Reno and Son: Don't Mess with Jim (The Mob Boss Series)

by Mallory Monroe

  At the table, Jimmy watched in silence as his girl and his Dad danced. Then he watched Trina. Trina was still checking her messages. When she glanced up, Jimmy was staring at her.

  She looked puzzled. “What?”

  “How do you put up with it?”

  “Put up with what?”

  “With Dad.”

  Trina looked out on the dance floor, saw Reno dancing with Val, and then she looked back at her stepson. “Jimmy, what are you talking about?”

  “How do you put up with it? The way he acts around women.”

  Trina frowned. “What women?”

  “What women? Val, for instance.”

  Trina stared at him. She knew better than this. Then she sat her phone on the table. “Okay,” she said and leaned toward him. “It’s on you, James. Nobody else. It’s on you.”

  Now Jimmy was puzzled. “What’s on me?”

  “Your insecurity. That isn’t Val’s fault. That isn’t my fault. And it sure isn’t Reno’s. He’s dancing with Val because you wouldn’t, and she wants to dance.”

  “So what you’re saying is that you don’t think he finds her attractive then.”

  “Of course he finds her attractive,” Trina said. “And you know why?”

  “Why?”

  “Because she is attractive!”

  “That doesn’t bother you though?”

  “The fact that she’s attractive?”

  “The fact that your husband finds her attractive?”

  “No,” Trina said. “It can’t bother me. I married an extremely handsome, virile man, Jimmy. He likes the ladies and women will always be after him. You’re in love with a very pretty girl. Guys are going to always be after her.”

  But such logic didn’t ease Jimmy’s concerns at all. “So what am I supposed to do about that?”

  “Know your worth, that’s what you do about it. If she’s good enough for you, then you’d better know that you’re good enough for her. If you don’t think you measure up, then get out now. Get out while the getting’s good. Because I’m telling you son, your insecurity will run her away just as sure as I’m sitting here. You’ll lose her anyway.”

  Jimmy stared at Trina. Then he looked at Val. Reno was holding her close, as the song required closeness, and he had his hand on the small of her back. It wasn’t slick, or sensual, or out of the ordinary at all. But Jimmy still didn’t like it. “But. . .,” he said, his distress coming through in his voice.

  “What?” Trina asked.

  “It bothers me to see a man dancing with her like that.”

  “Then get up off of your narrow behind,” Trina said, “and go dance with her yourself. Stop acting like some old man, Jimmy. You’re young. Act like it.”

  Jimmy hesitated again, but not for long. He knew his stepmother spoke the truth. He stood up, went up to the twosome, and tapped his father on the shoulder. Val was, by now, resting her head on Reno’s shoulder and truly enjoying the relaxation of the dance, when Jimmy interrupted them.

  But she smiled at the interruption, and gladly allowed Reno to turn her over to Jimmy.

  Reno leaned toward his son. “About time,” he whispered to him, and left. Val smiled. She’d heard what he said.

  Reno returned to the table exhausted. It had been a slow dance, but that didn’t mean it didn’t drain the little energy he did have left. He sighed relief when he sat back down next to Trina. “Wanna dance?”

  Trina smiled. “Yeh,” she said. “Thought you’d never ask.”

  Reno smiled. “I’m just kidding.”

  “But I’m not,” Trina said. “Let’s go.”

  “Tree.”

  “What?”

  “I was kidding. I’m too tired.”

  “Oh, hell no,” Trina said seriously. “You can dance with somebody else’s woman, but you’re too tired to dance with your woman? Don’t even try that, Reno.”

  “Try what?” Reno asked. “I’m tired,” he added, impressing upon her his sincerity.

  “Then fine. Let me out.”

  “Let you out for what?”

  “So I can dance.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes. Let me out.”

  Reno knew better than this. But he stood up anyway and watched her slide across the booth seat. Then she headed for the dance floor. Alone.

  Reno sat back down and watched her do her thing. She was good, he had to admit, as the music picked up. This time it was Chaka Khan singing I’m Every Woman. And Trina had moves. She was dancing as if she wasn’t in her thirties, but much younger than that. And Reno actually was beginning to enjoy the view. Until some young doofus made it by her side, and started dancing with her. And they were pretty good together, Reno had to admit, and he had Trina laughing too.

  So Reno remained seated, and let her have her good time, because he wasn’t kidding when he said he was tired. But then the song changed, from Chaka Khan’s upbeat tune to Rod Stewart’s sensually slow Tonight’s the Night, and Trina and the young man started slow-dancing.

  Reno tried to overlook their closeness. He tried with everything within him. But it didn’t work. Within seconds he was up, with his entire demeanor now bespeaking a man who wasn’t trying to fuck around. He walked onto the dance floor, tapped the young man on his shoulder, and then took possession of his wife. The young man thought it was kind of rude, since Reno didn’t ask if he could take over, he just barged on in, but the young man also had some sense. The guy looked like he could be a for real menace to society, and the woman seemed pleased to be in the guy’s arms. So the young man didn’t protest and moved on, and quickly found another single to dance with.

  Jimmy had watched the entire scene as he continued to dance with Val. He knew, as soon as that man first started dancing with Trina, that Reno wouldn’t go for that. Because that was how he was. The hypocrite of hypocrites. He could dance all cozy with Val, but let somebody try to get cozy with Trina. So Jimmy, just to be mean, danced over by his parents. He leaned toward his father. “About time,” he whispered to Reno, and Reno couldn’t help but laugh.

  After dinner and dancing, and in their two separate cars, they all made their way to the bowling alley. Jimmy and Val drove behind the Porsche, and were laughing and recalling all of what they considered was the wonderful moments of the night. Jimmy, especially, was elated. It felt as if he and Val were back on the same page. He was grateful.

  His parents, however, were a lot less enthused. Trina was driving, and yawning as she drove, and Reno was slouched down in the passenger seat taking a catnap. Neither one of them had time to be going to any bowling alley, but for Jimmy’s sake they agreed to go.

  Once they arrived and picked their spot, Reno and Trina sat side-by-side as they waited for Val to roll her ball. Jimmy was seated beside Trina, waiting his turn too, and the atmosphere in the bowling alley was a festive one. The sounds of laughter, of balls knocking down pins with ferocity, of fun and relaxation echoed into the rafters. Reno looked particularly relaxed as he had his hand behind Trina’s chair, his suit coat tossed across his own chair, and one leg folded over the other one. Trina, too, wearing rented bowling shoes with her dress, had her legs folded also as she waited her turn. It was a good night, Reno was being surprisingly accommodating, and all was right with the world.

  “She’s so sweet, Jimmy,” Trina said, as they watched Val.

  “That she is,” Jimmy said. “And smart. Don’t forget her smarts.”

  Reno clapped his hands, uncrossed his legs, and leaned forward. “Come on, Val,” he shouted encouragement. “You can do it!”

  “You’ve got to give her time though,” Trina said to Jimmy.

  Jimmy looked at her. “Time?”

  “To get accustomed to people like us. She’s lived a very sheltered life. It’s going to take some time.”

  Jimmy hesitated, but then asked it. “Dad told you about the meeting with her father?”

  Trina looked at him as if she was surprised he would ask such a thing. “Of cou
rse he told me.”

  Val rolled the ball, but it veered dramatically off course and landed in the gutter.

  “Ah, man,” Reno said, leaning back. “That was ugly.”

  Val laughed.

  “Did he tell you what he said?” Jimmy asked Trina.

  “He said he told the truth, and that you couldn’t handle the truth.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “Good,” Trina said, “because lying to her will only create problems for yourself later on.” Then Trina looked at him. “If you plan to have a later on with her.”

  Jimmy looked at Val, who was preparing to take her second turn since she knocked down zero pins her first turn. “I’m not planning on it,” he said, “I’m banking on it.”

  Trina was pleased to hear Jimmy say that, because she would love to have Val in the family, and then they both turned their full attention back to Val. She tossed the ball, but once again it veered out of the lane and into the gutter. Zero pins knocked down.

  “Okay, young lady,” Reno said, standing up to give her some pointers. “Something is wrong here. And it starts with your form. Nobody’s this bad.”

  Jimmy stared at Reno as Reno took a ball from the rack, stood behind Val, and placed the ball in Val’s hands. “It’s all in your initial aim,” he said as he demonstrated how she had to pick her target, but that her target should always be the center pins. But all Jimmy saw was the closeness. Reno looked as if he was pressed against Val’s ass, and, lesson or no lesson, Jimmy didn’t like it. He glanced at Trina, who was sitting there as if she didn’t give a flip, and Jimmy wondered how could she be so cool about her husband’s behavior. He looked back at Reno just as Reno was assisting Val to toss the ball. By necessity, he rammed into Val, causing Val to laugh. But it wasn’t funny to Jimmy, even as the ball scored a Strike and knocked down every pin.

  Reno and Val were celebrating and high-fiving, Trina was smiling and standing to take a crack at it next, and Jimmy was fuming. As Reno began to head back to his seat, he asked his father if he could see him outside.

  “See me outside for what?” Reno asked. Trina looked at her husband and stepson.

  “We’ll talk about it outside,” Jimmy replied.

  Reno stared at him. “If you have something to say to me you say it right here and right now.”

  It wasn’t Jimmy’s choice, but he wasn’t backing down either. “I don’t appreciate you feeling up my girl.”

  “Jimmy!” Val was mortified. She looked at Reno. This was going to set him off for sure.

  But Reno just stared at Jimmy. They were standing toe to toe. “Is that what I was doing?”

  “That’s exactly what you were doing. Ma may not mind your little stunts, but I do.”

  “My stunts?”

  “Your stunts,” Jimmy said firmly. “Just like you wouldn’t allow me to be all up in your wife’s ass, I’m not about to stand up here and allow you to be all up in my girl’s ass.” Then Jimmy gave his father his harshest look. “Do we understand each other?”

  Reno stared at his son an agonizingly long few seconds. Then he nodded. “Good,” he said. “It’s about time you showed some signs.”

  Jimmy frowned. “Signs? Signs of what?”

  “Life. Of a pulse, for starters.”

  Jimmy was puzzled. So was Val. But Trina was smiling.

  “What are you talking about?” Jimmy asked his father.

  “I’m talking about you. I was wondering when you’d get off your ass and show me something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t you ever let a man do to your woman what I just did to yours. I was all but fucking her before your very eyes and you were sitting right up here letting me. What’s wrong with you?”

  Val and Jimmy both were floored. Especially Jimmy, who didn’t realize he was doing anything wrong. “But I wasn’t . . . You didn’t. . . .”

  Reno pressed his finger against Jimmy’s chest. “If she needs to learn something, you teach her. If she needs to be shown something, you show her. If she needs to dance, you dance with her. That’s the Gabrini way, you hear me, James? You don’t sit back and take it, I don’t care who’s dishing it out. I was robbing you blind, and you were letting me. Don’t you ever do that again. Not any son of mine. Not ever! The next time a man is all up in your woman’s face, don’t you politely wait to say something. You kick that fucker’s ass before he even think about going that far. You hear me?”

  Jimmy was floored. His father was always changing the rules. “You mean the way I handled the guy in the bar?”

  “I didn’t say a word about nearly killing anybody. I said set them straight. There’s a lot to be done between setting somebody straight and sending somebody to the hospital.”

  “Okay,” Jimmy said, although it was still all the same to him. When he lost his temper, by the very nature of losing it, he was already out of control. But he wasn’t about to get into it with his father any further. He let it go.

  “And the same goes for you too, Val,” Trina said to Valerie. “The next time a man presses an advantage on you, even if that man is my husband, you set him straight right then and right there. Don’t wait for Jimmy to defend your honor. You defend it yourself. You feel me?”

  Val didn’t know what to say. She knew Reno was being overly-helpful but she, in truth, was appreciating the help. She didn’t know it was anything more than that. But, according to Trina, she should have known. And Trina was probably right, she decided. “I feel you,” she said.

  Then she and Jimmy looked at each other. And they laughed. They were so young, and thought they had it so together, but now they knew better. They had so much to learn. So much to learn!

  Reno looked at Trina with nothing but affection in his heart. She impressed him. Not just because of her toughness alone, but because she was the only human being alive who understood him without question, and always seemed to understood the method behind his madness. To the world he was just some immoral gangster running around kicking ass and taking names, but she knew better. She knew him. “Go on babe,” he said, motioning for her to take her turn. “Show’em how it’s done.”

  Trina smiled, aimed that ball, and threw a Strike.

  Reno threw his hands in the air in an overwhelming elation that made it all worth it. Trina, his woman, never let him down. She made it all worth it.

  NINE

  As the days came and went, Jimmy decided that the time had come. No more delays. It had already been a year-and-a-half. If they didn’t know each other by now, the good, the bad, and the ugly, they never would.

  He showed and dressed walked out of his apartment inside the PaLargio ready to take the leap. He made his way toward the elevators in long, steady strides. He was so nervous and so excited that he could hardly contain his dueling emotions. But he was ready too. It was, in his mind, long overdue. Val was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and he was determined to make it so. Tonight was the night.

  He was smartly dressed, in a black Armani suit, a white shirt, black-and-white tie, and some imported shoes, Italian leather, that his father had given to him. He also sported a ring, in his breast pocket, a pocket he tapped as he pressed the elevator button. If she said no, he would be devastated. He would never admit it to anyone, but he wanted Val more than he’d ever wanted a woman before in his life.

  The elevator doors finally parted and just as he was about to step on, his father stepped off. What was remarkable about his father’s appearance wasn’t the fact that his suit looked pristine for a change and wasn’t wrinkled from overwork, but that he looked pristine. He looked refreshed as if he’d just awaken and showered. It was times like these, when Reno wasn’t so drained-looking, that Jimmy realized just how handsome his father really was.

  “Just the man I want to see,” Reno said as he stepped off of the elevator. When that happened, Jimmy allowed the doors to close and the elevator to leave without him.

  “Where have you been all
day?” Jimmy asked, staring at his father.

  “I’ve been asleep. My wife made me stay in bed. She forced me to get some rest. Can you believe it?”

  “I can’t, but I’m glad she made you do it. You look great.”

  “I feel great. Better than I have in years.”

  Jimmy smiled. “You look better too.”

  “Oh, yeah? You don’t look so bad yourself,” Reno said, looking down at his son’s attire. “Very well put together. You’re definitely ready for your big night.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Maybe even a proposal?”

  Jimmy looked mortified. “I didn’t say anything about any proposal!”

  Reno laughed. “You didn’t have to, you twit! You told Trina you were hoping to have the night of your life.”

  “So?”

  “So what else could it be?”

  Jimmy realized how transparent he always was to his folks. He could never get anything over on them, especially when he could never seem to keep anything from his stepmother, who told her husband EVERYTHING. “Anyway,” he said, moving by his father and pressing the elevator button again, “I’d better get going.”

  “Here,” Reno said, tossing a pair of keys to him. “Take the Porsche.”

  Jimmy’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe it. He looked at the keys, and then his father. “You mean it?”

  “Hell yeah I mean it! If you’re going to do it, do it right. Do it with style.”

  Jimmy laughed and gave Reno a big, enthusiastic hug. So enthusiastic that Reno nearly fell back when he hugged him.

  “Thanks so much, Dad,” Jimmy said as he stopped embracing him. The elevator doors began opening too.

  “And Jim,” Reno said, just as Jimmy was stepping on.

  Jimmy placed his hands between the doors, to stop them from closing. “Yes, sir?”

  “You put one scratch on that car, and your ass is mine.”