“Here here,” Trina said as she raised her glass in a toast. Sal placed his second hand on top of Gemma’s and squeezed it, and then they all participated in the toast.
After the waitress arrived with their lunch orders, and they began eating, Gemma had barely taken two bites of her sandwich before her phone beeped. She looked at her text and immediately began grabbing her purse.
“What is it?” Sal asked.
“The verdict is in,” Gemma said.
“Already?” Trina asked.
“Already,” Gemma said as she gave Sal a kiss. “I’ve got to go,” she said, and rose quickly.
“But you haven’t eaten yet,” Sal said.
“I’ll grab something at the courthouse,” Gemma said as she began leaving.
“Gemma?” Sal asked. “Gemma!” But she was hurrying out.
Sal angrily tossed his napkin on the table, got up, and hurried out behind her. Reno smiled and shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day when Sal Luca would chase a woman.”
“I’m sure he says the same thing about you,” Trina said.
Reno frowned. “What woman I chase?”
Trina looked at him. “Me!”
Reno snorted. “In your dreams,” he said and took a sip of his drink. Then he smiled. “And mine too,” he admitted.
But outside, Sal wasn’t quite so understanding. They were waiting for Big Joe to bring Gemma’s car around. “I said you were working too hard,” Sal said as he stood beside her, “and now you’re proving it.”
“What do you want me to do? The verdict is in, Sal. I’ve got to be there for my client. What do you want me to do?”
“Stop taking on so many clients,” Sal said. “That’s what!” Then he settled back down.
But the valets that were hanging outside of the restaurant had already heard the charge edge in his voice. They had already stopped their conversation to eavesdrop on the couple.
Sal continued. “You’re pregnant with our child, Gemma,” he said, “and I expect to see a change.”
“And you will see a change,” Gemma promised as her car drove up. “I will slow down, I promise you that.”
“Just not today?”
Gemma couldn’t respond to that. She was too nervous about the verdict.
Sal opened the back door and helped Gemma into her car. He leaned in and kissed her. “Call me,” he said to her.
She said that she would and then Sal motioned for Big Joe to take off. He drove off. The valets were still watching Sal as he watched Gemma leave. He knew they were looking. He knew he was behaving like some lovesick teenager. But he adored Gemma. She was his heart. And if he had to shred his tough guy image to make sure she was taking care of herself, he would do it in a heartbeat.
But when he caught the valets staring at him, he was still Sal. “What the fuck are you staring at?” he asked them.
And all of them, to a man, quickly looked away.
“I’ll call you when I’m ready,” Gemma said to Big Joe as he opened the back door of her car and let her out. They were at the courthouse’s front entrance. Barbara Jiles was waiting for her at the steps.
“They came back too fast,” Gemma said. “I don’t like it.”
“It usually bodes well for us,” Barbara said. “It usually means not guilty.”
“Or that our client is so guilty that they didn’t’ even have to think about it,” Gemma said, as they continued to hurry toward the entrance.
Upstairs, inside the courthouse, Mark Price was looking at the entrance from the upstairs window. He was on his cellphone.
“How confident are you,” the man on the phone asked, “that we’ll win?”
“On a scale from one to ten,” Mark said, “I’d put your odds of winning this case at fifty.”
The man laughed. “I like those odds.”
Mark continued to watch Gemma, and especially the way her big breasts bounced as she ran. “So do I,” he said. “So do I.”
CHAPTER SIX
It was a tittie bar on the sleazy side of Vegas, and seeing a well-known big shot in a dive like that was the kind of gossip nobody would believe. And even when some of the girls saw him walk in for themselves, they still didn’t believe it either.
One of the girls hurried over to the bartender. “That’s Sal Gabrini,” she said.
When the bartender saw Sal heading his way, his eyes widened. “Geez,” he said. “Go get Rudy.”
The girl was puzzled. “Rudy?” she asked. “Why?”
“Just do it, Cheryl.”
Cheryl didn’t understand why, but she did as he was told. She headed for the backroom.
Sal sat at the bar and ordered a beer. “Yes, sir, Mr. Gabrini,” the bartender said. “Coming right up!”
Sal was still taken aback when strangers automatically knew his name. It made him all parts uncomfortable and no parts gratified. Because it was a stark reminder. Because it reminded him of how difficult it was going to be to raise a child in anonymity with a father of his repute. Damn near impossible, he was beginning to believe, unless he moved his family to Georgia or some hideaway like Reno once tried. But that didn’t work out either. Reno’s enemies followed him there.
When the bartender sat the glass of beer in front of Sal, he smiled. “Rudy’s in back,” he said. “He’s on his way.”
Sal didn’t like that presumption either. He didn’t go around telling the world that Rudy Balotti was his son. But that didn’t stop Rudy from going around telling it. But that truth only made Sal better understand why he dropped by this hellhole. Rudy was a son he only recently found out that he had, and their relationship was rocky at best. Most of it was Rudy’s fault, especially that time he tried to two-time Sal and Mick Sinatra, but some of it was Sal’s fault too. He never took to Rudy. He never tried hard enough to bond with him. And Sal knew he could and should do better. That was why he came.
Rudy came from the backroom walking fast. He was thrilled to see his father and wasn’t trying to hide his joy. Even that display made Sal uneasy. Even that simple gesture of happiness made Sal feel even more guilty.
“Hey, Pop, how are you?” Rudy said jovially as if they were father and son from way back.
“Hey,” Sal said, staring at his handsome son. He saw more and more of himself in Rudy every time he saw him. “How are you?”
“I’m doing great now that I get a visit from you,” Rudy said, sitting on the stool beside his father. “How did you know I was here?”
“I know everything,” Sal said.
Rudy laughed. “That’s right, I forgot.”
Sal took a swig of his beer. Pretending to be all affectionate with a son that not only once saved his life, but also once tried to end it, wasn’t comfortable for him. He had an aversion to fake.
“So,” Rudy said, “what brings you on this side of town?”
“I’ve been hearing things.”
Rudy hesitated. “Yeah? What sort of things?”
“I’ve been hearing you’ve been making trouble out in L.A.”
“What kind of trouble?” Rudy asked.
Sal looked at his son. “Drug trouble,” he said.
Rudy hesitated again. “And who would tell you a thing like that?”
“Don’t worry about who. I told you to keep your ass out of the drug trade.”
“I am keeping my ass out of it,” Rudy said. “I can’t help the lies people tell. I haven’t been slinging drugs in I don’t know how long.”
Sal stared at him. He was a liar too. “How much do you owe?” he asked him. He already knew the answer. He wanted to see if Rudy was smart enough to understand that he knew.
“Who says I owe anything?” Rudy asked.
Sal frowned. “Cut the bullshit, alright? I don’t ask questions I don’t already know the answer to. How much do you owe?”
A look of disdain appeared in Rudy’s big blue eyes. “I can handle it,” he said.
Sal gave his son a hard look. He could tell Rudy was
n’t just slinging drugs, he was using too. He could tell he was going down fast. But what could he do? He decided to try an olive branch. “How can I help?” he asked.
But Rudy had his own agenda. “You can open up some markets for me.”
“Forget it.”
“I’m not talking drugs, okay? I’m talking everything else. Like you do. Your name carries weight, Pop. If you’ll only put me in charge of some of your operations I wouldn’t have to hang out in dives like this or sling dope for a living. I’m your son. Why can’t you give me a leg up?”
“You aren’t running any operation of mine.”
“Why not, Pop?”
“Why do you think?”
Rudy frowned. “Because of that one thing? That’s old, Pop. That’s over! I was only trying to prove a point anyway.”
“And what point was that?” Sal asked.
“That I could outsmart you. Only you and Mick the Tick outsmarted me. But I wasn’t going to take it any further than that.”
“Your ass had no business taking it that far,” Sal said. “If you weren’t my son you’d be dead for taking it that far!” He settled back down. Then he reached into his suit coat, pulled out a thick envelope, and tossed it to Rudy. “Pay your debts and stay out of trouble,” he ordered as he stood up.
Rudy smiled when he saw how thick the envelope was. “Thanks, Pop.” Then he looked at Sal. “And Pop,” he said, “why don’t you invite me around?”
“Around what?”
“Your family. My family. Why haven’t you invited me to any family functions?”
Sal stared at his son. “When you prove to me that you can be depended on, then you’ll earn that right. Right now I don’t know if you’re for me or against me. You aren’t coming anywhere near my family until I know for sure.”
Rudy nodded. He understood. And Sal left.
The bartender walked to Rudy and leaned over the counter. “I wish I had a rich old man like Sal Gabrini who could throw money at me.”
But a sad, bitter look appeared in Rudy’s eyes. “No you don’t,” he said, grabbed the envelope, and headed back into the backroom.
Nicky “Cass” Castellano didn’t like waiting. As first underboss in the Gabrini crime family, he was accustomed to everybody waiting on him. Everybody, that was, except the boss himself. And since he was in the boss’s waiting room, at the Gabrini Corporate Headquarters in Vegas, he knew he had to wait.
But he didn’t like it. He felt like some two-bit nobody as he flipped through magazine displays and tried not to display his anger. But he was highly pissed. Junior executives were coming and going out of Sal’s office while he had to wait. And they were so young and full of hope and promise that Nicky wondered how they would react if they really knew who they were working for. Sal Luca was about as legit as Al Capone. But he got away with it. Year after year after year. He was now a legitimate businessman with a multimillion dollar corporation. While the rest of them, while people like Nicky, did all of his dirty work. The ruthless sonafabitch. Then Nicky angrily tossed the magazine aside.
It would be another half hour before Sal’s office door opened and two men and a woman hurried out. Then the secretary informed Nicky that Mr. Gabrini would see him now. Mister Gabrini, Nicky thought as he stood and made his way to Sal’s office. If they only knew.
Sal was seated behind his big desk when Nicky walked into his big office. It was impressive, if Nicky had to say so himself, but that didn’t help his mood. He and the families were suffering, scared of their own shadows, while Sal Luca was living it up in Vegas.
“What couldn’t wait?” Sal asked when Nicky made it up to his desk.
“May I sit down?” Nicky asked.
“No,” Sal said. “What couldn’t wait? You know not to bring this shit to my office.”
“They iced Deacon last night,” Nicky said.
Sal’s jaw tightened. As Nicky suspected, he hadn’t heard. “Where?”
“In Chicago. Outside his restaurant. Fifteen shots to the body, boss. They executed him.”
Sal exhaled. “He was a good man,” he said. “That’s unfortunate.”
“That’s more than unfortunate. That’s the third one of ours to none of theirs, boss. The third one. The families are upset. They want to convene a meeting.”
Sal frowned. “To talk about what? We don’t even know who the fuck is behind this shit, what are we going to talk about? You find out who the fuck is behind this shit and then we’ll talk!”
“So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Nicky asked. “Your Chicago operation is in trouble, Sal, I don’t think you get how much. Everybody’s on edge. I know your wife is pregnant and you don’t want to leave her and all of that, but we need your leadership, Sal Luca. They don’t trust my word like they trust yours. They need to hear from you.”
Sal let out a harsh exhale. He knew Nicky spoke the truth. But he was so worried about this pregnancy, and being there for Gemma, that he wasn’t being there for his organization. Gemma came first, but he still had obligations. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
Nicky smiled. “Thanks, boss.”
“But in the meantime,” Sal said, “you do what you can do. You find out who those fuckers are. Pull as many of my East Coast people in as possible. From Miami to Jersey, get them on the case. Whoever is pulling this shit wants to take over our Chicago territory. The whole shebang, even if he has to kill every one of you to do it. That’s not happening,” Sal made clear.
Nicky Cass, feeling better about the situation, still needed a time. “Can I tell the families to expect you in Chicago soon?”
“I won’t be coming today,” Sal said. “But yeah. You can tell them that.”
Nicky smiled. Finally they were getting somewhere. “This was already top priority.”
“Make it the only priority,” Sal said. “You guys have got to learn to function without me all the time. I have a business to run. I can’t keep running up there every time something goes wrong.” Then he exhaled. “But I’ll come.”
“You’re come and reassure them?”
Sal nodded. As if he needed this too. “I’ll be there,” he said.
Nicky felt vindicated now. His trip wasn’t in vain. Sal Luca now understood the stakes too. Sal Luca now understood that he had to get off of the sidelines, he had to stop relying on them to handle it for him, and get in the game. And with Sal in the game, Nicky thought with great satisfaction, there was no way they could lose.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gemma stepped out of the shower inside their Vegas home just as the monitor was buzzing. She grabbed a towel, entered the bedroom, and looked at the series of security monitors on the stand. The one buzzing was the entrance gate, and she saw where the gates had opened and Sal’s Porsche was driving through. Gemma smiled. She thought she was going to have time to shower, put on clothes, and read over briefs before he made it home. Now he was getting out of his car and entering their home, and she was just getting out of the shower. Not that she was disappointed. She was actually thrilled. She would rather be with Sal than read over briefs any day of the week.
“Gem?” Sal yelled as soon as he entered the house.
“Upstairs,” Gemma said as she stood in the bedroom and continued to dry off. With this new, more elaborate security system Sal had set up, she could see him, on one of the monitors, head up the stairs.
And when Sal made his way up the stairs, across the landing, and into their huge bedroom, he was expecting her to be in bed. He didn’t expect to see her naked in the middle of the room, drying off her tall, brown, bombshell of a body.
“You’re home earlier than I anticipated,” Gemma said as he slowly made his way toward her.
“I don’t know about that,” he said as he walked. “Looks like you’ve gotten yourself ready for me.” He placed his arms around her waist. His penis was pulsating as he felt her nakedness and looked down at her luscious lips. “Completely ready.”
When he moved
his hands from her waist to her bare ass, and began squeezing it and rubbing her there, Gemma felt the electricity too. “It’s purely coincidental,” she said with a smile, “if my body happens to be in the right place at the right time.”
“And with the right amount of clothes on,” Sal said as he captured her mouth with his. Her taste turned him on so completely that he couldn’t get enough of her. What was to be a simple kiss became complicated, and long, as their mouths moved around with sensual delight. Sal was groaning in her mouth. And when they came back up for air, he still wanted more. “How did it go?” he asked as he kissed her ears, her chin, her neck. “Guilty or innocent?”
“Guilty or not guilty,” Gemma corrected him. “Never innocent.”
“Never,” he said as he continued to kiss her.
“We won. The verdict was not guilty.”
“Good,” Sal said with a smile. “Now we can have happy sex.”
“And what would we have had if the verdict was guilty?” Gemma asked curiously.
“Happy sex,” Sal said.
Gemma laughed. But the laughter began to wane when he lifted her into his arms, she wrapped her legs around him, with her womanhood wide open and pressed against his ribbed abs, and he began sucking her breasts. By the time he laid her on their bed, and was between her legs eating her, their lightheartedness was gone. This was too sensual now. This was too serious now.
Gemma was arching as Sal went down on her. It was the beauty of the moment, and the fact that they could have unrestrained sex in the comfort of their own bedroom without worrying about anyone or anything, that kept them both on fire.
And they were hot as he ate her. Sal ate her hard. He opened her legs as wide as they could open, as he ate her. He knelt down and licked and sucked on her with a gusto that made her want to cum in his mouth. And her vaginal juices were spilling. She became even wetter every time he made her dry. By the time he finished, her labia were wrinkled, red, and flapping out.
Sal stood up and removed his clothing. He stared at her nakedness. When he finished undressing, he pulled her to where her ass was at the edge of the bed, and then slid his aroused dick inside of her.
Sal Gabrini: Just The Way You Are Page 6
