Mando 1 chapt 6
CHAPTER 6: MR. X
GINO'S Story
I receive the invitation to the reunion and immediately have visions of Danny. Would I go if I knew she would be there? I don't know. I may be taking a lot for granted. She could be married. Or since she was such an overachiever maybe she's a General or something in the marines. Maybe she has no use for the baggage of a family.
This is a simple decision, really. There are too many possibilities that she won't want to see me. I won't go.
A couple of weeks later on my way to my office the secretary calls out, "Father, you have the second invitation for the reunion. It's only four weeks away. Shall I accept it for you? You could use a break."
"No, Harriet, dump it."
Harriet said, "OK, I'll send it in." But I don't pay attention to what she said; my mind is on the upcoming meeting.
My intercom buzzes. "Yes Harriet?"
"Father, you have a call on line two. The woman is distraught."
"I'll get it, Harriet, thanks."
"This is Father Marino, what can I do for you?"
"Gino? Gino, is that you?"
It's my mother. She sounds like she's falling apart. "Mom? What has happened? Why are you so distressed?"
"It's your father, Gino. He's sick. Another heart attack. He wants to see you. Can you come home to the hospital? After three bypasses, the doctors aren't optimistic about a fourth. Come home, Gino. Come home please."
"Mom, I'll be on the next flight." I'm so numb I drop the phone into the cradle from too high up and it bounces off. I grab it again. Now my hands are shaking so badly I drop it again. I give up and hurry to Harriet. "Harriet. My father is in critical condition. I am leaving as soon as I can. Mark me off the calendar for a week. Oh, and Harriet,"
"Yes, Father?"
"Hang up my phone, will you?"
When she calls I'm stateside giving a workshop in church planting, I intended to visit the family afterwards so I'd have lots of time to visit. Thank God I'm here when she called. Three hours later I'm standing with the doctors discussing my father's condition.
"Father, if he makes it through a fourth bypass it'll be a miracle. He has been asking for you. He is prepped for surgery in half an hour."
I nod and duck out of the consultation room and rush to find the room dad is in and almost lose my lunch when I see him. He is ashen, and semi conscious. Mother is sitting with her sister and Dad's brother. I ignore them and am by dad's bed in three strides. "Dad? It's me, Gino."
His eyes flutter open, his hands grip mine, and he struggles to talk. "Gino. I've wanted to talk to you. You take over the business. You can do God's work on this side of the church too."
"Dad..."
He tried to lift his head. "Promise me! Promise me, Gino. Don't let those pirates and raiders take our family business apart. Promise me!"
"Dad, relax. You'll be in surgery soon."
"Gino, whether I live or die. I'm done. Promise me you'll step into my place."
"Dad, I don't know much about business."
"Poppycock! You're better at it than I am. Promise me!
"Dad.... "
"Promise me!"
I heave a big sigh and give in. "Yes dad, I promise."
"Last rites, son. Please."
"OK, Dad, but I'm telling you it's not your time."
"Really?"
"Yep, you've never missed a Christmas, and you won't this year. I promise to take the business if you promise to live until Christmas. Deal?"
"Well, Son, I'm tired and ready to check out of this body. It's got more mileage than it was designed for."
"Promise me dad. Christmas. You can check out in the New Year. I promised, now it's your turn. Promise?"
"Oh, alright, but only this one Christmas, then it's the arms of the angels for me."
"****
On my way back to the parish I think about the things I must to do. Resign, and then a myriad of other things. I need to decide about the reunion. I should really go, I know, but life's not that simple. Whether she's there or not, I should go. It won't hurt to see the guys again. But I really don't care about the guys. I want to see Danny. I think about it again.
What am I thinking about this for? I said I'm not going and I'm not. That's final.
...But I do wonder what she looks like now after being in that tough man's marine corps for all these years. Has she changed that much? Will she look austere instead of lovely and beautiful? Will she be fat, thin, have dyed hair, short hair, or somewhere in between?
Will she even remember me after having her pick of rough and tough men in the marines?
I don't know why I'm even wondering about her. I'm not going. I need to stop thinking about her and focus.
When I return to my office I start the process of leaving the priesthood. After ten years, I'd be just a man on the street again. I could work my own schedule, pay taxes, get sued, and get ulcers from board meetings and environmental issues. Thanks for nothing, Dad
I'm in my office when for some reason Danny pops into my mind. Forget it, I tell myself. I'll be busier than a sailor in a cat house getting up to speed on the business. I won't have time for such foolishness. The reunion is out.
...She was one sexy woman, though. Tall, with gorgeous brown eyes, sexy full lips. Firm breast perfect for her size. And that smile? Her radiant smile often turned my worst day into my best day. She set my engines on high R PM's the second I saw her. She put the "X" in sex. Triple X at that. Ummm, just thinking about her sparks a fire in my furnace and starts pumping up my right pants leg. Oh well, enough of that. I should get back to work and get my mind on the business at hand. Forget about the reunion, it's just a distraction. I'm not going anyway, so there is no reason to give it more thought time.
****
It's been three weeks and dad is still hanging on. Surgery went well and he's holding on to his promise. He's fighting to stay alive.
Rumors have gone viral about dad's company. Why is his son there with him? Is it really because of his dad's health? Is he really there to keep him from exerting himself like he said, or is that son of a bitch grooming his son to take his place?
Financial pages and Wall Street won't leave it alone. We've kept our intent quiet because we knew it would cause a riot in the board room and the stock market. If I take the helm right straight out of the priesthood it would cause a bear market for the company stock, and a lot of in-fighting among the executives who thought they were next in line, or should be..
The phone buzzes. "Yes?"
"Mr. Marino, a man named chuck is on line three."
"Thank you Harriet. Hello Chuck, how's it hanging?"
"Gino you sound in good spirits."
"Excuse me, is this the FBI Chuck? My best friend in high school and college Chuck? that Chuck?"
He laughed. "Yes, but technically not the FBI."
"What? I don't believe it. You eat, sleep, and breathe FBI. What's all this?
Chuck laughs. "I said technically. I run a no-name agency that's off the grid. Listen buddy, the boys in the organized crime department are getting hot rumors that you are a major concern of the cartels and mobs at the moment. Evidently they have corporate raiders fronting for them, and stand to cop a major gain by taking your company. You are in the way."
"Anything concrete Chuck?"
"No, I'll let you know when we get something solid. Gino listen and listen good. If we discover they are making a move, we can't move on hearsay. And if we send in a team of agents against their boys it'll be a war. A lot of innocent people could get hurt."
"What exactly are you telling me, Chuck?"
"I'm telling you if I recommend a specialist type bodyguard to handle this, hire and follow every instruction he gives. I know you are a martial artist, but these guys are professional cold blooded killers with automatic weapon and hair trigger pistols. Let the specialist do what specialists do. If you get in the way you could get hit by friendly fire as easily as enemy fire. This will be an expensive pro, but your life is worth protecting. Will you do it?"
"Yes. You have my request to hire such a person on my company's behalf when needed."
"Good. We need two hundred fifty thousand for fees to put him on standby to go against these particular hit men, Put five million in escrow with your attorney. Their attorney will send you the escrow agreement. That's good faith money. I won't know the price until we make contact."
"Is that standard?"
Chuck laughs. " Only top dollar will get them to take on this particular hit team of nine or more killers with automatic weapons, custom pistols, and long knives. Standard is what the contractor says it is. Oh, and another thing, beef up the security for your parents. You could be manipulated to do anything anyone wanted you to do if one or both of them were hostages."
"Quite right."
"Good show, Sherlock. You coming back to town soon?"
Yep. I'll be there this week end. Thinking about going to the reunion, but am not sure yet."
"OK, your father has a security suite there, book it now."
"Yes sir."
"You insolent priest―I mean executive. Talk to you later."
****
Only one week before the reunion and I am obsessed with the thought of seeing Danny again. Will she be there? Is she married, barefoot and pregnant? Or has a boyfriend, or maybe she left the marines and became a nun. Will I even recognize her? Will she recognize me? What color of dress will she wear? One that brings out the glint of honey in her eyes, I hope. But...I guess I'll never know except for looking at pictures of the attendees, because I won't be there. Nope. Not a good idea. Definitely not.
Oh, but what a ball of fire she was. Whoa baby! When she walked up to swing that golf club my heart took the elevator to the basement. I remember feeling goose bumps and breathing faster. My heart started beating so fast I had to stop and take a deep breath to get hold of myself. When I reached around her to help her with her swing, boy oh boy did I want that swing. Her swing. She was perfect. She was a perfect lover.
What that babe did with my cock! Yow! And that hot, juicy pussy! Yum yum.
