Free TOMMY GABRINI 2: A PLACE IN HIS HEART by Mallory Monroe

modeling
was no longer a plausible option.   It was
like an athlete.   Thirty-nine wasn’t old
per se, but it was old in the game.   Kelli was old in the game.   She knew it, and Tommy did too. “You’re a
beautiful woman, and always will be,” he said to reassure her.   “You’ll make any man very happy.”
    “I
don’t want to make any man happy!   I want
to make you happy, Tommy!   I’m supposed
to be next, not her!”
    Tommy
frowned.   “Stop talking nonsense, now,
Kell, I mean it.   We had sex, that was
the sum and substance of our relationship and you know it.   And you agreed to it beforehand.”
    “But
I wasn’t thirty-nine beforehand!   I
wasn’t some old maid beforehand!   I
waited patiently on you.   You once told
me I was your favorite, Tommy.   You once
told me that.”
    Tommy
closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.   She probably wasn’t the only one he had told that to.   And although he didn’t remember telling her
any such thing, he was willing to bet what they were doing when he told
her.   They were fucking.   Undoubtedly.
    And
it only made him all the more certain of just how right Grace was.   Open relationships were a fool’s game.
    Then
Kelli said, “I can’t live without you, Tommy,” and his heart squeezed.
    “You’ll
live just fine, trust me,” he said.   “You’re a beautiful lady with a beautiful future ahead of you.   Even after modeling.”
    “I
can’t live without you, Tommy,” she said again, as if he was talking nonsense
while she was making a statement of fact.
    Tommy’s
heart pounded.   “Now stop that kind of
talk, Kell, I mean it.   You know how I
get on your case when you get like that.   So cut it out.   You hear me?”   He waited, but she made no response.   “Kelli?   Kelli?   Kell ?”
    But
the line went dead.   Tommy, now
irritated, angry, but also super-worried, slammed the phone down too.   He started not to do anything.   He didn’t need this aggravation.   But he couldn’t just leave her distressed
that way.   He had to make sure she was
okay.   He knew Kelli.   He knew how dramatic she could get.   He pressed the intercom button.   “Albert,” he said to his driver, “take me to
Kelli’s house.
    “Miss
Montiscue, sir?”
    “Yes,”
Tommy said.   And then added, “as quickly
as possible,” before pressing off.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
    CHAPTER SIX

 
    The
door to Grace’s office flew open.   Nayla
Santiago, Grace’s best friend and the logistics supervisor at Trammel, hurried
inside.   “Tell me it’s true,” she said as
soon as the door slammed shut.   She leaned
against it as if she needed the support to remain upright.
    Grace
was seated behind her desk, reviewing the Gabrini audit that Tommy ordered
months ago.   She looked up at her friend,
knowing she had to handle this with the same seriousness she handled
Jillian.   “Good morning,” she said.
    “Good
morning, good morning.   Tell me it’s
true, girl.”
    “Tell
you what’s true?”
    “That
Tommy gave you Trammel.   I heard Tommy
gave you Trammel!   Is it true?”
    Grace
found the way she put it an odd way to say it, but she nodded.   There was no point denying it.   “Yes,” she said.
    “Ah
girl!” Nayla said with a loud handclap and a grin.   “We about to get paid up in here!”   She hurried up to Grace’s desk.   “All those bitches like Jillian can just kiss
our asses now!   It’s our time now!”
    “What
Tommy also gave to me,” Grace said, her voice purposely measured, “was
responsibility for Trammel’s success.”
    Nayla’s
smile remained, but it wasn’t nearly as unbridled as it was when she first
walked in.   She knew Grace could be a
party-kill and couldn’t even take a joke sometimes, and this was apparently one
of those times.
    “And
I’m sure that you,” Grace continued, “as my closest and dearest friend, will be
supportive and do all you can to help make that