged or how innocent she appeared.

  “So tell us, Marie,” Reno said. “How did you pull that off?”

  Everybody looked at Reno. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sal asked him.

  “Just what he said,” said Tommy, who was having the same thought. “How did she manage to become Marco Cardoza’s girlfriend?”

  Sal frowned. “What’s with all the questions already? I told you she was still getting adjusted.”

  “So you haven’t asked her anything?” Reno asked.

  “Hell yeah I asked her about Cardoza. What do you take me for, Reno? You know I did. And she told me what I needed to know.”

  “What did she tell you?” Tommy asked.

  “She didn’t know anything about what that punk was up to. She thought he was a salesman.”

  “He was a salesman alright,” said Reno.

  “But I still don’t get it,” said Tommy. “How did a good girl like you get hooked up with a character like Marco Cardoza, regardless of what he told you he did for a living?”

  A look of regret pierced Marie’s big eyes. Gemma, seeing it too, took over. “She fell in love,” she said.

  “Like millions of girls do every day of the week,” said Sal. “Like all those girls that fell for you, Tommy, and you Reno, and neither one of you are exactly Mister Rogers either.”

  Marie glanced at both men. What did that mean?

  “The point is,” said Sal, “we’ve got to protect her.”

  “Right,” said Gemma.

  “That’s the bottom line,” said Sal. “All this shit about how she met him and why she hooked up with him: fuck it. He’s coming after her. And after us for winning that battle with his men. But I say we strike first. We show their asses who they’re dealing with.”

  “Not according to Uncle Mick,” said Reno.

  Sal frowned. Marie wondered who in the world was Uncle Mick? “What do you mean, Ree?” Sal asked his cousin.

  Reno looked at Tommy, which made Sal look at him too. “You talked to Uncle Mick?” Sal asked his brother.

  Tommy leaned forward. “I talked to him, yes.”

  “Well where is he?”

  “He’s in Europe. He’s handling some business there.”

  “What did he say?” Sal asked.

  “He said he wants us to sit tight. He wants us to wait.”

  Sal frowned again. “Wait for what? For those fuckers to attack us first?”

  “He said he wants us to wait until he has a chance to look into it,” said Tommy.

  “Bullshit!” Sal yelled. “If it was Roz, he wouldn’t be waiting around like some fucking sitting duck. Why should I?”

  “I agree with Sal,” said Reno. “I say if we hit Cardoza with overwhelming force right away, he might back off.”

  “There’s a cartel behind him,” Tommy said. “Have you two forgotten about that cartel?”

  “That’s why I say we hit back h
ard and fast,” said Sal. “They know not to fuck with us. How we handled them at that apartment complex, even with a skeleton crew of men, proved that. But if we let them up for air, there’s no telling what they might do. They might think they can go toe to toe with us. They might try that shit. This is my family we’re talking about. I don’t want them trying that shit.”

  “I’m telling you what Uncle Mick told me,” said Tommy.

  “And I’m telling you why that’s not a good idea,” said Sal. “Am I right, Reno?”

  “Sal’s right,” said Reno.

  “Do you know the Valdez cartel, Reno?” Tommy asked. “Do you, Sal?”

  “I don’t have to know those fuckers,” said Sal. “I know the type, though. And I know those Colombian drug lords know not to mix it up with Italians. They aren’t crazy. But we are.”

  Gemma looked at Marie as the Gabrini men went back and forth. But Marie knew Sal was no choirboy. The fact that he was able to rescue her from a drug lord proved that. But did she understand just what he was?

  “You okay?” Gemma quietly asked her.

  “I’m okay,” said Marie. “But I do have a question,” she said.

  “What?” Gemma asked.

  “Have I gotten out of one fire,” she asked, “only to get myself into another one?”

  Gemma hated that they weren’t the Huxtables. But they weren’t. “Yes,” she said. “But Marco starts fires. Our guys try to put them out, or at least contain them.”

  “Are you saying your husband and his brother and cousin are the good guys?” Marie asked.

  Gemma smiled. “Something like that,” she said.

  But Sal and Reno kept going around and around with Tommy. “I ask you again,” Tommy said. “Do you know that cartel you’re talking about going up against?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Sal asked.

  “Are you joking?” Tommy asked. “It has everything to do with it! You need to know your enemy. You have to know what your enemy is capable of.”

  “No,” said Sal, who was actually a mob boss, “my enemy has to know what I’m capable of. That’s why I say we strike first. We show those assholes what they got themselves into. We keep that fucker away from Marie. We hit and we hit hard!”

  Tommy pulled out his cell phone, pressed an icon, and placed it on Speaker as it began to ring. It was rare that Tommy put his foot down. But he was closest to Mick Sinatra and was often Mick’s mouthpiece to the family. And Tommy always went along with Mick’s advice. Always.

  “What are you doing?” Sal asked his brother as the phone began to ring.

  “I’m calling Uncle Mick,” said Tommy. “I want you to tell him your plan, since you figure it’s better than his advice. I want you to tell him all about it.”

  Sal, at first, recoiled. But then he became boastful. “I’ll tell his ass,” Sal said. “That’s no big deal. This is my family I’m talking about. We’ll be happy to tell him. Won’t we, Reno?”

  Reno looked at Sal. “What you mean we?” he asked.

  Sal frowned. “You said you agreed with me.”

  “I do! But I’m not mixing it up with Uncle Mick. I don’t agree with you like that!”

  Sal couldn’t believe it. But he didn’t have time for his disbelief. Mick Sinatra was on the line.

  “Yes?” He already sounded impatient, which didn’t help Sal’s nerves.

  “Hey, Uncle Mick,” said Tommy. “Sorry to disturb you, sir. But I have Sal and Reno here with me.”

  Mick didn’t respond, which meant, they all knew, that they needed to get on with it.

  “Sal seems to think that we should hit that cartel and hit it hard,” said Tommy.

  “Did you tell him what I said?” Mick asked.

  “I told him. But he figure he has a better idea.”

  “Put his ass on the phone,” Mick said. “And get me off Speaker gotdammit!”

  Sal rolled his eyes and took the phone Tommy was reaching out to him. And he also took it off Speaker.

  And for several seconds Sal sat there and listened to Mick Sinatra go on and on. He was laying down the law, and Tommy and Reno knew it. There was no discussion. There was no debate. Mick was telling Sal how it was going to be.

  And then Mick, apparently, asked Sal if he understood. “I got it,” Sal said with little enthusiasm, and the phone call ended.

  Sal handed Tommy back his cell phone.

  “Well?” Reno asked.

  “What do you mean well?” asked Sal. “Uncle Mick says we wait.”

  “So?”

  “What do you mean so?” Sal asked. “We wait!”

  Reno wanted to smile, but he didn’t.

  There was nothing funny about dealing with an angry Mick the Tick.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Over the next several weeks they did as they were ordered and waited. And it appeared to be working. The retaliatory attacks Sal had expected never materialized, and Gemma were able to get attorneys in her law firm to handle the buck of her cases, including that bullshit evidentiary hearing on witness intimidation by the defense that the prosecution had cooked up. As Gemma already knew would happen, her presence wasn’t required during that proceeding either because the prosecution had no evidence and the judge tossed those allegations onto the trash heap of history where they belonged. Gemma, instead, was able to stay at home and focus on getting to know her daughter better.

  Sal loved it, because he was able to stay home, too, and keep a close eye on Marie. He watched her every move. Gem and Marie spent all of their time together, while Sal, unbeknownst to them, spent all of his time watching them together. He would stand in a corner of the balcony, or look out of the various floor-to-ceiling windows as the two ladies walked and talked and laughed around the compound, and even playfully danced together. It was as if Gemma had the daughter Sal didn’t know she always wanted. And he was happy for her. But he was careful too. This woman was going to be around his family: his wife and his young son. He had to be certain she was who they believed she was.

  Tommy and Reno assumed Sal had a blind spot when it came to Marie, and was so quickly accepting of her just because she looked so much like Gemma. But that wasn’t true. Her looks had nothing to do with it. Sal saw a good heart in that young lady. He saw somebody who the family could trust. It was a gut thing for him. But he always tried to listen to his gut.

  The worse day since Marie’s arrival was the day Rodney and Cassie Jones were finally allowed to come over and meet her. They were her grandparents, after all, although, Sal and Gemma both knew, grandma was the one who gave her away. But it was a tightly controlled meeting. It barely lasted ten minutes.

  Marie already knew the backstory. She knew what kind of monster her father was, and she had been told what kind of monster her grandmother was, at least during that one moment in time. They didn’t sugarcoat it. They couldn’t. If their family unit was ever going to work, they had to be honest with the girl.

  Rodney and Cassie sat on one sofa, while Sal, Gemma, and Marie sat on the opposite sofa. As usual, Sal and Gemma had Marie sandwiched between them as if they were her protectors. Nobody was taking her away from them ever again.

  Marie was steadied by their presence, and was therefore able to be more forthcoming with her grandparents. And she didn’t hold back.

  “The truth is,” she said to them, “it’s going to take some time.”

  “I was doing what I thought was best for my child,” Cassie said to her granddaughter. “I wasn’t trying to harm you in any way. I was told you would go to a good home, and I checked on that to make sure it was true.”

  Gemma was staring at her mother. It was true. Even Sylvia Pendle said her mother had hired private eyes to check on Marie and her adopted family. But that was no excuse for what she had done.

  “But the bottom line for me,” said Cassie, “was my daughter and what was best for her. I make no apologies for looking out for my young, minor daughter who was ill-equipped at that time to
be anybody’s mother. Let alone the mother of her rapist child.”

  “Mother!” Gemma yelled, alarmed.

  “That wasn’t necessary, Cassie,” said Rodney, alarmed too.

  And Marie felt it to the depths of her soul. It felt as if she had been gut punched when her grandmother proclaimed her the daughter of a rapist. It was true, and she knew it was true, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

  “I’m going to go upstairs and rest,” she said, and without saying goodbye to Rodney or Cassie, she hurried upstairs.

  Gemma looked angrily at her mother. “You didn’t have to go there,” she said.

  “I was telling the truth,” said Cassie.

  “Yes, you were,” said Gemma. “But this wasn’t the time. You’re meeting your grandchild for the first time. Surely there were other things to highlight,” she said.

  Rodney stood up. “Let’s go, Cass,” he said. “Gemma’s right. Now is not the time. We’re going back to Indiana. We aren’t welcomed here right now. Maybe in time, but not right now.”

  Cassie knew it, too, and that was why she stood up. But just as she stood up, Reno’s intercom buzzed. He walked over and pressed the button on the wall. “What’s up?”

  “Robby Yale requests permission to enter, sir,” said his front door guard. In normal times the guards were only on the front gate and sometimes, depending on the circumstances, around the property. With beefed-up security, they were everywhere, including at the front door.

  “Let him in,” said Sal, and Robby Yale entered the home and made his way to his boss. He was surprised to see the Joneses. “Hello ma’am. Sir,” he said.

  “Hello, Robby,” they responded. “How are you, young man?” asked Robby.

  “I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

  “What’s up?” Sal asked.

  When Robby was hesitant, Sal reassured him. “You can talk in front of them.” He knew Robby wouldn’t, if it was that deep.

  “It’s about Sylvia Pendle,” he said.

  This interested Cassie and Gemma immediately. “What about her?” Gemma asked.