Tommy Gabrini 4: Dapper Tom Begin Again (4 page)

Not
that it was an obvious game.
 
Tommy had
the man thoroughly investigated when Grace first mentioned that she was seeing
him.
 
Since that meant he would be around
Destiny, Tommy investigated him vigorously.
 
Nothing untoward turned up.
 
He
was as his reputation proclaimed him to be.
 
But that didn’t stop Tommy from having a certain feeling about the man.

“As
you know,” Ed said, moving closer to the edge of his seat, “I am now Destiny’s
stepfather.”

Tommy’s
interest in listening to Ed piqued as soon as he mentioned Destiny.
 
He crossed his legs as he watched and
listened more attentively.

“She’s
a wonderful two-year-old and I feel blessed to be a part of her life.
 
But as Grace’s husband now, and as the head
of our household now, I believe we need to set boundaries and make ourselves
plain.”

Tommy
noticed how Grace was staring unblinkingly at Ed.
 
Never at Tommy.
 
Completely at Ed.
 
As if this shit was rehearsed.

“We
believe,” Ed continued, “that you, as Destiny’s biological father, has every
right to see her anytime you wish.
 
However, we also believe that when you choose to see her, you should see
her exclusively at our home.”

Tommy
knew bullshit was coming, he just didn’t know in what form.
 
He didn’t expect it to be in this form.

Grace
finally looked at him.
 
She knew their
decision was going to hurt him, or anger him, or both, but Ed was right.
 
“You’re a great father, Tommy,” Grace
said.
 
“And that little girl loves you to
death.
 
But we feel this is a necessary
move.
 
It’s all about protecting
Destiny,” she added.

It
was only then, when Grace added such a comment, did Tommy feel it necessary to
respond.
 
“Protecting her?” he asked.
 
“I protect her.”

“Of
course you do,” Grace said in a voice that almost sounded patronizing.
 
“But this isn’t about you, or me.
 
This is about Destiny.”

“And
you’re telling me that Desi, that
my
daughter, should not be allowed to stay with me on the weekends and holidays
and whenever else I get her?”

“We’re
saying,” Ed said, “that we question her safety when she’s in your care.
 
Nothing against you personally, but we have
to think about the child.
 
You have a
very checkered past, if I can be frank here.”
 
He held out fingers, reeling off that checkered past.
 
“Number one,” he said, “you have an uncle who
was a mob boss.
 
Number two, you have a
first cousin and best friend who’s a celebrated mob boss.
 
He denies it, I understand that, but it’s a
weak denial at best.
 
Every law
enforcement official I spoke to told me the same thing.
 
Number three, even your own brother is a
reputed crime boss!
 
That’s a lot.
 
Now come on.
 
That’s a lot.”

“Not
that we’re casting dispersions on your family,” Grace interjected.

Tommy
almost laughed.
 
Was she serious?

“We’re
not!” she insisted.
 
“But you can’t deny
the obvious either, Tommy.
 
You can’t
deny what we’ve been through together.
 
I
don’t want Destiny to ever have to experience any of that.”

But Tommy
continued to stare at Grace.
 
Did she
think he wanted Destiny to experience anything other than happiness and
joy?
 
Was she that far gone?
 
Did she have that guy so far up her ass that
she would think him capable of putting his own daughter in harm’s way?
 
Tommy was becoming so furious that he wanted
to jump out of his skin.
 
But they didn’t
see his fury.
 
He was a master at
outwardly maintaining his cool.

“We
want what’s best for Destiny,” Grace continued.
 
“That’s the goal.
 
Destiny.
 
And Ed is right.
 
We need to take positive steps to ensure her
safety.”

“What
I don’t understand,” Ed said, “is how you can’t see it too.
 
The idea that you wouldn’t feel terrified,
just mortified for your daughter’s safety whenever she’s in your presence,
boggles the mind.
 
You put our child at
an awful risk every time you take her from us.”

Our
child?
 
That
did it.
 
Tommy had had it.
 
He looked at his ex-wife.
 
“Grace,” he said, “go get Destiny and wait in
the ballroom with her.
 
I need to talk to
Ed.”

“This
isn’t just about you and Ed,” Grace insisted.
 
“She’s my daughter too and I will participate in any conversations
regarding her.”

Tommy
maintained his composure.
 
“Grace,” he
said again, “get Destiny and wait in the ballroom with her.
 
I need to talk to Ed.”

Grace
knew that tone.
 
She knew she was skating
on thin ice when Tommy displayed that tone.
 
But she wasn’t his anymore.
 
“What
do you need to talk to my husband about?” she asked.

“Darling,”
Ed said, patting her hand and smiling.
 
“Wait for us outside.”

“I
will not wait outside!” Grace insisted.
 
“This is my life too.
 
I’m the one
who was married to him.
 
I’m the one who
had to fight those women just to maintain my marriage.
 
I’m the one who had to do those unspeakable
things---.”
 
Grace caught herself, but
not before Ed caught what she had said.

He
looked at her.
 
“Unspeakable
things?”
 
he asked.
 
“What unspeakable things you had to do?”

Grace
quickly shook her head and glanced at Tommy.
 
“Just the fact that it was tough is what I mean,” she said to Ed.
 
“That’s what I mean about unspeakable.”

She
and Tommy both knew that wasn’t what she meant at all.
 
And it crystalized for both of them just how
uphill a climb their marriage had always been.

“But
let’s get back to the issue,” Grace said, artfully changing the subject.
 
“The issue is Destiny and her safety.
 
And all of this talk about how you can
protect her?
 
It was the same thing you
said about me.
 
You were going to protect
me too, Tommy, remember that?
 
But you
didn’t.
 
You couldn’t.
 
I don’t want the same thing to happen to
Desi.
 
And that’s why I’m not
leaving.
 
That’s why I’m staying right
where I am!”

“Then
fine,” Tommy said, rising.
 
Ed stood up
too, sensing a change in Tommy’s mood.

Tommy
walked up to Ed, invaded his personal space, and stood toe-to-toe with
him.
 
“I want to be clear,” he said.
 
“I want you to understand my words and
understand them precisely.”

Grace
was staring at him too.
 
She’d seen Tommy
angry before.

“My
daughter is the most important human being on the face of this earth to me,”
Tommy continued.
 
“If you try to separate
her from me, I will, in no uncertain terms, separate your life from you.”

Ed
swallowed hard.
 
Grace did too.

Tommy’s
greenish-blue eyes were blazing.
 
He was
in a controlled fury now.
 
“Understand me
clearly,” he continued.
 
“Destiny is my
existence.
 
That little girl is my
life.
 
I will take yours without breaking
a sweat before you take mine.
 
And if you
doubt me, if you reach the conclusion that I’m just blowing smoke up your ass,
I want you to try me.
 
I beg you to try
me.
 
And if you do, there will be no
warning.
 
This is the only warning you
will ever get from me.
 
You try it, and
it’ll be over.
 
It’ll be too late for
you.”

Tommy’s
bright eyes darkened.
 
“You will not
separate my daughter from me, do you understand me?
 
It will not happen.”

 
Then Tommy looked at Grace.
 
“I care about you,” he said to her.
 
“You’re the mother of my child and I care
deeply for you.
 
I always will.
 
But don’t you take my kindness for
weakness.
 
Don’t you confuse the fact
that I’m no monster with the fact that I know how to become one.
 
Our child will be a motherless motherfucker
before I allow you and this husband of yours or anybody else to put any
separation between me and my daughter.
 
That’s the kind of monster I can become.”

He exhaled.
 
He had a heart for Grace, but he had a bigger
one for his daughter.
 
“I put you through
a lot, I know I did.
 
You don’t deserve
to go through any more.
 
But what angers
me about you is how you compartmentalize the truth.
 
You behave as if you didn’t know who I was
when you married me.
 
As if I didn’t tell
you who I was when you married me.
 
And
then you had a child by me.
 
Not Ed’s child
or any other man’s child.
 
My child.
 
And I’m not Mister Vanilla.
 
I’m Tommy Gabrini.
 
Shit happens around me and every Gabrini on
the face of this earth.
 
It just
does.
 
You knew that going in.
 
Why you’re behaving as if it’s news to you is
beyond me.”

“So
what you’re saying,” Grace said, “is that she’s a Gabrini and therefore she’s
going to be in danger no matter what we do?”

That
was not what he meant at all.
 
“Nothing
will happen to our daughter,” he said.
 
“I guarantee you that.”

Grace
was about to respond, and Ed was about to respond, and Tommy was about to
continue talking when the door burst open and beautiful little Destiny ran
in.
 

“Daddy!
 
Daddy!” she cried, and ran up to Tommy.
 
She wore a bright blue dress that touched
along her ankles, with a sash tied in the back almost as wide as the dress
itself.

Tommy
had to compose himself quickly, and for her sake, he did.
 
“There she is!” he said gaily, as he lifted
her into his arms.
 
“There’s my pride and
joy!”

“You
came!” Destiny said.

“I
came to see you, that’s right.”

“Mommy
got
wedding,” she said excitedly.

Tears
came to Grace’s eyes.
 
Tommy smiled.
 
“Yes, she did.”
 
Then he corrected her.
 
“She had a wedding.
 
She got married.”

“Married.
 
Mommy got married.”
 
Then she frowned.
 
“What does that mean Daddy?” she asked.

Tommy’s
heart fell.
 
“Happiness for Mommy,” he
said.
 
“Nothing different for you and
I.
 
We will remain the same.
 
Closer than any two people ever can be.”

Destiny
smiled.
 
“I like that,” she said, and
hugged his neck.

Tommy
looked at Grace as he held their child tightly, and he looked at Ed.
 
His eyes were cold as ice.
 
Because he wanted them to feel him.
 
He wanted them to feel the love he had for
his daughter, and the unflinchingly chilling promise he made to them.

After
saying his final goodbye to his little girl, he left the hotel’s ballroom, made
his way down the steep steps, and got back into his waiting limousine.
 
The driver closed the door.
 

“What
took you so long?” Freda said after the door closed.
 
“I was wondering if you remembered I was with
you.”

Freda
was a Nigerian beauty he met at a party.
 
She traveled the world modeling and he traveled the world on
business.
 
He gave her money when she
needed it.
 
She gave him sex when he
needed it.