Jimmy appreciated that. “Thanks,” he said.
But that damn kid, Reno thought when the kid and his mother continued their Kabuki dance. Finally, when red-head circled Reno one time too many, Reno called him over.
“Winkie,” he said to the child who couldn’t be any more than seven. “Come here.”
Winkie hesitated, because Reno qualified as the dreaded stranger, but he grinned and went on up to him anyway.
“Ring that bell one more time,” Reno whispered to the child, “and I’ll take that same bell and ram it up your ass. Understand?”
The child didn’t understand what Reno meant, but he knew it wasn’t nice. He started crying and ran to his mother.
Jimmy was mortified. “Pop!” he said. “You can’t say that to a little kid.”
“I’ll bet he won’t be ringing that bell again,” Reno said, just as the nurse walked in and called his name.
Bob Paxon stood from behind his desk and shook Reno and Jimmy’s hands when they entered his office.
“I understand we met before,” Reno said as they shook.
“Yes,” Bob said. “Your physician had recommended me to be your wife’s gynecologist when the two of you were first married, and we met in his office. But I’m sure you don’t remember that.”
“No, I don’t remember it,” Reno said. Although he remembered how this same gynecologist was all over his wife at the mall. Reno remembered that really well. But all of that aside, he thought. At least the man was there for Trina.
“This is my son, James, doc,” Reno said, introducing Jimmy Mack.
Bob was surprised that Reno would have a child that age, and, quite frankly, that color, but nothing completely surprised him anymore. Not in this changing world. “Nice to meet you, James,” he said as he and Jimmy shook hands.
“Sit down, gentlemen, please,” Bob then offered and Reno and Jimmy Mack sat down. Bob returned to his seat.
“Before we get started,” Reno said, “I want to thank you for being there for my wife. She told me how you agreed to meet her and take her to her . . . appointment.”
“Yes,” Bob said. “Although it was an appointment she couldn’t go through with.”
“Yes, thank God,” Reno said. “But thank-you for being there for her.”
“You’re quite welcome, sir. It was my pleasure.”
Reno could have done without that little comment, but he let it slide. He’d had this guy checked out. He was considered an excellent doctor in his profession and one of the best in Vegas.
“So, Mr. Gabrini,” Bob said, clasping his hands in front of him, “what can I do for you? Katrina has given me permission to discuss anything related to her treatment. So fire away.”
“Well, I don’t want to get in the weeds about this,” Reno admitted, “but I just need to know about the pregnancy itself. I need to know if it’s what they call a high risk pregnancy.” Reno looked at the doctor when he said this. “My son says it can be. I need to know if it is.”
“Well,” Bob said, attempting to choose his words carefully, “any pregnancy can be high risk, no matter who the mother is. And if you couple that with the fact that Katrina is over thirty, and the answer is yes, there could be added complications.”
Reno’s heart began to squeeze. “What do you mean by added complications? You mean something could happen to Tree, to Katrina?”
Bob nodded. “Something could happen, yes. She could have numerous issues. But we always hope for the best.”
“I understand about the hope thing. But I’m talking about the reality of this here thing. Now you’re telling me that my wife, because she’s over thirty, could be in danger? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“What I’m saying is that she could have complications, as is the case for any pregnancy. The fact that she’s over thirty can create complications in and of itself on top of the routine concerns.”
Reno’s brows furrowed. “So being over thirty doesn’t help her?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
Reno was beginning to feel guilty. “So what kind of complications are we talking about here? She could lose the baby?”
“Let’s be clear, Mr. Gabrini, I’m not suggesting that she stands as much chance of having an unsuccessful outcome as a successful one. What I am suggesting is that there are risks to pregnancies. There always are. For mother and child.”
Reno’s heart began to hammer. He moved to the edge of his seat. Jimmy Mack looked at him. “For mother?” Reno asked the doctor.
Bob nodded. “Yes. For mother and child.”
“You mean something could happen to Trin, to my wife?”
“Something could, yes. Quite frankly, yes.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, it runs the full gamut, Mr. Gabrini.”
“Then tell me the gamut, whatever the fuck that is.”
“Pop!”
“I’m sorry, Doc,” Reno said. “I didn’t mean to. . . Just tell me.”
“Well, there are numerous ways a pregnancy can go. From nothing at all, to minor to severe complications, all the way to death,” the doctor said.
Reno stared at the doctor. “Death of the child?”
“Or mother, or both, yes.”
Reno’s heart dropped. He knew there could be complications. But death? For some reason that had never occurred to him. Not once. And the idea that his horny behind caused these possibilities for Trina were too much.
“That’s rare, Pop,” Jimmy sought to reassure his father. “Death, that kind of thing is rare.”
“You say it’s rare,” Reno said, “but the doctor here is saying it’s possible.”
“But percentage wise, doc, it’s low, right?” Jimmy asked. He was concerned that this doctor was just spouting off the top of his head. He didn’t realize what he was doing to a man like Reno, who felt everything so deeply.
“Oh, yes,” the doctor replied, to Jimmy’s relief. “I’m sorry, let me make myself clearer. The chances of a deadly outcome is very low. Almost non-existent, really. I didn’t mean to alarm you, Mr. Gabrini. In fact, you stand a better chance of getting hit by a car this afternoon than your wife actually dying from this pregnancy.”
Reno began to feel some relief himself. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”
“Well, you alarmed me. You alarmed me pretty good. You had me damn near ready to tell her to abort immediately, that’s how much you alarmed me.”
Bob smiled. “I didn’t mean to do that. And you won’t have to tell her to abort anything. Besides, abortions carry risks for the woman, too, Mr. Gabrini.”
Reno wanted to flatten this guy. What was it with him and all of this worse-case-scenario talk? Didn’t he realize Reno felt like he was dying here? Everything was a risk. Everything could produce complications. This pregnancy could have Trina dead in a ditch let this joker tell it. Some bedside manners he had. Some things, Reno felt, were better left unsaid. Especially if you were saying them about Tree to him.
And Trina had such confidence in this guy. But Reno didn’t see it. The only reason this big shot doctor probably agreed to take her to the clinic in the first place was because she was pretty and he might have thought he could get some after the abortion. It was a crude thing to think, Reno knew, but he was never going to be mistaken for a diplomat. It was just that this guy was rubbing him wrong. This guy left a lot to be desired to Reno.
“So what am I supposed to do for her?” Reno asked. “What am I supposed to do to make sure we don’t have any of these complications?”
“Just love her,” Bob said as if he wished it was him. “The rest will take care of itself.”
Reno nodded. It was the first sensible thing the guy had said all meeting.
Reno lay wide awake in the middle of the night staring at a sleeping Trina. She was lying on her side, facing him, with both of her arms around his neck. Reno had his arms around her, too, with one hand on her bare back and the other hand
on her bare ass. He was massaging her as she slept, and he couldn’t stop thinking about all that that doctor had said to him earlier. All of that talk of complications. Yeah, they were possible. Reno knew they were very possible, but this was what Trina wanted. And, now that it was a fact, he wanted it very much, too.
Trina stirred and pushed closer against him, causing her bare stomach to butt against his. This was going to be the mother of his child. Katrina Gabrini. The only woman he would have ever chosen to be the mother of his child. Because he loved her, yes, but also because of the kind of caring person she was. She’d take perfect care of their child. She’d nurture him or her, love the child, and make sure any child of hers treated people right. Trina would stand for nothing less. She lived by the golden rule.
Reno smiled as Trina snored and made those occasional horse sounds she sometimes made in the middle of the night. He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer still. The idea that something could go wrong should still be terrifying him. But it wasn’t. He was just going to stay prayerful and love his wife. Because Bob Paxon was right. The rest would take care of itself.
Over the next six weeks Reno felt like a man in a candy store because his wife was pregnant with his child. But because of those so-called risks involved he also felt like a big bad bear was in the corner of that candy store constantly watching him. He walked around the PaLargio as if life couldn’t be any more agreeable, and he walked around the PaLargio as if life couldn’t have him more stressed. He worried constantly about Trina. She knew it, Jimmy knew it, and all of the employees knew it, too. But unlike one employee, Cheri Dallas, the others had the good sense to keep their knowledge to themselves.
Cheri was in Trina’s office attempting to get her to reconsider a one-week-only contract for a comedic friend of Cheri’s. Trina found the man’s sense of humor too raunchy for the PaLargio (his entire routine was all about female genitalia) and she didn’t think he was worth the controversy that often followed his appearances. Cheri disagreed and the two women defended their positions. Lee Jones, who was also in the office, sided with Cheri.
“He’ll be at the Barclay Lounge, Tree,” Lee pointed out, “and it’ll be a midnight show only. I don’t see how any sensibilities can be trampled on with that kind of limited reach.”
“Thank you, Lee,” Cheri said. Trina looked at Cheri Dallas. It was no secret that they had their issues with one another. For Trina, she simply didn’t like Cheri’s management style. She was too in your face for Trina’s taste and Trina often told her so. Reno said Cheri’s style was necessary, given all of the different businesses that make up the PaLargio corporation, but Trina still felt Cheri went too far.
Trina also knew, however, that there were still rumors rolling around about Cheri’s relationship to Reno. It started even before she first came on board. Even Trina’s old friend Jazz had heard the rumors. People were saying that Reno only hired Cheri because she was pretty and blonde and he liked the contrast of fucking a gorgeous black woman one day, and then a gorgeous white one the next. He could have his cake and eat it too, were how the gossipers would put it.
And Trina endured those accusations. She endured them daily sometimes. But she never even addressed them with Reno. She didn’t feel such scurrilous attacks deserved addressing. Yes, she kept her eyes open, and yes, she paid close attention to Reno’s interactions with Cheri. She, after all, was no blind bitch so helplessly in love that she wouldn’t see a cheater if her life depended on it. But she knew her man. She felt highly comfortable that Reno Gabrini wasn’t fucking anybody but her.
But that didn’t mean those rumors didn’t hurt. Because she knew the deal. She knew that other women had felt just as confident about their men as she felt about Reno, and some of those women had been burned big time. Trina had seen it happen countless times herself. She was no fool. She knew that everything was possible. But she also knew that in the land of love there had to be trust. And she trusted Reno.
“I hear what both of you guys are saying,” Trina said to Cheri and Lee, “and I agree that he’ll be in the Barclay and it’ll be a midnight show. But I’m not going to allow either one of you to overlook the politics of this decision. We’ve already had women’s groups citing the PaLargio twice this year for what they called insensitive booking. I just want us to pay attention to that. Every time I turn around I don’t want some comedian on one of our stages dissing females all the time. So my answer remains no. Lee, you’re the Chief Operating Officer. You can overrule me. But that’s my answer.”
Cheri looked at Lee. She knew Lee didn’t have the backbone to overrule Queen Katrina when all the queen had to do was run to Reno. But, to her surprise, Lee did overrule her.
“Book him,” he said to Cheri.
Cheri didn’t even crack a smile. “Yes, sir,” she replied totally businesslike and looked at Trina. Inwardly she was gloating like a big dog. Inwardly she wanted to shout, I won bitch, right in Trina’s black face. But she held it together. Trina was nobody’s fool. If she expected to remain GM, and keep her beloved Reno close by, Cheri knew she had to, at all times, keep her true feelings to herself.
She hadn’t gotten to first base with Reno yet, but she was determined to keep trying right up under Trina’s nose. She intended to steal Trina’s husband when Trina didn’t even know the robbery was taking place. Just the thought of it made Cheri warm inside. She had the upper hand, and that black witch didn’t even know it. Nobody did. Not even Reno. That was how good and cool and diabolical Cheri Dallas knew how to be. That was how she got ahead. She played it cool and kept being the most beautiful woman in the room. And then, over time, the dynamic would change and it would be the big boss begging her for a fuck. In all of her years in the business world, that fact had yet to fail. They always, in the end, asked for some.
The door to Trina’s office opened and the man himself walked in. Reno Gabrini. The man that Cheri often spent many of her nights dreaming about. Her heart, in fact, leaped with that sensual delight as it always did whenever Reno came into a room. His beautiful hair, his baby blue eyes, his body and swag and incredible sensuality made her almost crave the man.
But, as always, Cheri showed no outward emotion whatsoever.
When Reno walked in, Trina smiled. There was no hiding of any emotion with her. And it was no surprise to her that Reno would drop by her office. Ever since it was announced that Mrs. Gabrini was pregnant, Mr. Gabrini came by her office every single day to make sure she was okay. Before the pregnancy, Trina was sometimes lucky to see Reno anywhere near her office once a week tops. Now it was every single day.
“Hello, everybody,” Reno said as he walked toward the threesome. “What’s up?”
“Booking issues,” Cheri gladly took over and said. As general manager, she was the lowest rank staffer in the room. But that never stopped Cheri.
“What kind of booking issues?” Reno asked.
“Lee and I want to book Jeff Fingar again, but Trina doesn’t.”
Lee almost rolled his eyes. Cheri didn’t realize it, but her need to get Reno’s attention would probably cause her comedic friend his gig.
Reno looked at Trina. “You don’t want the guy?”
“Not really, no.”
“Why not?”
Trina exhaled. As she did, Reno looked down, at her breasts he knew so well, as they heaved up and then back down. “I just think Jeff Fingar is vulgar and not at all the kind of act we need to be booking.”
“But he’s only at midnight, Tree,” Lee pointed out.
“I don’t care if he was broad daylight, Lee,” Reno said. “He’s not coming here. I’m all the vulgarity the PaLargio needs in one lifetime.”
Trina smiled. She really did love Reno. Cheri, however, inwardly fumed. She really did hate Trina. But outwardly she smiled.
“Then I guess we won’t be booking Jeff,” Cheri said as if it was no big deal to her anyway, and Lee, too, played it off.
“All right, Tree, ready?” Reno asked.
Trina hesitated. “Ready? Ready for what?”
“It’s after one o’clock. You’ve been working since early this morning.”
“So?”
“So, you need your rest. I want you to go upstairs and take a nap.”
“A nap?” Cheri blurted out before she realized she was saying anything. The idea of Reno being that solicitous to Trina had evoked a sudden jealousy within her that made her want to put him back in his place.
But she hadn’t intended to say it out loud. Now that she had, she smiled to play it off. “Oh, Reno, she’s fine,” Cheri decided to say. “Stop hovering and being so overbearing. She’s fine.”
Trina had planned to say the exact same thing, but she wasn’t about to go against her husband in public. Especially when he was only looking out for her. Especially when Cheri Dallas would love to see dissension in paradise.
“You’re right, Reno,” Trina said, standing from behind her desk. “I really do need to take a break.”
Cheri was angry with herself as Reno hurried to help Trina stand up, and then walked her from around the desk. She was only three months pregnant by this time, and was only mildly showing, but you wouldn’t know it by the gentle, as if she was nine months pregnant way that Reno handled her. Cheri knew she had overstepped her bounds. And when Reno walked toward her, he let her know it, too.
“Don’t you think for a second, Miss Dallas, that your position as my general manager gives you some right to comment about anything related to my personal interactions with my wife. It doesn’t. I don’t tolerate it from Lee, who’s an old friend of mine, so you know I’m not tolerating it from you. What I say to my wife is between me and my wife. Understand? Don’t fuck with me.”
Cheri’s heart dropped. “I didn’t mean to suggest---”
“Don’t fuck with me, Cheri,” Reno warned her again. He put up with her little mild flirtations because she was rather exceptional at what she did, but getting all up in his business with his wife was taking it too far. And he wanted to make certain she understood that.
A MOB BOSS CHRISTMAS: THE PREGNANCY (MOB BOSS SERIES) Page 6