She closed her eyes. Flight seemed like the safest bet. But then she opened back up her eyes. And looked at Tommy. What did she ever get, other than lonely days and wasted nights, playing it safe?
She stood up, causing Tommy to stand up too. And handed him her carrying bag.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The motel room was a sleazy one, but it was the only place ShoShawna would agree to meet. Tommy had called her directly, told her that he knew she was in Vegas and he wanted to talk to her, and she agreed to see him. Only he had to come alone. This was between the two of them, she had said, and she didn’t want Reno’s big mouth to contend with.
Tommy entered the motel room expecting more histrionics from ShoShawna. But he didn’t get it. She sat quietly in the only chair in the room.
“I see you’re still punctual,” she said to him.
Tommy ignored her comment and began walking around the small room. ShoShawna stared at him as he walked. If there was a better looking man alive, she’d never seen him. And the idea that she was just going to let him kick her to the curb and replace her with some nothing of a secretary was ludicrous. She didn’t want him anymore, or at least she would never again admit to a living soul that she still did, but she had to make sure that he paid for how he treated her.
Tommy sat down on the bed, the only other place to sit, and crossed his legs. And for all of ShoShawna’s big talk, an even bigger truth struck her in the face. Because she knew, if Tommy would have unzipped and pulled it out, she would have taken it whole. Nobody sexed her, and she had many who tried, the way Tommy did.
But sexing her was the absolute last thing on Tommy’s mind. “So you figure you can intimidate my woman,” he said to her.
ShoShawna hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. “I didn’t know you had a woman,” she said.
“Sure you did. You know. Just like you knew when I would be at the Ambrose Hotel in Sydney. Just like you knew I would be here, in Vegas. You know all about me, don’t you Shanks?”
ShoShawna frowned. “Don’t call me that,” she ordered. “Everybody calls me that. Except you.”
“Well put me in the everybody category, because that’s all I’ll ever be to you again.”
“I thought you was coming here to talk.”
“I am talking.”
“You said it would be about us.”
“It is about us. It’s absolutely about us. It’s about me making certain you understand that there is no us now and will never be again. That’ what this is about.”
ShoShawna felt exposed, and she despised exposure. “You are so full of yourself,” she said. “Who says I want you back? I’d rather date a toad than ever let you touch me again.”
“So why are you here?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you in Vegas? Why did you show up in Sydney? Why did you feed the Feds with that malarkey about the Sheila Lindsey case? Why would you send doctored photos to my woman if you have no more interest in me than you have in a toad? Why, Shanks?”
Shanks stared at him. It was obvious to her. “Because you can’t win,” she said pointblank.
Tommy stared back at her. Something about her made his skin crawl. “What?” he asked her.
“You can’t win. I can’t let you win. Don’t you understand that? What we had was great. You know it, and I know it. The world knows it! But you decided to change it. To change me. And it destroyed me. Now you expect me to just step aside and let you waltz into the sunset? Happy and free? While I’m in prison because of you?”
“Prison? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Because I can’t stop thinking about you!” she blared. “You expect me to accept that reality? Just accept it?” She shook her head. “I can’t,” she said. “I won’t.”
She didn’t realize it, but Tommy understood her motives clearly now. She wouldn’t admit it, but it was true. She was going to give him hell, or die trying. This was the Shanks he always worried about. This was the Shanks he knew, one day, would turn on itself and destroy her.
He stood up, and walked up to her. She looked up at him.
He rubbed her hair, as he had done so many times before. She closed her eyes, loving the feel of his touch. Then he opened her mouth with his fingers. When she opened her eyes again, he had a pistol in his hands and was shoving it into her mouth. She flinched and nearly jumped from her seat. But he slung her, by the hair, back down.
This was that side of Tommy she always dreaded.
“You listen to me and you listen really carefully,” he said to her. “I’m no longer playing with your ass. You have a death wish, Shanks. I do believe you have a very severe death wish. Keep disturbing my woman and your wish will come true. Do you understand me? It’ll come true.”
He paused, still staring at her, unsure if she understood him at all. “We broke up nine months ago,” he said. “That’s a long time. Human beings get formed in nine months. I told you then, and I’m telling you now, we are done. We are done, Shanks. We are done. And if you don’t believe just how done we are, keep bothering Grace. Keep interfering with my life.”
He then removed his gun and released her.
She jerked away from him, stunned.
“Go home, Shanks, wherever your home is now. Get the hell out of Vegas and go on with your life. You told me once the one thing you always hated was to waste time. Stop wasting time and move on. Because I’m not playing with you. I will fuck you up, Shanks, if you push me any further.”
He stared at her longer, and then walked out of the door.
ShoShawna was still too stunned to speak.
When Tommy got back into the rental car he had arrived in, he drove around the corner. Parked and waiting in a separate car were Reno, Wilkes and Crane. Reno was seated in the backseat. Wilkes was behind the wheel. Tommy stopped his car beside Reno’s and rolled down his window.
“What’s her problem?” Reno asked him.
“Me,” Tommy admitted.
“She’s getting out of town?”
“I told her to. But you know Shanks.”
“Yeah, I know the bitch,” Reno said, and looked at his men. “Make sure she gets on that plane. Not tomorrow. Not in a few hours from now. But now. Call me when she’s on the plane.”
“Yes, sir,” Wilkes said and Reno stepped out. The car drove off as Reno got in the car with Tommy.
Reno looked at Tommy. Tommy drove away.
Shanks was still sitting there, still stunned, when the door to the motel room opened. She hadn’t bothered to lock it, because she knew what was coming next. She just sat there as Wilkes walked in and Crane, walking in beside him, closed the door.
“Hello, Shanks,” Wilkes said, looking around.
Shanks didn’t even bother to stand. “Really, Wilkes? They send you? Really?”
“Time to go to the airport, Shanks.”
“Oh, yeah? Says who? You, Wilkie?”
“Yeah, me. How about that?”
“No, Wilkie, not how about that.” Shanks pulled a gun from the small of her back, a gun with a silencer, and fired once, shooting Wilkes in the middle of his forehead. “How about this?” she said, as he fell.
Then she aimed her gun at Crane. Crane threw his hands in the air. He knew Shanks was a bad bitch when it came to firearms.
“You can help me,” she said. “Or I can kill you.” Then she aimed. “Pick your choice.”
Tommy stood in the doorway of the ballroom and watched Grace and Trina review decorations with the party planner. But mainly he watched Grace.
He could tell she wasn’t quite herself yet. She was trying, smiling and giving her opinions to Trina, but she wasn’t there yet. And what hurt him most was that he knew it was all his fault. Her lack of spark was because of her association with him. She decided to stay with him, and to trust him, but he knew the risk she was taking. She decided to give him her heart. He wasn’t about to disappoint her ever again, but he knew only time would prove him out.
>
Last night, after he brought her back to the PaLargio from the airport, she decided to stay in a separate hotel room. Just to get her thoughts together, she said. It hurt him to his core, but he fully understood it. And spent his night lying in bed, flat on his back, thinking about her.
Now, it was a new day, Shanks had been dealt with earlier today, and he could only pray that would get past this, too.
When she looked his way, he waved her over.
“Excuse me, ladies,” Grace said to Trina and Eve, the party planner. She used to want to run whenever she saw Tommy. And she still did, but she was guarded right now. She had to take this slow.
She walked.
“Hey,” he said to her when she approached him. They hadn’t seen each other since they returned yesterday from the airport, and both seemed relieved.
He leaned over, touching her on the arm, and kissed her on the lips.
Grace could feel the fire of his kiss, but she still refused to be all-in this quickly. She had to see more from Tommy. She had to be certain that his womanizing days were completely behind him.
Tommy, too, could feel her hold-back, but he was still pleased that she allowed his kiss. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Not the way I do when I’m in bed with you,” she said truthfully, “but I slept.”
He rubbed her arm. Pleased that she had missed him. “Hopefully I’ll be back in that bed soon,” he said.
She wasn’t ready to discuss that. “What have you been up to?” she asked him.
He leaned against the jamb. “I went to see Shanks,” he said. He’d vowed to himself to tell her everything from here on out. The good, the bad, and the ugly, keeping nothing from her.
“You said you thought she might be in Vegas. So is she?”
“She was, yes, but I’ve gotten confirmation that she’s on a plane as we speak.”
“Really? Going where?”
“Wherever the hell she wants to go,” Tommy said, and Grace smiled.
“Well, I must say, that’s a relief. She seemed like a desperate woman to me.”
“Although she’d never admit it.”
“She didn’t have to. Her actions speak louder than words.”
“Grace!” Trina called. “Could you come and tell us what you think! You can spare her for two minutes, Tommy!”
Tommy smiled. He moved up to Grace and kissed her again. “I’d better let you go. Trina can be bossy.”
“Nothing I can’t handle, darling,” Grace said jokingly the way Jillian would have said it and Tommy laughed. Then he looked around, saw no-one watching, and squeezed her ass.
“See you later,” he said and Grace waved as she walked away.
“We’ll see,” she said as she walked.
Tommy felt better. They were improving. But time, he warned himself again, would be the judge.
Jimmy broke serve on the Billiards table and Reno was impressed.
“Damn, you’re good!” he said to his son.
“Who me?” Jimmy Mack said with a grin and shot another ball in the right pocket.
“Keep being cocky,” Reno warned him. “When I show you what cocky really looks like you won’t know what hit your ass.”
Jimmy laughed at his father’s big talk and sunk another ball. They were in the Billiards room, just down the hall from the ballroom, and Tommy walked in just as a series of five balls in a row careened in the corner right pocket.
“Who’s winning?” he asked as he entered.
“Asshole here,” Reno said of his son. “At least he thinks he is.”
“Dad said as son drained another one,” Jimmy Mack said as another ball fell through the pocket. Then he shot again, and the remaining balls fell through, leaving only the white cue-ball.
“Done,” Jimmy said and laid the pool stick on the table.
“He’s good,” Tommy said.
“He’s the worse winner I’ve ever seen in my life!” Reno declared as he re-racked the balls, and Tommy and Jimmy laughed.
In the ballroom, there was contention over which of the four bands commissioned to perform at the party would be primary. Grace sat while Trina and Eva went back and forth, as she was still unable to digest the fact that there would be four bands, primary or otherwise, at a baby’s birthday party.
And that was when ShoShawna walked through the door.
Nobody saw the danger when she first walked in. Even Grace, who thought Shanks was supposed to be on a plane, didn’t see the danger.
Trina spoke, and asked what was she doing there, and Shanks responded as if it was no big deal at all.
“I was in Vegas and decided to drop by. See how you were doing, Tree.”
“I’m doing good,” Trina said, although Grace could tell she was uncomfortable. “We’re planning for Little Man’s birthday celebration.”
“Reno’s going all-out, I’ll bet.”
“You know it, girl.”
And when Shanks should have walked past Grace, to get by Trina’s side, she, instead, placed her arm around Grace’s neck, put a gun to her head, and hoisted her to her feet. Trina and Eve jumped to their feet, too.
“Go get Tommy,” Shanks ordered Trina.
“What are you doing?” Trina asked her.
“Go get Tommy,” Shanks said again.
“Come on, Shanks, I beg you. You don’t wanna do anything like this.”
“Go get Tommy, Tree. I’m not telling you again.”
“But she’s my guest! I can’t just leave her here like this.”
Shanks aimed her gun, with silencer attached. Only she aimed it at Eve the party planner and fired, shooting her in the middle of her forehead. Grace screamed in horror as Eve hit the floor hard. Trina looked at her planner, and then looked back at Shanks.
“Can you leave her now?” she asked Trina.
Trina began hurrying out of the ballroom, knocking over chairs as she went. As soon as she cleared the door, she screamed.
Reno and Tommy heard the screams and took off running even before Jimmy Mack could register what was going on.
When they arrived in the hall, and saw Trina running toward them, their collective hearts sank.
“What is it?” Reno asked her.
“Where’s Grace?” Tommy asked her.
“Shanks,” Trina said, virtually out of breath. “She’s in the ballroom.” Tommy took off running. “She has a gun,” Trina added.
“You wait here,” Reno ordered, running behind Tommy just as Jimmy made it into the hall. “Jimmy, watch my wife!” he yelled as he took off too.
When Tommy flew into the ballroom, and saw the planner on the floor, seemingly dead, and saw Shanks with a gun to Grace’s head, he had to control his rage. Reno ran in and stood beside Tommy, looking at the downed planner, too.
“Let her go, Shanks,” Tommy said as he and Reno slowly began to walk toward her.
“You threatened me,” Shanks said. “You threatened me like I meant nothing to you.”
“We can talk, Shawnie,” Tommy said as he and Reno continued to approach her. “Put the gun down so we can talk.”
“Talk is over, Tommy,” Shanks said. “You and Reno tried to silence me. Bringing Wilkie and Crane to escort me to the airport. Are you nuts? Those losers escorting me out of town?”
“What did you do?” Reno asked her.
“What you think I did, asshole? I took Wilkie out and then had Crane call you and tell you my ass was safely on the plane. Then I took care of Crane. And you didn’t know a damn thing.”
“Shanks,” Tommy started, anguished by what she’d done. “How could you?”
“How could I? Seriously? You’re asking me something like that? How could I, you ask? Well how could you, Tommy! How could you threaten me? You showed me how much you hated me. You hate me. You showed me that in that motel room. Now I’ve got to show you.”
“But for what, Shanks?” Tommy asked her, his heart pounding. “You’ll give up your freedom, your life, for what? To prove so
me point?”
Shanks smiled. That was exactly it now, for her.
“Let her go, Shawnie,” Tommy said, attempting to soften the situation. He refused to even look at Grace. He would fall apart, he felt, if he looked at Grace. “Let her go,” he said again.
Shanks nodded her head. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll let her go, all right.” She pushed Grace away from her. “I’ll let her go straight to hell!”
She was just about to fire, but Tommy slipped a tiny pistol from the sleeve of his suit coat and shot her shooting hand. The gun flew from her hand and Shanks fell to her knees, in pain. Grace ran to Tommy. Tommy grabbed her into his arms.
But Reno knew better. He knew people like Shanks all his life. And he wasn’t having it. She already killed two of his men. And he couldn’t let her get away with that.
He pulled out his own gun, walked up to Shanks, and shot her, pointblank, in the head.
Grace turned her face into Tommy’s chest, and Tommy winced, as Shanks keeled over.
“It’ll never end otherwise,” Reno said.
Tommy stared at Shanks. He stared at the woman he once loved.
“Damn straight,” he said.
EPILOGUE
“You know what I haven’t done?” Tommy asked as they reclined in the backseat of the limo, both slouched down and leaned against each other, as they rode through the quiet streets on a rainy Seattle night.
“What?” Grace asked, perfectly content to just sit quietly beside him.
“I haven’t given you a birthday present.”
Grace smiled. “A birthday present? My birthday was months ago.”
“But I haven’t given you anything in all of these months.”
“That’s probably because you met me the day before my birthday.”
“Understood. But time has passed and I still haven’t given you anything. And that is unacceptable.”
He pulled out a large envelope and handed it to her. She smiled and accepted it.
“This really isn’t necessary at all, Tommy.”
But Tommy disagreed. It was completely necessary, as far as he was concerned.
ROMANCING TOMMY GABRINI Page 23
