TOMMY GABRINI:
EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE
BY
MALLORY MONROE
Copyright©2016 Mallory Monroe
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This novel is a work of fiction. All characters are fictitious. Any similarities to anyone living or dead are completely accidental. The specific mention of known places or venues are not meant to be exact replicas of those places, but are purposely embellished or imagined for the story’s sake.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
The door flew open and Tommy and Grace didn’t let up. They ran down the long, narrow corridor as if their lives depended on it. Because their lives did. Because they both were hurting. Because the footsteps behind them weren’t far behind them and they knew they had to make a decision. Tommy and Grace held each other’s hand, and both held a gun in their other hand. And as surreal as it felt as they ran, and as horrific they knew it would be if those running footsteps behind them caught up, they ran so fast Grace thought any moment she could stumble and fall. But she didn’t. Her life didn’t just depend on it. Nor Tommy’s life. But the lives of their small children. They ran for their children’s lives.
A cubbyhole. Midway along the corridor. Tommy saw it and didn’t hesitate. He pushed Grace against the recessed wall, and then fell against it too. And as soon as they stopped running the men entered the corridor and began their descent toward them, running just as fast as Tommy and Grace had been running.
Tommy’s heart was hammering. The last thing in this world he wanted was to find his family in this kind of danger. But all he could do now was protect them. And he aimed to do exactly that.
But he needed Grace’s help. He looked at her. Blood was trailing down the side of her beautiful face, from a bruise, and he knew she was in more than just physical pain, but she looked as determined as he looked. He listened for the footsteps. Three in the group directly behind them. Maybe four. He was praying for three.
“Take out the one on the right,” he whispered to Grace. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
Grace nodded. She was ready. She also knew, once the decision was made, that they would have but a moment to make their move. The cubbyhole was barely a hole at all.
And as Tommy listened to the footsteps running their way, and as he waited for that exact moment of surprise, he nodded at Grace and then both of them turned into the corridor and began firing as they turned. Grace did as Tommy had instructed and took out the man on the right. Tommy, as he had promised her, took out the man on the left and the man in the middle. All three men took bullets through the head first. And then, for certainty as Grace had been taught by Tommy, bullets through the heart.
But they didn’t delay. They knew more bad guys were on the way. Tommy grabbed Grace’s hand and they were off again. Running along that corridor yet again.
Then they turned the corridor, and found the room at the end of the hall. Their hearts dropped when they also saw the pile of bodies, from the nanny to the four bodyguards. Their bodies were blocking the doorway. They fought valiantly. Every one of them tried to keep those monsters at bay. They fought as if their lives depended on the fight.
But they were worried about the children. What did those monsters do to their children? Did the guards stave them off long enough, or had the bad guys grabbed the children and ran? Tommy had to move bodies to get a passage into the room. But they got into the room. And when they saw their baby girl Destiny, holding their newborn baby boy, they felt the kind of relief that only a moment like this could temper.
Because they knew it wasn’t over. Their children were still in harm’s way. And they knew more men were on the way. They knew they didn’t have a moment to waste.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Destiny cried.
“We’re here, baby,” Grace said, running to their children. “We’re here.”
But Tommy knew a bigger battle was coming, and he had to fight it alone. He looked at Grace, as she held their two children. And when she looked up at him, she knew what he was going to say. She knew the battle wasn’t won and their enemies weren’t about to give up and go home. They could even hear them running, farther away but getting closer and closer. And somebody had to stop them. She knew what Tommy had to do. She knew what Tommy was going to say.
But he didn’t have to say a word. “I’ll protect our children with my life,” she said to him.
Tommy’s heart swelled with emotion for this woman he once let get away. “You protect our children,” he said, “and protect yourself. You live too, to care for our children.” And then a look of anger appeared on his handsome face. “You have to,” he said.
And then he kissed her hard on the lips, looked at his beloved children, and took off out of the room, kicking bodies out and then turning the knob to lock as he did. He was now officially out, and they were in. It was his job to make certain to keep the bad guys out too.
Inside, Grace placed the baby and Destiny in a tight corner of the tiny room, and placed her body in front of them. She had her gun locked, loaded, and pointed.
“You’re bleeding, Mommy,” Destiny said to her, with tears in her eyes.
Grace didn’t even realize it. “But I’m going to be fine,” she reassured her daughter.
“Am I going to be fine too?” Destiny asked her mother.
Grace looked at her child. “You’re going to be just fine,” she said. “Nobody’s going to harm you or your brother.” Then she turned back around, to face whatever they threw her way. Even more determined to win. I wish a motherfucker would try to harm my children, she said, harshly, to herself.
And just as she thought it, gunfire erupted. Grace’s heart dropped like a rock when she heard the magnitude of the gunfire. As if fifty guns were blazing all at the same time. And only Tommy was there to stave them off. He was facing impossible odds!
But Grace held that gun with both hands, aiming to use it. She wanted to leave that room and go help Tommy. She wanted to leave that room and be his backup. But she couldn’t leave their babies unprotected. She had to be their protector. For their sake, she held her ground.
And then the gunfire stopped. Just like that.
It stopped. Grace was about to get up, to check on Tommy. To see if he was wounded and she needed to bring him in. But she couldn’t make any move or even think what she was going to do next. Because they were upon her. They were at the door.
CHAPTER ONE
Two Weeks Earlier
“Is that everything?” Grace asked her daughter.
Destiny, sitting on the center island, looked over the prepared food on the breakfast tray and nodded. “Everything,” she said. But then she realized her error. “No. Not everything. Juice, Mommy. Where’s the juice?”
Grace smiled. “Very good, Des,” she said as she went to the frig, grabbed a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice, and walked back to the island. Destiny sat the glass on the tray and Grace filled it with orange juice.
“Now,” Grace said after sitting the pitcher on the counter, “is that everything?”
Destiny checked the tray again. This time she was sure. “Everything,” she said with a smile.
Graced helped her down from the island, and with both of them carrying the silver tray, made their way across the living room and up the spiral staircase.
Once they arrived at the closed double doors of the master bedroom, Grace looked at Destiny. She was a precocious tiny little thing in her pjs and bathrobe.
Destiny looked at Grace. She looked beautiful and sweet to Destiny in her bathrobe. All of her playmates had very nice mothers too, but Destiny was certain that her mother was the nicest. Many of her friends even told her that she was. Whenever the playdate was at Destiny’s house, they were not only treated to a carnival of rides in the back yard, but to Grace’s homemade cupcakes that the little ones craved. Destiny’s house was always the preferred playdate location. But Destiny believed it wasn’t just because of the fun, but mainly because of her mother’s kindness.
“Ready?” Grace asked with that smile that made Destiny even more convinced.
Destiny smiled too. “I’m ready,” she said.
Grace opened the door first and peeped inside. Tommy Gabrini was fully covered, as she had left him, and still fast asleep. Grace nodded, Destiny giggled with excitement, and they entered the bedroom and walked over to the bed.
Grace took full control of the breakfast tray as Destiny jumped onto the bed and began shaking her sleeping father. “Daddy,” she cried. “Daddy!”
Tommy, being Tommy, Grace thought, opened his big greenish blue eyes quickly, but still remained cool. He touched Destiny’s arm. “You okay?”
Grace smiled. “Happy morning day, Daddy!” she said. Then pointed toward her mother. “Look!”
When Tommy turned and saw Grace standing there, he smiled. And relaxed. He knew, if Grace were present, the children were okay. Then he saw the tray of food. “Breakfast in bed? For me?” He happily sat up, with his back against the cushioned headboard.
“It’s Happy Morning day,” Destiny said. “It’s like happy birthday, without the birthday.”
“You came up with that idea?” Tommy asked her.
“Yes, sir,” Destiny said.
“Very clever, Des. I’m proud of you!” He kissed her on her forehead. She beamed.
Grace sat the tray on top of his lap. The food looked fantastic. Bacon, eggs, toast. Juice. Tommy looked up at her. He knew she did all of the hard work, as usual. Although Destiny might have come up with the clever name, he knew Grace did all of the cooking and preparing. “Thanks, babe,” he said, and they kissed on the lips. She tasted so good to Tommy, he pulled her back when she sought to move away, and kissed her again.
“One more member is missing from this family affair,” Grace said with a smile. “I’ll go get him.”
While Grace was gone, Destiny pointed out the various food items she wanted him to sample first. She sampled the food with him, and he smiled at how wonderful everything tasted. He gained ten pounds since he and Grace remarried and he made it his business, unlike their first marriage, to be home for dinner most every night. He loved the way Grace cooked.
And when she returned with their bouncing baby boy Tommy, Junior, or TJ as they called him, in her arms, he smiled even more. “There he is!”
Grace leaned the baby toward his father and Tommy gave him a kiss. TJ smiled, and Tommy took him in one arm, while he ate breakfast with the other arm. “Come on, Mommy,” he said, moved himself and Destiny further over, and Grace sat in bed beside him. Tommy fed her a forkful of scrambled eggs.
Then he looked at her. “You smell wonderful,” he said. “Already showered. Already cooked this magnificent breakfast. And I slept through it all.”
“It’s still early. You have plenty of time.”
“What’s your schedule like today?” he asked her.
“Meetings and more meetings.”
“Here, here,” Tommy said. “But I’ll be late tonight. I promised to meet with Frank Jansen.”
Grace looked at him. “Frank Jansen? Didn’t he once manage Diamante’s?”
“When I first owned it, yes. He stayed on as manager when I sold it and that British group ran it.”
“And ran it into the ground while they were at it,” Grace said. “Taste of Southern too.”
“I know,” Tommy said. “But now that I have reacquired both restaurants, Jansen wants back in. I agreed to meet with him tonight at Diamante’s and see what he has to say.”
“I’ll let Henry know we’ll be late this evening because I have a meeting tonight myself. I’m supposed to be speaking at the Sistas Lifting Sistas charitable event. SLS as they call themselves.”
“I thought I knew all the charities in Seattle,” Tommy said. “I’ve not heard of that group.”
“Neither had I until Shameika asked if I wanted to give a speech at their year-end event. She’s a member, but a new one. It sounded intriguing enough.”
“Yes, it does,” Tommy said. “In my former life I would have went just to check out the sisters who were lifting up all of these sisters.”
Grace laughed and pushed him. “You need to quit!” she said.
Tommy shook his shoulders with her push, and smiled too. “So what do I owe the pleasure of this fine breakfast?” he asked.
“Love,” Destiny answered for Grace. “I love you and Mommy loves you and TJ does too. Only he’s too stupid to know it yet.”
“Destiny,” both Tommy and Grace said in unison, with displeasure in their voices. “You know better than that,” Grace added.
“I apologize,” Destiny said quickly. She hated to displease her parents. “He’s not stupid, he’s just a baby who doesn’t know what love is.”
“That’s right,” Tommy said.
“I didn’t mean to criticize him.”
“It’s easy to criticize. It takes thoughtfulness to consider the big picture. We taught you to always consider the big picture, rather than complain about the small one. You know that.”
“Yes, sir,” Destiny said. “I apologize.”
Tommy smiled, gave her a piece of bacon, and she smiled too.
“I know what,” she said. “Let’s play some music! Daddy, give me your phone.”
“My phone? You’re sure?”
“I’m positive,” Destiny said.
Tommy knew she would regret that decision, but he reached into the nightstand drawer and handed Destiny his cell phone just the same.
“Mommy, show me,” Destiny said.
Grace showed her how to pull up Tommy’s music list. “Press right there,” Grace said.
Destiny pressed the button, and the music list came up. Grace went with the first song on the list: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond.
“Sweet Caroline
good times never seemed so good.
I’d be inclined
to believe they never would.”
Destiny frowned. “No, I don’t like that song.” She immediately pressed song number two. Another Neil Diamond tune: I Am I Said.
“I am I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
/> Not even the chair!”
Destiny frowned again. “No, Daddy, why are your songs so terrible?”
Grace laughed.
“They are not terrible, Destiny,” Tommy said. “They may not be to your taste, but they are not terrible.”
“But how can a chair hear?” Destiny asked, and Grace laughed again. “Or am I criticizing again?”
“Worthy criticism in this case,” Grace said, and Tommy had to laugh too.
“Give me that phone,” he said, searched his playlist, and found one that he knew Destiny would like: Happy by Pharrell Williams.
“Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth!”
And, as Tommy expected, Destiny loved the song, stood up, and began dancing. TJ looked at her, and started grinning.
And Tommy leaned against Grace, held Junior tighter, and smiled. Because he knew the truth. He knew it unlike he ever had before. For the first time in his life, Tommy Gabrini had a sustained sense of home and family. For the first time in his life, Tommy Gabrini had a sustained sense of happy.
CHAPTER TWO
Later that morning, Tommy had barely sat behind his desk and opened his computer when his secretary buzzed in. “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but a Mr. Joe Culligan is downstairs asking to see you. He claims to have worked under you when you were a police officer.”
Tommy frowned. Joe Culligan? Cully? What would he want?
“Sir?” the secretary asked. “Are you able to see him, or should I tell the receptionist to dismiss him? He doesn’t have an appointment.”
Tommy exhaled, and then pressed the intercom button. “Send him up,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” the secretary said, and within minutes the guest was escorted up. Within seconds after that, Tommy’s office door was opened and Joe Culligan, much older than when Tommy knew him, walked in.
“Cully, hello,” Tommy said, rising to his feet. “Come on in!”
Cully was hesitant as he walked the long walk toward Tommy’s desk. The Gabrini Corporation was now Gabrini Capital, Incorporated, or GCI. Cully saw the news when Tommy announced the name change. He remembered how Tommy, looking all smug, told the reporter that his acquisitions had become so dominant that he had no choice but to make their name more inclusive to what their main product now was. It was a problem any businessman would love to have, especially a struggling businessman like Cully. But no matter what he felt about Tommy, it was impressive. “This is some spread you got yourself here, Cap,” he said, looking around. “I mean, I heard you were doing great, what with the name change and all. But damn. This is some spread!”
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