“Yeah, so,” Reno said as if it was no big deal. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“We don’t believe you’ve been having a shortfall at all.”
“Oh, yeah? So what have I been having? A profit that walks, talks, and quacks like a shortfall?”
“We believe you’ve been taking that three million and using it as kickbacks to the mob under the guise of business losses.”
Reno couldn’t believe it. These stupid bastards!
“Am I right?” Smiley asked.
“You’re right,” Trina said, and Reno looked at her. “That theory of yours is right up there with this flat earth, with unicorns, and with Big Foot.”
Reno smiled. “Yeah. Right up there,” he echoed.
Smiley’s smile was gone. “I despise guys like you,” he said with bitterness dripping all over his words.
“You despise me?” Reno asked. “Yeah? You aren’t exactly my BFF either.”
“Rich,” the agent said as if Reno hadn’t said a word. “Good looking. Dumb as rocks book-wise, but you have that street smarts. Good looking wife. You get all the breaks. But one day, Mr. Reno, you’re going to run out of breaks. One day that charm and those good looks aren’t going to be enough.”
“Is that what this is about?” Trina asked. “Your jealousy of my husband? Because one thing is for certain: what God gives to him, no man is going to take away. No matter how many plots and schemes you hatch. If you put some of that wasted energy into perfecting your own business, something remarkable will happen.”
Smiley knew they were toying with him, and she was about to say something nasty, but he couldn’t help himself. “Like what?”
“Like success for yourself,” Trina said sincerely. “Like moving forward for yourself. Hateful people don’t win anything. You know why? Because you can’t hide your heart from God. He knows what you’re about. You aren’t fooling him.”
Reno was loving this. “Preach, Tree,” he said with a smile on his face.
“I get it,” Smiley said. “You’re both a couple of saints and I’ll be wise to leave you alone. Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Mrs. Gabrini?”
“We’re about as saintly as you are,” Reno said. “Which means we aren’t saintly at all. She’s just trying to drop some truth on your ass.”
“Then drop this,” Smiley said, and leaned forward. “I’ve got enough on you two clowns to take you in right now. And I don’t have to worry about making my case. I’m Fed motherfucker. I don’t need a case. All I need is a suspicion.”
Reno stared at Smiley. He was bluffing. Reno had been around long enough to know a bluff when he heard one. But he also had been around long enough to know a shakedown when he saw one. “Then take us in,” he said to Smiley.
Trina couldn’t believe Reno had gone there, but she also knew her husband. He would not have said it if he didn’t have a sense that something else was at play here.
“I will,” Smiley said. “I can easily do that. Or we can make a deal.”
Reno knew it! He leaned back and relaxed. Smiley was in his wheelhouse now. Smiley was speaking his language. “What will this deal look like?” he asked.
“I’ll be your inside man at the Bureau,” he said. “And you’ll be my bank.”
Trina looked at Reno. Surely he knew this was a set up. But what she couldn’t figure out was who was setting up whom?
“As simple as that?” Reno asked him.
“As simple as that, Smiley said.
“Any upfront money required?”
“Come on, Gabrini,” Smiley said. “Your ass is not innocent. You know how this works! Fifty thousand gets you in the game. A hundred thousand every time I have to do a favor for you, keeps you there.”
The door to Reno’s office opened quickly, and two of his attorneys hurried in.
“What’s going on in here?” one of them asked. “Don’t talk, Reno. Didn’t Jimmy tell you to remain silent?”
“I was going to,” Reno admitted as his attorneys came over to the conference table. “But I had a feeling this asshole was up to no good.”
“What do you mean?” his lawyer asked. “This toss and go?”
“No. Mr. Agent-in-charge here just offered to be my inside man at the FBI in exchange for money. And I have it all on tape.”
Trina smiled. And so did the lawyers.
But to their dismay, Smiley was smiling too. “You think I’m a stupid motherfucker?” he asked Reno. “You think I didn’t have my men destroy all cameras in this joint before I offered my services to you?”
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to have only one video system in this joint? Especially since it’s my office?”
Smiley’s smile was gone. And the lawyers’ smile returned. And Trina? She couldn’t stop laughing her head off.
Smiley, understanding just what manner of man he was dealing with, and just what kind of dirt that man had on him, eventually called the dogs off, and he and his agents left the building.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Trina’s cell phone rang just as she was about to take another bite of her burger. She had been working all morning in her office at the PaLargio, and had just popped into the Barker Lounge for a quick bite. She really didn’t want to be disturbed. But when she looked at her Caller ID, and saw that it was Gemma Jones-Gabrini, her business partner, she gladly answered.
“Good afternoon, stranger,” Trina said with a smile.
“Don’t even try that,” Gemma responded over the phone. “I wasn’t gone that long!”
“Two weeks is a long time in my book! How was it?”
“A lot of work. But at least the franchisees fully understand what’s expected of them. I made it crystal clear. We don’t want any mess when it comes to our brand. If they want to keep their license to operate a Champagne’s clothing store, they had better follow our requirements to the letter.”
“How was the response?” Trina asked.
“It was good. There’s a lot of energy out there. They’re excited.”
“I bet Sal wasn’t excited having you away from him that long.”
Gemma laughed. “I made it up to him as soon as I hit town,” she said.
Trina laughed too. “Good. What about Lucky? Did he survive being without his mommy?”
“He survived just fine. Sal excels as a father.”
“I know!” Trina agreed. “He even kept Dommi and Sophia this past weekend. And guess what? They said they had a blast!”
“Told you!” Gemma said proudly. “Sal is the man.”
“Yes, he is,” Trina said, agreeing. “Those parenting pointers Reno gave him are working like a charm.”
Both women laughed as they remembered the so-called “pointers” Reno gave to Sal before Sal’s son was born.
“I heard about that nonsense the Feds pulled.”
“Wasn’t it something?” Trina asked. “As if Reno was that dumb. They would have arrested him on the spot if he would have bribed a federal agent like that.”
“Thank goodness he had that backup recording system,” Gemma said.
“Reno always has tricks up his sleeve. All those Gabrini men do. That’s why we love them.”
Gemma laughed. But when Trina looked up and saw Bobby Swann enter the lounge, with his beloved puppy in his arms, she was surprised to see him walking around so freely. And without his ever-present entourage at that! When he saw her, he immediately raised his hand as if she had invited him over, and headed her way.
“But listen, Gem,” she said over the phone,” let me call you back.”
“Got company?”
“Seems like.”
“Who?”
“Bobby Swann.”
“For real, Tree? Wow! I knew he was playing nightly at the PaLargio, but I didn’t know he was friendly like that. You’ve got to introduce me. I used to love him when he was with that boy band. He was my favorite.”
“Is this seat taken?” Bobby asked on his arrival.
/> “No,” Trina said to Bobby. “I’ll get with you later and try to get that arranged,” she said to Gemma.
“Okay, girl,” Gemma said, satisfied. “Talk to you later. Bye.”
And Trina ended the call just as Bobby was taking a seat at her table.
“Good afternoon,” Trina said to him. “I hope you’re finding everything you need.”
“I am, thank you very much.” Bobby was rubbing his pet.
The waiter arrived immediately, and took Bobby’s drink order. When the waiter left, Trina nodded toward the pet. “Dogs, as I’m sure you know, are not allowed in the lounge,” she said.
“I know, sweets,” Bobby responded with a mischievous grin. “But what fun is being rich and famous if you can’t flaunt it? Kick me out of the joint, I say. Nobody ever does.”
Trina wasn’t inclined to, either, since the lounge had just opened and only a handful of patrons were in attendance. “You’re okay for now,” she said. “But I wouldn’t pull that stunt during rush hour. You will be kicked out.”
Bobby nodded. “Advice taken.” He glanced down, at her breasts. “Where’s your hubby?” He could only imagine the vicious workout Reno Gabrini put on those big breasts of hers.
“He’s probably in his office working.”
“He’s a hardworking man.”
“Yes, he is,” Trina agreed. “I’ve never met a harder worker.”
“And I’ve never met a more devoted wife,” Bobby said. “Too devoted, if you ask me.”
“I’m not asking you,” Trina said firmly. “Nor anyone else. Reno deserves better than I could ever give to him. I’m not good enough for him. Nobody is, in my view. He’s a special man.”
Bobby could see the affection in Trina’s eyes when she spoke about her husband. And it inwardly angered him. He didn’t like Gabrini. He hated the way he cut him down to size, and in front of his people, on their first meeting. It was going to be his pleasure taking her from him, and then cutting his ass down to size. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”
Trina gave him a hard look. Surely he wasn’t going to try that!
Bobby grinned. “Not that kind of proposition! A business proposition. I want to invest in Champagne’s.”
Now he was talking Trina’s language. Licensing franchises for her brand was her main source of revenue outside of Reno’s PaLargio. She smiled. “I’m listening,” she said.
Reno had heard enough. His accountants weren’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. He was bleeding three million dollars a month. Three million, they kept emphasizing. Whatever con was going down, and whoever had balls enough to steal this much money from his organization, was going to put him in bankruptcy court if he wasn’t careful. He needed to put an end to it like yesterday, they insisted, before the leak became a sieve. Reno popped two blood pressure pills, and told them he knew.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he ordered them.
But they couldn’t tell him a damn thing. That was why he stopped listening. That was why he called an end to the meeting, and ordered Luigi to come to his office.
Luigi arrived within minutes after the accountants left. Reno’s office was filled with his busy assistants as always, and Luigi had to talk louder to be heard. But he had no new news either.
“What about BJ?” Reno asked. BJ was their code for Bo Jackson. “Anything on him?”
“Nothing, Boss,” Luigi said. “I’ve got men following him day and night. His house wired for sound. We came up with nothing. That doesn’t mean he’s clean, because he is a smart bastard. I’m not ready to give the all-clear. But it’s looking like I will be giving it soon.”
Reno leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Great,” he said. “We don’t know shit still, in other words.”
“In other words,” Luigi said. “What about Jimmy? Any word from him?”
“He’s still in Budapest. They have eyeballs on Marshall, but he’s under heavy security and I told Jimmy he’d better not take any chances. They’ll snatch him as soon as they can.”
“At least that’s something,” Luigi said. He felt he should have taken that assignment, not Jimmy. But Reno was the boss. Luigi, however, still couldn’t help but take a jab. “I just hope they don’t blow it,” he said.
“Jimmy won’t blow it,” Reno assured him. “He’s my son. He knows how to bring a target in from the cold better than you ever would.”
And Luigi smiled, and got back in his place.
“Where’s my wife?” Reno asked. “You’ve seen her?”
“Yes, sir. She’s in the Barker Lounge having lunch with Bobby Swann,” he said.
Reno looked at Luigi. “Swann?”
“Why, yes, sir. Is there a problem?”
“No,” Reno said, although he was rising as he said it. “No problem.” He grabbed his suitcoat off of the back of his chair. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” Luigi said and left.
Reno put on his coat and hurried out too.
But when he arrived at the lounge, and saw Trina sitting with Bobby and laughing her head off, he stopped in his tracks. She looked so happy. She looked so carefree and unburdened. It was the happiest he’d seen her in a long time. And he couldn’t interrupt that. He hated that her happiest moment in months had to come with that scum Swann, and not with him, but at least it came.
He trusted Trina. He didn’t trust Swann as far as he could throw him. But he trusted Trina and her good sense. It hurt him to his heart to do so, but he wasn’t going to deny her a good time. Not even something as minor as a laugh at lunch.
But for Trina’s sake, Reno turned around, and left.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Friday, after school, Reno and Trina picked up Dom and Sophia and took them to the movies. The children were ecstatic. They both had wanted to see Moana for some time, but neither parent had had the time to take them. Now they were making the time.
But as the children settled into their seats with their kiddie box filled with popcorn and candy, Reno and Trina settled in the very last row, with their feet kicked up on the seats in front of them. Dommi and Sophie sat on the backrow too, but further away from their parents.
Reno looked at his children, and how engrossed they were in the movie, and then he looked at Trina. She was checking a text message on her cell phone. When she finished, she glanced at the movie, and then looked at him.
“Want some popcorn?” he asked her.
“I’m good. What about you?”
“I’m good.”
Then she smiled. “This was a great idea, Reno. I never thought in a million years that I’d be able to get you away from the PaLargio on a Friday evening, or me away from Champagne’s. But we did it.”
“And we need to do it more,” Reno responded. “For our children’s sake.” Then he added: “Not to mention our own sake.”
Sophia began to cry. “Mommy!” she cried.
“Sophie, not so loud,” Trina said in a low voice. “Now what is it?”
“Tell Dommi to stop. He keeps telling me what’s gonna happen next.”
That didn’t make sense to Reno. “How would he know?” he asked her.
“I saw it already,” Dommi said.
Trina frowned. “How could you have seen it, boy? It just got to the theater good.”
“My friend bought a bootleg copy he uploaded to his iPad, and we watched it.”
“Didn’t I tell your butt that’s stealing?” Trina said to him.
“I didn’t buy the bootleg copy. He bought it. I just watched it.”
“You partook in it,” Trina said. “It’s the same thing.”
“And stop telling your sister what happens next,” Reno admonished him. “You got to enjoy it without somebody spoiling it for you. Don’t spoil it for her. Don’t be a selfish prick, Dominic!”
“Yes, sir,” Dommi said in that regretful tone neither one of his parents believed.
Trina looked at Reno. “Nine will get
you ten he’ll do it again.”
“You know it,” Reno said, shaking his head. “That boy!”
They smiled, watched the movie for several more minutes, and then engaged in further conversation. “Guess who I had lunch with yesterday?” Trina asked.
Reno had been waiting for her to bring it up. “Who?”
“Bobby Swann. He claims he wants to become a franchisee and open up a few Champagne’s clothing stores.”
Reno didn’t see that coming. He looked at Trina. “You think he’s serious?”
“Who knows? He’s so silly sometimes, he may be just trying to hit on me.”
Reno smiled. At least she saw it too. “Did he try to come onto you when you had lunch with him?”
Trina shook her head. “Not really. We mainly just stuck to the business aspect. He wants to meet again tomorrow, in his suite, to discuss it further.”
Reno’s jaw tightened. The bastard. Probably wanted to get her hopeful of an investment, get her to his room, and then tried some underhanded shit to get her in his bed. Which wasn’t going to happen. Reno would bet his life on that. But still. He didn’t like his wife being thought of that way, or put in those compromising positions. And then Trina dropped what Reno considered to be a gem.
“Will you come with me, Reno?” she asked him.
Reno’s tired heart swelled with joy, and he looked at Trina. “Come with you?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just in case. He may be sincere, he may not. If he’s not, I’d rather you be there to handle him. So will you come with me?”
Reno couldn’t suppress his grand smile even if he wanted to. “You bet cha,” he said happily and wrapped his arm around her.
Trina, happy too, leaned against him, and put her head on his broad shoulder.
Saturday morning, when Trina arrived at Bobby Swann’s suite, was a good morning for him. His entourage had been dismissed. His PaLargio-provided assistant had been told he needed nothing right now. His brother was doing his own thing. It was just going to be Bobby and Katrina. But when he opened the door, with that charming grin of his, and saw Reno Gabrini’s mug, he couldn’t help it. His smile disappeared, and his mouth spoke before his brain could stop it. “Reno?” he asked.
Reno Gabrini: When His Woman Cries Page 11
