Sal Gabrini: His House of Cards

by Mallory Monroe

  “Trina,” Gemma responded. “Who advised you?”

  “Reno.”

  “Neither one of them would be caught dead dressing like this,” Gemma said. “And neither should we.”

  “I’ve got clothes here, right?” Sal asked.

  “Plenty,” Gemma said. “Come on in.”

  Sal and Gemma were still laughing as they walked in, closed and locked the front door, and made their way upstairs.

  When they got upstairs in her bedroom, Gemma handed him a pair of his jeans and a pullover shirt out of her closet. But when Gemma went back into her closet, pulled out a pair of jeans and a blouse for herself and turned back around, Sal had already begun to undress where he stood. Right smack in the middle of her bedroom.

  Gemma, at first, thought about going into the bathroom to undress, since Sal hadn’t done so. But when he pulled off that shirt, and she saw his toned and tanned upper body, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. She began to undress where she stood too.

  Sal’s heart soared when Gemma unbuttoned that tight-ass leather jacket and removed it. Because the bra was attached to the jacket, as soon as she removed the jacket her big, juicy breasts popped out. He could barely contain himself.

  He didn’t realize he had stopped undressing and was only watching her, until she began shimmering out of her tight leather skirt and he saw her naked body for the first time in nearly three weeks. He suddenly wanted to join his naked body with hers and quickly removed his shoes, and then pulled down his pants and briefs. If the fact that he was staring at her body wasn’t an indication to Gemma of just how turned on he was, seeing his fully erected penis spring out of his pants sealed the deal. He was completely turned on. And neither one of them made any bones about their attraction to the other. Because Gemma was staring at his rocking body too.

  Sal didn’t hesitate. He’d been dreaming of being with her again ever since she left him, and he wasn’t about to let her get away from him this time. That night when he lied to her still seared in his memory as the dumbest thing he’d ever done. He hoped that this move, as he walked up to her and placed his hands on her smooth, slender arms, proved to be the smartest.

  He wanted to apologize to her. He wanted to explain himself in vivid detail to the woman he loved more than life itself. But something deep within him told him not to speak. Just hold her. And so he did.

  Gemma felt some kind of powerful way when Sal placed his hands on her for the first time in three weeks. And the fact that they both were naked, as if they had both been stripped bare, was a heady antidote to their separation.

  And the sensual feelings that raced through her body. His penis was so stiff and ready that she only had to open her legs slightly, and it landed between her legs. Like a resting place before the journey. And they both knew they were about to take a journey. No questions had been answered. Nothing had been resolved. But he was still her husband, and she was still his wife. No third party had any claims on them. Just each other. They both needed to be with each other.

  Sal looked into her big brown eyes and saw that love again. But it was laced with pain. He saw that too. No amount of sexual release was going to release that much hurt and despair. But as he began kissing her; as he began to rub her body and kiss her passionately, he knew that they were on the mend. He knew that they were on the long road to recovery. If their bodies joined tonight, he knew their hearts would soon follow. Because his never left. He loved this woman more today, at this very moment, than he had ever loved her before. He was going to do everything in his power to keep her by giving her the best sex she ever had. He felt he needed to brand her again. He felt he needed to remind her that she was still his despite the very real fact that he didn’t deserve to be in her presence.

  He lifted her, laid her on the bed, and knelt down. As soon as he opened her legs wide, and began to eat her, he could feel his entire body throb. She tasted wonderfully. And the way she reacted to his tongue, the way her pussy began to pulsate, made him want to do her harder and longer and even more lovingly. And he did. He licked her with long, tender, super-slow licks.

  She felt those licks. She felt his tongue glide across her wetness, licking her from one end of her pussy to the other end, and licking her with such a fierceness that she felt the hunger as if she hadn’t ate in years. Sal was doing her. The man she still loved was giving her those feelings even her pain couldn’t suppress. And she laid there and let him. She laid there in a relaxed excitement that made even her untouched breasts feel as if they were being caressed.

  To her even greater delight, and within seconds of her thinking it, Sal moved his hands up to her breasts and began to massage and squeeze them. Gemma felt as if she was in another world when he began doing her top to bottom. She lifted her legs onto his back, and allowed him to go down on her even harder, as she moved to that precipice of orgasm that made her want to scream.

  But just as she was at that point, Sal knew he had to put it in her and do it to her in a way that blew her mind. He didn’t want her to have a series of mini-orgasms. He wanted her to have the full effect in one magnificent climax. He wanted his cum to drown her with his love.

  He stopped mouth-fucking her and moved up onto her body. He moved her further onto the bed and lingered over her as he looked into her beautiful eyes. Then he began sucking her breasts as she did exactly what he wanted her to do. He wanted to feel her hand on his rod. And she obliged him. She wrapped her small hand around his large penis and guided it inside of her.

  Sal looked up at her when their first penis to pussy contact was made. He could see her eyes become hooded and sensual and her body lift from the fullness of his entry. He, too, became so excited by the feeling that he moved from her breasts to her mouth and kissed her so hard she could barely breathe.

  And then he was fucking her. His penis was pushing through her friction, pushing harder and harder, until he got into the right rhythm for both of them. She could feel his cock rub around her vagina as if he was on a treasure hunt in search of that wondrously elusive gold, and he could feel her wet pussy close in around his cock and squeeze it just enough to make him weak with love for her. There was nothing in this world to Sal like making love to the one he loved, and tonight was that special night. He was making love to the one he loved. He was giving it to her gently and hard. He was fucking her brains out. And she was loving it.

  She was loving it so much, and he was putting it on her so good, that Gemma had the longest orgasm of her life. She arched and tightened and pulsated with sensations that touched every part of her body. She was squirming like a fish out of water as he fucked her.

  Sal began to cum during her orgasm, and the two of them wrapped each other in their arms and experienced that flight of fancy that took them into a dimension they had never seen before. Sal was near tears as he fucked her. Gemma was in tears as she fucked him. Because it was the greatest pleasure they had ever experienced, laced with the greatest pain they had ever had to endure. It was the pain of separation. The pain of not being on the same page. The pain of secrets and lies.

  Sal held onto Gemma, and Gemma held onto Sal long after the feelings of sex had subsided, and the reality of their situation took root. Sal’s dick had saturated her. Gemma’s vaginal juices had saturated him. But he stayed inside of her as they held onto each other. It was all about branding her now. It was all about making her understand that she still belonged to him. The longer he stayed inside of her, the more he hoped she understood how much he wanted her. And needed her. And wasn’t about to let her go. The longer he stayed inside of her, the longer he knew she wasn’t going to be able to leave him again.

  And sure enough, the longer he lingered inside of her, the bigger he became. The bigger he became, the more she began to want his sex again. And he gave it to her again. He gave it to her with even harder thrusts. She began squeezing his ass. He began kissing her lips. And soon they were fucking again. It was loud sounds of sexual togetherness, as her wetness and his w
etness drenched them both, until she was having another orgasm, he was cumming inside of her again, and they both were overwhelmed with love.

  They didn’t fall asleep. They were so drained, and so satisfied, that they couldn’t fall asleep. Sal had moved off of her, and put them both under the sheets, and then he pulled her back into his arms. And they were just lying there. They both knew that words eventually needed to be said, but neither one of them were ready to talk. Sal just held his wife, and Gemma rested her head on his chest. For nearly an hour they laid there in silence.

  Until Sal spoke.

  “It’s my own damn fault,” he said.

  Gemma didn’t react to that. Because she knew he had to say more, much more, to reassure her. His sex, and the way he did her, reminded her of whose she was, but her heart was still unsettled. She invested so much in Sal. But she wasn’t certain anymore if it was a worthy investment?

  “I lied to you, Gemma,” he finally said, and she finally leaned her head up and looked at him. “I lied about the house in Chicago. I lied about Blanche living there.”

  “Was she there the day I was kidnapped? Did you lie about that too?”

  Sal hated with all his heart to admit it, but he knew he had to come clean. Completely clean. “Yes,” he said. “But she wasn’t supposed to be there. After I met you, I cleaned house, Gemma. I told her whenever I was in Chicago, she had to leave the house until I left town. That was the deal. She could live there while I was gone, which was most of the time, but I wanted no parts of her when I was in town. I should have kicked her out altogether when I met you, but I didn’t.”

  But Gemma needed him to stick to the subject. “What about the day I was kidnapped?” she asked.

  “The day you were taken, she decided to show up. She knew I was handling business in Chicago. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be there. She tried to give me head while I was asleep, but as soon as I saw what her ass was up to, I kicked her out. I nearly beat the shit out of her, Gemma, I swear I did. I don’t want her. I didn’t want her then, I don’t want her now.”

  Gemma stared at Sal. She remembered, whenever she replayed that night, that Sal didn’t look her straight in the eye when he told her those lies. But now, he was looking at her dead-on. That didn’t mean he was sincere. She knew that. But she believed him. God help her, she believed him!

  “What about the child she claimed you fathered?” Gemma asked.

  “She’s lying, Gem,” Sal said sincerely. “She’s never had any child of mine. She’s never been pregnant. She’s lying.”

  “Did you ask her why she came to me like that?”

  Sal hesitated. “I haven’t found her yet,” he said. “But I’m working on it.” Then he looked at Gemma again. “But I swear to you, Gem, I have never cheated on you with that woman or anybody else. I lied to keep you from believing her lies. I lied to keep you and ended up losing you. That will never happen again.”

  Gemma believed him. She knew it was a risk to do so. She knew it could all backfire and she could end up with a broken heart that couldn’t be mended. But she loved Sal. And love had everything to do with it.

  She moved her body until it was on top of his. They stared into each other’s eyes. “ No more lies,” she said, “no matter how scary the truth might be.”

  Sal nodded. He couldn’t agree more. “No more lies,” he said sincerely. “No matter what.”

  Gemma knew it was going to take time for them to get back to that place of blind trust. She wasn’t blind to his ways anymore. But she still trusted him above any other human being. She still loved him above any other human being. That had to account for something. She kissed him with what she thought would be a simple kiss, and wrapped her arms around him. But he took over and kissed her hard and long. And then he was reaching down, and taking his cock into his hand, and slowly but surely pushing it back into her warm and wet and always ready refuge.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  A week later, Reno walked into Champagne’s stunned to see Sal sitting like some patient husband in one of the chairs near the front of the store. He removed his shades and stared at him. “What are you doing here?” he asked him.

  “What are you doing here?” Sal asked him.

  “I’m here to pick up my wife.”

  “I’m here to pick up mine.” Then Sal looked Reno up and down. “You got a problem with that?”

  “I don’t have a problem,” Reno said. “But. . .”

  “But what, Reno?”

  “But you’re usually out of town. That’s what.”

  It was true. Sal hadn’t been out of town in a month, not since him and Gemma’s separation. After they reunited a week ago, he still refused to leave her. His traveling days were over as far as he was concerned. Gemma had his undivided attention. He knew how he dodged that bullet. He knew what he almost lost.

  Reno looked toward the back of the store and saw Trina behind the counter. He threw up his hand.

  “We’ll be with you guys shortly,” Trina yelled across the store.

  Reno sat beside Sal. “How long have you been waiting?”

  “I just got here,” Sal said.

  Reno continued to stare at him.

  “What?” Sal asked. He didn’t see where there was anything different about him to warrant Reno’s stares. He wore his usual double-breasted suit. His usual Italian shoes. His usual Rolex and big ring and gold chain. He was the same flashy man he always was. And so, he thought, was Reno. “What’s with the staring?”

  “You look different,” Reno said.

  “Very funny.”

  “I’m not being funny, I’m serious. You look good for a change.”

  Sal smiled a half-cocked smile. “Whatever, Reno.”

  “Considering your problems, you look real good.”

  Sal looked at him. “What problems?”

  “Blanche Delilah. Victor Grotski. Both are still on the loose.”

  “We’ll find them. They can’t hide forever.”

  “Wonder why she suddenly felt a need to run to Gemma with her lies?” Reno asked.

  “That’s what I don’t know. And then she disappears. It makes no sense. It’s as if . . .”

  “What?” Reno asked.

  “It’s as if somebody’s trying to bring me down, but they haven’t found the right angle yet.”

  “Gemma left you. That’s some angle.”

  “But she came back to me,” Sal said, “so that shit didn’t work either. But something’s up. My men are on it. I’m on it. But I can feel something’s up.”

  “I’ll put some feelers out too,” Reno said. “See what I can find.”

  “Thanks, Ree. I appreciate it.”

  Reno patted Sal on the back. “That’s what family’s for,” he said. “You don’t have to thank me.”

  Trina looked at the two handsome Italians and smiled when she saw Reno patting Sal’s back. They almost never got along. She was pleased when they did. “I’ll go get Gemma,” she said to them, and made her way up the stairs.

  Upstairs, Gemma was in the office going over the books. Trina walked in and sat in front of the desk.

  “Guess who’s waiting?” she asked.

  Gemma looked up at Trina through her reading glasses. “Who?”

  “Sal and Reno.”

  Gemma smiled. “That’s good.”

  “What’s with him, Gem?” Trina asked. “He’s been here to pick you up every night this week. Like clockwork. And you have your own car!”

  Gemma laughed. “But you can’t talk. Reno’s here too, and you have your own car.”

  “Yeah, but Reno checks up on me every now and then. He wants to make sure I don’t have some man around the place.”

  Gemma laughed.

  “But Sal,” Trina said. “Sal almost never comes around Champagne’s. He’s usually not in town. He’s the one who’s changed. What gives?”

  Gemma removed her glasses and leaned back. “He hasn’t been out of town in like a month, Tree.”

>   “Get out of here! Are you serious?”

  “I’m serious,” Gemma responded. “He comes by the law firm when I’m there, too. Just to make sure I’m okay, he says. It’s been great, Tree. He’s treating me so well. It’s been the best time of my life, really.”

  Trina was touched. “You deserve it, Gemma. I used to be so angry with Sal and his constant out of town trips. Reno travels, and Tommy travels, but they had nothing on Sal. That man was out of town more than he was in town. Now he hasn’t gone anywhere in a month? Damn, Gem. You should leave his ass more often.”

  Gemma laughed. “You sound like my father. He said the same thing.”

  “But you know what it means?” Trina asked. “It means Reno was right when he said business people know how to move things around so that they can be where they want to be. Sal wants to be here with you, so he’s here with you.”

  “Oh, please,” Gemma said. “You’re always quoting Reno. Reno can do no wrong in your eyes.”

  “And what about you? Sal can do no wrong in your eyes, even when he does wrong.”

  Gemma knew Trina spoke the truth. She knew she was taking a serious risk by giving Sal this second chance. But it was the right decision as far as she was concerned. Regardless of what anybody on this earth said about it, she believed they were going to make it. She believed Sal was worth it in spades.

  Sal drove behind Gem to their home, where he ditched his car, got behind the wheel of her still-new smelling Aston-Martin, and took her dancing. Not to some wild joint frequented by wild teenagers, but he took her to a jazz supper club where the dancing was slow and sensual and almost every song required a slow-drag.

  Gemma was the youngest person in the entire place, but she didn’t mind. She wasn’t much of a dancer, anyway, and Sal was too much of one. This was his idea of a compromise.

  And after dancing, instead of getting in their car and driving home, he took her hand and they walked in the park across from the jazz club.

  It was a beautiful night, with a clear blue sky, and the leaves ruffled beneath their feet as if they were treading on four-leaf clovers. Sal had his arm around her waist, and Gemma had her head resting on his shoulder, and they walked and walked like two star-crossed kids in love for the first time.