Romancing Sal Gabrini 2: A Woman's Touch by Mallory Monroe

won’t accept it.   Especially with your baggage.”
    Sal
looked at Trina. “What’s that supposed to mean?   What baggage?”
    “Oh,
come on, Sal.   Your baggage.”
    “What
baggage?   Spit it out, Tree.”
    “Um,
let me think,” Trina said mockingly.   “What baggage could Salvatore Luciano Gabrini possibly have?   Oh, that’s right.   Your mob baggage, for instance.”
    Sal
frowned.   “What mob baggage?”
    “Ah,
come on, Sal!”   Trina had never known him
to be so dishonest with himself.   “You
know good and well that many, and I mean many people think you’re a mob boss
from way back who’s always taking all of those sudden and unavoidable trips to
the east coast because you’re a boss.   They view you suspiciously, there’s no secret about that.”
      “And what about your husband?   They view him more suspiciously than me, but
I don’t see you getting on Reno’s case about his trips around the country.”
    “Yeah,
they figure I’m Mafia too,” Reno admitted.   “But I’m not the one in denial here.   You are.   So cut it out.   You have baggage.   I have baggage.   All Gabrinis have baggage.   It’s a fact.   Stop acting like it’s all news to you.”
    “Ah,
fuck you, Reno!”
    “Fuck
you, Sal!”
    “Ground
rules, people!” Trina said, tapping the wine bottle with a spoon.   “Remember the ground rules!”
    Sal
exhaled and leaned back.
    Reno
could see the distress on his face.   He
immediately regretted getting into it with him. “Okay, give,” he said.   “What’s bothering you?”
    “Nothing’s
bothering me.”
    “Come
on, Sal.   I know your ass.   What is it?”
    Sal
looked at his cousin.   Other than Tommy,
Reno was the most dependable man he knew.   They didn’t get along on any given day, but Sal respected him
completely.   Not just because of his
strength and loyalty, but because Sal knew Reno would always tell it to him
straight.   “I’m worried,” Sal said.
    Trina
started to speak, but Reno placed his hand on top of her hand, stifling
her.   “About Gemma?” Reno asked.
    “My relationship
with her, yeah.”
    “What’s
worrying you about that?   She adores
you.   Why, I don’t know, but she does.”
    Sal
hesitated.   “We go see her parents this
weekend.”
    Now
Reno and Trina both understood.   “Ah,”
Reno said.   “You go to meet the parents.”
    “And
I’ll admit it,” Sal said, “I’m more nervous than a motherfuck.   I mean her folks, their whatta you call
legit.   They’re bankers and lawyers and
shit like that, and they’re from Indiana.   Indiana, Ree!   They’ll see through my slick behind in no
time!   I don’t stand a chance!”
    Trina
placed her hand on Sal’s.   “They’ll also
see your heart, too, Sal.   They’ll also
see how much you care for their daughter.   Don’t forget that.”
    Sal
smiled at Trina, she knew how to comfort a man, then he looked at Reno.   “When you went to meet Tree’s parents,” he
asked him, “what was that like?”
    “Piece
of cake,” Reno said.   “But a totally
different situation.   Tree had left me,
and I was high-tailing it to Mississippi to drag her ass back to Vegas.   It wasn’t about me meeting her parents.   It was about me getting my woman back.   And then again, Tree wasn’t nearly as close
to her parents as Gemma is to hers.”  
    Sal
nodded.   “Right.”
    “And
you don’t have the same situation that I found myself in,” Reno went on.   “You don’t have to drag Gemma’s ass back to
town.”
    “Oh,
please, Reno,” Trina said, smiling.   “What ass of mine did you ever drag?”
    Reno
laughed.   “I drag that big ass of yours
around all the time, and you know it, Tree.”
    “Big?”   Trina then hit him playfully upside his
head.   “I got your big right here,” she
added, mimicking him.
    “But
when you did meet her parents,” Sal said, too distressed to enjoy their
reverie, “did they like