As he drove them away, he reached out and clasped Trina’s hand. She didn’t say a word to him, but she allowed him to touch her.
But when they made it home, it was a different story. Trina made sure the children were okay in their rooms, and she also spent time with the baby and Maddie. And she avoided Reno like the plague. Jimmy, who brought his daughter and kid brother to his parents’ estate and was now sitting at the bar as Reno poured drinks, saw it too.
“What’s with Ma?” Jimmy asked as he sat at the counter.
Reno was standing behind the bar. “Still upset. From what I can piece together, it was a hellish ride she and the kids had to take.”
“Had to be,” Jimmy said. “I would have thought Dommi would have been happy because he didn’t have to go to school today, but he’s gloomy too. What was different about this time from all those other times?”
Reno paused. A depressed look appeared in his eyes. “One time too many,” he said, and took a long gulp of his drink.
Jimmy nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been there too.” Then he smiled. “Being a member of your family can be hazardous to your health.”
Reno didn’t find it funny, but he knew it was the truth. He took another gulp of his drink.
“Uncle Sal seems to think somebody connected to the Johnson brothers was behind the attack. That’s how you see it, too, Pop?”
“That’s what I’m thinking too. But I can’t be certain of any of that shit until I find out what I can find out. My men are on it. Sal’s men are on it. We’ll figure it out.”
“And Mom?” Jimmy asked. “How are you going to figure her out?”
Reno shook his head. “Don’t know that either.”
“She’ll come around, Pop,” Jimmy said. “She always does.”
Reno’s cell phone, face down on the bar counter, began to ring. Jimmy turned it over and looked at the Caller ID. He picked it up. “It’s Uncle Mick,” he said as he handed the phone to his father.
Reno answered. “Hey.”
“Katrina and the children okay?” It was Mick’s voice on the other end of the phone.
Reno knew Mick was very fond of Trina. He was undoubtedly concerned. “They’re physically okay, thanks.”
There was a pause. Mick was old school. He knew what Reno meant. They weren’t okay. “Affiliates of the Johnsons is what I’m hearing,” he said. “What say you?”
“I’m saying that’s the most likely scenario. But I don’t know that to be a fact yet.”
“I’ve got guys looking into it. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Great. Thanks, Mick.”
“And Reno?”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of her.”
A tinge of jealousy pierced Reno. Mick would take better care of Trina if he had been her man, the way he took care of his wife Roz. In Reno’s view, nothing never happened to Roz. Everything happened to Trina!
“Always,” he responded to Mick, and they ended the call just as Trina entered the living room area and made her way toward their full-sized bar.
“Who was that?” she asked, as she sat beside Jimmy.
“Uncle Mick,” Jimmy responded. “He wanted to make sure you and the kids were okay.”
“That’s very nice of him,” Trina said, as Reno placed a glass of gin in front of her.
“So how are you?” Jimmy asked. “You okay?”
Trina looked at her glass. “No,” she said, and took a long drink.
Jimmy looked at his father. He saw that Reno was staring at Trina.
Then Trina sat the glass down, and got up from the bar. “I need a bath,” she said, and headed upstairs.
Reno watched her leave, finished his drink, and then headed upstairs too.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
By the time Reno made it upstairs to the master bedroom and closed and locked the double doors, he could see Trina’s clothes discarded in a trail toward the bathroom. He picked up every piece, as he made his way toward her, and then placed them in the laundry chute.
When he made it into the master bathroom itself, Trina was naked with her legs crossed, sitting on the side of the tub. She was running her hands through the oil-scented water as it filled the tub, and was staring into the water as if it held the answer.
But just like Reno, it held no answers either.
He leaned against the doorjamb, folded his arms, and watched her. When he first met her, his heart would filled with joy whenever she would enter a room, and it still behaved that way. Trina. The one who stole his heart, they used to say. But no. She didn’t steal a thing. He gladly gave it to her.
It was her heart, he felt, that was stolen.
She also had music playing, over the stereo system, as she sat on the edge of the tub, and she seemed to be enjoying the tunes. But all Reno heard was sad song after sad song. Why did she love such sad songs? But that was Trina. She was in a bad way, and wasn’t trying to pretend that she wasn’t.
He removed his clothes, went to her, and lifted her into his arms.
He, at first, thought she would resist his affection. Why would she want the man responsible for her agony to hold her? But what Reno always loved about Trina was her fierce independence. She didn’t conform to what anybody expected of her. She conformed to what she expected of herself. And she was never unfair, or irrational, in her expectations.
They held onto each other for a long time, and then got into the tub together. Reno bathe Trina, although he knew there wasn’t an ounce of dirt on her, but he understood what she was doing because he’d done it thousands of times before himself. She wasn’t trying to wash the dirt away. She was trying to wash the memories away. She was trying to wash away that decision she made, all those years ago, to become his bride. And to have his children. When she should have known what kind of life they were going to have.
And then Don McLean came on the stereo, singing And I Love You So, and although it was yet another sad song, it was the only one Reno could relate to.
He wrapped his arms around Trina, leaned her body back against his, and closed his eyes.
“And I love you so.
The people ask me how;
how I’ve lived ‘till now;
I tell them, ‘I don’t know.’
I guess they understand,
how lonely life has been.
But life began again,
the day you took my hand.
And yes, I know
how lonely life can be.
The shadows follow me,
and the night won’t set me free.
But I don’t let
the evening get me down.
Now that you’re around
me.”
“I love you, Trina,” Reno whispered in her ear. “I love you so much.”
“I know you do,” Trina said. “I love you too. But that’s not the issue, Reno, and we aren’t going to pretend that it is. Those Johnson brothers started shit that you felt you had to finish, and all that stupid shit nearly got our children killed. They were aiming that gun at our children, Reno. At our children. That’s the issue! Love ain’t got shit to do with it. You broke your word to me, and we nearly paid with our lives.”
And there it was, Reno thought. There it was: the unspeakable. After that fight he had with that joker in the nightclub who tried to hit on Tree, he swore to her he’d keep his bad temper in check and stop escalating situations.
And it worked that night in the casino, but only because Trina was in his face. If she hadn’t been there, he would have dealt with those Johnson brothers right then and there. But she was there, with her friends, and he kept his word to her.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to deal with the Johnson brothers. Man issue him a threat, he had to neutralize that threat.
But Trina was also right. His decision to neutralize that threat more than likely nearly caused his family their lives.
Reno’s heart deflated when he thought about that too.
He continued to hold her, and to listen to Don McLean, but his heart was as heavy as hers. And he knew it too: something had to give, or they weren’t going to make it.
When they got out of the tub, and Reno dried her off, Trina went into the bedroom, got on top of the bed, and spread-eagle, waiting for him. She needed his attention like she needed air to breathe at that very moment. When he saw her, he was pleased. He needed it too.
He dried off quickly, tossed the towel aside, and got on their big bed, on his stomach, between her legs.
He cupped her ass as he ate her. He loved her the way a woman wanted to be loved because he loved giving it to Trina just as much as Trina loved receiving it.
And he gave it to her in long, slow licks and tongue-flicking of her clit. It all felt so sensational that Trina began to move in simulation of sex just from the feelings his mouth gave to her.
And when he moved up her body, and began to suck her breasts just as hard, she wrapped her legs around Reno’s back and began massaging his tight ass. She did him so good, and made him feel so sensual, that he moved up to her mouth and they kissed as if they had never kissed before. They kissed hungrily.
Until Trina began squeezing Reno’s ass. He knew what that meant. She wanted dick, and plenty of it, and she wanted it now.
He guided his rock-hard dick inside of Trina and gave her exactly what she wanted. And when that same ass she had been squeezing began pumping her hard and she could feel the veins of his penis rub against her walls, she began pulsating to the point of cumming.
But she held on.
She needed a big release. She needed to take that tension that was eating her body alive, and release it all over Reno. And Reno, who bore the burden of her pain, needed a release almost as badly. He fucked her so hard, and pumped her for so long, that they felt as if the anticipation of their climax had to be greater than what the climax itself could possibly be.
They were wrong.
When they came, it was thunderous. Reno poured into Trina as if a dam had burst, and Trina’s vaginal juices released all over Reno as if he had dipped into cream. And together, it made a wonderful cum.
For nearly five straight minutes they came. For nearly five straight minutes they felt as if they were going to stroke out from the intensity alone.
And when it was over, and they both just laid there with Reno still on top of Trina and his dick still wedged deep inside of her, that feeling of satisfaction they usually felt didn’t materialize. They didn’t feel satiated at all. They just felt drained.
Reno pulled out of Trina and laid beside her. Trina laid on her side, in a fetal position, with her back to Reno. All of that fucking didn’t change a thing.
“We need some time away, Reno,” Trina said to him.
Reno’s heart squeezed. He had given it his all, fucked the shit out of her, hoping to avert what he was now hearing. “Who’s we?” he asked. “Me and you?”
Trina hesitated. “Me and the children,” she said.
Reno could have lashed out. You aren’t taking my children any fucking where, he could have said. But he knew he’d be wrong as hell. His children nearly died because of his ass, because of his actions, because of who he was in this world. What good mother wouldn’t want to run? And Trina, in Reno’s eyes, was the best mother alive.
But oh the pain! Reno wasn’t the kind of man who could bear that kind of pain. He got out of bed, put on some clothes, and left the room.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
His private plane stood ready for takeoff as Reno, with Carmine in his arms, walked his family across the tarmac. Security was high, on and off the plane, with sharpshooters surrounding the family and an entire detail of men already on the plane to take the flight with Trina and the kids.
The walk was somber. Not a word was being spoken. In normal times his children would object to being taken anywhere away from him. Sophie would cry and Dommi would insist he wanted to stay with Daddy and the baby would cling to Reno.
But not this time.
Even Dommi had been spooked by that scary car chase and even scarier dodge of that oncoming train. He enjoyed an adrenalin rush. That rush was too much even for Dommi. Reno’s children wanted out too.
At the bottom of the plane’s steps, Sophia hugged her father around his waist and he placed his one free hand around her. Then she ran onto the plane, wiping tears as she ran.
Dommi, too, gave his father a big hug around his waist, and Reno placed his one free hand around him as well. But then Dommi looked up at him. His big, hazel eyes were so sad that they broke Reno’s heart.
“We’ll be back, Daddy,” Dommi said. “I’ll see to that.” Then he reached for his baby brother.
Reno looked at Carmine and gave him a kiss. “Be good,” he said to him.
The baby threw both arms around Reno’s neck. Normally he would have started crying and refused anybody removing him from his father’s arms.
But not this time.
Carmine removed his own arms from around Reno’s neck and went with Dommi. Dommi placed him on his hip and carried him up the steps to the plane, and then ran on up the rest of the way. Dommi was getting teary-eyed and he didn’t want anybody to see that.
Then Trina, fighting tears herself, turned to Reno. “I told Chef Antwan to prepare you full-course meals every day. He’ll bring them to you, so that won’t be any excuse. Eat them, Reno, not just burgers and hot wings all day.”
Reno couldn’t hide his anger. “The last thing on my mind is fucking food,” he said. “I want my family back. Chef Antwan got a recipe for that?”
Trina folded her arms. She didn’t lash back at him because she knew where it was coming from. He was just in pain. She knew so because she was in pain too. “I don’t want to do this either, Reno. Lord knows I don’t. But--”
“But what?” Reno asked.
“Dommi had to grab that gun and shoot back at men who were trained killers shooting at us! I had to zigzag that car to avoid any bullets hitting me or the kids. If I got shot, they would have been on their own out there with those men! Then I had to make a split-second decision whether to let a train kill us, or those crazed gunmen.”
Tears were in Trina’s eyes. “And I had to choose the train,” she continued. “And it was coming so fast. It was so loud and blowing its horn and coming so fast! And the children saw it, Reno. Sophie looked up and saw it, and Dommi had to force her head back down. Dommi saw it too. Even I woke up last night terrified that that train had ripped our children in two!” She angrily wiped her tears away. “You got a recipe for that?” she asked him.
Reno knew it had been a bad scene. The aftermath proved that. But damn, he thought, as he pulled Trina into his arms. Damn, damn, damn!
He held her at the steps of that plane as she sobbed in his arms. He knew she didn’t want to leave him. He knew if there was a different answer or a better way, she would take it. But there were no different answers, or any better way, and he knew that too.
When they stopped embracing, he exhaled. “Everywhere you or the children go, Security better be with you.”
“They will be,” Trina said, as yet another tear escaped from her troubled hazel eyes and rolled down her face.
“If you see any sign of trouble, any danger whatsoever, you tell Security and then you call me. Don’t wait for Security to call me, your ass better call me.”
“I will, Reno,” Trina said.
Then Reno exhaled once more, and pulled her into his arms again.
When they stopped embracing this time, Trina didn’t hesitate. She got on the plane.
Reno didn’t hesitate, either. As soon as she was on that plane, he walked swiftly back to his sports car, got in, and did an angry donut before getting away from there.
From the plane’s windows, Trina saw that donut, and the kids did too. They all knew, when Reno was hurt, he lashed out in anger. That was how he got it out.
But how they got it out? They just hurt.
CHAPTER F
IFTEEN
The next day, on Sunday morning, Cecil and Earnestine Hathaway sat at their kitchen table watching their daughter play around with her food. They had all gone to early morning service at the church Trina’s parents attended, a church near their condo in Miami Beach, and they had just recently returned.
Dommi and Sophie, along with Carmine, were all downstairs, at the condo’s recreation room, under heavy guard. Reno had two security details on his family after that incident (one that flew in from Vegas, and one he had already on ground in Miami Beach), and their presence was purposely obvious all around the complex. But the elephant in the room was big and obvious too: where was Reno? Why did they suddenly show up without him?
Cecil and Earnestine had been waiting all yesterday and all morning today for Trina to bring it up. Now they felt they had no choice.
“As much as we love you and our grandkids,” Cecil said, “we know you didn’t suddenly decide, out of the blue, to come pay us a visit. You plan your getaways to the last detail. What’s happened, baby girl?”
Trina, at first, continued to move around the food on her plate. Then she looked at her parents. “I was taking the children to school,” she said, “when some guys tried to ambush us.”
“Good Lord,” said her mother. “Was anybody hurt?”
“The guys who tried to ambush us were killed. My security detail at that time were all badly injured, but they’ll live.”
“But you and the children were unharmed?”
“Physically, yes,” Trina said.
“And emotionally?” Cecil asked.
“I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Dad. I love Reno, but I’m risking my children’s lives over and over and over again.”
“So you think leaving Reno is the answer?” Earnestine asked.
“I don’t know the answer. I just know I had to get away from Vegas.”
“You usually run to Tommy, not us,” Cecil said. “What changed this time?”
“The children need their grandparents.”
Reno Gabrini: Turn Back Time Page 6