“Well hello there,” the receptionist said as soon as she entered.
“Hey. Any messages for me?”
“Several. I put them on your desk. And a couple of clients came by the office. They left messages as well.”
“Those are on my desk too?”
“They are.”
“Good enough,” Val said and walked out of the tiny waiting room and through a door that led to the two offices: hers and her father’s.
Since her father’s office was at the end of the hall, she decided to go to her own office first, pour herself a cup of coffee, sit down, and pull up her computer screen. But within seconds of her perusing any new listings, her father walked in and slapped a newspaper on her desk.
She looked at the headline: James Gabrini, son of casino owner Reno Gabrini, arrested last night. She looked at her father. “Good morning,” she said.
Buddy Wellstone, a tall black man with an attractive face, wasn’t in the mood for any small talk. “Good afternoon,” he said. “It’s after one p.m. and you just decide to come to work?” He pointed to the newspaper. “He was arrested, Val. Jimmy was arrested last night.”
“I know.”
“What was that about?”
“A guy at a bar slapped me, and Jimmy defended me.”
“I understand that. That’s mentioned here too. But they said Jimmy beat that man nearly to death.”
“Did you read the entire article?”
“Yes, I read it in its entirety. I read it.”
“Then I’m sure you saw where no charges were filed against him, and that they had a lack of evidence.”
“Or his father had some strong-arm tactics,” Buddy said, “as this article also suggests. I mean, what kind of people are these, Val?”
Buddy put on his glasses and picked the newspaper back up, to quote a section of the story. “It says here,” he said, “that, and I quote, ‘James Gabrini is the eldest son of casino owner and reputed mob boss Dominic “Reno” Gabrini.’” He removed his glasses and looked at his daughter. “A mob boss? You’re dating the son of a gangster?”
“You knew going in the reputation Mr. Gabrini had, Daddy.”
“I knew going in that he owned a casino and people like that can be a little shady. But I never took him to be an out-and-out criminal!”
“He’s not a criminal.”
“How do you know? Because Jimmy told you?”
“Because he’s not! Nobody had to tell me.”
“Then why would they call him a reputed mobster if he has no such ties, Val? Tell me that!”
Val didn’t say anything.
But her father had plenty to say. “When I first met Jimmy, I admit I was pleased with your choice. He was a smart, attractive young man seemingly with a good head on his shoulders. When you told me he was half-Italian, I could live with that too. Even when you told me his father owned the PaLargio, I didn’t question it or disqualify him, even though I had some concerns. But this right here, all of this talk of the Mafia and kingpins?” He shook his head. “No, Val. This is scary.”
“Mr. Gabrini isn’t in the mob, Dad,” Val tried to impress it upon her father.
“But how do you know that? Why would they say he’s alleged to be a mobster if he’s not in the mob?”
“Mr. Gabrini’s father was involved in some activity like that years ago, before he died. But Mr. Gabrini wasn’t involved in that at all.”
“Oh, come now, child. You don’t believe that.”
“I do believe it,” Val said firmly. Then she added, with pain in her eyes: “I have to.”
Buddy’s heart dropped when he saw those tears. Because he was no fool. He knew her relationship with Jimmy was getting serious. He knew that she loved Jimmy and was probably already at the point of no return. But he also knew he had to be sure before he could ever give his blessings to this.
He prided himself in staying out of his daughter’s business. She was a smart, level-headed girl and he treated her that way. He never asked to meet his parents, because he didn’t want to meet them. Not until he put a ring on her finger. But this was different. Mob connections? Mafia ties? His deceased father was once a mob boss too? This was different.
“Invite them to our church,” Buddy ordered his daughter. “And not just Jimmy. Invite his parents too.”
But Val didn’t understand. “To church? But we’re Pentecostals! I think they’re Catholics, Dad.”
“I don’t care what they are. Invite them to our church this coming Sunday.”
Val didn’t like the idea one bit. “But if you want to meet his parents, why don’t I set up a dinner date?”
“No,” Buddy said. “You can’t learn anything about a person by eating dinner with them, especially if that person is some slickster who knows how to con his way through a set up like that. I want to meet him on my turf, with our pastor by my side. Because my pastor knows what to look for. He’ll be able to take the full measure of this man Gabrini and tell me if we should embrace him the way you think we should, or if we should get as far away from him and his boy as our feet can carry us. You set it up,” he ordered his daughter.
But Val knew Reno wouldn’t like it. This would be going too far. Yet a part of her agreed with her father. She trusted his judgment above any human being alive. She wanted him to take the measure of Reno Gabrini. After last night and Reno’s harshness toward her, she wanted it almost as badly as her father did. But she didn’t want a middle man involved. No pastor, just her father.
“Go to his turf,” she suggested, even though she knew that wouldn’t be exactly ideal either. “Go unannounced to the PaLargio. He won’t have time to, as you put it, con his way through.”
Buddy stared at his daughter. That could work too, he thought. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go then.”
Val stared at him. “Let’s go? You mean now?”
“Right now. This afternoon. And you will not text Jimmy or prepare him or his father for my visit.”
“But. . . What if he’s not even there today?”
“I’ll take that chance. It’s my responsibility, my duty, to make sure you aren’t making the mistake of your life here. Your mother is no longer with us. It’s all on me now. Jimmy, from all I’ve heard, is very close to his father. Like father, like son. So yeah, let’s go now. Right now,” he added. “I want to meet this man today. I’ve tried to stay out of your love affairs, and I think I’ve done a great job of it. But this is different.”
Val didn’t disagree. Because it was true. This was different.
SEVEN
“You know who you look like?” Jimmy was walking the floor of the casino, trying to stay awake, when he happened upon one of the big spenders at a blackjack table. Every employee at the PaLargio had a duty to treat the top gamblers with extra courtesy, and Jimmy, after watching his father do it, now had it down to a science too.
The woman, a tall, busty, middle-aged black woman, looked at him. She didn’t respond, but she smiled.
“You look like Wendy Williams,” he said. “At least your own sophisticated version of her.”
After a moment, the woman responded. “I get that all the time,” she said.
“No shit?” Then Jimmy flapped his hands out in front of him and pointed them downwards in an imitation of Wendy Williams. “How you doin’?”
The woman laughed.
Jimmy smiled too. “So I know what I’m talking about then? I wasn’t completely off the reservation?”
“You know what you’re talking about,” she said, and her eyes gave him a quick perusal.
Jimmy pretended to be pleased by her perusal and vindicated for approaching her at all. But then when he did his usual look around the room, and saw Val and her father enter the casino, he frowned. What in the world, he wondered, as he moved away from the big spender and headed for the entrance.
Buddy Wellstone saw Jimmy approaching them before Val did. “Here comes your young man now,” he said.
Val loo
ked too. Jimmy was now fully dressed, in a black suit, and Val felt a tingle of excitement just seeing him again. Last night was a special night for them. It started terribly, with Jimmy’s arrest, and ended remarkably. He even said how much he loved her and needed her. She’d never felt closer to him in their entire courtship.
“Hey,” he said when he walked up to them. His eyes couldn’t help but wander to Val, whom he was thrilled to see again. And he leaned over and kissed her. But it was too weird seeing her father in the casino. “What are you guys doing here?” He was looking more at Mr. Wellstone when he asked it.
“Dad wants to meet your father,” Val responded. “And before you ask me why didn’t I phone, it’s because Dad wants to meet your father and he wants it to be a completely unannounced visit.”
Jimmy was astounded. “Unannounced? But . . .”
Buddy looked at Jimmy. “But what?”
“But, and I don’t mean to sound rude or anything like that, but you can’t just walk into my father’s office without some kind of appointment. I mean . . .”
“I know what you mean,” Buddy said. “You mean this is The PaLargio, not some Ma and Pop operation like Wellstone Realty. And I understand that. But I still want to meet him. I want you, without giving him any beforehand notice, to take us to his office so that I can speak with him.”
Jimmy shook his head. “I’m going to tell you up front, Mr. Wellstone, he’s not gonna like it.”
“That’s fine. He doesn’t have to like it. I simply want him to be himself. That’s exactly why I’m here.”
Jimmy glanced at Val. It was out of character for Mr. Wellstone to inject himself into their relationship, and they both knew it. Now, all of a sudden, he was not only in their relationship, but demanding to meet his father? “I don’t understand,” Jimmy said.
“You don’t understand what?” Buddy asked.
“What changed? Why the need to suddenly have to meet my father?”
“You were arrested last night.”
Jimmy swallowed hard. “Look, sir, that was a big mistake.”
“Perhaps it was, but it happened.”
“Jimmy was protecting my honor,” Val said. “He didn’t get into trouble for no reason.”
“Understood. But it happened. I have to make sure this is a good idea.”
Jimmy frowned. “You have to make sure what’s a good idea?”
Buddy didn’t back down. “You with my daughter,” he said.
“And you expect my father to be able to tell you that?”
“Or show me,” Buddy said. “That’s right.”
Jimmy knew this would be a net zero in the end, but Val always said her father was a very stubborn man. He made up his mind and that was that. “But what do you expect to accomplish, sir? Whether Val decides to be with me is up to me and Val, not anybody else.”
“I understand that too. But I’m her father, and I want to meet yours.”
That stubbornness, Jimmy thought, on full display. But if he thought he was stubborn, wait until he got a load of Reno.
“Right this way,” Jimmy said, and he escorted them across the casino, toward the elevators.
They rode the elevator to the thirtieth floor in complete silence. Jimmy still felt embarrassed about his arrest, and the fact that Mr. Wellstone had to learn about it didn’t help either. And Val. Jimmy looked at her as the elevator buckled along in starts and fits and continued to lift higher. She looked even more worried than he did. She’d already said Reno was rude to her last night, what would she think if he was disrespectful to her father? Last night, Jimmy realized anew just how much he loved Val, and wanted to be with her. He could only hope that this meeting, this ambush of a meeting if you asked him, didn’t derail all of that.
They stepped off of the elevator and headed for his father’s suite of offices. As soon as they walked in, the secretary smiled at Jimmy.
“Is he in?” Jimmy asked her.
“He’s in.” She looked at the others with Jimmy. Jimmy, keeping his promise, decided not to let her notify Reno that he had guests. He decided to go on in.
They walked up to the office door, opened it, and entered the circus of people that filled Reno’s office.
Reno was standing behind his desk, his suit coat off, his sleeves rolled up, talking angrily to two of his managers. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if she won fifty Grammys,” he was blaring. “I don’t give a fuck if she won Emmys and Oscars too! She will not pull that bullshit in my hotel!”
Val’s heart sank as soon as they entered. She looked at her father, but he was staring at the animated Reno. Then she looked at Jimmy.
“Pop!” Jimmy yelled quickly, to interrupt the tirade.
Reno frowned as he and his managers looked toward the door. And Reno wasn’t pleased by the interruption at all. “What? What is it?”
Jimmy looked at the Wellstones. “Here goes,” he said to them and began walking toward Reno’s desk. Buddy and Val followed him.
“Somebody’s here to meet you,” Jimmy said.
Reno glanced at Val and the gentleman with her, but he mainly kept his eyes on Jimmy. “Meet me? What are you talking? Don’t you see I’m busy here, James?”
“It’s Val’s father,” Jimmy said, praying that such a statement would ease Reno’s aggressiveness.
And it did. At least for the time being.
“All right, guys,” Reno said to his managers. “We’ll talk later. But you tell that woman to don’t even try that shit with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m not the one.”
“Don’t worry, boss, we’ll clear it up.”
“You’d better,” Reno said as he waved them off. They spoke to the Wellstones as they left the office.
Jimmy had hoped Reno would clear out the rest of his busy staff, all of whom were at the conference table talking on the phones or typing vigorously or discussing strategies one with the other. But he didn’t.
“Mr. Wellstone,” Reno said, walking from behind the desk. He extended his hand as he walked. “It’s good to meet you, sir.”
“And you,” Buddy said as they shook hands.
“I would say I’ve heard a lot about you,” Reno went on, “but that wouldn’t be true. I don’t think I’ve heard anything about you.”
“I told you about him, Pop,” Jimmy quickly pointed out. “I told you how he worked in real estate. I told you how he owned Wellstone Realty.”
“Well yeah, that was kind of obvious. Val did say she worked for her father’s company. I’m not talking that.”
“I understand what you mean, Mr. Gabrini,” Buddy said, “because I haven’t heard much about you, either. But I’ve read a lot about you.”
Ah, Reno thought. “Don’t believe everything you read.” Reno said this with a smile that Buddy didn’t return.
“Why don’t we have a seat over here, Dad,” Jimmy suggested, pointing to the empty sitting area in the noisy office near the backside of the room. Reno agreed and motioned for them to move in that direction.
When they all sat down in the arch-top chairs, Reno leaned back and crossed his legs. “I hate to move this right along, but I do have a hectic schedule today. So I’m going to have to ask what exactly is this about?”
Val and Jimmy both looked at Buddy Wellstone. Buddy leaned forward. “I thought it was high time I met you. Your son and my daughter are very close, and although I pride myself in staying out of her affairs, I felt this was too important.”
Reno studied Buddy Wellstone. “And what suddenly made it so important?”
“I’ll be blunt with you, Mr. Gabrini. Your son’s arrest concerns me greatly.”
But Reno was shaking his head. “Your concern is misplaced. It was just a barroom brawl, nothing more. It’s been cleared up, no charges were even filed. You have nothing to worry about there.”
“Nothing to worry about?” Buddy was astounded that he could be so cavalier about it. “Excuse me, sir, but Jimmy could have killed that
man.”
“It was a fight. No charges were ever filed.”
“But that’s only thanks to your connections, if you believe the media.”
“Don’t believe the media,” Reno said bluntly. “You have nothing to worry about when it comes to my boy. He’s a good young man who is nothing but respectful toward your daughter.”
“He’s very respectful of my daughter, yes,” Buddy said. “I agree.”
Jimmy and Val were at least warmed by such an agreement.
“But I’ll be lying if I say his arrest doesn’t worry me. It does. I don’t think any man should become so angry that they lose that level of control. But that being as it may, it’s your connections that worry me more.”
Reno just sat there. Jimmy stared at him. He knew his father well. He knew Reno didn’t like where this was going at all. “And what connections are you referring to?”
“Your mob connections.”
Jimmy’s heart pounded. “There’s no mob connections, Mr. Wellstone,” he said. “Those reporters, they’ll write anything to get that big story. My pop is no mob boss and he doesn’t have any mob connections.”
But Buddy wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth. “Is that true, Mr. Gabrini?”
“Is what true?”
“You have no mob connections?”
“I have plenty mob connections,” Reno said. Jimmy and Val both looked at him, stunned that he would go there.
Jimmy was especially distressed. “Pop, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I have connections. So what?”
“So what?” Buddy asked. “Are you serious? How can you think that’s okay?”
“Because it’s my business, that’s how it’s okay. It has nothing to do with you or your daughter, or Jimmy either.”
“But you’re his father.”
“That’s right. I’m definitely his father.”
“And you admittedly have mob connections.”
“That’s right.”
“Well, Mr. Gabrini, I’m sorry, but I absolutely do not want my daughter to marry somebody with that kind of background.”
Reno and Son: Don't Mess with Jim (The Mob Boss Series) Page 8