Jimmy couldn’t believe his aunt had gone there. He looked at Trina. Just when she was trying to get out from under Reno’s shadow, Fran went and reminded her of just how much she was still in Reno’s shadow. And he knew Trina wasn’t going to like that reminder.
“You can sit up here and pretend this shit the same all you want,” Trina said to Fran. “If it’ll make you feel better, go right ahead. And you’re damn straight I’m Reno’s bitch. I’m his wife, I’d better be his bitch. But you said yourself Pac is nothing but a side of dick to you. And you let a dick treat you this way when there’s men slinging dick on every corner in Vegas? What Reno has is one of a kind. Trust me on that. What Pac has isn’t even unique. Just go on a corner and bam, there it is. So compare that little punk-ass boy to Reno all day long if you want to. But you’re fooling nobody but yourself.”
Tell her ass, Jimmy inwardly rooted.
Even Fran got the message. “Okay,” she said. “You don’t have to take my head off!” Then she stood up and began to gather up her things.
But as they began to head for the exit, she took Trina by the arm. Trina turned and looked at her. “I didn’t mean any disrespect, Tree,” she said. “You know that, right?”
Trina exhaled. “I know you want what you want and no matter what I say, or anybody else says, you’re going to have it. I get that.”
“But Pac is a good man. That’s the part you don’t seem to get. He’s a good person.”
“He’s a good person who beats on you,” Trina clarified. “Somehow I can’t view a man who balls up his fist and beat you all up in your face, in your face Fran, as a good person.”
Fran knew she was fighting a losing battle. Trina was never going to understand. “Just promise me you won’t tell Reno,” she finally said.
“I don’t have to promise you that. Of course I’m not telling him! I’m not going to let my man risk prison time because of your foolishness. All your adult life he’s had to run to your rescue. Risking his own life and freedom. And how do you repay him time and time again? You run right back to your abusers and get abused again. Then Reno goes running again. No. Don’t worry. Reno’s not getting into this. Not this time, not any time in the future. Reno’s not teaching your men any more lessons. You’ve got to start acting like a Gabrini and start teaching them yourself.”
Fran agreed with everything Trina had said. But she also knew she wasn’t about to do a thing she said. Because Pac would be calling her back soon, and apologizing nonstop, and giving her the kind of sex even her dreams could never make any hotter.
“You are so right, Tree,” she nonetheless said to Trina, as they headed for the exit.
Reno drove under the portico of the main entrance of the PaLargio just after eleven pm. He stepped out of his Porsche, buttoned his suit coat, and hurried inside as young valets, who kept keys to all of his vehicles, hurried to be the one to park his powerful car.
As soon as he entered the lobby of his establishment, and spoke to the doormen, he was accosted by more employees than he could count. From his general manager right down to a couple of his casino floor managers, they all approached him with various problems that needed addressing. He addressed their concerns, but did not break his stride. It wasn’t until one of his club managers, Micky Bright, approached him with word of a major altercation inside the Culver Lounge, did he slow his progression.
“What are you bothering me about a fight for?” he asked him. “You handle it.”
“But the thing is, boss,” Micky said, “there’s probably gonna be a lawsuit.”
“Yeah, right,” Reno replied doubtfully. “Some drunk start a bar fight and it’s our fault?”
“It might be,” Micky said, “if the fight is with your bartender.”
Reno stopped in his tracks and looked at his manager. “The bartender? You have got to be kidding me!”
“And what’s worse, boss? The bartender started it. We’ve got it all on tape.”
Reno couldn’t believe it. Every worker in his organization was trained. Well trained. But not a day went by when one of them still found a way to mess up. He unbuttoned his suit coat and placed his hands on his hips. “Where’s the guy now?”
“At the hospital. I made a couple of our people go with him to ensure he didn’t contact a lawyer yet.”
Reno nodded his approval. “Good man.”
“And I can also kill the tape,” Micky added.
Reno looked at his employee with that serious, unflinching look on his face. “And I can also kick your ass,” he said. “Don’t you dare touch that tape! You understand me? These cops have been trying for years to take away my liquor license. We go tampering with evidence, we advance their cause. So don’t you even think about it.”
Micky felt foolish. “Yes, sir, boss.”
“It’s one thing to reason with a man about suing you. That I will do all day long. But it’s another thing altogether to hide evidence and play that unhanded shit. I don’t roll like that and my employees better not either.”
“Sorry to even suggest it, boss. I was trying to clean up the mess.”
Reno patted his shoulder again. “I know,” he said, and then he exhaled. It was a Saturday night so he knew he was going to have a long night as it was, but he had at least hoped to make it upstairs to the penthouse and eyeball his wife before it got too crazy around here. But he was already too late. Mainly because he never took potential lawsuits lightly. Thing was, they could take you for thousands, or they could take you for millions. It was Reno’s job to keep the bottom line as low as the victim’s need for cash would allow.
“Contact the lawyers,” he said to his club manager. “Tell them to meet me at the hospital with the necessary paperwork. And contact Security. Tell them I want a thorough background on that guy ASAP.”
“What, boss? Tonight?”
Reno looked at him. “No, next year. Damn straight tonight! I have to work myself like a dog, everybody else is working like dogs too!”
Reno began walking toward the exit. “And tell the valet to bring my car back around,” he yelled as he went.
“Yes, sir,” Micky said as he rolled his eyes and immediately pulled out his two-way radio. He hated when he blew it in front of Reno. Now the guy probably thought he was some kind of untrustworthy liar. He’d kill the tape, he told his boss. He’d be willing to destroy evidence was what he really was saying. Which meant any hopes of any promotion for him was probably ruined forever, with his dumb ass, he inwardly thought. “Bring Boss car back around,” he outwardly said, through his two-way radio, to the valet staff.
But before Reno could make it outside to retrieve his car, a familiar voice was heard just behind him.
“If it ain’t Reno Gabrini,” the voice said.
Reno turned. Was a little surprised. It was Rudy Santushi, better known as Tush, with two females on his arms.
“Remember me?” Tush asked.
“Of course I remember your ass,” Reno said, and Tush laughed. Reno, however, didn’t stop to chat. He didn’t break his stride. “I’m surprised Jersey let you leave the state. What are you doing in Vegas?”
“Sinning,” Tush responded. “Same thing everybody else is doing here. So tell me, Reno. How’s life been treating you?”
“Life is good,” Reno said as he continued to walk away. “Life is good.”
Tush smiled and watched Reno leave. “I’ll bet it is,” he said. Then he added: “Cocksucker.” And then his smile was gone.
Outside, Trina’s Mercedes drove up just as Reno was coming out of the PaLargio. Jimmy saw him first. “Ah, man, there’s Dad right there!”
“Oh, great,” Fran said, grabbing her scarf and wrapping it around the lower part of her face. “He’s going to get on my case, Tree. He told me I better never let Pac touch me again. He’s going to be so upset!”
Jimmy looked at Trina. “What should we do, Ma?”
“Get Aunt Fran and take her upstairs,” Trina said. “Act like you don’t
even see him. Just go. I’ll handle him.”
Jimmy and Fran were both relieved, especially when Reno saw the car and started coming toward them with his hands outstretched and that what the F look on his stern face. But as Trina suspected, he headed for her side of the car, the driver’s side, rather than theirs.
And sure enough, as Reno opened the door for Trina, Jimmy and Fran got out of the car and began heading inside the PaLargio as if they didn’t know who Reno was. But Reno was too surprised to notice them. He only had eyes for Tree.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asked with a quizzical look on his face. “I thought you were upstairs.”
Trina began getting out of the car. “Where’s your handkerchief?” she asked as she stepped out. He wore the most expensive of suits, but they always looked well-worn on Reno.
Reno frowned. “Where’s what?” he asked.
“The handkerchief you had in your coat pocket. You had it in when you left the house this morning.”
Reno looked at Trina with disappointment in his eyes. Who did she think she was dealing with? “Where have you been?” he asked again. “Answer my question.”
“Where are you going?” she asked. “Answer mine.”
Reno smiled, and then kissed her on the nose. “I’ve got to go over to the hospital. One of our bartenders decided to beat up on one of our customers.”
Trina was astounded. “Are you serious?”
“Wish I wasn’t, but I am.”
“So we can expect a lawsuit?”
“Probably. Unless I can talk the gentleman down. That’s where I’m headed. To go talk the gentleman down.”
“Couldn’t the lawyers do that?”
“They could. And they’ll settle it all right. But for far more money than I want to pay. I need to go personally to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand like that.”
“Want me to come with you?”
“Always, but you look tired yourself. Go upstairs and get some rest.”
Trina was pleased to hear it. Because he was right. She was overtired. She stepped from around the inside of the car door, and Reno closed it. But if she thought he had forgotten his original inquiry, she was mistaken. “So where have you been?” he asked her.
“Out and about.”
“Did this out and about include running to Fran’s rescue?”
Trina looked at him as if he had spoken German.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “You know what I’m talking about. Fran in her nun get-up, trying to hide the bruises. Jimmy trying to hurry her away so I don’t see her, like I’m some fucking idiot.”
Trina smiled. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Reno was far too sharp to get anything over on him that easily. “She called, so I went and picked her up.”
“Picked her up from where?”
“What difference does it make?”
“Where, Tree?”
Trina knew he wasn’t going to like it. “Some trailer off Harper.”
“Harper?” Reno asked with surprise in his voice. “You went in that area this time of night?”
“I picked her up and that was it, Reno. Jimmy was with me.”
“And I’m going to kick his ass too after I finish kicking yours!”
“Not so fast, buster,” Trina said. “You told me where you were going, but you didn’t tell me where you’ve been. And don’t tell me you were in the PaLargio because you wasn’t. I went all over that place looking for you.”
The Valet staff was staring, and waiting, and loving the dynamics of such a volatile relationship. Any moment now Reno could blow, or Trina could blow, and they would have a beautiful fight on their hands.
“I was handling some business off site,” Reno finally said.
Trina wanted more details, but she knew he wasn’t going to give them to her. “You didn’t answer your phone,” she said instead.
Reno hated to admit it. “I left my phone in the office,” he said.
Trina smiled and shook her head. Leaving her phone was the very thing he used to always get on her case about, but now it was the very thing he was beginning to do regularly himself.
The irony wasn’t lost on Reno either. He had to smile too. “Don’t you dare go there,” he said, and she laughed.
Reno moved closer to her, placing his hands on the side of her hips. He knew they had an audience, but he didn’t care. “But seriously, babe, I don’t ever want you anywhere near Harper, you understand me?”
Trina nodded. “I understand.”
“It’s redneck alley over there, it’s not a nice place. And as wonderful as you are, and as compelling as you make me feel, they may not see your wonderment. I’ve got to get over to the hospital right now, but we’re going to discuss this further when I get back.” Then his mouth whispered in her ear. “I’m going to fuck you too when I get back, but that goes without saying. Feel me?”
Trina smiled. “Always,” she said.
Reno kissed her on the lips with slightly more than just a peck, and then watched as she left his side and headed inside the PaLargio. He looked at his Valet staff, who was watching her too. “What the fuck you standing around for?” he yelled. “Park my wife’s car!”
“Yes, sir,” one of the valets said nervously as he hurried toward the car. “Right away, sir.”
CHAPTER FOUR
It was nearly three a.m. when Reno finally made it home, but by that time Trina was in her deepest sleep. And Reno wasn’t going to bother her. That was his intention, anyway, as he showered, dried off, and then laid on his back, naked as always, in bed. But when his hand reached out and began to rub his wife’s bare ass, and he felt the smooth curve of that ass, he knew his intentions were going to go awry.
He laid there, with one hand rubbing and fingering her, and another hand rubbing his own member, and he closed his eyes in a much-needed state of relaxation. The hospital visit had not gone well at first. The guy had big money lawsuit on his mind and wouldn’t listen to reason, even from Reno. Until Reno’s people brought up the fact that he was a wanted man in Missouri and in Tennessee, and if he tried to take them to the cleaners they were going to take him straight to the cops and through a criminal justice system that he knew wasn’t about to be kind to the likes of him. They eventually settled. Twenty thousand for his inconvenience, payment of his hospital bills, and no future lawsuit activity.
Now Reno wanted to relax. And there was no better way to do it, he felt, than to fuck his wife.
He gently moved her naked body on top of his. She woke up momentarily, and smiled at him, but was back to sleep by the time he guided his fully erect dick inside of her. But that movement alone woke her up once again. She let out a groan as he began to move in deeper. And when he lifted her slightly, and began to suck her beautiful brown breasts, her groan became moans of pleasure. She was awake, and then fully awake, by the time he found his rhythm.
He was sucking her and pushing into her with steady strokes, as she looked down at him with hooded eyes. She loved waking up to Reno’s dick inside of her. And he was working it too. Her vaginal walls were feeling the friction of his strokes as if he was forcing his massive head into the eye of a needle. It felt that intense. It felt that emphatic. She placed her hands on the side of Reno’s face, and smiled.
“Kiss me,” he said, and she did. She moved down and began kissing him passionately. And he couldn’t get enough of her taste. He pulled her down closer, wrapped his arms around her, and began kissing her, French-style, as he fucked her long and hard. For nearly half an hour they made this kind of love.
She came first, as her body tightened and pulsated with sensations. It would be several more minutes before he came. But when he did, he poured into her as if he was releasing the mother lobe. He poured and he poured.
When he finally stopped, when her reddened breasts and reddened lips and reddened vaginal finally stopped feeling the drained effects of his ravaging lovemaking, she remained on top of him. She was unable to move
. There wasn’t a part of her body that hadn’t felt his sex. She wasn’t sore, but her body knew it had been in a fight. A fantastic fight. The kind that made her love Reno even more.
She looked at him. He smiled. “I put it on you, didn’t I?” he bragged.
She laughed, gave him a playful push, and then slowly slid off of him.
“There she is!” Ashley Marin said as Trina made her way to their table inside the crowded restaurant. It was a popular spot for locals, and Trina had invited two of her old friends, Ashley and Stacy Frazier, to lunch.
It was nearly two months after the Christmas holidays and the music had gone from Nat King Cole singing about chestnuts roasting on open fires, to Beyoncé singing about being drunk in love. It was a cheerful, loud, festive room. Trina hugged both girls. “The traffic,” she said as she hugged them, “was atrocious.”
“And you made it anyway,” Stacy said. “I knew you were fierce.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Trina said with a grin as she took a seat at the table. She always felt younger and more carefree when she was around her old friends, although she hadn’t been around them in a long time. “So how’s everybody this glorious day?”
“We’re good,” said Stacy. “I nearly got killed trying to snatch a flat screen TV from a sumo wrestler on Black Friday, but I’m still standing.”
“Wasn’t it crazy?” Trina agreed. “It was a mad house at the stores inside the PaLargio too. Even my store had some serious traffic. Nothing major, but we got a steady flow of customers for a change. And it stayed that way even a couple days after Christmas. Then it died right back down. I’m just glad it’s back to normal now.”
“Amen to that,” Stacy agreed.
Then Trina looked at Ashley. “What about you, Miss Ash? How have you been doing lady?”
“I’ve been doing great,” Ashley said with a smile. “Especially since I welcomed the new year with a promotion.”
Trina was surprised. “He promoted you?”
“He promoted me girl. I’m now the executive manager of Boyzie’s G.C.”
RENO AND TRINA: GETTING BACK TO LOVE (The Mob Boss Series) Page 5