“That is not an issue, babe. None.”
Grace felt so relieved. “So I don’t have to worry about the Margarets of the world then?” she asked.
Tommy snorted. “Not even,” he said. “She’s not my type at all.”
“You mean she’s not one of your former friends with benefits?”
Tommy shook his head. She really still had a lot to learn about him. “No, babe,” he said. “She’s never gotten any benefits from me. And never will.”
“Oh, Tommy!” Grace said, getting up and going to him.
She put her arms around his neck and he pulled her down on his lap. “Why would I get bored with you, sexually or otherwise? Give me one good reason why?”
“I told you I was getting so attached to you that I didn’t want to get hurt. I didn’t want it to turn out to be a bad dream.”
Tommy understood what she meant. He pulled her closer. “It won’t, baby,” he said as he kissed her. “It won’t. And as to getting bored sexually with you,” he added as he began to rub her ass against his cock, “that can’t happen.”
Grace leaned against him as she began to feel his erection. “It can’t?” she asked, her eyes closing.
“It is,” Tommy said with some strain, his voice growing husky, “an impossibility.”
He reached under her and began unzipping his pants. “Just as holding you in my lap without fucking you,” he added as he pulled out his already stiff penis, “is an impossibility.”
“It won’t ever happen?”
“Not ever,” he said as he reached under her dress, slid her panties’ center aside, and began to enter her. Her eyes flew open as soon as she realized what he was doing.
“Tommy, here?” she asked as she immediately looked toward the room’s closed door.
“Here,” he said firmly as he began to slide his large shaft in and out of her cunt. “Right here and right now.” He closed his eyes as her vagina quickly began to moisten around his dick. “What are they going to do? Kick me out of my own restaurant?”
“But what if somebody comes in.”
“Locked,” he said. He meant to say it’s locked in reference to the private dining room, but he couldn’t. He was too focused on the feel of her, the texture of her, to even think about words. Underneath her skirt he placed his hands inside her panties, on her bare ass, and lifted her ass. He then began sliding her small body up and down along his shaft, creating such a wonderful friction between dick and cunt that all he could do was grunt every time he felt the sensation. And he kept fucking her. He hadn’t had her all week, and he was making up for all of their lost time.
And Grace was feeling the effects of their separation, too, as his strokes became so rhythmic that every gyration made her groan. And between his grunts and her groans, they were in their own zone. The feelings they had for each other, lust and love, were so strong, and so deep, that a swat team could have knocked the door down and they still wouldn’t have been able to stop.
“Oh, my baby,” Tommy said huskily as he rubbed his lips against her cheek and began to thrash her harder.
Grace’s entire body clenched when his dick penetrated her with his deepest penetration and she felt his fullness to the roots of her hair. She arched upward as he began thrash her in her deepest fold, and she felt the joy of his penetration and the pain of his pounding until her cum exploded into a spasm of arching and clenching and clamp downs.
And then Tommy’s cum exploded, too.
He pressed his face against her back as he strained to let it all out. His grunt sounded like agony, but his entire body felt the exhilaration. And she thought he would be bored with her and her sex. He still couldn’t believe that craziness.
And then he held her when they both released all they could possibly release. They both were saturated.
Tommy breathed heavily against her, and she against him, and it took more than a few minutes before either one of them could even move.
Tommy made the first move. He pulled out a clean handkerchief and began wiping her between her legs. Grace leaned against him and closed her eyes. She didn’t think she had an ounce of strength left.
Tommy then wiped his penis, inserted it back into his pants, and zipped back up. He then looked sidelong at Grace, kissed her on her cheek, and stood her back onto solid ground. He remained seated but he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to him, as if to whisper to her.
“If this is what being bored with you is like,” he said to her, “then I don’t wanna ever be excited. You hear me?”
Grace smiled. And then nodded. “I hear you.”
“No more talk of boredom ever again,” he warned her. “The most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
And Grace was elated. Because she agreed with him. Because she felt like a natural fool for even thinking that Tommy would ever do anything to hurt her.
Nearly an hour later and Tommy and Grace were exiting Diamante’s. Across the street, in the parking lot of a music store, ShoShawna sat in the passenger seat of Anne’s Lexus. Anne, one of Tommy’s assistants, was seated behind the wheel.
“Is that her?” ShoShawna asked as they both stared at the couple.
“That’s her,” Anne said.
ShoShawna’s heart began to ache when Tommy placed his hand in the small of Grace’s back and walked her toward his Ferrari. They were laughing and talking.
“See how happy he looks?” Anne said. “I told you she’s made him a very happy man.”
“And I didn’t?” ShoShawna asked accusatorily.
“That’s not what I meant.”
ShoShawna continued to stare at the couple, mainly at Grace. “I don’t see where she’s so hot.”
“I told you it’s not for you or me or anybody else to see. Tommy sees it, whatever it is about her. He sees it, Shanks.” Anne looked at her friend. “Believe that.”
ShoShawna watched as Tommy sat Grace on the passenger seat, kissed her on the lips, closed the door, and then began walking toward the driver’s side.
He cranked up and drove off. And he was laughing as he drove away. Which made ShoShawna feel even worse. To her, it was as if he was rubbing it in. It was as if he was glad to have her out of his life and glad that she wanted him back, but she couldn’t have him. That was why ShoShawna was fuming. Because of the nerve of it all. And although she never was one of those if I can’t have you, nobody will kind of people, she still couldn’t just sit back and let him get away with this. She couldn’t just let him humiliate her like this and he expect no retribution. She didn’t want him, because she never wanted a man who didn’t want her. But when she got through with him, his new woman wasn’t going to want him, either. Then would she be able to move on with her life.
And not a second before.
“You said he’s going to Vegas, right?” she asked Anne.
Anne nodded. “Next week, yeah. Reno’s having his kid’s one year birthday celebration.”
“Reno, hun?” ShoShawna asked. She couldn’t stand Reno and Reno couldn’t stand her.
“You know how tight he and Tommy are,” Anne added.
“Yeah, they’re tight alright. Thick as thieves,” she said. “Literally. The assholes.” Then she smiled. “But good. That’ll be perfect.”
Anne looked at her. “What are you up to, girl?” she asked her. Then she smiled. “Do I hear revenge?”
ShoShawna smiled. “Hear whatever you like.”
Anne stared at her. Ever since she came on to Tommy and he turned her down cold, saying flatly he didn’t sleep with his assistants, she lost any sense of loyalty she had towards him. He made her feel like a fool when he turned her down. And then to have Sal Luca come to her later and say he’d be happy to sleep with her, as if Tommy told Sal what she had done, disgusted her. She slept with Sal anyway, only to be dumped by him, but she expected Sal to dump her. He dumped every female he slept with.
But she expected so much more from Tommy.
And that was why, when ShoShawna s
tarted calling her and asking for intel on Tommy, she gladly obliged. She used to think she owed Tommy so much. Now, after her humiliation, she didn’t feel she owed him a damn thing.
“You’re going to Vegas, aren’t you?” she asked ShoShawna.
ShoShawna smiled. “Don’t worry about that.”
“I can take a few days off and go with you, to help you out.”
“No ma’am,” ShoShawna said flatly. “If I’m going to rob a bank, I’m not taking witnesses.”
Anne smiled. “Just don’t kill him off, Shanks,” she said jokingly. “I need my job.”
“Stop worrying for two seconds. He’ll come back in one piece.” Then ShoShawna smiled, too. “At least physically he will,” she added.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The limousine arrived at the Seattle airstrip and Albert opened the back door for Tommy and Grace to step out. It was early morning, the fog hadn’t lifted, and Grace was barely awake. She leaned against Tommy as he gathered her in his arms and escorted her onto his private plane. And even after they lifted off and headed for Vegas, they were a tale of two people.
They sat in seats across from each other. They both were casually dressed. But the similarities ended there.
Tommy was raring to go already. He was fielding back to back business calls, signing documents, reviewing reports, while Grace could barely keep herself awake. She had completed reports of her own for Jillian before she left and therefore didn’t go to bed until three a.m.. Now it was seven and they were back at it again. She sipped coffee, watched Tommy work, and tried with all she had to get the cobwebs out.
Tommy smiled at her when he finished his last call. “You look adorable this morning,” he said.
Grace gave him an ugly face. He laughed and then fielded another phone call.
She glanced down at his clothes. He was the adorable one. Because no matter what he wore, it reeked of money and style. Even now, in his khaki pants and pullover knit shirt, it was obvious even to her that those were no off-the-rack throw-ons. Whereas her clothes, she thought, as she glanced down at her jeans and tucked in polo shirt, screamed Gap and Target and Old Navy kind of attire. And she began to wonder if her less than sophisticated style bothered a super-stylish man like Tommy.
When he finished his last phone call, and finally sat aside his work, she decided to ask him. After that “lunch” date they had at Diamante’s, she learned to go straight to him whenever she had questions or concerns. Because if she didn’t know anything by now, she knew that Tommy was a straight shooter. He wasn’t an appeaser. He’d tell her the truth.
“I want to ask you a question,” she said to him.
Tommy leaned back and folded his legs. She had a cup of coffee in her hands, her second cup of the morning, yet she still looked exhausted. “Ask away,” he said.
“Do my clothes, my style, bother you?”
Tommy didn’t immediately answer. Because the question was unexpected. But then he raised his eyebrows as if it wasn’t a question to dismiss as nonsense, either. “Your clothes and style doesn’t bother me, no,” he said.
“But what I mean is, are my clothes, for instance, up to your standards?”
Tommy didn’t hesitate. “No,” he said.
Grace could feel her embarrassment rise. “They aren’t attractive enough?” she asked.
“They’re attractive. You always dress attractively.” Then he looked her dead in the eye. “And inexpensively,” he added.
Grace smiled. “I wear what I can afford, and inexpensive is what I can afford.”
“I fully understand that. But you also need to understand that money’s not an issue anymore.”
Grace smiled. “Since money’s no object, why haven’t you lavished me with any gifts yet?”
Tommy stared at her. Every woman he’d ever dated wanted gifts from him. But he didn’t want Grace to be like them. “Is that what you want?” he asked her.
“Hell no,” she said and he laughed. “I’ll feel like you’re trying to buy my affection. But since you haven’t given me anything at all, I figure you’ll actually work to earn my affection, which, to me, is far better.”
Tommy wanted to kiss her. “Me too,” he said.
“So,” Grace said, sipping the last of her coffee, “tell me about this cousin of yours. What’s his name?”
“Dominic Gabrini.”
“Same last name?”
“My father and his father were brothers, yes.”
“Were?”
“His father died.” Then Tommy hesitated, a concerned look crossing his handsome face.
“What is it, Tommy?” Grace asked him.
He looked at her. “We call him Reno.”
“Dominic’s father?”
“No, Dominic,” Tommy said. “We call him Reno.”
“And his wife is Trina?”
“Katrina, right. We call her Trina or Tree.”
“Do they have any children?”
“They have a son together, the little bugger whose birthday we’ll be celebrating. And Reno has a nineteen year old son from a different relationship.”
“Oh, okay. So he has two sons?”
“Right.”
Then Tommy, again, seemed concerned.
“Tommy, what is it?” Grace asked him. “What are you not telling me?”
“Nothing major, but the thing is, before Reno’s father died, I should tell you that he was involved in certain activities.”
Grace was confused. “What kind of activities?”
“There’s no cute way to put this.”
“To put what?”
“Before he died, Reno’s father, Paulo Gabrini, was a mob boss, Grace. He was a member of the mob.”
Grace could hardly believe it. “Mafia? He, your uncle, was in the mafia?”
Tommy nodded. “Yes.”
Grace’s heart began to pound. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re in the mafia, too, Tommy? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“No,” Tommy said quickly. “I used to be a cop, a police captain, remember? Of course I’m not mafia.”
“But?”
Tommy paused. Then exhaled. “But Reno, how do I say it?”
“He’s in the mafia?” Grace volunteered. “Reno’s a mob boss like his father was?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
Grace just stared at him. What was he talking about? Was this Reno a mob boss? Were they about to spend the week with a member of the mafia?
Tommy could see the distress all over her face. He patted the seat beside him. “Come here,” he said to her.
Grace unbuckled and went to him. She sat beside him. He held her hand.
“Reno is not a mob boss per se, okay?”
“Per se?” Grace asked. “What do you mean per se? He either is or he isn’t.”
“When his father died, he had a lot of enemies, Grace. And those enemies weren’t going to just forget what Uncle Paulo did to them. They wanted their revenge. And Reno had to step up and do what he had to do.”
Grace looked at Tommy. “You’re saying you supported his actions?”
“Yes. Absolutely. Although Reno has done some hellish things in his life, very hellish things, I have never met a man with more integrity and loyalty and love in my entire life. He’s never started any fight with anyone. He’s not that kind of man. But if they start barking at him or his family, he will bite. Make no mistake about that. But other than that,” Tommy said with a smile, “Reno’s a sweetheart.”
Grace smiled, too, but she couldn’t help but worry. She leaned against Tommy and he wrapped his arm around her. The only reason she didn’t demand that the plane turn around now and take her back to Seattle was because of Tommy. She trusted Tommy. And if Tommy said that this Reno wasn’t some monster mobster, then she believed him.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to keep her own eyes open, and her own antennas tuned to everybody in Las Vegas, but especially this Reno.
&
nbsp; The limo arrived in front of the PaLargio and as soon as Tommy and Grace stepped into the crowded lobby of the majestic hotel and casino, Grace smiled.
“This is gorgeous,” she said, her arm locked in Tommy’s arm as they made their way to the elevators. Two bellhops were following them with their luggage. “Is this where we’ll be staying?”
“Yes.”
“I love it.”
“I agree. Reno’s done a fine job with the place.”
“Reno?”
“Yes. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. Reno owns this.”
Grace stopped walking and looked at him. “Reno owns what?”
“This. Where we’ll be staying. I forgot to tell you.”
Grace stared at him. “Reno owns the Pa-Lar-gi-o? You forgot to mention that your cousin owns the Pa-Lar-gi-o?”
Tommy smiled. “I forgot, I’m sorry. He’s owned it so long I just never thought to mention it.”
What kind of man is this Reno, Grace wondered. Was it mob money that got him the PaLargio? Was it mob money that sustains it? She and Tommy began walking again and entered the elevator. Only Grace felt as if she wasn’t just entering an elevator, but maybe even an entirely different world.
“I’ll get it!” Jimmy Mack yelled when the doorbell rang. He laid his baby brother back in his crib and headed for his father’s front door inside the PaLargio’s penthouse. When he opened the door, and saw that it was Tommy, his heart soared.
“Uncle Tommy!” he said with great relief and rushed into his arms. Grace was reminded of how relieved she felt whenever she would see Tommy. She knew how the young man felt.
Tommy was so happy to see Reno’s son that he bear-hugged him. “Great seeing you again, champ,” he said. “Been taking good care of yourself?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I see you’ve been working out,” Tommy said as he squeezed the young man’s biceps.
“I’ve got a long way to go to catch up to you and Dad.”
“Damn straight,” Tommy said with a smile.
“Come on in,” Jimmy Mack said as he glanced over at Grace. He knew Uncle Tommy had good taste, but she was lovely.
Tommy placed his hand in the small of Grace’s back and escorted her in. Jimmy Mack closed the door.
ROMANCING TOMMY GABRINI Page 18
