Tommy Gabrini 3: Grace Under Fire (The Gabrini Men Series) (16 page)

Alex
couldn’t believe it.
 
She was as angry as
she was upset.
 
She turned on her heels,
and stomped off.

Tommy
was relieved that she was gone, but he also didn’t want Grace to
misunderstand.
 
He looked at her.
 
“Just so we’re clear,” he said, “and I hate
to admit it, but she was, before I met you, someone with whom I had a
relationship.
 
A sexual relationship.”

“I
know,” Grace said.
 
“I just didn’t want
to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I know.”

Tommy
reared his head back with laughter.
 
Then
he pointed at his wife.
 
“You’re
ruthless,” he said.

“And
don’t you forget that,” she said, with a smile of her.

After
visiting shops along the Champs-Elysees, near their hotel, they took a slow,
lingering stroll along the gardens of the Jardin des Tuileries, with Tommy
pleased by Grace’s response to such beauty.
 
That was what it was about for him.
 
Grace.
 
She was the reason he
found it all so pleasurable.
 
After the
gardens, they toured the Musee de l’Orangerie museum, where Grace was able to
see, for the first time, Claude Monet’s famous water lily paintings.
 
They walked the park like two teenage lovers,
hand in hand, taking pictures of sculptures and the fountains.
 
It was, for both of them, the best beginning
of the week they’d had in a very long time.

And
thus began their week long trek across Paris.
 
Over the course of the week, they toured the Cathedral of Notre-Dame on
the Ile de la Cite.
 
They saw the Portal
of the Virgin, the high-vaulted nave, learned the history behind the country’s
largest organ.
 
They climbed nearly
three-hundred steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, with Grace recalling a
movie she once saw of the same name with Anthony Hopkins.
 
Arch of Triumph.
 
She beamed, Tommy thought, while she was
there.
 
And Tommy felt possessive of her
during their entire journey, as he kept his arm around her waist seemingly the
entire time.
 
This was his woman, and he
seemed to want the world to know.

They
saw the Pantheon, the Saint-Chapelle, Napoleon’s Tomb at the Eglise du Dome
Church at the Hotel des Invalides.
 
They
journeyed to the Eiffel Tower by night, admired the Mona Lisa at the Musee du
Louvre by day, and was in awe at the basilica of the Sacre-Coeur.

And
on their last night there, when they took a private yacht along the Seine
river, Tommy felt as if he could stay there forever.
 
He was leaned back on the back of the stern,
and Grace was seated between his legs leaned against him.
 

“Can
we stay?” he asked his wife.

Grace
smiled.
 
“I have a business to run and
you have an international corporation to run.
 
What do you think?”

“Let’s
sell them,” Tommy said jokingly, “and come back here to stay.”

“The
day you sell the Gabrini Corporation will not be a day at all.
 
And you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because
it’ll never happen.
 
The Gabrini
Corporation, and all of its seemingly endless business ventures, will live on
forever.”

Tommy
laughed.
 
Grace had never seen him laugh
so much.
 
Then he wrapped his arms around
her.
 
She looked up at him over her
shoulder.

And
when Tommy saw those big, brown eyes of hers, his usual control broke.
 
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened
to me, Grace,” he said to her.

Grace’s
heart soared.
 
“Oh, Tommy, how sweet!”

“You
believe in me.
 
Even when those females
tried to convince you otherwise.
 
Even
when a man I thought was a friend of mine tried to tarnish my reputation.”

“Tommy
Gabrini preferring men?
 
Come on.
 
Nobody’s going to believe that.”

“But
you believed in me,” Tommy said.
 
“Through it all.
 
I’ll never
forget that, Grace.
 
Not ever.
 
I made the right decision marrying you.
 
You’re the one.
 
I probably knew it from the moment we
met.
 
You’ve made me the kind of man I
never thought I was capable of being.”

Tears
were in Grace’s eyes.
 
“What kind of man
is that?”

“A
committed man.
 
I’m committed to you.”

Grace
turned around and faced her husband.
 
And
he kissed her.
 
And that did it.
 
For both of them.
 
They tried to wait for the nightly fireworks
display.
  
They tried to hang in
there.
 
But that kiss, and the feelings
it ignited in them, made it impossible.

He
stood up and took her by the hand.
 
And
they went below deck to the private cabin.
 
Above them was the glass roof, with the skies of Paris all around them,
below them was a bed just big enough for the two of them.
 

Once
the door was closed, and they were naked in that bed, Grace straddled Tommy
backwards.
 
He was lying on his back, and
was rubbing her lovely tight ass, as she bent over, took his penis in her
hands, and began licking it.

He
groaned as she gave him the kind of head that always aroused him.
 
He was stiff within seconds.
 
And when she put it in her mouth, and took it
in full, he stretched out his legs and tightened his butt as the intensity took
him there.

“Oh,
love,” he kept saying, as she kept licking and jerking and
doing
him.
 
He placed his
fingers between her legs, and massaged her clit, and Grace felt the tingle even
as she felt the exhilaration of making her man hard.

And
Tommy was getting harder and harder.
 
So
hard that his veins were showing.
 
It
felt good to both of them.
 
But just as
Grace wanted dick, Tommy wanted pussy.
 
Hers
.
 
He parted her and moved her ass closer to his face, and he ate her liberally.
 
He licked her clit, and sucked her juices,
and caused her to spasm within minutes.
 
Tommy had great control, and hang time, but Grace didn’t.
  
And he knew she didn’t.

That
was why, when she was beginning to
 
arch
and was obviously on the verge of cum, he sat
 
her up, and then laid her down on top of him, with her back lying down
on his chest.
 
He opened her legs, guided
his dick to her slit, and thrust into her.
 
They both sighed as that grand entry, in this grand city, captivated
them.
 

And
they made long, slow love on the river Seine.
 
Tommy held onto Grace as he fucked her, and Grace lifted her arms and
placed them over his head as her small body rocked and rolled to the flow of
the river and the masterly gyrations of Tommy Gabrini.
 

For
nearly two hours they made love.
 
It was
the most relaxing fuck either of them had ever had.
 
Tommy kept the rhythm slow.
 
He kept the feelings on the edge of cum the
entire time.
 
He was so in control that
he controlled both of them.
 

He smoothed
his hands along her wet, glistening brown body as he pushed deeper into her,
until he was hitting her spot.
 
But even
then he kept it slow.
 
He stroked her
with deliberation.
 
She was on her back,
on top of him, and she was his.
 
He
didn’t want anybody else.
 
Grace gave him
everything he wanted.
 

He
moved his hands up to her breasts, and squeezed them hard, as he fucked
her.
 
And when they were ready to go
over, they went over together.
 
Just when
the fireworks began to fill the skies of Paris, they went over.
 
Through the glass roof of their cabin they
could see the sparkle.
 
And they
smiled.
 
And Tommy’s gyrations increased.
 
And soon he was pounding her, and rocking her
body pound for pound, until they were completely on the other side.
 

They
were in Paris.
 

They
were in love.
 

They
were achingly, wondrously, deliriously happy.

THIRTEEN

Back
in Seattle, it was back to business as usual.
 
Back to work.
 
But they both felt
refreshed.
 

They
got out of bed, showered together and dressed together, ate toast and drank
coffee, and left the house at the same time.
 
Tommy walked her to her Audi, opened the door for her.
 
When she got into the car and pressed down
the window, he smiled.

“Do
we have to?” he said.

She
laughed.
 
“Yes, we have to!”

“Hopefully
Sal hasn’t been too hard on them.”

“Harder
than you?
 
Not a chance.”

“What
do you mean?
 
I’m a softie.”

“Yeah,
right,” Grace said with laughter.
 
“Believe that if you want!”

Tommy
laughed too.
 
“Have a good day.”

“You
too, baby,” Grace said. He kissed her, and then watched her back up and drive
away.

Tommy
got into his Ferrari, and pulled out too, but he wasn’t on the road a good
couple minutes before his cell phone was ringing.
 
When he realized who it was, he frowned.
 
But he answered it. “Yes?” he said.

“I
was thinking about you.
 
Thought I’d give
you a call.”

Tommy
didn’t respond.

“So
how are you?”

“What
do you want, Alex?”

“I
told you what I wanted!
 
When, not if,
but when you cheat on that so-called wife of yours, I want you to call me
first.
 
Or, better still, why don’t we
hook up later today?”

“I’m
not in Paris anymore, and even if I was you’d be the last soul on earth I would
want to hook up with.”

“As
luck would have it, I’m right here in Seattle.”
 
She spoke as if Tommy had not just dissed her.
 
“So, you see, you can come over and get what
you used to crave and you can get it with little or no effort.
 
Right now.
 
All you have to do is come to me.”

Tommy
shook his head.
 
This woman was
delusional.
 
“I’d rather go to a
man-eating shark.
 
Now leave me the hell
alone, Alex, and especially leave my wife alone!”
 
And Tommy ended the call.

Alex
Dawse, sitting in her SUV, looked at her cell phone and then threw it onto the
passenger seat.
 
“I gave you a chance,”
she said, cranking up.
 
“You can’t say I
didn’t.
 
I gave you a chance!”
 
Then she placed the shift into gear, and sped
away.

Just
as Tommy was ending his call with Alex, Grace was starting hers with
Jamie.
 
She was on her way to Trammel,
and was checking in with her best friend.

“Nothing
to report,” he reported.
 
“It was as if
time stood still while you were gone.”

Grace
smiled.
 
“Not where I was, however.”

“You
had a ball, girl?”

“Oh,
yes.
 
It was wonderful, Jamie.
 
Just wonderful.
 
And Tommy, I’ve never seen him more relaxed
and happy.”

“He
was with his baby, why wouldn’t he be happy?”

Grace
smiled.
 
“What can I say?”

Jamie
laughed.

“Anyway,
let me go,” he said.
 
“I’ll call you
back.
 
I’ve got customers.
 
Unlike some of us, I actually have to do real
work for a living.”

“Forget
you,” Grace said with a smile, they said their goodbyes, and then hung up.

Just
as she was about to make another turn, her phone rang.
 
When she saw that it was Tommy, she
smiled.
 
“Hello there!”

“I
miss you.”

Grace
laughed.
 
“You just saw me, Tommy.
 
You cannot possibly be that horny already.”

“I
miss you.
 
Your goodies too,” he said to
laughter from her, “but mainly you.
 
Let’s go dancing tonight.”

Grace
smiled.
 
“Dancing?”

“Why
not?”

Grace
had to nod her head.
 
“Yeah,” she
said.
 
“Why not?
 
Although, as I’m sure you already know, I’m a
pretty good---”

As
Grace’s Audi turned a corner, an SUV she didn’t realize had been following her
suddenly dashed from behind her, and sped up beside her.
 
When she looked over and saw that it was that
same woman from Paris, that Alex Dawse behind the wheel, smiling at her, her
heart raced.
 
She was in Seattle?
 
That was her first thought.
 
But before she could even formulate a second
thought, the SUV sped up even faster and swerved, slamming the front end of
Grace’s car, and sending it into an out-of-control tailspin.
 

Tommy
heard the loud slam.
 
“What was that?” he
asked, but Grace couldn’t respond.
 
Because her car was now spinning wildly, and she was trying to correct,
but she was overcorrecting.
 

And then
her car wheel slammed against a curb, lost traction, and became airborne.
  
“Tommy!” she screamed.
 
“Tommy!”

His
heart nearly stopped.
  
“Grace?” he
yelled.
 
“Grace?
 
Grace
!”

But
there was no response as the Audi careened down a steep embankment, flipping
over and over and over again, until it crashed landed near a ravine.
 
Gasoline began to leak.

Tommy’s
heart was pounding, but he kept his wits about him.
 
He pressed off the GPS coordinates he had for
his Ferrari, and pressed on the coordinates he kept for his wife’s Audi.
 
He had it installed for her protection, but
he had hoped he would never have to use it.
 
But she had stopped responding to his yells.
 
He pulled it up, pinpointed where she was,
and took off.
 
He was five minutes away,
but given the way he was driving, going nearly a hundred miles per hour, he got
there in less than one.

A
young patrolman had already arrived, and was just getting out of his
vehicle.
 
He was talking into the radio
on his shoulder, calling for backup and the fire department, when Tommy jumped
from his Ferrari.
 
When he saw his wife’s
Audi, smashed at the bottom of the embankment, his heart raced with fear.
 
And he began to head down the trail.

But
the patrolman attempted to pull him back. “It’s going to blow, mister,” he
said.
 
“Wait for the fire department. You
can’t go down there!”

But
his wife was down there.
 
Was this fool
crazy?
 
Tommy snatched away from the
young cop and began hurrying down.

“Mister!”
the cop was yelling.
 
“Mister, it’s going
to blow!
 
You can’t go down there,
Mister!”
 

But
Tommy was already going down there, and going further down, as he could think
of nothing, not his own safety, as he raced to save his wife.

When
he got to the car, he saw the gasoline that was leaking faster, and the smoke
billowing up stronger and stronger.
 
And
Grace.
 
She was in the front seat,
slumped sideway toward the passenger seat.
 
Tommy pulled on the door, but it would not yield.
 
He realized he had a key to the car, pulled
it out, and pressed the keypad.
 
It
unlocked, but the driver’s door still would not open.
 
He ran to the passenger side.
 
That door would not open, but Tommy would not
be deterred.
 
He pulled and pulled.
 
He looked at his woman and kicked and
pulled.
 
He refused to let this be her
end.
 
This could not be her end!
 

He
tried to break out the window, with his elbow and arm, with anything he could
find, with his bare fist, but nothing would give. The smoke had now ignited,
and fire began to appear.
 

He
heard the patrolmen and other voices at the top of the embankment, screaming
for him to take cover.
  
“It’s going to
blow!” they kept screaming.
 
“Leave!
 
Leave now!
 
It’s going to blow!”

But
Tommy wasn’t leaving.
 
If Grace was going
to die in this fire, he was going to die in this fire.
 
He tried the break the glass again.
 
He kept pulling on the door again.
 
But nothing would work.
 
And the fire began to rage.

He
fell to his knees, pulling on that door.
 
“Jesus, please help me!” he cried.
 
“Please help me, Lord!
 
Don’t let
her die.
 
Take me, but please don’t let
her die!

And
then, as if the door had never been stubborn to begin with, it easily gave way
and opened.
 

Tommy
slung it open, half slinging it off of its hinge, as he grabbed for his wife to
get her out of there.
 
But her seatbelt
was still buckled and the fire was growing second by second, ready to combust
that very moment.
 
Any fool would have
dived for cover right now.
 
But Tommy
unbuckled Grace’s seatbelt, pulled her out of the car, and ran for cover with
her in his arms.
 
She was out cold, her head
lobbed to the side, and was dead weight in his arms.
 
But he had maniac’s strength as he carried
her.
 
She felt like a feather in his
arms.

He
was barely fifteen feet away when the car exploded in flames, rocking it and
lifting it as if it was a rocket-propelled grenade.
 
Tommy dropped where he stood, and covered his
wife with his own body, as the fire encapsulated the sky.
 

When
the patrolman stood back up again, and looked down the embankment again, after
the explosion, all he could see was red.