Bo smiled.
“You can live with it? Yeah, I got your live with it right here! Get the fuck out of my face.”
Bo laughed. “Okay, Boss. I was just kidding, alright?”
“Kid your way into that security booth and detain his ass.”
This surprised Bo. “Detain him? Why detain him? We figured we’d ban him from the casino. Ban him for life.”
“And that’s it? No way! Detain his ass. People have to understand that if they steal a dime from Reno Gabrini, they pay. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. They pay.” Reno looked at Bo. “Detain him.”
This was more than a matter of honor for Reno. He’d been losing major money every month across all of his casinos, and he couldn’t understand why. Attendance wasn’t exactly skyrocketing, but it was steady. There was no reason for him to be bleeding three million dollars a month the way he was bleeding. These were crucial days. No con was going unpunished, no matter how insignificant, as far as he was concerned.
He was about to make that even clearer to Bo, when he heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, Pop!”
It was Jimmy, yelling as he walked toward them. Bo looked, and so did Reno. Only Reno stared at his biracial son as he approached in his John Ford suit and skinny tie, with his bulging muscles making for an impressive sight. Jimmy was changing before Reno’s very eyes. He was no longer that frightened kid who just wanted everybody to love him. He now had that air of confidence that used to elude him. He was a powerful young man. The fact that he was Reno’s son made him powerful. But he never seemed to wear it well. He was wearing it well now, Reno thought. At least he looked the part now. “What’s up?” he asked when he arrived at his side.
“Always you, Pop,” Jimmy said with a charming smile.
Reno smiled too, which wasn’t easy for him to do. But he loved Jimmy with the kind of love that kept him up nights. He worried about Jimmy. And it was as private a worry for Reno as it was searing. And, for protection sake, he wiped that smile off of his face, and looked away. He looked, instead, at a group of younger ladies who had just made their way to the slot machines.
Jimmy looked away too. At Bo. “Hey, Bo,” he said.
“Hey, Jimmy. Bye, Jimmy.”
“Leaving so soon? What? You caught another thief? It takes one to catch one, right?”
“Cute, Jim. Real cute.” Bo looked at Reno. “I’ll get on it, Boss,” he said, and left.
Jimmy looked at his father as his father watched the slot machine players. Reno’s good looks always stunned Jimmy. Mainly because the older Reno got, the better looking he seemed to become. It was uncanny to Jimmy! But it also fed into the narrative he often wondered about his father: that those persistent rumors of Reno cheating on Trina weren’t entirely untrue. Jimmy already knew, from experience, that women wanted his father. Even Jimmy’s estranged wife Val had a major thing for Reno. And watching his father and all of that sexual energy he often unleashed without even trying to, made Jimmy understand the appeal. He hated it, but he understood it. Which brought him to something that was bugging him. “You didn’t go home last night,” he said to Reno.
But Reno was looking at a particular player at one of the slots, and didn’t respond. Jimmy looked where his father’s eyes were looking. And no surprise to Jimmy, his father was feasting his eyes on a beautiful female.
“Why didn’t you go home last night, Pop?” he asked him again.
Reno heard him the first time, but this time he looked at him. “On what earth is that your business?” he asked Jimmy.
“I’m just saying it’s may not be a good time right now.”
Reno frowned. “A good time for what?”
“For you to be staying out all night again. You stopped after Ma had her accident. Now that she’s all better, you’re starting back up again. It’s concerning, Pop.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it is, Jimmy. Your ass isn’t responsible for hotels and casinos from here to Europe, all of which are having cash flow issues. Your ass isn’t responsible for thousands of employees who rely on these hotels and casinos remaining open and successful for their livelihoods. There were problems last night in a third of my lounges. A third of them. I was needed.”
“You don’t think Mom needs you?” Jimmy shot back.
“Don’t you worry about my wife. I take care of her.”
But Jimmy and Trina spoke often. And although Trina would never tell him any intimate details about her relationship with Reno, Jimmy could read between the lines. Their marriage wasn’t in a great place. It wasn’t so great before Trina’s accident, and that accident didn’t automatically make it better. Work was required. A lot of hard, emotional work. But his father was expending all of his energy in the PaLargio, leaving precious little for his family.
“I’m not trying to get all up in your business,” Jimmy said. And then his look changed. “I’m just concerned, that’s all.”
Reno looked at Jimmy. Of his three children, Jimmy was the one who allowed his feelings to get away from him the most. He felt deeply. And Reno relented. “I appreciate your concern,” he said. “But when things settle back down, I’ll be able to get it together.”
“By things,” Jimmy asked, “you mean Bobby Swann?”
Reno exhaled. “That’s one thing, yes. It’s the first time I’m allowing a year-long residency at the PaLargio.”
“His shows have already nearly sold out for the first six months,” Jimmy said, “and he hasn’t even arrived yet. So it’s already a win-win for us.”
“Not exactly,” Reno responded. “In order to get Swann I had to sign a morals clause.”
“So what? You always include one in your contracts, Pop.”
“This one is different. Seems Mr. Swann heard I might have mob ties. He wanted to be able to bail should there be a lot of drama around the PaLargio.”
“You mean violence?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. That’s why I had to personally handle those disruptions last night. That’s why I’ve got to tamp down any issues before they become public. Swann is a money-maker to be sure. He’s still one of the greatest entertainers in the world right now. Every hotel on this Strip wanted him. We got him. I don’t want to lose him before he even shows up.”
“When is he due in?”
“Next week,” Reno said. “He’ll be here Monday. If his tenure is successful, we can look forward to lining up even more megastars looking for a residency. But Swann’s stay has got to go off without a hitch. You understand that?”
But Jimmy didn’t respond. He was looking past his father. “What the hell?”
Reno was now worried. “What?”
Jimmy saw Dommi and Sophie in the casino, looking around. But it was within a mere second of Sophia seeing Jimmy too. But when she saw her father with him, she broke away from her brother’s grasp and began to run. “Daddy!” she yelled happily as she ran toward them. Finally, somebody she had confidence in!
Dommi, the one in which her confidence was at best shaky, ran after her.
Reno turned swiftly when he heard his daughter’s voice. When he saw her and her brother running toward him, his heart dropped, and he rose to his feet. “Sophie? Dom?”
Sophie ran into his arms.
“Where’s your mother?” Reno asked as he lifted her up. “Mommy alright?”
“She’s sleep, Daddy,” Sophie said. “And Dommi said you said we couldn’t wake her.”
But Jimmy had a different concern. “Who in the world did your hair?” he asked his baby sister.
“Sophie quickly pointed to Dom. “He did!” she said as if she was offended too.
“Yeah, I did it,” Dommi said to Jimmy. “You got a problem with that?”
Reno slapped Dommi upside his head. “Don’t talk to your big brother that way!”
“He gave me a gigantic bowl of food, Daddy,” Sophia said.
“Big?”
“Really big. Humungous. Like what you and Jimmy eat.”
Re
no looked at Dominic, with a distressed look on his face. “Why didn’t you wake up your mother?”
“Because you said you didn’t want us to bother her when she was asleep.”
“But not when she overslept, boy!” Reno said angrily. Besides, he never wanted Dommi waking her because she, like Reno, slept naked. Then he realized whom he was talking to. “If you think this is going to stop your ass from going to school today, you’ve got another thought coming.”
It did cross Dommi’s mind once, twice, or fifty times, but he would never admit it. “Why would you say something like that?” he asked his father. “I love school!”
Reno looked at his lying son as if he wanted to slap him upside his head again.
Jimmy intervened. “I’ll get them to school,” he said, taking Sophie from his father’s arms. But he couldn’t stop looking at Sophie’s hair. “And I’ll get Sam to see what she can do about this head.”
Reno frowned. “Who the hell is Sam?”
“Samantha. She’s one of my new pit bosses. She’s a college kid. Real handy.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Reno said. He knew Jimmy. He knew that girl’s “handiness” probably meant she had a nice face and big ass.
But Reno was too upset to worry about Jimmy and his weakness for hiring friends and females he had a thing for. Would that boy ever learn?
Reno kissed Sophie, and then Dommi, said his goodbyes and warned both to be good in school, and then made his way out of the casino. His entire focus was on Trina. What was her problem? It wasn’t like her to oversleep on a school day. Not ever.
But then again, he thought as he made his way into the lobby of his adjacent hotel, she’d changed after that ordeal in Florida, and that ensuing plane crash. And although she was completely recovered physically, she just wasn’t her vibrant, upbeat self anymore. But he was no psychologist or psychiatrist. What the fuck could he do about it? Trina needed help. He asked her to get help almost daily, but she continued to refuse. Now he was taking it out of her hands.
CHAPTER THREE
The Land Rover plowed its way through the muck and mire of the isolated farm, until the farmhouse was in view. Bobby Swann, in the backseat, looked over his sunglasses in amazement. “This it?” he asked Joe Swann, his driver/brother/bodyguard.
“This is it,” Joe responded.
Bobby shook his head. “Two black men driving to see some white dude in the woods. I don’t like it, Joey. Why would he want us to come to this dump?”
“Maybe it’s not a dump to him. Maybe he’s eccentric. Who knows? Who cares?” Then Joe looked at his younger brother through the rearview mirror. “This is what happens when you get yourself entangled with the mob. They call the shots.”
“What do you want from me? It’s either do what they say, or die. You wanna die? Well I don’t! So stop fucking with me. It is what it is.”
There was a tray on Bobby’s lap with a line of cocaine on it, of which he took a straw and snorted. Then he pinched his nose, sniffled, and leaned back. “It’s all good anyway,” he said as that feeling hit. “He said I shouldn’t have to be there any longer than a couple weeks’ tops.” Then he smiled. “He doesn’t think Gabrini is gonna last any longer than that. And then I can go back to my California dreamy life with more money than I can ever snort.” He grinned. “I’ll be set for life.”
“Never to perform again?” Joe asked with sadness in his voice, as he looked at his drug-infested brother through the rearview again.
“Never,” Bobby said. Happily. And then he leaned down, and took another hit.
Reno entered the quiet penthouse and made his way up the stairs and across the landing. When he entered the bedroom, and saw that Trina wasn’t just asleep, but was fast asleep, he leaned against the doorjamb. Trina was a special lady with a lot of gifts. But working out her emotions was just as hard for her as it was for Reno. She would rather get on with it than deal with it. And, he thought disparagingly, he allowed it.
That ordeal in Florida, where she nearly died, and that plane crash where he nearly killed her, changed her. She was still Feisty Trina, the woman who never let the odds against her stop her, but the balance was gone. She was feisty all the time. And hard all the time. As if revealing any vulnerability would take her back to helplessness, and she was determined with all her might to never go back that way again. But he knew he had to put his foot down, whether she wanted him to or not. He had to do it for her own sake. For their children. For their marriage.
He pushed away from the doorjamb and walked over to their bed. “Trina?” he asked as he shook her. “Katrina?”
It would take a couple more shakes, and a couple sleepy ums from her, but she eventually opened her eyes. When Reno saw her big, beautiful, hazel eyes, his heart squeezed.
“Reno?” she asked. And then, as if realizing all at once that it had to be morning, and she had to be running late, she jumped up. The bedding dropped to the waist of her naked body and her sizeable breasts shook as she rose. “What time is it?”
“It’s okay,” Reno declared. “It’s not that late.”
“But it’s late?”
“It’s late,” Reno admitted as he looked at his Rolex. “It’s nine-thirty.”
“Nine?” Trina couldn’t believe it. “Honestly, Reno!” She angrily threw the covers completely off of her and started getting up. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“How did I know you were going to sleep through the morning like this?”
She was getting out of bed. “You would know a thing or two if your ass came home sometimes.”
“Oh, it’s my fault you overslept?”
“Yes!” Trina said hastily. Then she calmed herself back down. She knew better. “No,” she said reasonably and placed her hand on Reno’s muscular chest. “No, babe. It’s my fault. I’m just . . .”
They were within a couple inches of each other. Reno was staring at her with a perplexed look on his face. “You’re just what?” he asked her. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just hate that I overslept.” Then she looked at him. “The children okay? Did you get them off to school okay?”
“Dommi handled it.”
Trina was horrified. “Dommi? Are you joking?”
“He fed his sister, albeit overfed her, and got her hair combed and book bag packed. He did his job.”
“I bet my baby went to school looking like a chia pet! Dommi did her hair? And you let him? Oh my word! What’s wrong with you, Reno?”
“What’s wrong with me?” Her response ignited the anger Reno felt toward her. “What the fuck is wrong with you? None of this shit would have happened if you would have gotten your ass out of bed!” Then he exhaled. “I want you to see a therapist, Tree.”
Trina looked at him with displeasure in her eyes. “Because I overslept? Really, Reno?”
“Because you haven’t been yourself.”
“Don’t start,” she said, and moved to head toward the master bath.
But Reno pulled her back. “I’m not asking anymore. I’m telling you. You are going to see a therapist.”
“But I don’t need to see a therapist.”
“Yeah, well, I disagree. And my word, Trina, is final. You’re going.”
Trina looked at him as if she was disgusted by even the thought of telling anything to some stranger. “You can make me go. But you can’t make me talk.”
“Maybe not,” Reno agreed. “But you’re going. I’ve already arranged it. Tony’s coming.”
“Tony?” Trina asked. “Tony Sinatra? Big Daddy’s son?”
“We’ll keep it in the family, since I’m sure no stranger is going to be able to handle you. And since Tony’s a clinical psychologist, I figure he can do it. I phoned him before I came up here. He’s agreed.”
“This is ridiculous.” Trina was not buying in at all. “Bringing that man all the way from Maine? For what? To look at me? Because that’s as far as it’s going. I have nothing to contribute to any the
rapy session!”
“You can waste his time,” Reno said, glancing down at Trina’s sexy body, “but you will participate.” Then he looked his eyes up from her legs and flat stomach and big breasts, to her face. She could tell he was lusting after her. Which only fueled her anger. She was barely awake, already super-late, and he wanted some?
She shook her head, jerked away from him, and headed for the bathroom.
“You’re going, Tree,” Reno said, about to follow her to see if he could get her to change her mind and give him some, but his cell phone rang. He stopped and hung his head. Peace, he thought. His kingdom for peace!
As Trina slammed the bathroom door behind her, he pulled out his phone and looked at the Caller ID. It was Bo Jackson. He answered with anger in his voice. “What?!”
“Sorry to bother you, sir,” Bo said, his voice apprehensive, “but we detained our casino flimflammer.”
“So what are you calling me for? I told you to detain him.”
“Our numbers were off, sir. He didn’t take you for thirty grand, Boss. He took you for three-hundred grand.”
“Shit,” Reno said. He couldn’t believe it. Not after all of the improvements they put in place. “Where is he?”
“Luigi said to put him in the Bowels. So we did.”
“I’m on my way,” Reno said, and ended the call. He knew he needed to deal with Trina too, but she wasn’t trying to hear it right now. Besides, she just turned on the shower. She absolutely didn’t want to hear it. He therefore left.
Inside the bathroom, Trina went over and locked the door, and then leaned her head against it. Reno was right. She wasn’t herself. But it wasn’t what he thought. This was different. This was far worse. But she’d be damned if she was going to tell why to Tony Sinatra or anybody else. It would kill her if she told. It would kill Reno if he knew.
CHAPTER FOUR
Valerie Gabrini leaned down from her small frame and sat back behind her desk. She was working out of her father’s real estate office where she served as one of his agents. Her phone had just started ringing and she answered it quickly. She knew who it was. She was expecting his call.
Reno Gabrini: When His Woman Cries Page 2
