“Come on in,” Rodney said, hugging his daughter again, and they all began heading inside. The first thing Sal noticed about the parents was their beauty. He immediately saw where Gemma got her good looks from. The mother was a dark-skinned stunner too, and the father, though of a lighter complexion, would not be confused as anything but attractive himself. Both were small of frame, although the mother was very petite.
Not that Sal would get to know her much because, after they all settled into the living room and Rodney provided drinks for everyone, she immediately excused herself into the kitchen to check on dinner. She asked Gemma to come along.
They weren’t in the kitchen five minutes, both with freshly washed hands as they chopped a huge cabbage into bite-sized pieces, before Gemma couldn’t resist.
“So, mom,” she said as they stood at the center island and chopped away, “what do you think?”
Cassie didn’t stop chopping. She knew exactly what her daughter meant. “He’s very handsome. Oooh-la-la,” she added with a twirl of one of her hands. “Very.”
Gemma smiled. “And?”
Cassie hesitated. “And very Italian.” She glanced at her daughter.
Gemma nodded. “Yes. He’s Italian. You don’t have an issue with that. Do you?”
“No. Not if you don’t.”
“I don’t.”
Cassie smiled. “Good.”
But Gemma wasn’t satisfied. Surely her mother had more to say than this! She was beginning to wonder if Sal’s concerns weren’t misplaced after all. “But what do you think about him? Your first impression I mean?”
Cassie stopped chopping and looked at Gemma. “I think that he’s . . .” Gemma knew her mother was a thoughtful person and was giving her answer some thought. “He’s older than you,” she finally said.
Again, it wasn’t quite what Gemma was expecting. “He is, yes,” she replied. “And?”
“And I don’t know what you want me to say, Gemmanette. I just met him. My first impression is that he seem so . . .”
“So what, Ma?”
“So . . .So . . . So Tony Soprano.”
Gemma smiled and then laughed. “He looks nothing like Tony Soprano!”
“Not in looks. I know it’s ridiculous, but that’s my first impression. Has he ever been married before?”
Gemma shook her head. “No. Never.”
“For a man his age, don’t you find that rather startling?”
Gemma hesitated. “No,” she said. “Not really.”
“What about children? Does he have any kids?”
Gemma shook her head on that one too. “None. Thank God.”
“Does he want children?”
“My goodness, Mother, we haven’t spoken about that yet.”
“But I thought you said you’ve been dating him for several months.”
“I have. But I also told you it’s a long distance affair. He lives in Seattle and I’m in Vegas. If you count up all the times we’ve actually been together in those several months, it hasn’t been that long.”
Cassie was still staring at her daughter. “Do you think you love him, Gemmanette?”
Gemma nodded her head. “Yes, ma’am. I think I do. Very much.”
Cassie still looked worried to Gemma, but she managed to smile. “All I know is that I raised a smart, strong, sensible woman. If you’ve taken the measure of this man and you’ve determined that you love him, and that’s he’s worthy of your love, then I’m satisfied. He can’t possibly be anything but wonderful.”
Gemma laughed, and hugged her mother. She knew she could always count on her.
Back in the living room, however, the hug-fest wasn’t exactly on display. And, in Sal’s mind, what could have been considered inquisitive questions by Gemma’s mother, was more like an inquisition by Gemma’s father.
He was seated on the sofa opposite the one Sal was seated on, leaned back, his legs crossed, and his bespectacled eyes trained on Sal.
“Who’s Paulo Gabrini?” he asked him.
The question was unexpected. Sal found himself hesitating, something he hated doing. In his experience, hesitation usually showed guilt or weakness. “He’s dead now.”
“While he was alive, who was he?”
Rodney had to already know, Sal thought, or he would not have brought him up. “He was my uncle.”
“Your uncle. Your father’s brother, right?”
“Yeah, so?” Sal didn’t mean to sound defensive, but he knew he did.
“So, this uncle of yours was one of the most brutal, notorious crime bosses to ever grace the east coast.”
“ Yeah, so? What does that have to do with me?”
“I looked you up,” Rodney admitted, “as I’m sure you expected me to.”
“I did.”
“Every time your name came up, his name was mentioned. In article after article. It was never Salvatore Gabrini, the owner of this or that. It was always Salvatore Gabrini, the nephew of reputed mob boss Paulo Gabrini and the owner of this or that.”
“So what are you getting at? You want me to be responsible for how some fu . . . for how some reporters decided to write their articles? Is that my fault now?”
Rodney smiled, but Sal wasn’t fooled. He was smiling the smile of a man who knew he was winning. “It’s not a question of fault, Mr. Gabrini.”
“I told you Sal. Call me Sal.”
“It’s a question of association,” Rodney went on. “It’s a question of affiliation. It’s a question of DNA.”
Sal paused. There it was. Heritage. And his, in this banker’s mind, wasn’t up to par. “So the fact that my uncle decided to break the law, that makes me a law breaker? I used to be a cop, Mr. Jones, if you wannna go there. So does that association and affiliation mean something too?”
“Yes,” Rodney said, nodding. “I was very pleased to see that you were once a police officer. But your reputation wasn’t that of a good cop, but a brutal one. At least that was the way you were perceived in Seattle’s black community.”
Sal didn’t know how to respond to that. He wasn’t proud of the way he behaved as a cop, if truth be told. And he was a ruthless hard ass to many communities, including the black one. But he wasn’t that same person anymore. That person was filled with rage from his childhood craziness, and he lashed out. This new man was filled with Gemma’s love and devotion. Things had changed for Sal.
But Rodney moved on. He had so many questions and so little time. “You co-own the Gabrini Corporation with your brother Thomas, is that right?”
Sal was still stunned by the previous line of questioning, but he moved on too. “That’s right,” he said.
“And two restaurants also, at least from what my research tells me.”
Sal smiled. “You really did your homework, didn’t you?”
Rodney didn’t crack a smile. “Of course. No man is going to lay up with my daughter and I don’t at least check him out.”
Sal cleared his throat. This guy was the king of the comeback, just like his daughter. “Yes,” he said, “my brother and I own two restaurants also.”
“Two very different restaurants.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sal said. “Diamante’s is very upscale, five-star, while Taste of Southern is good, down-home cooking. We aren’t interested in stars there, just good food.”
“And you own the Winston,” Rodney continued.
“That’s right.”
“The newspapers refer to it as a towering luxury apartment building for those who enjoy flaunting their wealth.”
“Those aren’t the words I would have chosen, but it is a luxurious place, that’s right.”
“Which is also where you live.”
Damn, Sal thought, this man didn’t just check him out, he launched a full throated investigation! “That’s correct.”
“I ask all of this because, given your far-reaching involvements, I can’t possibly see how you could have any time left for Gemmanette.”
Again, Sal f
elt unprepared. Again, he didn’t see that coming either. This was not going well on any level to him. “It’s not a problem,” Sal said, refusing to let him take him down that road.
“But the time factor.”
“I make time for her,” Sal said.
“Do you plan to relocate to Las Vegas?”
Sal frowned. “Why the fu . . . Why would I relocate to Vegas? All of my businesses are based in Seattle.”
“I see. So my daughter would have to give up her businesses in Vegas and go live where you live?”
“I never told Gemma she would have to leave Vegas---”
“Why have you never been married?” Rodney asked him.
Sal didn’t know if he was going or coming. This guy was firing on all cylinders. “I never met the right woman.”
This raised Rodney’s eyebrows. “Never?”
Sal quickly realized his error. “I mean, not Gemma. Before her. I never met the right woman before I met Gemma.”
“So you’re considering marrying my daughter?”
Sal hadn’t planned to go down this road at all, but he wasn’t going to lie, either. “Yes,” he said. “Eventually. By and by.”
But that only made Rodney frown. “Eventually by and by? What kind of answer is that?”
Sal’s temper flared and he almost said something harsh. He certainly gave Rodney a harsh look. But for Gemma’s sake, and his own, he maintained his cool. “It’s the kind of answer I can give right now.”
“And you’re going to move to Vegas?”
“No.”
“She’s moving to Seattle?”
“No.”
“Then you haven’t thought about marrying my daughter. Not really.”
“I’ve thought about it. What are you in my head? How can you say I haven’t thought about it?”
“You’ve had many women in your life.”
Sal stared at him. What was with this guy? “I’ve had a couple, yeah,” he said.
Rodney smiled. “A couple? Is that what you call hundreds nowadays? A couple?”
What the fuck! “A couple hundred,” Sal said, extremely defensively. “How should I know how many women I’ve had? I don’t keep count.”
“Do you use protection?”
Sal couldn’t believe this line of questioning. This was beginning to get out of hand already. “Yes. With all of those previous women, I definitely used protection.” Then he tried to smile, to ease his growing anger. “Why do you think there are no Sal Juniors running around everywhere?”
“Aren’t there?” Rodney asked.
“No there aren’t,” Sal said, purposely marking the father’s question, but he wasn’t about to accept that kind of innuendo.
“What about my daughter?” Rodney then asked.
“What about your daughter?” Gemma asked.
Sal looked and saw her and her mother heading back into the living room. But even with her return, Sal still felt antsy. He wasn’t accustomed to allowing some man to handle him this way, he didn’t care who the man was, and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to allow it much longer.
“I was talking to Mr. Gabrini,” Rodney replied to Gemma.
“But you were talking to him about me.” Gemma sat beside Sal. Cassie sat beside Rodney and placed her arm across his. And the battle lines, it seemed to Sal, were drawn.
“He said he used protection with the couple hundred women he’d previously had sexual interaction with. I was asking him if the same is true when he’s with you.”
Gemma was surprised that he would go there. “That’s none of your business,” she said to her father.
“Don’t you use that tone with me!” Rodney blared.
“Don’t you use that tone with her!” Sal blared back.
“Let’s calm down everybody,” Cassie said. “We all have had a long day, we’re all tired I’m sure. No more questions. Let’s just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening? Shall we?”
They all placidly agreed to that very suggestion. But Rodney continued to stare at Sal. And Sal, growing wearier of the man who would be his father-in-law, continued to stare right back.
While Cassie was preparing the cookout, and Rodney was handling business in his home office, Sal decided to take Gemma on a ride and let her show him the town. It was a small town, so there wasn’t much to see. A mall, a movie theater, eateries and a couple bars. While stopped at one of only three red lights in town, Sal admitted the real reason for the drive.
He glanced down, at her legs. “Since your parents aren’t about to let us share a bedroom, and I don’t blame them. I need to take the edge off, Gemma,” he said, then looked at her. “Is there a place around here we can. . .”
He didn’t have to go into any more detail. Since they hadn’t touched each other in a couple days, Gemma was feeling a little edgy too. “Yes,” she said. “It’s just on the outskirts of town, but we’re still only talking a couple minutes away.”
“Let’s get there then,” Sal said, as he started driving again. “A couple minutes is about all I can hold out.”
Gemma laughed, and began directing him to the Marigold Motel where, years ago on prom night, she and a group of her friends had a blast.
TEN
The bed in the motel room was rocking, with the springs squeaking so loud that it sounded like music was in the air. Sal was on top, his dick deep inside Gemma, and he was pumping hard. She had her legs wrapped around him and was holding on for dear life. He was already breathing heavily as he fucked her. He was already beginning to sweat as he fucked her.
“Oh, Gemma,” he said, his mouth rubbing against her face. “Oh, Gemma.” He was doing her so hard, and it felt so good, that he could barely speak. He wanted to say more, so much more, but he couldn’t get the words out. He loved her, but somehow it felt like a different love when they were in bed together. She was giving him what he wanted, and in the way he most wanted it, that it made him feel a sense of pride, of gratitude, of more than just love for her. Her father mentioned all of the other women he’d had, as if he thought Sal would leave Gemma and go back to his old ways, but no way, no way was Sal leaving this.
He wouldn’t leave Gemma, for a multitude of reasons, and her sex, he thought as he continued to fuck her, was one of those reasons. Not the main reason, but it was certainly up there. Because of the way she gave it to him. Every time he slid his dick further into her, he felt that Gemma heat. He was hitting it, and her body was responding, and it made him feel on the verge of losing control the entire time he was inside of her. No other woman, and he had more experience than most men could only dream about having, ever made him feel this way. His dick was in a warm, protected place, deep inside of her.
“Oh, Gemma,” he said again as the feelings intensified to yet another higher level, and he began kissing her, hard, on the lips. He placed his hands on either side of her head and kissed her so hard it felt desperate. But it wasn’t desperate, it was love. He felt as if he was falling in love all over again, with her kiss. He couldn’t get enough of that freshness, that sweetness, that tongue, those teeth, everything about her, as he fucked her.
Gemma felt the heat too. Sal was on the verge of losing it, and his excitement always commanded hers. That was why she held him tighter as he did her. That was why she began to run her feet down his back, onto his squeezing ass, as he put it on her so hard, and so passionately, that her pussy felt on fire. She didn’t think she was going to last another second.
But she lasted. She held on, kissed him back just as passionately as he was kissing her, and enjoyed every second of this man’s sex. The other guests in that motel had to hear them. Sal wasn’t exactly trying to hold back. The bed-shaking alone was enough for the entire motel to hear them. But she didn’t care. She was with Sal. She was with the only man who made her feel as if his dick was more potent than any drug. His love was as priceless as a house of gold. It didn’t come without issues, major issues, but it came. And Gemma was determined, as she began to feel
the heat too intensely and began to cum, that she was going to hold onto this kind of love.
Sal was holding on too when he came. By now he had fucked Gemma halfway out of the bed. And then he exploded. He pushed into her and poured out so hard that he couldn’t pull back out. His entire body was racked with the sensations of his explosive release and that wonderful feeling he felt every time she had the wonderful temerity to clamp down on his penis.
Gemma was having spasms, because she was cumming just as intensely as Sal, and their sweaty bodies melded into one as they enjoyed the heights.
When it was over, they just lay there. And Sal, a strong man by every barometer, didn’t have the strength to so much as stroke his woman again. It would be several more minutes, and plenty of hyperventilating, before he even thought about making any kind of move.
Nearly an hour later and the cookout was in full swing on Destin Drive. By the time Sal and Gemma arrived back at the house, after showering together at the motel and putting on fresh clothes, with Sal finally getting out of that suit and putting on shorts and a jersey himself, the place was rocking. They walked into a backyard filled with Gemma’s cousins and old friends, and every one of them, the guys as well as the girls, treated Sal as if he was a welcome addition to the family.
Sal, who had been depressed by the reception so far, felt like new money as they all settled in the backyard, on the massive deck, and laughed and talked. Gemma’s father was barbecuing ribs and steaks on one grill, and Gemma’s mother and some of her lady friends were grilling vegetables of all kinds on the other one. But Sal was having too much fun to even worry about Rodney and Cass. Gemma’s cousins and friends were giving him a good time. These were Sal’s kind of people. They laughed and drank and partied the way he enjoyed. It was a festive time.
It was all good for Sal, until one man in particular arrived in the backyard and Gemma jumped from her perch beside Sal, and ran to him.
“Marvin!” she yelled as she ran.
“Gemma!” the man yelled back and ran for her too. When they met, he lifted her into his arms and kissed her on the lips, long and hard.
Romancing Sal Gabrini 2: A Woman's Touch Page 10