Sal Gabrini: Just The Way You Are

by Mallory Monroe

  Gemma inhaled deeply from the impact. She felt the pound as if his dick had just struck her heart, and she held onto Sal’s big body as he lifted her into his massive arms. She wrapped her legs around him, he placed his hands beneath her thighs, and she rode his cock like a cowgirl rode a horse.

  Sal’s horse of a cock went deeper and deeper into Gemma, going further in with each ride. Every vein in his tanned, muscular arms were showing as he held her up. And it felt too good to him. It felt too intense. And he couldn’t hold out any longer.

  He let out a rough cry, he let out a howl of a cry, and came before she did. He couldn’t hold on a second longer.

  And then Gemma came too. She held onto him tightly as her pussy pulsated like a drum, as his cock continued to pound her, as his release saturated her. Sal was getting weak-kneed as he poured his strength into her, and he had to back her against the wall of the shower stall for extra support. But he continued to fuck her. Long and hard. Even as he poured into her, he couldn’t get enough of her.

  When it was over, when both had climaxed out, they looked into each other’s eyes. Gemma was breathing so heavily, and so exhaustively, that Sal kissed her again and effectively took her breath away. When their kiss ended, and Sal finally put her down, she smiled and shook her head.

  “Bet you can’t top that ever again,” she said.

  “Wait until I get back tonight,” he said. “You’re going to lose that bet.”

  Gemma laughed. “Oh yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Alright, big shot,” she said. “Now may I have some privacy? Now may I take my bath?”

  “Only if you bathe my dick,” Sal said.

  Gemma playfully pushed him out of the stall. “Boy bye,” she said as she did. “Better bathe your own dick!”

  Sal laughed, went to the sink, and did just that. But that was what he loved about Gemma Jones. She wasn’t about to let anybody, not even him, take her kindness for weakness.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  It was in the hands of the jury now. Gemma felt as if she had done her best. She left it all on the field. Even her client, who was looking at ten years in prison on the various counts, thanked her for her efforts.

  And then she left the courtroom and headed into the stairwell. Her goal was to go downstairs, grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria, and then head back to her office. But as she walked down the stairs, she wasn’t feeling triumphant about her Summation. She wasn’t even thinking about that court case. As she walked down those stairs, her briefcase and purse at her side, she couldn’t stop thinking about Sal.

  The shareholders meeting went well. He texted her and told her it had gone better than expected. But she knew he wasn’t flying back to Vegas right away. She knew he still had to meet with his East Coast goons. She knew at least one of those goons, one of his closest underlings, had betrayed him.

  “Hey, Gemma,” a fellow attorney, Ty Kojowski, who was walking up the stairwell, greeted her. “Welcome to parenthood.”

  “Not quite yet,” she said with a smile as they stopped on the landing.

  “How far along are you?”

  “Eight-and-a-half months.”

  “I’m surprised that husband of yours haven’t sidelined you by now.”

  Gemma smiled. “He’s trying, believe that.”

  “Listen,” Ty said, “I’m so sorry about what happened to Mark. I just found out about it the other day. I had no idea.”

  That sounded odd to Gemma, since Mark Price died over seven months ago and his death, at the time, was all over the news and was hot fodder for the courthouse gossip machine. But some people did live under rocks. “Yeah, it was unfortunate,” she said.

  “A murder-suicide they said,” Kojowski said. “He killed his woman, and then killed himself?”

  That was how Sal and Reno set the scene after they took out Mark and his lady friend. It wasn’t exactly something Gemma wanted to revisit. “That’s what they said, yeah.”

  “Shame. And I don’t mean to be crass,” Kojo said, “but now that you have a vacancy at your law firm, I’d love to be considered as a partner.”

  It baffled Gemma why did so many of her colleagues wanted to work for her. It was true that her wins versus losses had improved tremendously over time, but she still wasn’t considered at the top of her profession. Or was it about her skills at all? Was it more because her husband was Sal Gabrini, and his cousin was Reno Gabrini, and those two men ruled Vegas? Was it an issue of being closer to power, rather than closer to success? “We’ll see,” was all she’d say about it, and began heading downstairs.

  “Just keep me in mind,” Kojo said, and continued walking upstairs. “That’s all I ask!”

  Gemma waved as she headed downstairs. She could barely digest her conversation with Ty, or continue to worry about Sal, when she ran into another colleague: Judge Tim Dunclave. She knew him when he used to work in the DA’s office.

  “Hey, Gemma,” Tim said with a smile as they approached each other. He was going up while she was going down. “How did it go?”

  “Don’t know yet,” Gemma said as she continued walking. “The jury’s still out.”

  “Well good luck.”

  “Thanks, Tim,” Gemma said with a smile of her own and kept walking down the stairs. Tim kept walking too. Or at least she thought he had. But he, instead, looked up, saw that the coast was clear, turned around quickly, and then gave Gemma, his old colleague, a hard, forceful, violent push down the stairs.

  Gemma felt her knees buckle as soon as she felt the push in her back. But before she could react, or hold on, she tilted over and began to roll and roll. Her purse and briefcase left her grasp and spilled all over the stairwell as she tumbled down. And still she rolled. By the time her body landed at the bottom of the stairs, in a gravely awkward position, she still didn’t know what hit her.

  And then she couldn’t know. Because the darkness came.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Luddie’s Bar was still standing on the outskirts of Seattle and Sal walked up to the counter feeling as if it was déjà vu. He hadn’t been there in years, not since he was a sergeant with the police department. But old Luddie was still there, with her big breasts and big blonde wig, and the bar’s owner, Grady, was still there too. It looked eerily the same. Both were behind the counter.

  “It’s been a long time, Sal,” Grady said jovially when Sal sat down. He placed a pint of beer on the counter in front of Sal. “It’s on the house, old friend.”

  “Thanks, Grady.”

  “For old time’s sake,” Grady added.

  “Nothing’s changed,” Sal said, looking around the joint.

  “Nothing’s changed is right. Why should it? If it ain’t broke, you don’t fix it.”

  Luddie came over. “Hey, Sal,” she said with a grand smile. She’d aged, and not very gracefully. But her big breasts, and that big blonde wig, were still the same.

  Sal and Luddie went way back, but it was purely a sexual thing. A thing Grady never had a clue about. “Hey, Lube,” Sal said with a smile. “I hear you married this bum.”

  “I got drunk,” Luddie said, “and woke up married. What can I say?”

  “She’s a liar,” Grady said. “I’m the one who got drunk. I’m the one woke up married.”

  “Geez,” Sal said, “what a loving couple you two are.”

  Grady smiled. And went and served another customer.

  Luddie leaned over the bar. “You’re still the best I ever had, Sallie.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

  Luddie seemed offended. “You were.”

  Sal looked at her. He used to bang her in the backroom, never anything more than that, and she was remembering that with fondness? Was she insane?

  “You and Grady’s been together for a long time,” Sal said. “And he married you. That’s a good thing.”

  She smiled. “If you say so.”

  “It’s a good thing, Lude. Grady’s a good man.”

 
“I married beneath myself. But what can you do?” Then Luddie stared at Sal. “I heard you married beneath yourself too.”

  Sal looked at her. “You heard that?”

  “Yeah, I heard that.”

  “Then you heard wrong,” Sal said. “My wife married beneath herself when she hitched up with me.”

  “Yeah, right,” Luddie said.

  Sal’s temper flared. “Yeah get the fuck out of my face. I got your yeah, right. Who are you to tell me who I married? Get outta here!”

  “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was giving you a compliment, geez, Sal. I heard you married a black girl.”

  Sal didn’t respond. He took a swig of his glass of beer.

  “What happened, Sal?” Luddie asked him. “I remember when you hated blacks and Mexicans and Asians and anybody who wasn’t white. What happened?”

  Sal didn’t respond.

  “You love the blacks now? Then how come you blew a gasket when you found out I was fooling around with black guys? How come you said black was beneath me, Sal, if you’re married to one now?”

  “I said that shit because I was a stupid racist then,” Sal decided to say. “I said a lot of stupid shit. Did you expect me to stay ignorant all my life? I grew some balls. I woke the fuck up. What’s your excuse?”

  Luddie smiled. Nothing could knock her. Sal used to admire that about her. “I know the real story,” she said, “and it ain’t got nothing to do with you waking up or getting some balls. I know your ass. You married that chick because her pussy was better to you than everybody else’s. That’s the only possible reason your tired ass would walk down anybody’s aisle.”

  Grady returned by Luddie’s side. “What’s with you two? I heard y’all jawing from across the bar. And what’s so funny, Lube?”

  “This new and improved Sal Luca.”

  “New and improved my ass,” Grady said.

  “That’s what I said!” Luddie said with a laugh.

  “Fuck both of y’all,” Sal responded with a smile of his own.

  Then he saw his men arrive and head for a back table.

  Sal drank the last of his beer. “Duty calls,” he said, and walked away.

  Grady looked at Luddie. “Are you crazy tangling with him?”

  “Who? Sal? What’s so crazy about it?”

  “He’s mafia, Lude. He ain’t no crooked cop no more. He’s mafia.”

  Luddie looked at Sal. “Oh, yeah?” she asked. But she wasn’t scared. Her eyes were filled with regret for what might have been. Her eyes were filled with lust for a man she still wanted. A man, she knew, she could have easily won over for life if her damn pussy had been golden too.

  The meeting progressed the way all of their meetings progressed. It was a royal waste of time. Sal was stringing them along, since he already had an operation in place, as he made clear that his west coast men were searching for answers and they had to be patient. But they weren’t trying to be patient. Especially not Sal’s number one lieutenant and number one suspect: Nicky Castellano. His hand was now working at half-capacity from the time Sal stabbed him with that knife. But he was still feisty.

  “It’s a sin what’s happening,” Nicky Cass said forcefully. “It’s as if we don’t have our shit together, boss. They knock us off one by one, our crew chiefs no less, and what have we done in return? Why haven’t we taken them out yet?”

  “Who are we supposed to take out?” Sal asked Nicky.

  “I don’t know who,” Nicky admitted, “but we’d better come up with somebody today or we might not have a tomorrow as an organization. We won’t be strong enough. Bum runners all over the place will take us out.”

  Sal’s cell phone began ringing. “Nobody’s taking us out,” Sal said, glancing down at his Caller ID. When he saw that it was the Vegas hospital calling, he thought about Gemma and answered quickly. “Is my wife okay?” he asked.

  “Is this Mr. Gabrini?”

  “Yes! Is my wife okay?”

  There was a slight pause. “No, sir,” the caller said. “There’s been an accident. You will need to come to the hospital.”

  Sal’s heart fell through his shoe, and he stood to his feet. “She’s pregnant,” he said to the phone.

  “Yes, sir, we’re well aware of that. And her doctor has been notified. But we cannot give any more information over the phone.”

  “I’m on my way,” Sal said. “I’m in Seattle, but I’m on my way.”

  Sal began hurrying from the table.

  “What are you doing?” Nicky asked.

  “I’ve got to leave!”

  “But what about us?” Nicky asked. But Sal had already run out.

  Floored, Nicky looked at his colleagues at the table. “See what I mean? It’s all about that wife of his. What kind of boss is that? We need new leadership, I’m telling you. We’ve got to get somebody else in charge.”

  Angelo Scorsese, however, would have none of it. He rose too. “I’d like you to try and replace Sal Luca. I’d love to see that outcome. I already know what it’s going to be, but I’d love to see it just the same. New leadership. Are you fucking kidding me? Sal is the strongest boss in the business. He put us right up there with him. Who else am I going to follow? You?”

  Then Scorsese flapped his hand dismissively. “Get outta here!” he said, as he left the bar too.

  Jimmy Mack Gabrini, Reno’s oldest son from a previous relationship, was standing in front of his stepmother’s desk in her office at the PaLargio. His stepmother, Trina Gabrini, was seated behind the desk.

  “I don’t care how long he’s been here, Jimmy,” she said, “he’s got to go.”

  “He made one mistake. Just one,” Jimmy said. “We can’t turn our backs on him just for making that one mistake, Ma. He’s one of our best managers.”

  “I don’t care. What he did will not be tolerated here. Colin knew better.”

  “He was probably drunk. He’s no perv.”

  “That’s not what the police report said. He exposed himself, not just to one lady, but to various women that night. He had time to think and change. But he kept pulling it out anyway. I won’t have a man with judgment that poor working at the PaLargio.”

  Reno walked into the office. Jimmy sighed relief. “Good, Dad,” he said. “Hopefully you can resolve this.”

  Reno wasn’t in the mood. There were a hundred fires to be put out today, and he didn’t need this additional one. But Jimmy had asked him to come up. “Okay, what is it?” he asked as he sat in the chair in front of Trina’s desk. “You’ve got thirty seconds so be quick about it.”

  “Colin Greene was arrested and Mom wants to dump him.”

  “Tell the full story, Jimmy,” Trina said. “Mom wants to dump him because he tried to dump on a group of ladies last night.”

  Reno frowned. “What?”

  “He was arrested for indecent exposure,” Trina said. “Fifteen counts.”

  “Gotdamn. Was he on duty?” Reno asked.

  “No,” Jimmy said.

  Reno nodded. “Good. They could have sued our asses off.”

  “But that’s not the point, Reno,” Trina said. “He was arrested. That’s the point.”

  “But he’s never been in trouble in his life before, Dad. Yet Mom wants to dump him like a bad habit because he made that one mistake, and that’s not right.”

  “We have an obligation to our customers,” Trina said. “Not to Colin! We can’t have a man with that kind of judgment running the Clover.”

  “His judgment has never been questioned before,” Jimmy said.

  “But it’s in question now,” Trina said.

  Reno stood up. He didn’t have time for this. “Give him another chance,” he said.

  “Reno!” Trina was livid.

  “Give him another chance,” Reno ordered. “At least until after his court case is resolved. If he has to do time, then fuck him. Fire him. If he’s exonerated, then he stays. Innocent until proven guilty, Tree, remember?”

  Jimmy
smiled. Trina wasn’t happy at all. “I can’t go along with that, Reno,” she said. “Not with what he’s been accused of.”

  “Your objection is duly noted.” Reno’s cellphone began to ring. He looked at the Caller ID. “But I have the final say, and he stays. For now.” He answered his phone. “What Sal?”

  “Reno, they just rushed Gem to the hospital!”

  Reno frowned. “She’s having the baby already?”

  When Trina heard that, she jumped to her feet.

  “I don’t know what’s going on,” Sal said, his voice already on the verge of panic. “They said she had an accident. I’m on my way, but I’m still in Seattle. I need you to get to the hospital and get there now!”

  But Sal could have saved his breath. Reno, Trina, and Jimmy were already running for the exit.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Three hours later and Sal was jumping out of his limousine and running into the Vegas hospital. His plane had been delayed in Seattle, due to inclement weather, but still managed to arrive before Sal completely flipped out. All he knew was that his wife fell down a flight of stairs and had arrived at the hospital unconscious. His pilot knew he had to push it.

  But now that Sal was on solid ground again, he was pushing it himself. He ran up the stairs inside the hospital to the third floor, the floor Reno told him over the phone to come to, and swept open the door with a hard thrust. When he saw Reno, Trina, and Jimmy Mack sitting in the waiting room, he rushed to their side.

  When they saw Sal, they rushed to his side too. Trina and Jimmy placed their arms around Sal’s waist when they saw how distraught he truly was.

  “Where is she?” Sal asked excitedly. “Where is she?”

  “She’s okay, Sal,” Reno said. “I’ve been up their asses ever since we got here. She’s okay. She’s in Delivery.”

  That didn’t sound okay to Sal. “But she’s not due yet. It’s too early.”

  “It’s just two weeks early, Sal,” Trina said. “It’s within the window.”

  “But did her water break?” Sal asked, unable to shield his anguish. “Did she fall down those stairs and her water broke? I don’t understand why they have to take the baby right now. It’s enough that Gemma fell. Shouldn’t they be worried about her? She may not be able to handle a delivery right now. They have to consider her first. She comes first!”