Love And War - Mallory Monroe
PROLOGUE
BEFORE SAL MARRIED GEMMA
“How do I look?” Sal Gabrini stepped out of the walk-in closet inside his hotel suite to show his brother the suit of clothing he had just put on.
Tommy Gabrini, sitting on the edge of Sal’s bed, looked up from the cell phone he was thumbing through. Sal was dressed in a sharp Hugo Boss suit that made his big, blue eyes look bluer, and that fit his muscular body tight and right. Tommy was impressed. “Good,” he said. “You look good. Nice suit.”
But Sal was agitated. “That’s what you said about the other one!”
Tommy smiled. “That one looked nice, too. They both look good.” Then Tommy hunched his shoulders. “What’s with you anyway? It’s just a date.”
“No, it’s not just a date!”
Tommy was confused. “What is it then?”
“It’s a date with Gemma Jones. That’s what.”
“Gemma who? Oh, her! That pretty black girl? Isn’t she Reno’s something or other?”
“She’s Reno’s lawyer. Or at least she did some legal work for him. And she’s going into business with Reno’s old lady. That’s how I met her.”
“A lawyer?” Tommy smiled. “Wonder why I don’t quite see you falling for a lawyer?”
Sal frowned. “Who’s falling?”
“You,” Tommy said as he continued to thumb through his phone’s text messages. “With all of this drama.”
“I’m just saying it’s not just a date, alright? What’s so dramatic about that? You don’t know her. She’s a very particular lady. I have to come correct or she won’t give me the time of day.”
Tommy laughed. That didn’t sound like his little brother at all!
But even his laughter irritated Sal. “What’s so fucking funny?”
“You are! You have to come correct. And you allow that?”
“Hell yeah I allow it! No bullshit with this female, I’m telling you. She doesn’t play that slick shit I’m used to playing.”
Tommy stopped looking at his phone and gave his brother his undivided attention. Sal was a lot of things, but a sap for a lady, any lady, he was not. “What’s with you and her? You like this girl?”
Sal felt a little embarrassed discussing it, but he needed to tell somebody! “I don’t know about all of that liking or whatever. But she’s willing to give me a chance. A smart, savvy, educated woman like her willing to be bothered with me? So yeah, I wanna do right by her. She’s a classy lady. That’s all I’m saying.”
Tommy was surprised. “So how long have you and her been going out?”
“We’ve only had one date. You remember? After Reno’s get together that night.”
Tommy smiled. “You mean when you drove her home because the lady she came with left early?”
“Yeah, that night,” Sal said.
Tommy couldn’t believe. “Sal, driving somebody home because they needed a ride is not usually considered a date.”
“And I stayed at her place and talked with her for hours. And she wouldn’t give it up, either. Even after I asked. But I stayed and we talked. That’s a date in my book!”
Tommy laughed. “Okay. If you say so. But still, bud. One quote-unquote ‘date,’ and already you’re head-over-heels?”
Sal frowned. “Head over heels my ass! What am I head-over-heels about? Just because I wanna look nice? Just because I don’t wanna fuck up?”
Tommy nodded. “Yeah. All of the above. You usually don’t give a damn.”
“Whatever, Tommy!”
Tommy smiled. “Yup. You’re head-over-heels alright.”
“I just want to do right by her. That’s it.”
Sal’s response intrigued Tommy. He stared at his brother. “Do right by her in the long-term sense?” he asked. “In the marrying her sense?”
Sal was alarmed. “Marrying her? Where do you get this stuff from? Who the fuck said anything about marrying her?”
“You make it sound like it’s impossible.”
“It is impossible! It is impossible!”
“Why?” Tommy asked.
Sal frowned again. “What do you mean why?”
Tommy looked sidelong at his brother. “Please don’t tell me it’s because she’s black. Please don’t tell me that, Salvatore Luciano.”
“Why would it be that, Tommy? I’ve dated white women my whole life and I never married one of them. I never even asked one of them. Why would it have to be about Gemma’s race if I don’t wanna marry her either?”
Tommy leaned back on his elbows. “Because I know your slick ass,” he said. “That’s why! You aren’t exactly a liberal when it comes to matters of race. Let’s face facts, little brother.”
“Who has to be liberal? Because I don’t go around fucking every black woman I see, the way you do?”
Tommy grinned that gorgeous, mischievous grin. At that moment he looked to Sal, not like the strong man he