Until You Come Back To Me, Book 5 (21 page)

Reno
stayed awake too.
 
He loved Gemma perhaps
even more than Tommy did.
 
He often spoke
of the special bond he had with Gemma.
 
He knew her first, when he hired her to do some legal work for him, and
he always seemed protective of her.
 
Tommy knew he was anguished too.
 
They had no clues, no more places to search, and their men in the field,
and they had hundreds, kept reporting back with nothing to report.
 
At some point, they knew, they would have to
get the authorities involved.
 
But they
were going to resist that temptation to the bitter end.
 
For a Gabrini to call in the Feds meant
disaster. It meant that it was the fourth quarter, the home team was down by a
touchdown but was sixty yards away from the goal line, and they were throwing a
Hail Mary into the end zone.
 
Calling in
the Feds would be like throwing in the towel.

But
then the front door flew open and Jimmy Mack ran in.
  
“Aunt Gemma’s home!” he screamed.
 
“Aunt Gemma’s home!”

Sal
was gone as soon as he said the word
home
the first time.
 
He ran out of that door,
across the front porch and down the stairs, to the cargo van that Gemma was
just beginning to get out of.
 
His men,
who was guarding his estate, had already protectively surrounded her.
 
It was the kind of news, the kind of sight
that his dreams had been made of.
 
She
was home.
 
Gemma was back.
 
Despite her exhaustion, despite his
exhaustion, they both ran to each other as soon as they laid eyes on each
other.

And
when they met, when they finally were face to face again, they just stood
there, looking at each other, afraid to touch out of fear that it was all a
dream.

Then
Sal touched her face.
 
And she touched
his face.
 
And tears were in their
eyes.
 
Sal lifted her off the ground,
twirled her around as if she was a feather, and then finally stopped long
enough to kiss her.
 
She had already
wiped her mouth of the filth that was Rory Calhoun’s dick, and she gladly
welcomed her husband’s kiss.

Tommy
and Reno and Gemma’s parents were overcome with relief too.
 
Rodney broke away, and ran to his
daughter.
 
And as soon as he got up to
her, he pulled her away from Sal and pulled her into his arms.
 
Cassie ran up and hugged her too.
 
And Sal didn’t mind.
 
She was safe.
 
She was under his protection again.
 
Reno and Tommy came up, hugging her too, and he felt like a proud
father.
  
He felt as if they were
rewarding him by crying and being so happy to see his wife again.
 

But
Sal began looking around too.
 
Who had
abducted her?
 
Where in the world did she
get that van from?
 
Had they followed her
home?

“Let’s
take it inside,” he ordered, and everybody obeyed him.
 
They formed a human circle around Gemma, and
they all entered the home.

Once
inside, Gemma’s parents wanted her to go upstairs, take a shower, and refresh
herself.
 
But Gemma politely
declined.
 
She knew Sal, Reno, and Tommy
needed intel, they needed to know all she knew, and she sat in the living room
instead, and told them.

“It
was Rory Calhoun, Sal,” she said.

“Sonafabitch!”
Reno couldn’t believe it.
 
“He was the
first one we questioned!”

“Where
is he now?” Sal asked.
 
“Did you ice that
motherfucker?”

Cassie
looked at Rodney.
 
The idea that their
daughter would “ice” somebody was abhorrent to her.
 
But Rodney was with Sal on this one.
 
“Well did you?” he asked his daughter.

Gemma
frowned.
 
“No,” she said.
 
She knew she couldn’t kill him.
 
Not him.
 
“I just wanted to get away from there.”

Sal
could tell there was more to that story, but that part would be between him and
her.
 
“Where did he have you?”

“At
this tiny house on
Broadbank
Street.
 
I saw the street name when I was getting
away.”

“
Broadbank
?” Reno asked.
 
“Where the fuck is
Broadbank
?”

But
Sal was already on the phone, calling his chief in the field.
  
“Get to
Broadbank
,”
he ordered.
 
“What color was the house,
Gemma?” he asked his wife.

“White.
 
All white.
 
Third from the corner.”

“The
house is all white, third from the corner.”

“On
the left,” Gemma added.

“On
the left,” Sal said into the phone.
 
“The
motherfucker is Rory Calhoun.
  
I
know.
 
The first prick we
questioned.
 
Right.
 
If he’s not there, let me know.
 
But find him!
 
He’s not getting out of this alive.”
 
Then Sal looked at Gemma.
 
“Was he
alone?”

“No.
 
There were three other guys and a
driver.
 
One of the guys was called
Screw.”

“Yeah,
he’ll be screwed alright,” Reno said, “when we get our hands on him.”

“Three
other guys,” Sal said to his man.
 
“One’s
named Screw.
 
Probably a street
name.
 
Ask around.”

And
then Sal ended the call.
 

“Now,”
he said to all assembled, “if you will excuse us.”

Sal
took his wife by the hand, stood her up, and then lifted her into his arms and
carried her upstairs.
 
Cassie wanted to
go too, to be there for her daughter, but she knew it wasn’t her place anymore.
 
She was Sal’s woman now.
 
She did whatever he told her.
 
She belonged to him.
 
If she and Rodney didn’t know it before, they
knew it now.

“We’ll
find him, Gem,” Sal whispered to her as he carried her.

She
loved the warmth of his big arms around her.
 
She missed him so much!
 
“If he’s
no longer at that house,” she said, “tell your men to try the hospital.”

Sal
looked at him.
 
“I thought you said you
didn’t ice him.”

“I
didn’t.
 
But I bit the hell out of his
penis.”

Sal
would have laughed, and cheered her on, but he couldn’t.
 
He could only imagine what that man had her
doing to get her to that place.
 
He
looked at her with pain in his eyes.

Gemma
knew she had to explain.
 
“I offered to
suck his dick,” she told him, “in exchange for my freedom.”

“Oh,
Gemma, that man wasn’t going to free you for a little head.”

“I
knew that.
 
But I also knew he would lie
and try to get some anyway.
 
And he
did.”
 
Then she looked at Sal, wondering
if he would judge her for that.
 
“That
was my only means of escape, Sal.
 
I did
what I had to do.”

Sal
frowned.
 
“Damn right, you did!
 
Don’t you dare second guess that.
 
You got out of there.
 
You’re safe, at home, with me.
 
I would have wanted you to fuck him and ten
other men if it would have gotten you home safe to me.
 
Don’t you ever be too proud to fight for your
freedom, you hear me? Don’t you ever leave any stone unturned because nothing’s
beneath getting out alive.
 
Nothing!”

Gemma
smiled.
 
And laid her head on his
shoulder.

As
soon as she made it upstairs, she immediately went to the bathroom and brushed
her teeth and gargled, and told Sal to do the same.

“I
thought you said you wiped his dick off your mouth,” he said.

“I
did.
 
Now I want to clean it off.
 
Since you couldn’t wait and had to kiss me
right there and then, you clean it off of yours too.
 
I want no parts of that man on us.”

Sal
smiled.
 
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and
brushed and gargled as she had ordered.

While
she sat on the bed and undressed, Sal remained in the bathroom running her bath
water.
 
“What have you eaten since I’ve
been gone, Sal?” she asked him.
 
“Have
you gotten some sleep?”

“Don’t
worry about me,” he responded.
 
“I can
take care of myself.”

“And
I can take care of myself,” Gemma said with a smile.
 

Sal
left the tub as it filled with water and came out of the bathroom.
 
His shirtsleeves were drawn up to his elbows,
and he looked at her with a doubtful look on his face.
 

“What?”
she asked.
 
“You don’t believe me?
 
You don’t think I can take care of myself?”

She
was smiling, but Sal was dead serious.
 
“I take care of you,” he said.
 
“Just because I wasn’t there for you this time, doesn’t mean I don’t.”

Gemma
thought that was nuts for him to even go there.
 
But she knew him.
 
Even though she
was back home, under his protection, he was still inwardly beating himself up
for her plight to begin with.
 
“Oh, Sal,”
she said, heartfelt.
 
“There was nothing
you could do to prevent this.
 
Nothing!
 
Rory and his boss were determined to kidnap
me, and nobody was going to stop them.
 
And yes, you do take care of me.”

Sal
smiled.
 
“And I’m good at it.”

Gemma
smiled.
 
“The best.”

Then
they stared at each other.
 
Neither one
of them were touchy-feely types, but they loved each other on so many levels
that it would put touchy-feely people to shame.
 
It was sometimes mind boggling to both of them how deeply they cared for
one another.
 
In every way.
 
And Gemma looked especially hard at Sal.
 
He needed relief more than she did.

“Get
out of those clothes,” she ordered him, “and take a bath with me.”

Sal’s
heart soared.
 
He wanted her sexually the
moment he felt her in his arms again, but he didn’t dare go there with
her.
 
But that was why he loved her.
 
He didn’t have to go there.
 
She was already, even after her ordeal, in
tune to his needs.

He
undressed even before she had finished.
 
And then she stood up and walked to him.
 
Sal’s easily aroused dick stood at attention as he watched her gorgeous
black body move like a lithe panther toward him.
 
She looked so beautiful to him that he began
to rub his own dick in anticipation of putting it inside of her.
 
And when she made it up to him, and he pulled
her naked body into his arms and began kissing her without the restraint he
showed when they were outside and had an audience, his dick began to expand
almost to the point of no return.
 
And
they were just getting started.

Sal
lifted her and sat her down in the tub.
 
Then he and his erection got in behind her.
  
But Gemma turned around and was face to face
with Sal.
 
And not only did she bathe
herself, but she bathe him too.
 
Sal felt
so overwhelmed with emotion for this woman that, as she bathe him, he fought
back tears.

And
when the bathing was over, and she allowed him to put his dick inside of her,
he pulled her body onto his lap, pulled her into his arms, and slow-fucked her
for an hour.
 
He could have rushed
it.
 
She would understand.
 
But that was not how neither one of them were
feeling.
 
Because they were making love
and this kind of lovemaking was all about sex, and not about sex at all.
 
It was about Gemma lying her head on Sal as
he fucked her, and enjoying not just the feel of his penis inside of her, but
the feel of his heartbeat against her breasts, and the feel of his breath as it
blew across her face, and the smell of his cologne and
man-
ness and strength and power.
 
It was about Sal to Gemma.
 
And
all he meant to her.