Without hesitation, Jimmy hurried from around his father’s chair, grabbed a baton from one of Reno’s men and hurried up to Shay. He flipped her onto her stomach.
“What are you doing?” she screamed. “What are you doing?”
He then took the baton and rammed it up her ass. She screeched in pain. Tears brightened her eyes. Jimmy, on his knees, grabbed her chin and turned her face toward him. “This is your final time,” he said, still holding the baton. “We won’t ask you again. Now who made you tell those lies on my father?”
“Nobody made me!” Shay cried. Jimmy pushed the baton in further, causing blood to start trickling out. Shay screamed again.
When Reno saw the blood, he got up from his chair and pulled Jimmy up to his feet. Then Reno knelt down beside Shay and her now bleeding ass. Shay was relieved that Reno took over.
“Who put you up to it, Shay?” Reno asked. “Give me a name.”
“There is no name,” she said. “I did it myself!”
But her relief died when Reno took the baton that still stuck out of her and began twisting it. Shay closed her eyes as the pain became unbearable. Shay’s boyfriend cried for her.
“Who, Shay?” Reno asked.
“Stop it, please, Reno! Stop it!”
“Give me a name!”
Lee!” she screamed. “Lee Jones! He made me do it. It was Lee!”
Reno’s heart rammed against his chest. Lee? Did she just say Lee? His best friend Lee? Jimmy looked at his father. He was stunned too. Then he looked back at Shay, angry.
“You’re lying, motherfucker!” Jimmy yelled. “Why do you keep lying like that?”
But Reno wasn’t as certain as Jimmy was. He’d seen too much in his life to be certain about anybody. “Why?” he asked her.
“He didn’t tell me why,” she said breathlessly. “He just forced me to do it. He said he would kill me if I didn’t do it. Then he made me apologize. I don’t know why. He didn’t tell me why!”
She started crying, and Reno just knelt there. Then he slung the baton from out of her, causing her to cry out again, and then he tossed it aside. He looked at her boyfriend.
“If you or Shay so much as whisper about this day, both of you will be killed. No protection will be able to protect you from me. No money, no bodyguards, no press exposure. Make no mistake about it. They accuse me of being Mafia. All the time. But that’s not true. The Mafia can’t reach as far as I can reach. So trust me on this. If you don’t believe me, utter a word to anybody about this night. And both of you, together or alone, will die. That I guarantee.”
Reno turned to leave, and then turned back. “Oh, and Shay?” She managed to look up at him. “Your contract is cancelled. Get your shit and get off of my premises. These boys here will escort you and your boyfriend out.”
Reno then left, with Jimmy following behind him. Once in the corridor, and the suite door closed, he looked at his father. “Lee?” he asked. “Why would she lie like that?”
But Reno didn’t respond. He was in deep thought. He was in deep pain. How in the world was he going to handle this?
There was no way he could respond to anybody right now. He just walked away.
Trina was in Dommi’s bed, holding her baby as he slept, by the time Reno returned home. She waited for him to come and get her. In the past, whenever he got in late at night and didn’t see her in bed, he’d immediately come to Dommi’s room, since that was where she usually was, and he’d pick her up and carry her to their bed. But not this time.
Trina got out of bed, rubbed Dommi’s soft, curly hair, kissed him goodnight again, and then made her way to the master bedroom. Reno had undressed hastily, tossing his clothes all over the floor, and was now lying on top of the bed covers completely naked. The tension all over his body was palpable. And Trina thought the worse. Something terrible had happened with Shay, she thought.
But she kept it together. Instead of running to him and bombarding him with questions, she picked up his clothes, removed his keys, his wallet, his gun, and placed them on the nightstand. Then she took his clothes and placed them in the laundry chute. She walked back to the bed, sat on the edge, and looked at Reno. Reno was staring at the ceiling.
“It was bad,” she said as if it was a fact.
Reno closed his pained eyes briefly, and then opened them again.
Trina didn’t ask for any blow-by-blow because she knew Reno wouldn’t give her any such gory details. But he would tell her what she needed to know.
“I asked her who put her up to it,” he eventually said. “And you know what she said to me?”
Trina stared at him. “What did she say?”
Reno looked at her. “She said Lee. She said Lee put her up to it.”
Trina’s already big eyes opened wider. “Lee Jones?” she asked with shock in her voice. “She’s claiming Lee Jones made her tell those lies?”
Reno nodded. “That’s what she’s claiming.”
“But that can’t be true, Reno. Lee? He’s your best friend! He loves you. He would never make somebody lie on you like that. No. I don’t believe it.”
But when she looked at Reno, she knew he wasn’t there yet. His face was a mask of anguish. “Reno, you can’t believe her. She’s lying! How can you believe her?”
“I know what you’re saying, Tree. Jimmy feels the same way you do. But . .”
Trina frowned. “But what?”
“But I’ve seen so much in my life, Tree,” he said heartfelt. “I’ve seen so many people, who I thought were on my side---”
Trina began rubbing his shoulder. And now her face was a mask of anguish too, because she understood exactly what he meant. “I know, darling,” she said. “I know.” Then she exhaled. “Have you confronted Lee about it?” she asked him.
Reno shook his head. “No.”
“You’re afraid it’s true?”
“I’m afraid it’s not true, but he won’t be able to convince me that it’s not. And I’m more afraid of that, Trina, than the truth.”
Trina’s heart squeezed in agony as Reno let out a harsh exhale, and then covered his face with his hands as if he could hide the fact that he was at yet another crossroads in his life.
Trina stood up, and began undressing, staring at Reno as she did. She knew Reno viewed suffering as something he deserved for his past transgressions. She knew he never once tried to blame somebody else or neglect to bear his burdens. That had never been Reno’s problem. Reno’s problem was that he blamed himself too much, and bore burdens that wasn’t his to bear. Now somebody was trying to turn him against his own best friend. Somebody was trying to make him bear that burden too. And it angered Trina. But her anger, right now, would do her husband no good.
That was why, once her clothes were removed, she got on the bed and straddled Reno, and was about to suck his dick. She wanted to relieve his stress. But he laid her down on top of him, and put his arms around her instead. He needed to hold her. He kissed her on her forehead and needed to feel her soft black body against his hard white form. Trina kept him human. She kept him from becoming animalistic and filled with hatred the way his enemies believed he already was. She kept him grounded. That was why he held her. That was why he lifted up, pulled the bedding back, and then slipped them both underneath. It was warmth he needed tonight. Trina’s warmth.
But hours later, after the remains of the day had settled into their own private spaces, Trina woke up to the feel of Reno fucking her. She was still on top of him, and he still held her in his arms, but his dick had penetrated deep inside of her and was pushing in even deeper with every stroke he made. And he was stroking as if his life depended on it. He was pounding into her. He was grunting and moaning as he was nearing his release.
And Trina felt it too. She felt how near he was. She felt the sense of urgency in his rock hard body, and the even thicker expanse of his penis. His body was slick with sweat, as if he had been doing her for a while, and just as she was waking up, he was near his end. A
nd then he exploded. He let out a release that was so powerful that it felt like a burst of heat inside of her. His veins were popping with strain, as he released.
But even after that kind of output, Reno continued to stroke. He wanted her to cum too. But she knew she wasn’t there right now. Not in body, mind, or sex. And she kissed him and told him it was alright, that she was alright. And Reno kissed her too, as she could feel his strained body slowly come down and back to that state of rest.
They rested longer, as they both fell right back asleep.
Trina woke up later that next morning with a smile on her face. She stretched and turned toward Reno’s side. But when she realized he wasn’t there, and when she realized where he might actually had gone, she panicked. And jumped out of bed.
“Make sure everybody gets a copy,” Lee Jones said to his assistant as he handed her back the document he had just approved.
“Yes, sir,” she said. “Do you want input?”
“I want input,” he agreed. Just as he did, Reno walked in. Lee smiled. “Reno!” he said. “Now this is one office I rarely see you in.” He looked at his assistant. “That’ll be all,” he said. She left, speaking to Reno as she did.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Gabrini?” Lee asked, his brown face still cheerful.
Reno, however, looked grim as he walked around Lee’s desk and leaned against it. They were now side by side. Lee was about to stand up too, but Reno pushed him back down.
Lee looked at him. “What’s the matter?”
“I had a conversation with Shay Grayson,” he said.
“So?”
“I asked her who put her up to it. Who made her tell those lies on me.” He looked Lee dead in the eye. “She said you, Lee.”
Lee looked as if he could not have been more shocked. “Me? Are you serious? She told you I had something to do with that?”
Reno was studying him. “That’s what she told me, yeah.”
“But it’s a lie!”
“Is it?”
“Hell, yeah, it is!”
“She was under some serious stress and strain when she said your name.”
“I don’t care what that bitch was under! She’s lying, Reno! She gave my name to throw you off. All because you turned her down. She told me she’d get you back. She told me that many times! This is all about Shay and that twisted sense of entitlement she has. This is all about her. You know how she is. How can you come to me with something like that?”
But this angered Reno. “What the fuck you thought I was gonna do? You think this shit easy for me? I had to address this! She said it was you, and she said it while I had a fucking baton up her ass!”
“But I wouldn’t betray you like that, Reno,” Lee said. “You know I wouldn’t. You know me. You don’t know a damn about Shay. But you know me!”
Reno continued to study Lee as Lee stood up. Tears were in Lee’s eyes.
“Reno,” he said, “you’ve got to trust me on this. You’ve got to believe me. I wouldn’t betray you like that. You know I wouldn’t. You’ve got to believe me!”
Reno stared up at Lee, and then he stood up from where he had been leaning against the desk. And he knew Lee was right. He had to believe him. Because the consequences of him not believing his best friend would be too dire. He wasn’t certain if Lee was involved or not, because taking people’s word for it just didn’t cut it for Reno anymore. But he was certain he couldn’t do a damn thing about that involvement, until there was no doubt whatsoever. Until the truth was plain as day.
Lee extended his hand and Reno began shaking it just as Trina burst into the office. Both men turned to the sound. Lee was stunned. Reno knew exactly why she entered with such urgency.
Trina exhaled. They were shaking hands. She thanked God and exhaled again.
TWELVE
Dommi was running all over their private courtyard in a desperate attempt to evade his parents. He would run one way, and Reno would chase him. He would run the opposite way, and Trina would chase him. And all the while Dommi was grinning so hard that it made Reno and Tree laugh too.
It had been nearly an hour of constant running and playing and Reno was beginning to feel it in his legs. He ran his son around the yard a few times more, but then he sat down in one of the patio chairs. But Trina kept at it. Reno leaned back and watched her. She always looked as if she was having the time of her life when she was playing with her son. Reno loved to see it. He loved the sound of laughter in and around his home nowadays. In the past he took it for granted. Now, as he was about to turn forty and felt as if he’d lived the life of a man twice his age, he relished it.
Oddly enough, it was Dommi, not Trina, who eventually ran out of gas. Dommi plopped his little behind on the courtyard, and then laid out exhausted. Trina grinned and took a seat beside Reno. She’d barely broke a sweat.
“You guys are so tacky,” she said jokingly. “Let a female outperform both of you!”
“What are you talking outperform? I’m taking a breather, that’s all.”
Trina laughed. “Yeah, right, Reno. Whatever you say, Reno.”
Reno smiled. “My ass tired, you’re right,” he admitted. Trina laughed. “But it’s all good.”
“Dommi will be sleep shortly,” Trina said. “Watch what I tell you. That boy is one predictable young man. I love that about him. No surprises with Dommi.”
“Unlike his old man,” Reno said and then looked at her.
“Something like that,” she said with a smile. Then she turned serious. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you this,” she said, “but just before Shay made her crazy allegations, I went to check on Jimmy.”
“You checked on him?”
“Yeah. I knew you and he talked about your previous relationship with Melita, so I wanted to make sure he was okay.”
“I don’t think he showed up for work that next day.”
“He didn’t,” Tree said. “But I found him. At Melita’s house.” She said this and looked at Reno.
Reno looked at her. “You went to her house?”
“I went there, yup.”
Reno continued to look at her. “Was Jimmy okay?”
“He was fine.”
“What did you think about them as a couple?”
“Well, that’s the thing. I think our son is very much in love.”
“And Mel?”
“Very much in lust,” Trina said. “And I don’t mean sexual lust only, either. But I’m beginning to think that your wealth may have something to do with her interest in Jimmy.”
But Reno shook his head. “I already checked that angle.”
Trina looked at him. “You did?”
“I did. She’s doing alright for herself. Her former boyfriend set her up with her own consulting firm and she’s riding pretty high. I don’t think money’s it.”
“Then what can it be, Reno? It sure as hell isn’t love.”
“You got that right. That chick don’t know what love is.”
Sometimes Reno still sounded like the jilted lover to Trina. But she also knew that he probably still felt like one on some level. He fell for Melita. Maybe hard for her. While she fell hard for somebody else. Maybe people could never really get over that kind of hurt.
But the question Trina had been avoiding asking, needed to be asked. “Do you think she’s trying to worm her way back into your life, Reno? You think she wants you back?”
Reno smiled, and then laughed, causing Trina to smile too.
“What’s so funny?” she asked him.
“You and that crazy talk,” he said. “That woman can’t stand me and I can’t stand her. Trust me on that, Tree.”
“But what could she have against you? She dumped you!”
“But she thinks I drove her to it. I didn’t drive her to a damn thing, but that’s how she thinks.”
This interested Trina. This went to the character of a man, as far as she was concerned. “Why would she think that, though? Is it because you weren’t e
xactly faithful to her?”
Reno looked at her. He knew why she asked that question. “I loved her, Trina, and it wasn’t an open relationship. I was faithful to her.”
Trina inwardly sighed relief. “Then what’s her problem? Why is she bothering with Jimmy?”
Reno shook his head as Dommi looked over at his parents.
“Ready to go another round?” Trina yelled to him.
“No ma’am,” Dommi said as he continued to lay there, prompting Trina to laugh. Then she looked at Reno again. “You don’t think Jimmy’s in any danger, do you?”
“No. He’s a Gabrini. If there’s something like that around him, he’ll sniff it out.”
“And Shay and her allegations. And for her to accuse Lee like that. What is going on here, Reno?”
“I’ve been on the phone with everybody I can think of, with mob bosses from the west coast to the east coast and everybody in between. And I got nothing. There’s no heat underneath me. There’s no chatter. Nothing. Which means nothing’s going on and Melita’s sudden interest in our son, and Shay’s sudden allegations against me, are just random events. Or it’s what we call a local situation. It’s personal.”
“Personal?”
“It’s personal, Tree. Somebody out there, with no connections to nobody else, may have some ax to grind.”
“Which means Lee isn’t off the hook?”
“Lee isn’t off the hook, Melita isn’t off the hook, Shay isn’t off the hook. No fucker on my Security team is completely off the hook. Something is up. But it’s either so subtle I can’t see it, or so glaring I’m missing it.”
“I heard Shay went abroad,” Trina said. “At least that’s what the papers say. They said she was taking some time off and staying out of the public eye for a change.”
“Yeah, she’d better keep a low profile.” Then Reno exhaled. “I don’t like when it’s murky like this, Tree. I don’t like when I don’t know where it’s coming from. So I have to assume it’s coming from everywhere. I have to assume that nobody’s trustworthy, except for you and Jimmy.”
Trina smiled. “Don’t forget Dommi,” she said.
Reno Gabrini: A Man in Full Page 12