Reno Gabrini- the Man in the Mirror

by Mallory Monroe

  “In Reno’s world, you can,” Sal said.

  “Ah, forget y’all!” Reno said with a wave of the hand. “I know what I know.”

  But Gemma was staring at Trina. “How awful was it?” she asked her.

  Trina looked at Jimmy. Jimmy knew what to do. “Come on, kids,” he said. “Let’s go in the video room and play some videos.”

  “But I wanna be with Mommy,” Sophie said, leaning against Trina.

  “You will. Just come on now, though.” Jimmy also took Carmine away from Trina. “I’ll lay him down with Lucky.”

  “Luck’s over here?” Trina asked with a smile.

  “Uncle Sal ordered the nanny to bring him over. She’s with him now.”

  “And not only that,” Dommi said. “Uncle Tommy and Uncle Mick are coming to town, too.”

  Trina was surprised. She looked at Reno.

  “Come on, guys,” Jimmy said as he took Sophie’s hand and, to his surprise, didn’t have to ask Dommi twice. They headed for the video room.

  Trina was still staring at Reno. “So you guys don’t think it’s a terrorist attack like the authorities are saying?” she asked him.

  “We don’t know yet,” Reno said. “The wife of Reno Gabrini happens to go into a restaurant for a pre-planned meeting, and a bomb goes off. A coincidence? Maybe they think so.”

  “But you don’t?” Trina asked.

  “I don’t know yet. But I rarely bet on a coincidence.”

  “But the guy was a middle-eastern suicide bomber, Reno. What in the world would he have to do with me or you or Sal, or any of us?”

  “All I know is what I know. And I know I don’t know the answer to that yet, Trina. My men are on it.”

  “And my men, too,” Sal said.

  “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Reno continued. “Stop worrying.”

  Trina leaned her head back. They all knew that was easier said than done.

  “What about the guys you met with?” Gemma asked. “What about those investors? They okay?”

  “They were fine, too, thank God. One of them was injured by some glass or something, but it was a minor injury. We were far enough away from the blast itself for it to do minimal harm to us. Which brings me to another point, Reno,” Trina said. “If I was the target, wouldn’t the guy have waited until he was right beside me to blow himself up?”

  Reno nodded. “He might have. If he wanted to kill you.”

  Trina looked at her husband. “What do you mean?”

  “What I’m saying. Never take shit at face value. Check it out. Don’t assume anything. That’s the stage we’re in right now.”

  “No assumptions?” Trina asked.

  “None,” Reno said.

  “None,” Sal agreed. “Those fuckers could be our worst nightmare for all we know right now. Besides, those authorities are just blowing smoke. They haven’t even found the suicide bomber, if there is one.”

  “And they were also claiming some suspicious guy left the scene,” Jimmy said. “Well which is it? A suicide bomber or some guy who left the scene?”

  “That’s why I say, and like Reno said, our people are on it.”

  “I know,” Trina said. “But it’s just . . . It was bad enough when I thought it was a terrorist attack. But at least I can divorce myself from that. It wasn’t about me. But if what you suspect is true, and it is about me, or somebody in the family, then that changes things. That changes everything.”

  Reno nodded. “But we can’t treat it any other way. The whole country is talking terrorist attack. It’s all over CNN and MSNBC right now. But we can’t fall into that trap.”

  “And the fact that Mick is coming too?” Trina asked. “I guess I wasn’t prepared for all of this.”

  “Don’t worry. We’re doing everything we can do. We’ll figure it out. But right now,” Reno said, reaching out his hand to Trina, “let’s get you upstairs and cleaned up. We’ll talk about this later when Mick and Tommy get here.”

  “It’s just still so hard to believe. One minute I’m having this rather contentious conversation.”

  “Contentious?” Reno asked as he and Sal glanced at each other. Sal even moved to the edge of his seat. “Why the fuck was it contentious?” Reno continued.

  “Perhaps that’s the wrong word,” Trina said, “but we were at a point of disagreement.”

  “About what?” Reno asked.

  “You,” Trina responded.

  Reno was floored. “Me? What about me?”

  “They made it appear as if they wanted me as an investor. But when I arrived at Kal’s, they were talking about you as an investor, not me.”

  “What the fuck are they talking about investing in?”

  “A woman’s professional basketball team. A farm team for the WNBA.”

  Sal and Reno looked at each other. “Fuck, Tree,” Sal said, “that sounds like a good investment.”

  “Right, yeah?” Trina responded. “That’s why I was so excited. But they said there’s no way the commission will give them a team without the legend of Vegas, as they call Reno, as one of their team members.”

  “Don’t invest with those jokers,” Sal said flatly.

  Reno, Trina, and Gemma looked at him. “I thought you just said it was a great investment,” Gemma said.

  “It was,” Sal said. “Until they started referring to Reno as some fucking legend. Then I knew their judgment was off. Leave those fuckers alone, Tree, take it from me!”

  Trina smiled and allowed Reno to help her to her feet. “You are so wrong, Sal,” she said with a grin. “You need to quit.”

  “Truly quit,” Gemma agreed. “But go and lay down, Tree,” she added. “Stop thinking about what happened. It’s done now.”

  Trina agreed. And she and Reno made their way upstairs.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It started out as a gentle kiss. All Reno planned to do was kiss her gently on her tender lips and let her fall asleep in his arms. He wanted her. While they were showering together, he wanted her. When he was drying off her naked body, he wanted her. When he put her to bed, he wanted her. But he dared not take her after what she’d been through.

  But Trina needed him to take her. That was the problem with his logic. After such a stressful event; after all of the carnage she saw, she needed him to relieve that stress unlike she had needed him in a long time. And that was why a simple kiss became so much more.

  Reno didn’t want to pull away. Trina always tasted so sweet, and she seemed even sweeter when he knew he couldn’t have her. That was why, as they laid naked in bed, facing each other, and he pulled her into his arms, his kiss lingered far longer than he had planned. But when he attempted to release the pressure and remove his lips from hers, it was Trina who kept her lips against his. And she kissed him hard. So hard that Reno couldn’t help but return the favor.

  But as their lips parted, both of them were still in their throes of passion. “I want to do you so bad,” Reno whispered in Trina’s ear as he traced kisses along the side of her soft face, and around her ear. “You just don’t know how bad I want you.”

  “Then take me,” Trina said, as she lifted her chin to give him more places to kiss.

  “Don’t tempt me, Tree,” he said. “Please don’t tempt me.”

  “But I need you, Reno,” Trina said, as she took his fully aroused penis in her hand, and began rubbing it against her clit. Reno’s entire body tightened when she rubbed him against her. “I need it,” she said to him. “Do me,” she said, “and don’t hold back!”

  Reno couldn’t argue with her if his life depended on it. He needed her, too. And when it came to Trina, he didn’t know how to hold back.

  He moved down her body with kisses all over. He moved until he was between her legs, licking her gently, slowly, and then with more urgency.

  Trina was already aroused. But when Reno started licking her, it made her body feel as if it was jumping off of a diving board, and was airborne at that sweet spot in between the ini
tial dive, and hitting water. That was where Trina was. In that beautiful sweet spot. And she was no longer thinking about bombs and blasts and blood and guts. She was thinking about Reno’s lips, and his tongue, and his big fat penis and how it was going to feel between her legs. She was thinking about jumping off of a diving board, and flying.

  And when Reno moved back up, and eased his thick penis inside of her, and began stroking her, she flew. She felt every ridge, every glide, every inch of his penis. Her eyes closed as he made love to her, and she was enjoying every second.

  But Reno knew he had to be careful. This couldn’t be about him. He therefore moved off of the top of her and laid on his side, behind her. He pushed his penis into her from the back, wrapped his arms around her soft body, and began making love to her with a gentleness he felt she needed. He wasn’t holding anything back. He was just giving it to her without rush or worry.

  Trina loved the way he was giving it to her. Her eyes remained closed as she pushed her ass further against his front. And his penis reacted to her closeness, and seemed to expand!

  All they could hear was the sound of their bodies slapping together. All they could hear was the sound of their juices meshing together. It was a passionate feeling. They never wanted it to end.

  Reno closed his eyes, too, as he made love to her. And he thought about a different place with every stroke he made. He thought about a place where Trina would never be in danger again, or ever have to fear anything or anyone again, and he made love to her there.

  But the longer they stayed in that restful, peaceful place, the more intense their feelings became. And when Reno stopped stroking and Trina began to ride his rod, both of them felt the heat. Both of them felt the passion. And it became too much.

  Reno began stroking again, with a rhythm that was faster than before, and soon they were banging each other. This was no longer the sweet, quiet lovemaking session. They were fucking now. Reno was slapping deeper and deeper into her, and she was feeling his fullness with every fiber of her being.

  And then it broke. And her orgasm came. Trina stretched out straight in bed, as the intensity took her, and Reno held her from getting away from him. If she needed to relieve stress, he wanted her to feel that intensity until it almost rendered her euphoric. And it worked. Trina took every stroke, every pound, every thrash until Reno was pouring into her.

  Reno came hard, too, as his semen began shooting out in thick spurts that caused him to push into her deepest point, and just stay there. Trina felt the heat of his ejaculation and began to feel another small orgasm, too. But when Reno’s cock began stroking her again, even as he was still pouring out, her orgasm got big. And she was cumming all over again.

  “That’s what I need,” she was crying to Reno. “This is what I need!”

  And soon Reno, because she was having such a strong orgasm that tightened her womanhood around his rod, began cumming again, too.

  After he got finally pulled out of Trina, and Trina eventually fell asleep in his arms, the intercom buzzed. Reno glanced at Trina, who remained asleep, and then pressed the nightstand button.

  “Tommy Gabrini’s plane just touched down, sir,” his security chief announced, “and Mick Sinatra’s plane is projected to land within the next half hour.”

  “Who’s meeting them?” Reno asked.

  “Heavy security,” his man responded, “and Sal Luca Gabrini, sir.”

  Reno was comforted to know that Sal took charge of that. Sal gave him fits, but he always came through for Reno whenever he needed him. “Do we have those tapes yet?” Reno asked his chief. He ordered his men to pay out bribes and get copies of the tapes the cops were viewing.

  “We managed to get every one of them,” his man responded. “I turned them over to Jimmy.”

  Reno ended the call, looked to see that his wife was still sleeping peacefully, and then got out of bed.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Before anybody arrived at the penthouse, Reno and Jimmy were in his home office going over the tapes. Every scene depicted various areas around Kal’s restaurant, and surrounding businesses, at the time of the explosion. But one scene had the most angles. It was a scene outside the restaurant, where a man spoke into his cell phone, and then drove away. As soon as he cleared the area, the bomb blew.

  “He’s the person of interest the cops are focusing on,” Jimmy said. “He’s that middle-eastern terrorist they’re talking about.”

  “But I thought they said the killer was a suicide bomber,” Reno said, as he sat behind his desk, his reading glasses on, and continued to study the tapes.

  “They said it,” Jimmy said, “but our sources are saying they have no proof of that. No suicide vest or anything like it. Truth is, they don’t know what this is. By calling it a terrorist attack, it takes the pressure off.”

  “Like hell,” Reno said. “We need to be sure Trina wasn’t targeted on purpose. This shit isn’t helping. There’s a hundred fucking scenes on these tapes, and none of them point to anything out of the ordinary. Even the guy driving away before the blast could just be a guy driving away before the blast. Because he’s in Muslim garb might not mean anything.”

  “I agree. But this is all we have right now, Pop.”

  Reno removed his reading glasses, and leaned back. Jimmy could feel his anguish. He wasn’t the world’s greatest husband, in Jimmy’s view. He neglected Trina far too much. But Jimmy knew Reno loved her. “She’ll be okay,” he said.

  “She could have died,” Reno said. “She came so close. And all because of my enemies. It’s almost never shit about her past. It’s always about me and my past. Shit I’m doing or shit I did.” Reno exhaled. “She deserves so much better.”

  Jimmy stared at his father. What was he saying? She deserved so much better and therefore he was leaving her? For her own good? He did it once before. He left Trina for nearly a year one time. Jimmy’s heart began to hammer. “What do you mean she deserves better?” he asked him.

  But Reno’s constant guilt felt exposed. He felt he’d said too much already. “Nothing,” he said, rising to his feet. “Shut this shit down and store those tapes,” he ordered, and left.

  Another missed opportunity, Jimmy felt. But he did as he was ordered.

  By the time Reno and Trina showered together, dressed together, and made it downstairs, Tommy and Mick were already in the living room talking with Sal and Jimmy. Gemma was moving between the family room and nursery, keeping an eye on the children.

  Tommy and Mick stood up when they saw Trina. Jimmy, following his boss’s lead, stood up, too. Sal remained sloshed down on the sofa.

  “There she is!” Tommy said jovially as he made his way toward Trina. Known the world over as Dapper Tom, he was elegantly dressed, as usual, in an Armani suit that hugged his lean frame like a glove and elevated his great looks from boyish charm to sophisticated chic. But it was Trina, in her shorts and jersey, with her hair now in a ponytail, that couldn’t have looked better to him. “I don’t see a scratch on you, girl!” he added in that playful Tommy way.

  “And I don’t see a hair out of place on you,” Trina responded with a smile as the two met and hugged vigorously. When they stopped embracing, they looked at each other. “How’s Grace and the children?” she asked.

  “Grace is fine and sends hugs and kisses,” Tommy said. “She wanted to come, of course, but I wanted her to stay with the children until we sought this out.”

  “For sure,” Trina said. “I was thinking it was just a regular terrorist attack the way every newscast in America was calling it, but Reno and Sal seemed to see it differently.”

  “Always,” Tommy said as he turned toward Reno. “And how are you, old man?” he asked.

  “Old man my ass,” Reno said with a smile on his face as he and Tommy hugged vigorously, too. Although they were first cousins, they were also best friends.

  But it was still surprising to Reno and Trina both to see Mick Sinatra in their living room. He stood tall and elegant, to
o, in his designer suit, although he wore his style in a rough-around-the-edges, less polished way than his nephew Tommy Gabrini. But fashion was a byproduct, a necessary evil, as he would call it, but not who he was. He was, in truth, the most ruthless mob boss in America, bar none. And Mick the Tick was not the kind of man who would drop everything and come over just because a family member was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was unharmed. He might follow developments closely. He might even send his well wishes. But to come was unusual.

  Reno, especially, was concerned. He knew how busy the man was. He knew how unaffected by family affection he could be. Something was up.

  He broke away from Tommy and Trina and made his way to his stationary guest, a man he viewed as his equal. “Hello, Mick,” he said with a smile, extending his hand. “Good to see you again, man.”

  They shook hands. “Good to see you,” Mick responded. “I’m glad to see your wife is okay.”

  “It was a close one, I’m not going to lie. It could have been a very different story this evening.”

  “I hear you.” Mick’s relationship with Tommy and Sal was a straightforward one. His deceased sister had been their mother. They were his nephews despite their own power and position, and although he respected them immensely, he could never hold them up to where they were on equal footing with him.

  But his relationship with Reno was far more complicated. They were related by marriage: Mick’s sister’s deceased husband, the one-time head of the Seattle police department, and Reno’s deceased father, a ruthless mob boss, were brothers. But they also held a business partnership on a few international ventures, and they respected each other as equals. Which was saying a lot. Mick rarely respected any man as his equal.

  “Hey there, Michello,” Trina said with a big smile as she and Tommy made their way toward him, too. Trina wanted to hug him, she really did care deeply for the man, but she knew he was not always open to affection. Sometimes he was; but most times, like this time, she could tell, he was not.