Sal Gabrini: Just The Way You Are Read Online Free Page A

When they
met, he held her by her upper arms, staring into her face.   “Are you alright?”
    “I’m fine,”
she said.   “Just a little off balance, I
guess.”
    Sal pulled
her into his arms, and closed his eyes tightly.   The idea that his wife, his pregnant wife, had to deal with this bullshit angered him.   But he knew he had to keep his cool.   He didn’t want her any more upset than she
already was.
    “Look at how
tight his eyes are shut,” Barbara whispered to Curtis.   “He really loves her.”
    “That car he
bought her already proved that,” Curtis said.
    “A car?”
Barbara asked.   “Please!   That’s just money.   Love is on an entirely different level.”
    “Only to
lapsed-romantics like you, Barb,” Curtis said, and Barbara laughed.
    When Sal and
Gemma stopped hugging, Sal could still see the concern in Gemma’s large, brown
eyes.   “Sorry this had to happen,” he
said.
    “I don’t
understand why it happened,” Gemma said.
    “You said
they vandalized the place?”
    “The
downstairs for sure,” Gemma said.   “They
even took the cameras.”
    Sal took her
hand and began walking with her toward the entrance, and toward Barb and
Curtis.
    “He’s always
fly,” Curtis whispered to Barb as he watched Sal approach in his Italian silk,
double-breasted suit.   “He might be mean
as nails, but he can dress.   I want to
have a wardrobe just like his when I grow up.”
    “There you
go again with that when I grow up talk.   I’m afraid it’s as good as it’s
going to get for you, buddy.”   Curtis
laughed.   “Hey, Sal,” Barb said when Sal
and Gemma were in earshot.
    “How are
you, Barbara?” Sal responded.
    “I’m blessed
and highly favored, thank you very much.”
    “Hello, Mr.
Gabrini,” Curtis said.
    “How are
you?” Sal responded.
    “Upset,”
Curtis said honestly.   “Scared as
hell.   Who would do something like this?”
    “We’ll get
to the bottom of it,” Sal said.   “Bet
that.”
    An SUV drove
up just as Sal finished his statement, causing all of them to turn.   Several men, Sal’s men, got out.
    “Who are
those guys?” Curtis asked smilingly, admiring all of their physiques.
    “Gemma’s
911,” Barbara responded.
    Sal squeezed
Gemma’s arm.   “Wait here,” he said.   Then he looked at his men.   “You two,” he motioned, “blanket my wife.”
    “Yes, sir,”
one of the two men said as both hurried over and stood on either side of
Gemma.   Sal and the rest of his men began
heading inside.
    Barbara and
Curtis, feeling left out, looked at each other.   “So what are we?” Barbara could be heard asking as Sal and his men
headed inside.   “Chopped liver?”
    “No, girl,”
Curtis said.   “Beets.”
    Sal would
have smiled, but couldn’t when he entered that office and saw the destruction,
and then the writing on the wall.   The Law Office of Bitch Jones-Gabrini ,
it read.   His jaw tightened.
    “Damn,
boss,” one of his men said.   “This looks
like kids gone wild for real.”
    “They’re
gonna grow up real fast like,” another one of his men said, “when boss gets
through with them.”
    Sal looked
around, disgusted by the sheer trashing of the place, and then made his way
upstairs.   His men followed him.
    If they
thought the worse had been downstairs, they were mistaken.   Upstairs was tornado-like too.   Every office door was unhinged, and every
file cabinet overturned.   In Gemma’s
office, the largest one, those words reappeared.   The Law
Office of Bitch Jones-Gabrini was written on the wall just above her
overturned desk.   Sal continued to look
around, to study the scene.   He knew rage
when he saw it.   A scene like this was
meant to convey rage.   But it felt forced
and fake.   Like it was staged rage.   Like it was something entirely different.
    After
several more minutes of looking around, Sal ordered his men to gather any
evidence they could, and then hire a cleanup crew.   He made his