Page 6 of Tommy Gabrini: All Fall Down
They were both groaning as they kissed. But the more Tommy prepared Grace down below with his fingers and then moved to her breasts with his mouth, she began to think that her goal of getting to the office early wasn’t going to happen.
And when he entered her, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Because Tommy was ferocious. He had to have it and was not going to be denied.
What Grace loved about it was that Tommy had a way of making it feel as if they were making love for the very first time. All over again. Their coupling never failed to achieve that kind of specialness.
And when it became too intense, Tommy turned Grace onto her back, got on top, entered her again, and took total command. He took them all the way over. For nearly an hour they stayed on the other side. Going slow. Speeding up. slowing back down. They could never get enough of each other. And by the time they came, they came together. They were laboring to breath when they finished. It had been that intense.
After several more minutes, Tommy finally eased out of Grace and then rolled off of her. But he still didn’t have enough of just being with her. Of seeing her again. Of smelling her sweet scent again. He missed her more every time he was away from her. He pulled her back on top of him, and into his arms.
As he held her, and as they both were still coming down from the heights of their love, what his driver had said to him kept creeping back into his memory. But when Grace lifted up her head and looked into his eyes, and that sincerity he loved shone through, he knew he was not going to go there. She was not that kind of woman and he’d stake his life on that belief.
Besides, she always told him everything.
She would eventually tell him about that visit to her employee’s house too. It was just a matter of time.
Grace smiled at Tommy, and they kissed again. “How was your trip?” she asked him.
“Better than expected.”
“You reached an agreement?”
“The framework for one, yes.”
“Well that’s good to hear.”
“Yes it is for a change.”
Then she smiled again, kissed him on his nose, and then laid her head back down on his chest.
And although her plans of going to the office early that day were already up in smoke, she was happy. She had Tommy back. Instead of grueling it out at work, she fell asleep in his arms instead.
CHAPTER TWO
But by late that afternoon, everything had changed. Grace had showered again and left for work. The children had gone to school. And Tommy was still in bed, catching up on his sleep, when he was called to Trammel Trucking, Grace’s corporation, for an emergency board meeting. The only information he was given was that an expansion decision had been finalized without board approval or authorization.
Tommy had business to attend to at his own corporation, and had every intention of going to his own office once he got up. He even attempted to phone Grace to find out what was going on.
But he couldn’t reach her. Her phone was off, which meant she was tied up in meetings of her own. He could have phoned her secretary, but he didn’t go that far. As chairman of her board of directors, he knew he had no choice but to go over to Trammel and find out what was happening. But in the back of his mind was her new chief of operations, and if he had any hand in this unique situation.
After showering and dressing and making his way over to Trammel, he was already not in the best mood. But when he walked into that boardroom and saw Grace seated side by side with Orenthal “Orrie” Neal, her new COO, as if they were in some kind of cabal just the two of them, Tommy was convinced this was all Orrie’s doing. He was trying to manipulate Grace into his way of running a business, which was always aggressive, and Tommy was pissed.
He was also pissed that the meeting was already contentious before he’d had a chance to gavel it into session. But when everybody saw that the chairman had entered the room, the bickering ceased. Tommy sat at the head of the table and called the meeting to order.
Everybody tried to talk at once, although Orrie and the vice-chairman were the two that were really going at it. Instead of shutting it down, Tommy let them keep at it. Because he wanted to take the measure of this new addition to Trammel. He was a black man of above-average height with that kind of overly-muscular body that turned women on. His hair was trimmed to-the-skull low, giving off a conservative businessman vibe, and although he wore a very nice Armani suit, it was unremarkable compared to the tailored suits Tommy favored. But it was his face, with that deep-dark-toned skin, those pearly-white teeth, and sparkles in his alluring eyes that elevated him. He had charisma in spades. And Grace, Tommy noticed, agreed with everything her new COO was saying, and she was defending him vigorously, as if she was already under his spell.
“I’m not attacking his character, Grace,” said the vice-chairman. “I’m simply questioning his judgment. Our totals are down year-over-year and I don’t see anything to suggest that fact is going to be changing any time soon. But yet he’s talking about an expansion into southern markets that could rip away the little profits we’re barely receiving as it is.”
“It’s a bold, audacious plan,” Orrie said, “I’ll admit it’s a bold plan.”
“Bold isn’t the word I’d use,” said another board member. “Risky is the better word.”
“Okay, let’s take that word then,” said Orrie. Tommy noticed how Grace was watching him and holding onto his every word. “Let’s call it a bold, risky plan. But if our plan succeeds the rewards, ladies and gentlemen, will be astronomical.”
“And if it fails it’ll be the end of Trammel,” said Tommy. And when Tommy finally spoke, everybody looked and listened. “We aren’t taking that risk.”
Orrie was a daring man, and a very self-confident one, but he wasn’t about to mix it up with Tommy Gabrini. He knew his history. He knew his mob ties. He looked to Grace to handle Tommy.
“Have you even looked at the expansion plans, Tommy?” Grace asked him.
