Sal Gabrini 4: I'll Take You There (The Gabrini Men Series Book 7) (9 page)

“That’s
what they are!”

“But
they’re closer to me than that.
 
They’re
like uncles to me, and Dad is like a brother to them.
 
They’re my uncles.”

“But
what you’re saying is that your Mom, Dad, and uncles come first?”

“Absolutely,”
Jimmy said, and then he looked at the clock on the wall.
 
“Is that time right?
 
Damn.
 
I’ve got to get out of here!
 
Dad
is going to blow a fuse if I’m late for work again!”

But
Valerie just sat there.
 
Crushed.
 
Because he didn’t preface it.
 
Because he didn’t make clear that yes, his
family was important to him, but nobody was more important than she was.
 
He didn’t say that she was first.
 

Before
they were married, she used to worry about that.
 
She used to worry if Jimmy could ever put
anybody above his father Reno, the man he adored with all his heart.
 
Now she felt her concern was justified.
 
Now she felt her concern was exactly on
target.

Jimmy
walked over to the bed, leaned down, and kissed her on the lips.
 
“See you later alligator,” he said with his
oh-so-charming smile, and left.
 

Totally
oblivious to her pain.

CHAPTER NINE

They
were back in Vegas.
 
Sal was on his back
in Gemma’s bed, and she was lying, on her side, in his arms.
 
It was morning time and they both needed to
get up, but neither had bothered yet.
 
Gemma,
in fact, was still asleep.
 

But
for Sal, he couldn’t stop thinking about how it went with her folks.
 
He had grown closer to them, after their
brush with death and Sal’s hand in saving their lives.
 
He actually felt as if their relationship was
almost perfect.
 
But that was before his
slick ass went to their all-American house and told them his plans.
 
It was one thing to be the boyfriend.
 
It was another story altogether to want to be
the husband.
 
A member of the family.

Sal
looked over at Gemma.
 
He rubbed her
smooth, dark cheek with the back of his finger. He’d put her through a lot
already; and he knew, when she became his wife, it would only get worse.
 
But he couldn’t do a thing about it now.
 
He was in too deep.
 
He wanted her, and her alone.

He
got out of bed, removing his naked body from hers, and headed for the
bathroom.
 
He took a quick shower.
 
But even as he showered, his mind kept
drifting back to her folks.
 
Rodney and
Cassie Jones.
 
The salt of the earth type
people.
 
What, did he think people like
them would turn their daughter over to a man like him without any
hesitation?
 
Especially with Rodney
listening to some fool tell him Sal
might
be
, or
could be
Mafia.
 
No proof.
 
But all inferences.
 
Where there’s
smoke, there’s fire, that kind of shit.
 
And nobody, except Gemma herself, had ever given Sal Gabrini the benefit
of the doubt.

He
got out of the shower, dried off, and headed back into the bedroom.
 

Gem
was still in bed, now lying on her stomach, and was just waking up to what she
viewed as a delicious treat: a naked Sal, showered and dried, coming out of the
bathroom.

“You’re
up.”

Sal
smiled at her.
 
“And off, yes.”

This
concerned her.
 
“Off?
 
Off where?”

He
walked over to the underwear drawer.
 
He
had almost as many clothes at Gemma’s house as he had at his own.
 
“I need to fly to Seattle,” he said.

“But
we just got back from Indiana.
 
You’re
going to run yourself to death, Sal!”

“I
need to make an appearance.
 
Tommy’s just
getting back, I haven’t been there, I need to check in.”

“What
about tonight?
 
What about the family
get-together and our big announcement?
 
An announcement they don’t even know is coming.”

“I’ll
be back tonight.”
 
He was rummaging
through the various drawers.
 
“It’s just
a two-three hour flight.
 
Don’t worry.
 
I’ll meet you at Reno and Tree’s.
 
Tommy and Grace are coming, I already told
them I needed to see the whole family.
 
And I’ll be there.”

Gemma
sat up in bed.
 
Although the bottom half
of her naked body was under cover, her top half was now exposed.
 
She pulled her legs up to her chest, and
wrapped her arms around her legs.
 
“We
haven’t had a lot of time to really talk things over,” she said.

He
looked at her.
 
“Things?
 
What things?”

“Like
our wedding, Sal.
 
It has to be planned,
you know.
 
We don’t even have a date
yet.
 
And what about our living
situation?”

Sal
knew what she meant.
 
“What about it?”

“We’ve
got to make some decisions.
 
You live in
Seattle.
 
I live here in Vegas.
 
Something’s got to give.”

Sal
saw the anxiety in her eyes.
 
He left the
chest of drawer and walked to the bed.
 
He sat down on the edge.
 
“What do
you want me to say?” he asked her.
 
“I
have multimillion dollar businesses in Seattle, and you have your law practice
here in Vegas.”

“And
Champagne’s.”

“And
your clothing store, right.
 
Something’s
got to give, but what?”

“We
first need to decide where we want to live.
 
I like Seattle, but I love Vegas.
 
You love Seattle, but you only like Vegas.”

“I
would love it if Reno wasn’t here running everything.”

Gemma
couldn’t smile. “I’m serious about this, Sal.
 
My business is really picking up now.
 
I have more clients than I can hardly handle.
 
And Champagne’s doing much better too.
 
The idea of packing up and leaving is kind of
scary for me, I can’t even lie.”
 
Then
she looked into his eyes.
 
“But I’ll do
it if you tell me to.”

Her
willingness touched Sal deeply.
 
He knew
it wasn’t easy for her.
 
But instead of
gratitude, a disconcerting look appeared on his handsome face.
 
He moved his hand beneath the covers and
began to rub her thigh.
 
“I’m not going
to disrupt your life, baby, that’s for damn sure.
 
How am I going to swing it?
 
I don’t know.
 
I haven’t had a chance to hear myself think lately, let alone actually
think.
 
But I’ll figure something
out.”
 
He began to massage her clit.
 
“You hear me?
 
That’s not for you to worry about.”

“But
it is, Sal.
 
Don’t shut me out.
 
We need to discuss this.
 
Together.
 
I don’t want you making unilateral decisions.
 
I need you to talk to me about it before you
decide anything.
 
Will you promise me that?”

Sal
stared at her as he massaged her.
 
He
loved her flawless dark skin.
 
He loved
her big brown eyes.
 
He loved her natural
hair that had such rich texture and bounciness.
 
He loved this woman.
 
“I promise
not to disrupt your life,” he said.

“And
to talk with me before you make a decision?”

“I’ll
talk to you before I decide, yes.”
 

She
smiled.
 
“Thank-you,” she said.
 
But he still had that disconcerting look on
his face.
 
“What’s the matter, Sal?”

“You’re
going to be in court today on a case?”

“Three
cases.”

“Wow.
 
It really is picking up.”

“Big
time.
 
I used to think I was the worse
attorney ever.
 
But now that I’m winning,
my services are in demand again.
 
It’s
nice.”

Sal
nodded.
 

But
he still looked perplexed to Gemma.
 
“What?” she asked.

“Looks
like I’ll be moving to Vegas.”

“You?”

“Yep.”

“But
what about the Gabrini Corporation?
 
What
about Diamante’s?
 
What about Taste of
Southern?
 
What about all of your main
businesses, Sal?
 
They’re all in
Seattle.”

“I’ll
have to commute.”

“Every
day, Sal?”

“Well
you as hell won’t be commuting.
 
That’s
for damn sure.”
 
Then he frowned.
 
“Fuck it!” he said.
 
“We’ll figure something out.”
 
She smiled as he leaned over to her.
 
He kissed her on the lips.
 
“Now get your ass up,” he ordered.
 
“I don’t want any of those jerks around that
courthouse complaining about my wife being late.”

“I’m
not your wife yet.”

Sal
stared at her.
 
“A mere technicality,” he
said.

Gemma
felt warm inside.

And
that look on her face, her gorgeous dark face, did something to him.
 
He sucked one of her bare breasts, and then
the other one.
 
He made her feel sensual
just that quickly.
 
And then he kissed
her, long and hard, on the mouth.
 
And
before she knew it, he had moved down, removed the covers and lifted her thigh,
and was placing his head between her legs.
 

He
started licking up the vaginal juices his massaging had created.
 
Licking her so achingly sweet that every
muscle in her body, not just her vaginal muscles, were tensing up.
 
She squirmed and arched until he had laid her
back down, had her legs in the air, and was eating her as much as he was
licking her.
 
He ate her with such
passion that she came.
 
And he wouldn’t
let up. He couldn’t.
 
He ate her with
such powerful ferocity that his penis continued to expand to a point where
there was no room left.
 
And he came
too.
 
He poured out as he ate her!
 
And he ate harder and harder as he poured
more and more.
 
Even Gemma was amazed, as
he ate her until she was almost off of the bed, and he was still cumming.
 

When
he stopped, and looked up, and as the throbbing in his dick continued to
pulsate, he shook his head.
 
He couldn’t
believe it.
 
“Sonafabitch!” he said, as
his chest pounded.

Gemma
was breathing heavily too, as she moved her body back straight onto the
bed.
 
Her vagina was inflamed from his
oral, and was still contracting.
 

“Sonafabitch,”
he said again.
 
As if he still couldn’t
believe it.
 
He’d never cum outside of
her, or anybody else’s vagina, while giving cunnilingus.
 
Not ever.
 
But he did this time.

It
was so startling to Sal, and exhilarating, that it took several more minutes
for him to settle back down.
 
But he did,
eventually.
 
And stood up.
  

“I
mean it,” he said, as he started heading for the bathroom, to clean up again.
“Get your ass up.
 
You represent me now.”

Gemma
smiled when he said that.
 
Because she
loved the thought of it.
 
The idea that
she represented Sal Gabrini now felt like music to her ears.
 
And she hated the idea that he had to leave
town again, even if it was just for a day and he promised to return
tonight.
 
It scared her how much she
hated it.