Tommy Gabrini: The Grace Factor (19 page)

Finally she looked up.
 
Both men were staring at her.
 
“They don’t play by the rules,” she
said.
 
“So why should I?”
 
She looked at Tommy.
 
“I need your help, Tommy,” she said.

Tommy’s heart soared.
 
The old Grace would have never went down this
road.
 
She would have lost her company,
but at least she would have lost it honorably.
 
But there was no honor in losing, as far as Tommy was concerned, when
the fuckers playing with you were rigging the game.
 
Grace understood that now.
 
“Tell me what you need,” he said to her.

“They have Sonny Lockett,” she
said.
 
“I’ve got to have Flex-Martin.”

And early that Monday morning, when
she walked into that hastily arranged board meeting, she understood just how
accurate Barry’s intel was.
 
Because it
wasn’t a standard board meeting as the phone call had suggested.
 
“They want to iron out a few details,” the
vice chairman’s secretary phoned and told Grace’s secretary.
 
Grace was chairman of the board, and her
secretary, rightly, asked why she needed to attend the meeting if it was just
to iron out minor matters.
 
When the
secretary said that Grace would nonetheless be needed, she knew Barry was right
on.
 
It was the day of the hostile
takeover.
 
The bylaws suggested that all
shareholders had to be present, or at least their views represented, before any
votes could be cast.
 

Grace sat at the head of the
table.
 
The vice-chairman, Roy
Fitzpatrick, sat at the other head.
 
And
he did all of the talking.
 
“We are going
to vote today,” he said, “on whether or not we should sell Trammel to the
highest bidder, and split the profits from that sale accordingly.”

Everybody in the room looked at Grace
expecting a serious objection.
 
Most of
them never liked her at the helm anyway, since she was never in the blue-blood
class like they were.
 
They were all too
happy to see her defeated.
 
They expected
her to raise a stink that morning.
 
Some
even joked that they were going to wear bullet-proof vests to the meeting just
in case Grace came out firing.
 
But, to
their complete and utter surprise, Grace didn’t object at all.
 
She didn’t raise so much as her hand.
 
And the vote was taken.

“As you can see,” Roy said with glee
in his eyes.
 
“We have forty-nine percent
of the vote.
 
You, Grace, unfortunately,
have your forty-eight percent.
 
Since
Flex-Martin will abstain, the motion to sell Trammel has carried.
 
We are going to sell Trammel to the highest
bidder. Which means, we’ve won.
 
Which
means, you’ve lost.”

“There are three votes outstanding,”
Grace said.
 
“And as chairman of this
board, they must be represented.”

“They are,” Roy said.
 
“I told you.
 
Danny Martin, chairman and CEO of Flex-Martin, has represented to me, by
proxy, that his company will be abstaining from the vote today.”

Grace pressed a button.
 
“Send him in, please,” she said into the
intercom.
 
Then she looked at Roy
again.
 
“The bylaws make clear that voting,
or abstaining to vote by proxy, cannot supersede voting in person.”

The door to the board room opened,
and Tommy walked in.
 

When Tommy walked in, there was a
collective look of shock, some awe.
 
Tommy Gabrini once ran the Trammel board.
 
Everybody on that board knew that Tommy
Gabrini didn’t play games.
 
If he was
there, he was there to make sure whatever game they were playing, would failed.

“I’m sure you all know my husband,
Tommy Gabrini,” Grace said.
 
She meant to
correct herself, and add the
ex
to
it, but a board member jumped in before she had the chance to correct the
record.

“Don’t you mean your
ex
-husband?” the female board member
pointed out, with a very nice-nasty smile.

“She meant what she said,” Tommy
said, and the lady’s smile left.
 
“I’m
here for one reason only.
 
And I’ll be
very brief.
 
I’ve purchased the Flex-Martin
shares.”
 
He tossed the paperwork onto
the table.
  
“And I am casting my vote
against the sale of Trammel.
 
I am also
officially giving my shares to my wife,” he added with emphasis, looking at the
female who had objected, “Grace Gabrini.”
 
He tossed additional paperwork onto the table to show the transfer.

“Which means,” Grace said, looking at
a devastated Roy, “that the motion to sell Trammel has failed.
 
Which also means,” Grace added, “that I am
now in possession of fifty-one percent of the Trammel stock.”

Grace stood up.
 
“I am once again majority stakeholder.
 
And I assure you, I will never be in the
minority again.”

Grace left the board room.
 
She didn’t feel victorious.
 
She just didn’t like to be
double-crossed.
 
But it was a victory for
Tommy.
 
Because he could rest assured
knowing that Grace now fully understood how to handle a double-cross, and that
she had to beat them at their own game.
 
It was a tough lesson, but he was pleased she learned it.
 
He smiled as he walked out.

And over the next several months,
Tommy and Grace remained all smiles.
 
They dated each other and loved one another’s company.
 
They informed Destiny that they were on
again, and she was as thrilled as they were.
 
She didn’t understand the ramifications, just that she would see her
father more often.
 
But that was all she
wanted to know.

All remained well with them until one
day, the day before their trip to Vegas to re-introduce Grace to the Gabrini
family, Liz Logan walked into the Gabrini Corporation in downtown Seattle, and
asked to see the chairman.

Tommy was in his office, sitting at
his conference table with two of his assistants, when his secretary walked in.

“Place a moratorium on overseas travel
until those expense logs are current,” Tommy was saying to one of his
assistants.
 
“If any member of my senior
staff has a problem with it, you tell them to come see me.”

“Will the moratorium include the
Vegas office, sir?”

“No.
 
My brother handles Vegas.
 
But I
don’t want another travel dime leaving this office until it’s handled.”

“I’ll get right on it, sir,” the
assistant said as she stood up, gathered up her IPad, and began leaving.

“What about the Miami merger, sir?”
his second assistant asked.
 
“The finance
department says their numbers are sound.”

“Get a team to study that
proposal.
 
I’m not sold.
 
Tell them I want a report on my desk when I
return on Monday.
 
If I end up merging
with a company that’s cooking the books and creating false positives, that
company won’t be the only ones with hell to pay.
 
I’ll fire every asshole on that team.”

“Yes, sir,” his second assistant
said, stood with her stack of folders, and left the office too.

It was only then did Tommy look at
his secretary.
 
“Whoever’s out there,
tell them I’m busy.”

“I did, sir,” the secretary informed
him.
 
“But she insists.”

“She?” Tommy asked.
 
“Who?”

“Miss Logan.
 
Miss Liz Logan.”

Tommy was surprised.
 
What in the world would she want?
 
He hadn’t seen her since he left Syria nearly
nine months ago.
 
“Where is she?”

“In the waiting room, sir.”

“Bring her in.”

“Yes, sir.”

When his secretary walked out, Tommy
leaned back in his chair.
 
His legs were
crossed, his suit coat was off.
 
He was
relaxed.
 
And even when Liz walked
through his door, he remained relaxed.
 
He saw her the way he saw all of his ex-lovers: as his ex.

“Hi, Tommy,” she said with a big
smile as she made her way to the conference table.
 
“Don’t you look attractive.”

“Hi,” he said, standing to his
feet.
 
She leaned over and they
cheek-kissed.
 
“Have a seat.”

“Thank you, thank you.”
 
Liz was surprised that he didn’t comment on
how great she looked.
 
She went all-out
for this meeting.

But Tommy had eyes for only one woman
now, and he didn’t play games about it.
 
“What brings you to Seattle?” he asked as he sat down too.

“I’m on the go again, but I wanted to
check in with you first.”

That sounded like an odd way to put
it to Tommy.
 
“Check in about what?” he
asked her.

“What do you think, Tommy?” Liz said
with a smile.
 
“I wanted to check in
about you, about me.
 
About us.”

Tommy studied her.
 
“What do you mean?”

“I mean you and me.
 
I know we’ve had our difficulties in the
past, but I think our time away from each other has been a good thing.”

Tommy continued to lean back, his
chair on two legs, as he watched her.
 
“Liz, what are you talking about?
 
There is no you and me, and you know it.
 
So why are you here?”

“I’m here to see you.
 
I’m here to let you know that I think we
should give this another try.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Why would you say that?
 
Why not?”

“I’m not available,” he said.
 
“That’s why.”

Liz smiled.
 
“You mean you’ve been seeing other
people?
 
So what?
 
So have I.
 
That doesn’t mean we can’t try to rekindle what we had.
 
We had something good going on, Tommy.
 
Nobody can top that.”

“I’m not available, Liz,” he said
again.

Then Liz smiled.
 
And shook her head.
 
“Are you telling me it’s true?”

Tommy felt as if he had missed
something.
 
“What’s true?”

“That you went back to your ex-wife.
 
That you and Grace are dating again.”

Tommy nodded.
 
“It’s true.”

“But why, Tommy?
 
Why would you go back to that witch?”

“Watch it, Liz,” Tommy said.
 
“I mean it.
 
Watch it.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t mean to offend the . . . I didn’t
mean to offend her.
 
But I don’t get
it.
 
You want her because I have a
life?
 
You want her because I know how to
live my life?
 
Is that what this is
about, Tommy?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Tommy said.
“This is about far more than you and your wants.
 
Grace is a wonderful lady.
 
She’s a wonderful mother.
 
She’s the woman I love and, if she’ll have
me, she’s the woman I want above any woman alive to spend the rest of my life
with.”

But Liz still was unconvinced.
 
“Oh, I see.
 
She’s a good little mother to your cute little child.
 
That makes it all alright.
 
Well, my life has not been easy like that,
Tommy.
 
She’s had it easy, and so have
you.”

Tommy frowned.
 
“Easy?”

“Yes, easy!
 
Compared to me, yes!
 
I’ve had to scratch and claw for everything I
have.
 
Everything!
 
I didn’t sit around like Grace and be handed
a company.
 
I didn’t sit around like you
and let my daddy fuck me to get ahead in this life.
 
I made my own way!”

She realized the gravity of what she
had just spoken, not by the words she had said, but by the look on Tommy’s
face.
 
It was as if his anger and his
disappointment mixed together and left him stunned with alarm.
 
He could not believe she had uttered those
words.
 
“You didn’t sit around and let
your daddy fuck you?” Tommy asked.
 
He
rose to his feet.
 
“You didn’t sit around
and let your daddy fuck you?”

“I didn’t mean it the way it
sounded,” Liz said, rising too.

“Are you suggesting I allowed that to
happen?”
 
Tommy asked her.
 
“Are you suggesting I welcomed that abuse?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Liz said
regretfully.
 
She wanted to explain.
 
But even she knew that horse had already left
the barn.

And Tommy was livid.
 
“I was a fucking child when that grown-ass
man started touching me!” he yelled.
 
“What the fuck do you suggest I should have done?
 
Fought him off?
 
I was a child!”

“Tommy, I didn’t mean it.
 
I didn’t mean it!
 
I’m just a little frustrated, alright?
 
I didn’t mean it like that.
 
I just think our relationship can still be
salvaged.
 
If you accept me for who I am,
and I accept you for who you are, we can still make this work.”

“What are you talking about?
 
Make what work?
 
I told you I’m not available.
 
That should be the end of the conversation.
 
You made your choice, and I made mine.”

“But you can do better than her.
 
Don’t you see that?”

“No,” Tommy said bluntly.
 
“Because it’s not true.
 
I cannot do better than Grace.”

Liz was puzzled.
 
“What does she have that I don’t have?” she
asked.
 
“Why would you want her over
me?
 
I want you back, Tommy.”

“I told you I’m not available, especially
to a woman who would throw my childhood in my face just to prove some point.”

“I was trying to get you to see that
any man should be happy to have me.
 
I’m
self-made, Tommy!
 
Men want me!”

“Then go and enjoy your life with one
of those men.”

“But I don’t want them.
 
I want you!”

“But I don’t want you, Liz,” Tommy
said.
 
“Understand that.
 
I have who I want.
  
There is no two ways about it.
 
There is no maybe about it.
 
Grace is the woman I want.
 
You were right about that.
 
She’s the woman I’ve wanted, and needed, all
along.”

“That’s bullshit!” Liz said.
 
“Because if you never wanted me, then why did
you stick around?
 
Hun, Tommy?
 
Why were you still sticking around?
 
We both saw the writing on the wall long
before Syria.
 
We both knew how different
we were.
 
But why did you stay with me?
You’re known as Hit and Run Tommy.
 
Why
didn’t you hit and run with me?”

She wanted brutal honesty, Tommy
thought, he was going to be brutally honest.
 
“Because I felt I owed you,” he said.
 
“When our relationship began to sour, I stayed around because I felt I
owed you.”

Liz frowned.
 
“You owed me?
 
For what?”

“For saving my life.”

“For saving your life?
 
You don’t owe me for that!
 
I would have done the same thing for a
stranger in trouble!”

Tommy nodded.
 
“I know that now,” he said.
 
“I didn’t know it then. I know it’s in your
DNA to risk your life for others.
 
That’s
why you thrive in war zones.
 
That’s why
you didn’t bring your ass home from a hellish place like Syria until now.”

“Oh, I see.
 
So now that you know you don’t owe me
anymore, since you saved my life too, after all, you figure you can just kick
me to the curb?”

“That had nothing to do with it, and
you know it.”

But it was as if she didn’t hear
him.
 
“Is that your mo., Tommy?” she
continued.
 
“That’s what I heard after I
hooked up with you.
 
All kinds of people
were telling me to watch out. Tommy Gabrini was not the kind of man who
committed to anybody.
 
They said you
didn’t know how to treat a woman’s heart.
 
Now I see how right they were.”

“Yeah, sure, Liz.
 
That’s the reason we didn’t make it.
 
The fact that I refuse to be involved with a
woman who enjoy putting herself in dangerous situations over and over again
when she doesn’t have to put herself in any of those hot spots don’t have shit
to do with it.
 
The fact that I am not
interested in a globetrotting superwoman is irrelevant to our decline.”

“I was globetrotting when you met me,
Tommy.
 
And yes, I said I was going to
ease up.
 
Yes, I said I was going to keep
it stateside and see if we can make our relationship work.
 
But staying in the safe confines of my office
far away from the action is not me.
 
It’s
not who I am, Tommy!
 
I don’t want to be
some bullshit housewife and mother.
 
I
want more out of life than that.
 
Am I
wrong?”

Liz seemed genuinely confused by why
he wouldn’t want a go-getter like her.
 
She just didn’t get it.
 
“You’re
not wrong,” Tommy said to her.
 
“You are
who you are, and you shouldn’t change for me or anybody else.
 
But I’m who I am too, Liz.
 
And I want what I want, I told you that
before.”

“But who do you want, Tommy?
 
Who do you truly want?
 
Grace?
 
Is that who you truly want?
 
I
mean, really?
 
I’m not bragging, but what
could that woman possibly have that I don’t have?
 
Men are banging down my door.
 
You just don’t know.
 
You’re the only man banging down
Grace’s.
 
For real, though.”