Sal Gabrini: His House of Cards (17 page)

“I lied to
you, Gemma,” he finally said, and she finally leaned her head up and looked at
him.
 
“I lied about the house in
Chicago.
 
I lied about Blanche living
there.”

“Was she
there the day I was kidnapped? Did you lie about that too?”

Sal hated
with all his heart to admit it, but he knew he had to come clean.
 
Completely clean.
 
“Yes,” he said.
 
“But she wasn’t supposed to be there.
 
After I met you, I cleaned house, Gemma.
 
I told her whenever I was in Chicago, she had
to leave the house until I left town.
 
That was the deal.
 
She could live
there while I was gone, which was most of the time, but I wanted no parts of
her when I was in town.
 
I should have
kicked her out altogether when I met you, but I didn’t.”

But Gemma
needed him to stick to the subject.
 
“What about the day I was kidnapped?” she asked.

“The day you
were taken, she decided to show up.
 
She
knew I was handling business in Chicago.
 
She knew she wasn’t supposed to be there.
 
She tried to give me head while I was asleep,
but as soon as I saw what her ass was up to, I kicked her out.
 
I nearly beat the shit out of her, Gemma, I
swear I did.
 
I don’t want her.
 
I didn’t want her then, I don’t want her
now.”

Gemma stared
at Sal.
 
She remembered, whenever she
replayed that night, that Sal didn’t look her straight in the eye when he told
her those lies.
 
But now, he was looking
at her dead-on.
 
That didn’t mean he was
sincere.
 
She knew that.
 
But she believed him.
 
God help her, she believed him!

“What about
the child she claimed you fathered?” Gemma asked.

“She’s
lying, Gem,” Sal said sincerely.
 
“She’s
never had any child of mine.
 
She’s never
been pregnant.
 
She’s lying.”

“Did you ask
her why she came to me like that?”

Sal
hesitated.
 
“I haven’t found her yet,” he
said.
 
“But I’m working on it.”
 
Then he looked at Gemma again.
 
“But I swear to you, Gem, I have never
cheated on you with that woman or anybody else.
 
I lied to keep you from believing her lies.
 
I lied to keep you and ended up losing
you.
 
That will never happen again.”

Gemma
believed him.
 
She knew it was a risk to
do so.
 
She knew it could all backfire
and she could end up with a broken heart that couldn’t be mended.
 
But she loved Sal.
 
And love had everything to do with it.

She moved
her body until it was on top of his.
 
They stared into each other’s eyes.
 
“
        
No more lies,” she said,
“no matter how scary the truth might be.”

Sal
nodded.
 
He couldn’t agree more.
 
“No more lies,” he said sincerely.
 
“No matter what.”

Gemma knew it
was going to take time for them to get back to that place of blind trust.
 
She wasn’t blind to his ways anymore.
 
But she still trusted him above any other
human being.
 
She still loved him above
any other human being.
 
That had to
account for something.
 
She kissed him
with what she thought would be a simple kiss, and wrapped her arms around
him.
 
But he took over and kissed her
hard and long.
 
And then he was reaching
down, and taking his cock into his hand, and slowly but surely pushing it back
into her warm and wet and always ready refuge.

A week
later, Reno walked into Champagne’s stunned to see Sal sitting like some
patient husband in one of the chairs near the front of the store.
 
He removed his shades and stared at him.
 
“What are you doing here?” he asked him.

“What are
you doing here?” Sal asked him.
 

“I’m here to
pick up my wife.”

“I’m here to
pick up mine.”
 
Then Sal looked Reno up
and down.
 
“You got a problem with that?”

“I don’t
have a problem,” Reno said.
 
“But. . .”

“But what,
Reno?”

“But you’re
usually out of town.
 
That’s what.”

It was
true.
 
Sal hadn’t been out of town in a
month, not since him and Gemma’s separation.
 
After they reunited a week ago, he still refused to leave her.
 
His traveling days were over as far as he was
concerned.
 
Gemma had his undivided
attention.
 
He knew how he dodged that
bullet.
 
He knew what he almost lost.

Reno looked
toward the back of the store and saw Trina behind the counter.
 
He threw up his hand.

“We’ll be with
you guys shortly,” Trina yelled across the store.

Reno sat
beside Sal.
 
“How long have you been
waiting?”

“I just got
here,” Sal said.

Reno
continued to stare at him.

“What?” Sal
asked.
 
He didn’t see where there was
anything different about him to warrant Reno’s stares.
 
He wore his usual double-breasted suit.
 
His usual Italian shoes.
 
His usual Rolex and big ring and gold chain.
 
He was the same flashy man he always
was.
 
And so, he thought, was Reno.
 
“What’s with the staring?”

“You look
different,” Reno said.

“Very
funny.”

“I’m not
being funny, I’m serious.
 
You look good
for a change.”

Sal smiled a
half-cocked smile.
 
“Whatever, Reno.”

“Considering
your problems, you look real good.”

Sal looked
at him.
 
“What problems?”

“Blanche
Delilah.
 
Victor Grotski.
 
Both are still on the loose.”

“We’ll find
them.
 
They can’t hide forever.”

“Wonder why
she suddenly felt a need to run to Gemma with her lies?” Reno asked.

“That’s what
I don’t know.
 
And then she
disappears.
 
It makes no sense.
 
It’s as if . . .”

“What?” Reno
asked.

“It’s as if
somebody’s trying to bring me down, but they haven’t found the right angle
yet.”

“Gemma left
you.
 
That’s some angle.”

“But she
came back to me,” Sal said, “so that shit didn’t work either.
 
But something’s up.
 
My men are on it.
 
I’m on it.
 
But I can feel something’s up.”

“I’ll put
some feelers out too,” Reno said.
 
“See
what I can find.”

“Thanks,
Ree.
 
I appreciate it.”

Reno patted
Sal on the back.
 
“That’s what family’s
for,” he said.
 
“You don’t have to thank
me.”

Trina looked
at the two handsome Italians and smiled when she saw Reno patting Sal’s
back.
 
They almost never got along.
 
She was pleased when they did.
 
“I’ll go get Gemma,” she said to them, and
made her way up the stairs.

Upstairs,
Gemma was in the office going over the books.
 
Trina walked in and sat in front of the desk.

“Guess who’s
waiting?” she asked.

Gemma looked
up at Trina through her reading glasses.
 
“Who?”

“Sal and
Reno.”

Gemma
smiled.
 
“That’s good.”

“What’s with
him, Gem?” Trina asked.
 
“He’s been here
to pick you up every night this week.
 
Like clockwork.
 
And you have your
own car!”

Gemma
laughed.
 
“But you can’t talk.
 
Reno’s here too, and you have your own car.”

“Yeah, but
Reno checks up on me every now and then.
 
He wants to make sure I don’t have some man around the place.”

Gemma
laughed.

“But Sal,”
Trina said.
 
“Sal almost never comes
around Champagne’s.
 
He’s usually not in
town. He’s the one who’s changed.
 
What
gives?”

Gemma
removed her glasses and leaned back.
 
“He
hasn’t been out of town in like a month, Tree.”

“Get out of
here!
 
Are you serious?”

“I’m
serious,” Gemma responded.
 
“He comes by
the law firm when I’m there, too.
 
Just
to make sure I’m okay, he says.
 
It’s
been great, Tree.
 
He’s treating me so well.
 
It’s been the best time of my life, really.”

Trina was
touched.
 
“You deserve it, Gemma.
 
I used to be so angry with Sal and his
constant out of town trips.
 
Reno
travels, and Tommy travels, but they had nothing on Sal.
 
That man was out of town more than he was in
town.
 
Now he hasn’t gone anywhere in a
month?
 
Damn, Gem.
 
You should leave his ass more often.”

Gemma
laughed.
 
“You sound like my father.
 
He said the same thing.”

“But you
know what it means?” Trina asked.
 
“It
means Reno was right when he said business people know how to move things
around so that they can be where they want to be.
 
Sal wants to be here with you, so he’s here
with you.”

“Oh,
please,” Gemma said.
 
“You’re always
quoting Reno.
 
Reno can do no wrong in
your eyes.”

“And what
about you?
 
Sal can do no wrong in your
eyes, even when he does wrong.”

Gemma knew
Trina spoke the truth.
 
She knew she was
taking a serious risk by giving Sal this second chance.
 
But it was the right decision as far as she
was concerned.
 
Regardless of what
anybody on this earth said about it, she believed they were going to make
it.
 
She believed Sal was worth it in
spades.

Sal drove
behind Gem to their home, where he ditched his car, got behind the wheel of her
still-new smelling Aston-Martin, and took her dancing.
 
Not to some wild joint frequented by wild
teenagers, but he took her to a jazz supper club where the dancing was slow and
sensual and almost every song required a slow-drag.

Gemma was
the youngest person in the entire place, but she didn’t mind.
 
She wasn’t much of a dancer, anyway, and Sal
was too much of one.
 
This was his idea
of a compromise.

And after
dancing, instead of getting in their car and driving home, he took her hand and
they walked in the park across from the jazz club.

It was a
beautiful night, with a clear blue sky, and the leaves ruffled beneath their
feet as if they were treading on four-leaf clovers.
 
Sal had his arm around her waist, and Gemma
had her head resting on his shoulder, and they walked and walked like two star-crossed
kids in love for the first time.

By the time
they found a bench in front of a lake, Sal sat down but Gemma removed her
sandals and walked to the water’s edge.
 
Sal was immediately concerned.

“Be
careful,” he said as he folded his legs.
 
He watched her closely.
 
“Don’t
get too close.”

“It’s so
peaceful out here,” Gemma said.
 
“All
these years I’ve lived in Las Vegas and I’ve never once been to this park.”

“You’ve
never been to that jazz club either,” Sal said.

“That’s
true,” Gemma said with a smile as she moved closer to the water’s edge.

“Get back
some, Gemma,” Sal said.
 
“I don’t feel
like dragging the river looking for you tonight.”

Gemma
laughed.
 
“What river?” she asked.

“You’re too
close to the water,” he said.
 
“Get
back.”

“Yes,
Daddy,” Gemma said with a smile.

Sal
grinned.
 
“I like the sound of that.
 
Call me that all the time.”

“You wish,”
Gemma responded, and then walked back toward the bench.
 
Sal looked so splendid to her in his tailored
suit, that she couldn’t help it.
 
She
made it up to the bench and kissed him.
 
Then sat down beside him.

He snuggled
her against him.
 
It was a breezy
night.
 
“Warm enough?” he asked her.

“I’m good,
thanks.
 
It’s such a beautiful night,
Sal.”

“Yes, it
is.
 
A fantastic night.”

“We never do
anything like this.”

“You’re
enjoying yourself?” Sal asked.

“Very
much.
 
It beats skating.”

“Don’t
remind me,” Sal said with a chuckle.
 
“We’ll do more things like this I’ve been neglecting to do with you,
Gemma.
 
I’ve been so busy running around
the country giving my best to everybody else, I neglected to give my best to
you.
 
That’s going to change.”

Then there
was a long pause.
 
“I have something I
need to tell you, Gem,” Sal said.
 
“Something I’ve never told anybody in my life.
 
Not even Tommy.
 
But it’s weighing heavily on me.
 
I feel you have a right to know.”

Gemma’s
heart began to squeeze.
 
Was it another
woman?
 
She looked up at him.
 
“What is it, Sal?”

“When I talk
about my men, and when I go out of town?”

Gemma
hesitated.
 
“Yes?” she asked.

“It’s an
organization,” Sal said.
 
He looked at
her.
 
“I’m the boss of that
organization.”

Gemma stared
at him.
 
She could feel the fear rise up
within her, the same fear she felt when she left Sal that night.
 
“Tell me what you mean, Sal.”

Sal
exhaled.
 
“I run a syndicate of men,
Gemma.
 
Mob guys.
 
And I’m their boss.”

Gemma’s
heart began hammering.
 
“What are you
saying, Sal?
 
Are you telling me that
you’re a mob boss?”

Sal hated to
admit it, but he knew he had to.
 
“It’s
not the term I’d use,” he said, “but it’s the correct term.
 
I’m a mob boss, Gemma,” he admitted out loud
for the first time in his life.
 
And then
he looked at Gemma.
 
Her expression was
so unreadable that it worried him.
 
Especially when she began to cry.

“Oh, Gem,”
Sal said, holding her.
 
“Don’t be upset,
darling.
 
I don’t do anything I don’t
have to do.
 
I’m not into any illegal
trade.
 
And I’ll always keep that world
separate from our world.
 
I promise you
that.” He handed her his handkerchief.
 
“Don’t be upset.”

Gemma was
sniffling.
 
“I’m not upset,” she said as
she wiped her eyes.
 
“I’m not crying
because I’m upset.
 
I’m crying because
I’m happy.”

“Please
don’t,” Sal started to say, but then he stopped and realized what she had just
said.
 
“Say what now?” he asked.
 
“You’re
happy
?”

Gemma nodded
her head.
 
“Yes, Sal.
 
I’m happy.”