Romancing Tommy Gabrini (24 page)

Grace
didn’t want him to think that she doubted his sincerity, but she did as he requested.
 
She Googled his company.
 
“Which article to click on?”

“Pick
your choice,” he said.

Grace
clicked on one.
 
“What am I looking for?”

“Anything
about my net worth.”

Grace
read further.
 
And further.
 
“Here it is,” she said and began
reading.
 
“Gabrini Conglomerate, Thomas
Gabrini’s company, is reported to have a net worth of six hundred million
dollars annually.”
  
Grace looked at
him.
 
She was astounded by that figure.

“Trammel,”
he asked, “brings in how much total revenue a year?”

Grace
didn’t have to think long about that.
 
“About three a year.”

“Three
point six million a year to be exact, with nearly three of that going to
operating costs.
 
Which means it nets
about six hundred thousand a year.
 
My
six hundred million versus Jilly’s six hundred thousand.
 
I’m not bragging, Grace, but I sit on over
half a billion dollars revenue stream annually.
 
Yet you and Jillian assume my sole focus is to gain more control over
little old Trammel.”

Grace
smiled.
 
She already had figured out how
ridiculous that was, even before she knew his astounding net worth.
 

“The
only reason I invested in Trammel to begin with was to help Jillian from losing
the company outright.
 
When I came
onboard there were no takers.
 
Trammel
was about to start bleeding money every year.
 
Even now it’s barely turning a profit. But Jillian’s husband was a good
friend of mine before he passed away.
 
I
know how hard he fought to build that company up from scratch.
 
It was remarkably successful when he was
alive.
 
He’s the only reason I gave that
company a second thought.”

“I
know my shares weren’t the reason.”

“No,
they were not.”
 
Then he exhaled, and
pulled her to him.
 
She sat on his lap
and laid her head against his chest.
 
“But let’s not even go there tonight.
 
I’ve got a business trip coming up and I just want to spend some quiet
time with you.”

“A
business trip?
 
When?”

“If I
can manage it, I want to fly out tomorrow evening.
 
I’ve got to go to Sydney.”

“Australia?”
Grace asked, obviously disappointed.

“Yeah,
that’s the place.
 
But only for a few
days.”
 
He could see her
disappointment.
 
He rubbed her hair.
 
“My travels are something you will definitely
have to get used to, babe.”

“I
know.
 
And I will.
 
It’s just that. . .”

“It’s
just that what?”

“Do
you always go alone on these trips, or are you accustomed to taking a woman
with you?”

Tommy
smiled.
 
“What, you want to go with me?”

“You
know I can’t.
 
I mean your lady friends.”

Tommy
wasn’t going to lie to her.
 
“I usually
go alone, though not always.
 
But I can
tell you this: I haven’t taken another woman with me anywhere, or so much as
touched another woman, since the first time I slept with you.”

Grace
was astounded.
 
She stared at him.
 
“Really?”

“Really.”

“But
why?
 
We both assumed it was going to be
a one-night stand.”

“I
know.
 
But I lost interest.
 
Every time I thought about being with another
woman, I thought about you.
 
And what it
felt like to be with you.
 
And If I
couldn’t have you, then I didn’t want to bother with anybody else.”

Grace
was touched and amazed by his revelation.
 

“So
don’t worry,” he said.
 
“Nobody’s getting
in my pants but you.”

Grace
smiled.
 
“You mean like this?” she asked
as she unzipped his jeans and pulled out his manhood.

Tommy
felt the joy of her touch.
 
“Oh,
baby.
 
That’s exactly what I mean.”
 
And then she slid her body further down, and
began licking him like a lollipop.

He
closed his eyes and sighed as she made him feel so good.

But
just as it started heating up to a point where he knew he was going to have to
stick it in her, his phone rang.

“Fuck
it,” he said to her.
 
“Keep going.”
 
He wasn’t about to interrupt this to answer
any phone call.
 
The feel of her tongue
on his penis felt so warm and soft that he wasn’t about to let this stop.

Then
there was his answering machine intro, a beep, and then a voice he knew so well
came online.

“Tommy,
it’s Trina,” the voice said.

Tommy’s
eyes flew open and his body stiffened.
 
Grace stopped licking and looked up.
 
Apparently this Trina was his favorite female because he immediately
grabbed the phone.
 
Grace sat up.

“Hey,”
he said onto the line.
 
“What’s up?”

Grace
just sat there as Tommy spoke on the phone.
 
Tommy, too, noticed the disappointment in her eyes.
 
She apparently thought Trina was one of his
women.
 

“Of
course I remember,” he said on the phone as he motioned for Grace to come to
him.
 
She came.
 
He pulled her to him and wrapped one arm
around her.
 
She laid her body against
him and placed her head on his chest.
 
She still felt odd, what with all of these women friends of his, but at
least she didn’t feel alone.

Tommy
even placed the call on Speaker once he realized what it was about.
 
“So Little Man will be a year old in a
month-and-a-half?”

“That’s
right,” Trina said on the phone.
 
“But I
want to give you a heads up now so you can save the date.
 
I don’t know a man busier than you who’s ever
been born.
 
So save that date.
 
And not just that date, Tommy, but give us a
week of your time.
 
Come up a week before
the party, that would be great if you can swing it.
 
We miss you.”

Grace’s
body tensed when Trina spoke those words.
 
Tommy pulled her closer.

“I’ll
do that,” he said.
 
“So tell me: how
elaborate will it be?”

“Reno
claims it won’t be elaborate at all, but he’s lying.”
 
Tommy laughed.
 
“He’s gonna go all out and we both know
it.
 
You saw how he went all out for the
Christening.
 
So be prepared.
 
Oh, and before you ask it, the answer is yes,
you may bring a date.
 
As you always do.”

Tommy
laughed again.
 
“Well, thank-you, Mother,
I really do appreciate that.”

“So
you’re going to bring somebody?”

Tommy
looked down at Grace.
 
Grace looked up at
him and smiled, relieved that this Trina, at least, wasn’t one of his
females.
 
He kissed her on the nose.
 
“Yes,” he said.
 
“I’ll be bringing someone.”

“Don’t
tell me: Shanks, right?
 
I knew it!
 
I knew you and ShoShawna would get back
together.
 
Reno’s convinced you kicked
her to the curb for good this last time, but I don’t see it.
 
You guys have such a long and complicated
history together.”

Grace’s
relief deflated again.
 
She could even
feel Tommy’s body tense at the mention of this ShoShawna person.
 

“It
won’t be Shawnie,” he said flatly.

“Oh,”
Trina said.
 
“Well.
 
Reno would say it’s about time.
 
You know how he feels about Shanks.
 
But as long as this new girl is nice and
treats you right, she’s fine by me.
 
Because that’s what you need.
 
Somebody who treats you right, and not just some of the time, but all of
the time.”

“Preach
it, Trina, preach it,” Tommy said with a smile.

Trina
laughed.
 
“Let me get off of this phone,
boy.
 
I’ll see you in six weeks.”

“Okay,
Tree.
 
Tell the gang I said hello.”

“Will
do.
 
Bye, Tommy.”

“Bye,
babe,” Tommy said and killed the call.

There
was a long pause, as he continued to hold Grace.
 
Then he exhaled.
 
“That was my cousin’s wife,” he said.

Grace
had already determined that the caller wasn’t his love interest.
 
“She sounds like a really sweet person.”

“That
she is.
 
I’ve never met a better woman,”
he said fondly.
 
“Although,” he added,
“you’re giving her a run for her money.”

Grace
took her small fist and playfully hit him on his muscular bicep.
 
“Ouch!” she said when she did it.
 
“Your arm feels like steel!”

“That’s
what your ass get for hitting it,” Tommy said with a laugh.

Grace
rubbed her knuckle.
 
Tommy kissed
it.
 
And rubbed it.
 
And then spoke what he knew was really on
Grace’s mind.
 
“She was my fiancée,” he
said.

Grace
looked at him.
 
“ShoShawna?”

“Yes.
 
ShoShawna Shanks.
 
Known to some as Shanks.
 
Known to me as Shawnie.”

“She’s
the one who left you at the altar?”

“She
left me on the day of our wedding, yes.”

“Why
would your cousin’s wife think you’d want to ever get back with a woman like
that, a woman who left you on the day she was supposed to marry you?”

“Because
I did get back with her after that.”

This
surprised Grace.
 
“You did?”

“Yes.”

Grace
stared at Tommy.
 
“She must have been
very special to you.”

“It
was a bad relationship all around, Grace.
 
I wasn’t good for her, and she for damn sure wasn’t good for me.
 
But we kept going back to the train wreck.
 
When I finally broke it off for good it felt
like leaving the scene of a crime.
 
I
just can’t go back there, not ever.”

Grace
placed her arms around his neck.
 
“Stick
with me, boss, and you’ll never have to go back there.”

Tommy
smiled, and then laughed.
 
He pulled her
tightly into his arms.
 

“Now,”
she said when they stopped embracing, “let’s get back to our paperwork, shall
we?”

Tommy
snorted, hoisted her up, and then stood up with her in his arms.
 
“We’ll get back to work,” he said, “but it
won’t involve any paper.”

Grace
smiled with giddy anticipation as he carried her upstairs. His dick, still wet
from her oral, was dangling free as he walked.
 
It was ready to penetrate her now.
 
But he wanted to pleasure her first.

She
already knew that Tommy was a master lover, but she never realized just how
expert until he so deftly undressed her as he carried her to his bedroom.
 
Her pants ended up on the bottom stair and
her panties ended up on the top.
 
He also
lifted off her blouse, leaving it on the landing, and lifted up her bra.
 
By the time he laid her on the bed, he
quickly removed his sweatshirt over his head, stepped out of his shoes, jeans,
and briefs, and crawled on top of her, sucking her breasts as he did.

Grace
never had a lover this ably in her life, and the way he sucked her breasts
astounded her.
 
Her entire body
immediately began to feel seared with passion.
 
He moved his mouth from breast to breast, circling her nipples with his
tongue and taking one hand to squeeze and hold her in that lifted position she
loved.
 
His other hand found her clitoris
and her folds and began rubbing her.