Jimmy moved closer to his father, and pulled him into his arms.
EPILOGUE
The plane landed at the Vegas airstrip and Reno and Trina got off and hurried across the tarmac. But when Reno saw that a limo was waiting for them, with Boz, his security chief, holding open the door, he was pissed.
“Why did you bring this slow-ass car, Boz? You know what time it is!”
“Stop worrying, boss,” Boz said with a smile. “We’ll make it.”
“What about the clothes?” Trina asked.
“They’re inside,” Boz said.
Trina and Reno got in, Boz closed the door, got into the front passenger seat, and then the driver took off.
“Slow my ass,” Trina said with a smile as the limo seemed to be flying away from there.
And they both began to dress. Trina put on her above-the-knee gold-colored dress, and Reno put on his blue tux. Trina had already freshened her makeup and her hair on the plane, and now felt, properly clothe, that they were finally getting somewhere.
Reno exhaled too. They were scheduled to arrive in town nearly four hours ago, from a trip they took to France to finalize the deal on opening a PaLargio there, and even then they knew they were going to be pushing it. But the call came in, at the very last minute, that a deal had been reached, and Reno wanted Trina to sign the paperwork too. She was an equal partner in the PaLargio, and he wanted the investors to fully understand that.
But their return flight, once stateside, was delayed by weather. Now they were really up against it. But at least they were on their way.
Reno looked at his wife. “You look beautiful, by the way,” he said. “Even with your homemade hairstyle.”
Trina laughed. She had an appointment with her stylist this morning, when she was to arrive back in town, but the delay knocked all of that out the window. So she had to do it herself. It wasn’t fancy, but it was its usual neat elegance, Reno thought.
He reached over to Trina and they held hands as the limo drove on.
“What a life,” Reno said, thinking about his life. “This time, four months ago, I thought Jimmy had died in that explosion. And I thought I was going to die right then and there too. Now look at us.” He looked over at Trina, at the woman he loved, and a feeling of great affection swept over him.
“That’s why you never give up,” Trina said. “God is able. He’s able to change things.”
Reno agreed. “Now that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“And Marcy Davenport.” Trina said that name and shook her head. “I knew the woman had issues, major issues, but I thought she was beyond what happened with Nicky. At least the part about hating you so much.”
But Reno shook his head. “She was never getting over that. Every year, on his birthday, she’ll call me cussing the shit out of me. ‘I waited at his grave all day long,’ she’d say to me. ‘You never showed up. What kind of father are you? What kind of man are you? I hate you,’ and on and on she’d go.”
“But you go to Nicky’s grave all the time.”
“And I used to tell her that. I told her she goes to his grave once a year, on his birthday, but I go damn near every month.”
“But she doesn’t believe it because it’s not on his birthday?”
“Right. Crazy thing is, I used to go on his birthday. I used to. But every time I went she made a scene. She would show her natural ass. So I stopped it. I was only doing it to appease her grief anyway. But you can’t appease some people. They can’t handle it.”
“Like Marcy.”
“Absolutely like Marcy,” Reno said.
“We’re here,” Boz said as the limo pulled up to the small Pentecostal church.
Boz got out, opened the door, and Reno and Trina hurried out and into the church.
And they were waiting for them. The pastor up front, with Jimmy and his groomsmen, two of whom were Tommy and Sal. Reno walked Trina to her seat at the front pew, and then he walked up to his son and stood beside him.
“About time,” Jimmy whispered and smiled. “I was about to replace you with Uncle Sal.”
“I got your time right here,” Reno whispered back. “And I’ll dropkick you if you even think about replacing me. I’m your old man. Nobody replaces me.”
Jimmy laughed.
Then Sal leaned over to Reno. “About time,” he said.
Trina took a seat beside Grace Gabrini, Tommy’s wife, who she was surprised had made it. The family knew that she and Tommy were having major issues, but she apparently thought enough of Jimmy to show up anyway. Trina squeezed her hand in appreciation.
She also hugged Gemma Jones, her business partner and Sal’s old lady, who was looking radiant, Trina thought.
Trina’s parents were also there. Her mother held Dommi’s hand, who was also dressed in a tux, and her father held Sophia in his arms. Sophie was staring at everybody as if they were aliens from another planet. But at least she was quiet with her awe, Trina was happy to see.
And then the music started and the audience rose. And Valerie Wellstone, soon to become Valerie Gabrini, began that long, familiar walk up the aisle. Her father, who was walking her up that aisle, was once strongly in opposition to the marriage. But after Jimmy risked his own life to save his daughter’s life, and actually succeeded in saving her, his opinion completely flipped. The Gabrinis were not the Huxtables, he knew that without a doubt, but they were men of honor. And he would prefer that his daughter marry a man who would risk his life for her, rather than a man who would merely love her. The man who merely loved her might fall out of love. The man who would risk his life for her wouldn’t be able to.
Val, too, had had her doubts about hitching her wagon to Jimmy’s. Not because she didn’t love him completely, because she did. But it was mainly because of the burden he had to bear for being his father’s son. That was the hurdle she had the hardest time clearing. But after that day at her house, after he was so bound and determined to save her, she knew it wasn’t a hurdle at all. It was a leap. A leap of faith. A leap she was just as bound and determined would be worth every step.
And as she and Jimmy joined hands and prepared to repeat their vows, Reno looked at his wife. He looked at Trina. She was crying, of course, and so were her parents. Then Reno looked at Tommy and Sal. They were crying too.
But Reno couldn’t shed a tear. He was too busy smiling to think about crying. He was too amped-up and joyous. This was one of the happiest days of his life. He looked at his son, who looked back at his father and was smiling too. It was as if they had a secret. Jimmy knew that his father was proud of him now, and Reno knew Jimmy was going to make it. He knew it now just as certainly as he knew his name. Jimmy had the right stuff to survive. Reno was sure of it now. Reno knew that if this young, strapping black man was the future of the Gabrinis, then the Gabrinis were going to be just fine.
VISIT WWW.MALLORYMONROEBOOKS.COM
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ALL OF HER TITLES.
Table of Contents
Copyright
MORE BOOKS
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
EPILOGUE
Reno and Son: Don't Mess with Jim (The Mob Boss Series) Page 18