Tommy Gabrini 3: Grace Under Fire (The Gabrini Men Series)

by Monroe, Mallory

  “The honeymooners have arrived,” Jake said jovially as they greeted the Gabrinis in their foyer. Both Tommy and Grace often forgot that they had been married for only a few months. But honeymooners? They felt too familiar with each other to view themselves that way.

  “The honeymooners and Sal, that is,” Jake added. He never cared much for Sal, suspecting him of harboring racist tendencies. But he adored Tommy.

  He and Tommy shook hands as Grace and Edith hugged. “How are you, Jake?” Tommy asked.

  “Couldn’t be better, my man. Good to see you again.”

  Jake and Sal merely nodded at each other. “’Sup,” Jake said to Sal.

  “What’s up?” Sal replied. He used to go out of his way to try to befriend men like Jake Lindley, but they always seemed to view him in a negative light, as if no man could ever make mistakes in life and change, so he gave up trying. To hell with it, was his actual response. They could think whatever they wanted to think about Sal. He didn’t give a shit.

  The party was in full bloom by the time the Gabrinis arrived, and Tommy and Grace launched right into the thick of things. Men tended to follow her, and women tended to follow him, and they both knew how to smile and hold polite conversation and keep it moving. But Grace, Tommy thought as he kept an eye out on her, was especially adept at doing so. Tommy would stand in the middle of the room, in deep conversations with various people, but his eyes kept wandering to Grace. He would occasionally check on Sal, who was bored and looked it, but he mainly kept his sights on Grace.

  To Grace’s own surprise, she was actually enjoying herself. Edith was introducing her to other women in her circle, and they all seemed vivacious and friendly. And the men who came up to her, though flirtatious, were nonetheless polite with it. She even saw Brad Michelin there, who came over and extended his hand.

  “Mrs. Gabrini,” he said, as they shook, “so good to see you again.”

  “How are you, Brad?”

  “Good, thank-you.”

  “I take it my husband phoned you?”

  “He did, yes. He said you have final say and would get with me once you’ve made your decision.”

  Now was as good a time as any, Grace thought, especially since he was probably not as on guard as he would be in an interview setting. Although, she suspected, men like Brad were probably always on guard.

  “Tell me,” she asked, “above all the people I could hire, why should I hire you?”

  Brad smiled. Her suspicion was right. “I have a degree in Finance. I worked for Merrill Lynch for several years. I owned my own accounting firm for several more. And I’ve conducted numerous audits for your husband, and he has always been pleased with the results. That was why he recommended me for the job. Because of how thorough I am.”

  “And what else?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What else about your background you aren’t telling me?”

  Brad smiled. “I don’t understand.”

  “In other words,” Grace said, studying Brad, “my husband wants you at Trammel to be his eyes and ears. Am I right about that?” This was the integrity question for Grace. She had already worked out that hiring a man like Brad, whose credentials were good but hardly sterling, was more about Tommy keeping his reins on her, than Brad being such an outstanding pick. She just wanted him to have the balls to confirm it.

  He smiled. “That’s a loaded question, Mrs. Gabrini,” he said.

  “Is it a true question, Mr. Michelin?”

  Brad’s smile dissipated. “To spy for him? No. He’d never do that to you. To be a failsafe for you? A backup if you will? Yes. That’s part of it.”

  Grace felt a little letdown by the confirmation. Not because Brad told the truth, she was pleased with that, but because it was true at all. “And what part of your background qualifies you to be, not only CFO, but my backup?”

  He smiled. “Let’s just say when Tommy needs extra muscle, I can hold my own.”

  “An accountant with swag?”

  Brad laughed. “You can say that.” Then he hesitated. “So, what do you think? Am I still in the running to get the job?”

  “To be my CFO? No. I won’t put one of Tommy’s men in that position. But I can use a good vice president, somebody with Tommy’s recommendation. I could consider you for that position.”

  It was hardly what Brad had hoped for, but for some reason he was anxious at the prospect of working closely with her. He extended his hand. “I accept,” he said.

  Grace was thrown. She smiled. “It’s not exactly CFO rank. Sure you don’t need to think about it?”

  “I’m positive, Mrs. Gabrini. You’re a special lady, I see why Tommy loves you so much. It’ll be my honor to work for you.”

  Grace shook his hand. “Okay then,” she said. “Welcome aboard. I’ll have my Human Resources people contact you with the hiring packet and start date, etcetera.”

  “Very good,” Brad said. “And thank-you.”

  “Thank-you for accepting,” Grace said, as she began to move away from him.

  He watched her as she left. Her dress was so skin tight that it revealed in stark detail the outline of her wondrously tight ass. The pleasure was going to be all his, he thought, as he continued to watch her leave.

  It wasn’t long, however, before Grace was accosted by yet another good looking man. But there was something desperate about this one. “Nice party,” the guy said as he approached Grace. “I’m pleasantly surprised.”

  “So am I,” Grace admitted.

  “I expected boring in the extreme, but it’s not boring at all.” Then he extended his hand. “I’m Randy, by the by.”

  Grace smiled and shook his hand. “Grace.”

  “Your name certainly fits you.” He looked down the length of her. “In more ways than one.”

  Grace ignored his flirtatiousness. She was used to it now. “Have you known Jake and Edith long?”

  “Jake, yes. We played football together in college. What about you?”

  “Not long, no. I met them through my husband.”

  He nodded. She expected him to ask who her husband was, but he didn’t. Many of these womanizing wealthy men would rather not know, undoubtedly, she thought, so they could deny knowing later.

  “Let me refresh your drink,” he said, taking her half-empty glass. He took a drink off of the tray of a passing waiter, and replaced it with Grace’s half-empty glass.

  “Thank-you,” Grace said, accepting the drink.

  “One thing I hate is a woman without her liquor.”

  Grace laughed. “Why am I not surprised?” she asked jovially. As she spoke to a woman who came over to say hello, Randy took the opportunity to check her out from head to toe. Especially her full breasts. He seemed fascinated by her breasts.

  Sal noticed the fascination as he looked at the twosome from across the room. He looked at Tommy, to see if he saw it too, but Tommy was too busy laughing and talking with his own group of admirers, to so much as glance Grace’s way. A robbery was taking place, Sal thought, and Tommy was asleep at the switch.

  But Sal thought wrong. Tommy was wide awake. He was laughing and talking with his circle of friends, but he was also keeping an eye out for his wife. Nobody would know it. Tommy was a master at undetected surveillance, and he was watching her closely. He even watched as Grace said her goodbyes to Randy and moved away from him, and how Randy made his way, a few minutes later, back by her side. And when he would make her laugh, he would touch her, or brush against her ever so gently. So gently, so subtle, that Grace wouldn’t even notice it. But Tommy noticed it. He kept his distance, talked with his friends, and noticed.

  After several minutes of this, Grace finally broke away from Randy’s presence again, to go join a group of ladies in the parlor. Randy then, realizing he could not possibly follow her there, made his way to the bathroom. It was then that Tommy calmly excused himself from the crowd, placed his drink on a passing waiter’s tray, and headed for the restroom also.
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  He waited, in the hall, for Randy to flush and then unlock the door. But just as Randy was about to come out of the restroom, Tommy bum-rushed him and forced him back in, closing and locking the door behind him.

  “What are you doing?” Randy asked hysterically. “Let me out of here.” Randy moved to leave, but Tommy was blocking the door.

  “What are you doing?” Randy asked again. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  Tommy stood at the door, with his arms folded in front of him. He was as cool as Randy was hysterical. “Do you know me?” he asked him.

  “I’ve never seen you before in my life!”

  “You know Grace.”

  “What, the black girl? Yeah, we spoke. I spoke to her.”

  “You did more than speak to her,” Tommy pointed out.

  “I spoke to her, that’s all I did! We talked!”

  “Who do you think you’re yelling at?”

  Randy settled back down. “All I did was talk a little to the lady. That’s all I did.”

  “That lady is my wife,” Tommy said.

  Then he looked at Randy with such a chilling look that Randy’s heart began to race. “Touch her again,” Tommy said, “and she’ll be the last woman you touch. Go near her again and she’ll be the last human being you walk near. Do I make myself clear?”

  Randy swallowed hard. “Yes,” he said. “I get it.”

  “You don’t cop feels on her. You don’t undress her with your eyes. You stay away from her. Understood?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

  But Tommy could see the relief in his eyes. He didn’t get a damn thing. Tommy therefore grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and rammed his head down into the toilet. The man was scrambling to break free, but Tommy was too strong.

  “Now do you understand?”

  “I understand,” the man said in an underwater, gurgling voice. “I understand!”

  Tommy pulled his head back up. The man, now on his knees, gasped for air and wiped his toilet water drenched face with his hand.

  Tommy stood erect. “Now get the fuck outta here,” he ordered, and the man crawled, then stood up, then took off out of there.

  Tommy remained there, wiping his hands with his handkerchief, knowing that Grace would call this an overreaction too. But he wasn’t about to allow her angst to stop him from doing his job. A man touching his wife was the overreaction in his book, and that man had to understand that he could go there if he wanted to, but he was going to regret it.

  Sal was tossing back another swig of wine when he saw Randy hurry back into the thick of the crowd. Then he saw Tommy following shortly after. He smiled because he knew the man had been dealt with.

  But later, as the evening wore on and the women returned from parlor, Sal began to actually enjoy himself. Because he kept looking at Randy. Because every time Grace was within a few feet of him, the guy would take off in the opposite direction. Tommy had gotten to the poor sod. And Sal loved it. “That’s what I’m talking about,” he said, and drained more liquor.

  The ride back in the limousine was a quiet one. Grace was leaned against Tommy, half asleep, and Sal was sitting on the seat across from them, completely asleep. Tommy, the only one still fully awake, had his I-phone out and was reviewing his numerous texts.

  But after they dropped Sal off at the Wingate, the luxury apartment complex that Sal not only lived in but also owned, the limo took the scenic route home. That was because Tommy, as soon as Sal was out, had pressed down the private screen. Preston, the chauffeur who had been with Tommy for years, knew exactly what that meant. He was to drive, and continue driving, until the screen was pressed back up.

  “Get on my lap,” Tommy said to his wife as he tossed his cell phone on the seat Sal had vacated.

  Grace smiled, waking up now, and straddled him, facing him, on his lap. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck. “What you say we go dancing tomorrow night?” she asked him.

  He placed his arms around her waist and looked into her bright brown eyes. “Can’t tomorrow,” he said, kissing her on her naturally puckered lips. “I’ve got to be in Chicago tomorrow. Remember?”

  “Is that trip tomorrow?”

  Tommy smiled. “It is.”

  “I think you’re out of town more than you’re in town, Tommy.”

  “Can’t be helped. Not yet.”

  “But do you have to buy every business that’s a good deal?”

  “If I expect to stay competitive, yes. But I’m not going to purchase any business. I’m going to assist with a security issue. Meetings and more meetings.”

  “Like today,” Grace said. “What was that meeting about?”

  “Some fools are of the opinion that I would make a very good mayor of Seattle.”

  “Politics?” Grace smiled, and then nodded. “You know I could see that, Tommy.”

  “Well I’m glad you can, because I can’t.”

  “You told them no?”

  “I told them no, then I told them hell no.”

  Grace laughed. “But surely they did their homework if they had the nerve to approach you. Don’t they know about your family’s mob ties?”

  “They knew. But they figured my father’s reputation, since he was police chief when he died, could overcome all of the negative stuff.”

  Grace was aghast. “Your father? But he was the negative stuff!”

  “I know,” Tommy agreed. “That’s the irony of it. Reno’s old man was terrible, but at least he took his craziness out on other people, not his own family.”

  Grace stared at him. “How’s everything going with you, Tommy? I mean really? And how are those sessions going?”

  Tommy didn’t immediately respond. But then he responded. “They’re going,” he said.

  “You don’t think they’re helping at all, do you?”

  “I think a terrible thing happened to me. My father took an unhealthy, sick, perverted liking to me and abused me. And I know I needed to talk it out, and we did talk it out. Those sessions with you, I think, helped the most. But those therapists, they want to keep you the victim. And that, I cannot abide. It was a bad thing that happened, but at some point you have to move the hell on. There’s nothing I can do about it. And I’m not going to wallow in it. I talked it out, I know it wasn’t my fault on any level, end of discussion as far as I’m concerned.”

  “So what you’re saying,” Grace said, “is that you stopped going to the therapist?”

  “I still go.”

  Grace smiled. “You still go? But why, if you don’t think it’s doing you any good?”

  “I go for you,” he said. “To make sure, if I still have damage that needs repairing, I’m getting it repaired.”

  “Then maybe,” Grace said, rubbing Tommy’s coat lapel, “we can consider children.” She said this and looked into his eyes.

  Tommy didn’t blink, but a storminess came over his entire face. “I want to be the father of your children,” he said, “you know I do. Nobody on the face of this earth is going to be the mother of my children but you. And I know I’m not getting any younger. Sal reminds me of that every chance he gets.” Then he frowned. “But I have to make sure first.”

  “Make sure you’re okay?”

  “I have to make sure I’ve mastered being a great husband first. If I’m not a good husband to you, and in many ways I’m not yet, then I as hell won’t be a good father either. Once you give me the green light, once I master pleasing you, then we’ll get started.”

  “You have mastered pleasing me, Tommy,” Grace said, shocked that he didn’t think so.

  “In the bed, yes. But I have a ways to go in every other area. I’m the man that babies you, remember?”

  Grace smiled. “Oh that.”

  “Oh that,” Tommy said. “So I’m working on it. But in the meantime,” he said, unzipping her dress and then lifting it and removing it completely over her head, “I’ve got to play to my strengths.”

  Grace laughed, as she he
lped Tommy unbutton his shirt and remove it along with his suit coat. His sinewy arms, and ripped abs, and tanned, muscular chest made Grace tingle between her legs. She knew what he was going to do to her and she could hardly wait.

  But Tommy was a smooth operator. He wasn’t about to rush it, even given where they were doing it. He removed her bra and pulled her into his embrace. And just held her, with her breasts pressing against his chest. Then he kissed her. Long and lovingly, holding his hand on the back of her head. He slipped his tongue into her mouth in such a way that made her feel so intense that it felt as if his dick was entering her mouth. Then he moved further down and began breast-fucking her.

  His mouth made love to her breasts. Grace leaned her head back and moaned with that wonderful feeling. He reached one hand into her panties, and began massaging her, as he fondled her breast with the other hand. She unzipped him, pulled out his rod, and began to massage him too. He leaned his head back as she did him too, but not for long. His mouth returned to her lips, and then to her breasts, and then he stopped. And tore the seat of her panties.

  She knew what that meant. She guided his dick to her slit and he thrust it in. Gentle at first, and then with a shove. Her vaginal juices welcomed him with tight passage friction, but well-slicked passage too.

  Tommy’s stomach muscles began to tighten as he felt her juices cover his penis, and his strokes became rhythmic. He fucked her. He fucked her long and hard. He pulled her body against his, wrapping her tightly into his arms, and made love to her with masterly expertise. Tommy was big, and thick, and it was never painless when he first entered her. But the pain became fantastic joy for Grace by the time he was in his groove.

  She laid her head on his shoulder and got into her own groove too. She moved back and forward along his rod the way he liked her to do it, until he would squeeze her ass and hold her in place. He was in the sweet spot now. That spot that they both enjoyed. And his gyrations increased. They had to. What had been a slow, prodding, underlying intense fuck, was now an urgent one. Their feelings were raw and ripping them apart. Tommy pounded into her.