And as soon as she said it, she was ready to pull that trigger. And there was no time to think, no time to negotiate, no time to hesitate. Time was out.
Shawna grabbed Reno’s gun right from his hand and pulled the trigger, catching MarBeth right between the eyes, missing Trina by mere inches.
And MarBeth’s revolver was the first to fall. And then MarBeth, with her suddenly stunned look, dropped like a haggard Cabbage Patch doll, to the floor.
And Trina let out a sharp, tight, overdue exhale that she incorrectly thought was her heart beating again.
Tommy took the smoking gun from Shawna’s hand, and pulled her against his body. She did what she had to do, he knew, but the fact that she had to do it hurt him to his core.
Reno just stood there, unable to move, staring at his sister’s lifeless body. He couldn’t have killed his sister any more than he could have harmed his wife. But somehow, he felt, he had managed to do both. It wasn’t physical, he wasn’t the one to pull the trigger because he could never have done it that way. But his actions, his decision to include one in his life and exclude the other one, was the real culprit here.
And then he looked at Trina, who was still standing, who appeared just fine but for the terror in her eyes. And he moved to her, and pulled her into his arms.
Neither one of them felt celebratory. Neither one of them felt lucky. They, in truth, didn’t feel anything but the heartbeat, the very lifeline, of each other.
And Reno knew like he knew his name that he had to give it all up: the PaLargio, Vegas, all of these mob hits and counter-hits. He had to give it all up. If he ever expected to hold on to Trina, it all had to go.
EPILOGUE
The chauffeur lifted the luggage into the limo’s trunk as Reno and Tommy stood talking on the steps outside of Tommy’s house. Trina and Shawna were talking too, at the limo’s passenger door. They looked at the two men. Both men wore their Italian silk suits as if those suits were stitched onto their athletic bodies. Both looked gorgeous, and strong, and, to the ladies, something else not as easily discernible.
To Trina, she believed it was relief. Reno looked relieved, as if he was finally able to let out a long exhale. They were moving on, to a quieter life, and she could hardly wait to get there.
To Shawna, she believed it was hope. Tommy looked hopeful: because she was still there, still in his arms, still in his bed, still so deeply embedded in his heart that his hope was making her hopeful, too. And as she continued to take peeps at Tommy, as her heart continued to flutter at just the thought of how well he took care of her, she felt for the first time in a long time that she actually belonged somewhere.
Tommy felt circumspect too, as he and Reno continued to talk. Only he was more worried about Reno than anything else.
“Stop beating yourself up,” Tommy urged his cousin. “MarBeth put herself in that situation.”
“I know that,” Reno replied.
“It’s over now. It’s all over.”
Reno, with a pair of dark shades covering his expressive blue eyes, looked past Tommy, at Trina. Trina was now laughing at whatever it was she and Shawna were talking about. But he could still see that terror, that unspeakable fright, all over her. “I feel like it’s just beginning, Tommy,” he replied.
“What are you talking about, Ree? Just beginning? Franny’s doing fine, she’s on track to make a full recovery, and Dirty hasn’t left her side. He’s stepped up big time. There’re no mob hit lists that you’re on, at least nothing we know about, which means none exist. And Trina made it through in one piece. It’s over. You can take your beautiful wife back to the PaLargio and live your life now on your own terms.”
“Until the next craziness strikes, right?” Reno asked, now looking at his cousin. “Then it’s on again.” He shook his head. “I can’t take that risk.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I can’t risk it,” Reno said. “I love Tree too much. And I’m getting her out of Dodge and keeping her out.”
“Ah, Reno, please don’t tell me you’re leaving her again.”
“I’m not leaving her. I’ll never do that again. But I’m taking her away from the bright lights of my life. We talked about it. We’re starting over somewhere, just she and I, before it’s no longer possible.”
Tommy stared at his cousin. “Where?” he asked him, although he already knew Reno wasn’t telling. At least not yet.
And true to form, Reno extended his hand. “Take care of yourself, Tommy,” he said as he and his cousin shook hands. “And don’t neglect the weightier matters.”
Tommy stared at him and then frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked him, but Reno was already walking toward the limo. “What’s that supposed to mean, Reno?” he called after him.
When Reno made his way to the car, he stood in front of Trina. Looked carefully at her.
“You good?” he asked her.
Trina nodded. “Better than good,” she said.
Reno smiled, kissed her on the lips. Looked at her again carefully.
Then he looked at Shawna. “Something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said. “How did you know I wouldn’t do it?”
To Shawna it was a no-brainer. “She was your sister, Reno. You could never harm your family, even when they deserved harming. And MarBeth deserved harming. But you wasn’t going to be the one to do it. And one thing I’ve learned about you, Reno, is that you’re always true to form. Even I know that much.”
Reno smiled. “You’re still a smartass, aren’t you?”
“Takes one to know one, baby.”
Reno laughed, and then his looked turned somber. “Thanks,” he said to Shawna. “That’s why I wanted you with me. I knew you would act if I couldn’t.”
And to her shock he kissed her on the cheek.
“Be good, Shanks,” Trina said as she and Reno began to get into the limo. “Be good, Tommy!” she also yelled to Tommy, who was walking toward the car.
Tommy waved as he stood beside Shawna. And he and Shawna stared at the departing limo, rather than each other.
“Are they going to be alright?” Shawna asked Tommy.
Tommy thought about it. “Trina will be just fine,” he said. “And Reno will too. Especially with his new plan.”
“His new plan? And what plan is that?”
“To not neglect the weightier matters.”
Shawna looked at him. Confused. Until it dawned. “The weightier matters, eh?”
Tommy didn’t think she would pursue it, but was thrilled that she had. “That’s right,” he said.
“And what are the weightier matters?”
“Love, family.” Tommy looked at her. “Passion.”
Shawna felt the heat of that word as if it was alive in front of her. And then she looked once again at the limo as it drove out of the electronic gates.
“I have a job offer,” she said.
Tommy’s heart dropped. He had been dreading those very words. “Oh, yeah,” he said, attempting to remain cool. “Where?”
“Here in Seattle as it happens.”
Tommy looked at her. “Seattle? What job can you possibly have here in Seattle?”
Shawna hesitated, and then swallowed hard. “I’m going to be a wedding planner.”
Tommy’s heart wanted to take flight. He wanted to believe it. But could he? “Whose wedding,” he asked carefully, cautiously, “are you planning?”
This time Shawna smiled. “I thought maybe ours,” she said and looked at him. “If that’s okay with you.”
Tommy’s heart soared. Was it okay? Did she just ask him if it was okay? He grabbed her and lifted her into his arms.
“Yes,” he said into her hair, his eyes now filled with tears. “Oh, yes!”
And when he sat her back on solid ground, her eyes, too, were filled with the most joyful tears she ever thought possible to shed.
She then hit him, playfully, on the arm. “See what you made me do,” she said,
unable to wipe away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing.
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MOB BOSS 3: LOVE AND RETRIBUTION Page 14
