“Oh, Tree,” Reno said when he saw those tears, too. And, despite Carmine on top of him, he pulled her into his arms too.
And she let it all out, and cried in his arms.
Sal wasn’t used to seeing a strong woman like Trina balling so openly, and he suspected it was new to the children too. “Okay, kids, let’s give them some space,” he said. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
“But I’m not hungry, Uncle Sal,” Sophie said.
“Then you can watch us eat,” Sal said. “Bring your ass on!”
Dommi removed Carmine from off of their father’s lap and Reno immediately pulled Trina on his lap. Then Sal ushered all of the children, including Jimmy, out of the room. When he looked back, Reno was already kissing Trina passionately. He left too.
When Reno stopped kissing Trina, and they just sat there, he kissed her hair. “Thank you, babe, for coming back to me. For bringing our children back to me.”
“I should have never left,” Trina said again.
“You’re right,” said Reno.
Trina looked at him. And smiled. “I thought you said it wasn’t my fault.”
“My panic attack wasn’t your fault. But running away? That’s all on you.”
Trina nodded.
“And I’m tough on you about that,” Reno said, “because I know you know better. You have to know better, Tree. We’re a family, just like you said. But more than that. We’re Gabrinis. You’re a Gabrini. And you can’t run and hide from that. When most people get married, the wife takes the husband’s name. When we got married, you took my name and the baggage that came with my name. You thought you were getting a little carry-on case full of baggage, I know, and ended up getting a footlocker full of my shit. But that’s what you got, Tree. And I know you know that.”
“And I do, Reno.”
“Then what changed?” Reno said. “What about this craziness that made it any different from all of the other craziness we’ve had to face in our marriage?”
“It was the children,” Trina said. “And the fact that their lives were in my hand, and I wasn’t sure if I was up for the job. What if one of them died? What if I failed them? It wasn’t about you. It was about me, and how inadequate I felt in that moment when that train was coming and I had to make a decision. It worked out, thank God. But what if it hadn’t, Reno? It would have killed us if those children wouldn’t have made it. It would have killed you.”
Reno nodded, and wrapped her tighter into his big arms. “It’s a bad situation, Tree. Our children has a raw deal. But that’s why we fight. We don’t run, we don’t separate, we don’t get at each other’s throats the way we’ve been known to do. We fight. Together. We never cower. We stand and fight. Then maybe, just maybe, we give our kids a fighting chance.”
Trina looked at Reno, and rubbed the lines of age around his tired blue eyes. And smiled. “Since when have you been so wise?” she jokingly asked.
“Since I met my baby,” Reno said. “And decided to do a bold-ass thing and ask her to marry me.”
“Yeah, that was bold,” Trina said, and Reno laughed.
Then Trina turned serious. “But not as bold as when I said yes. Now that was bold. And beautiful. And it’s still, despite it all, the best decision I ever made.”
Reno smiled, and kissed her again. Then he looked at her. “Ready to crash this joint?” he asked her.
Trina smiled too. “You bet cha,” she said, and she quickly got up, and helped Reno get dressed.
Reno couldn’t stop staring at her. Because she came back. Before he went down, she was on her way back. That meant the world to Reno. Trina was back. His rock was back. Now he could carry on.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Trina slowly opened her eyes just as Reno, lying behind her in their big bed in their big bedroom, was pushing his fully aroused dick deep inside of her. She felt the fullness of him and loved it, as he was moving so slow that it heightened the sensuality. They were both naked, making love, early that next morning.
Trina stretched her body in complete relaxtion as Reno continued to do her, and the drowsiness that came over her was the kind of easy lovemaking she enjoyed.
Reno enjoyed it, too, as he moved with a morning rhythm he rarely replicated at night. At night it was usually hard and rough. But this early morning, before they had to fulfill the obligations of the day, it was nice and slow. So slow that Reno remained on the edge of cum the entire time.
They both were moaning and groaning as their bodies moved in sync with Reno’s dick, and as his dick seemed to expand beyond what Trina’s narrow vagina could handle.
Which meant, within minutes, they came. They couldn’t hold it back a moment longer. They came together. And both of them began to move faster, and faster, as the feelings were no longer tame and sweet, but intense and hard.
They pumped and pumped. They groaned and pumped. Until, after several more minutes of orgasm, there was nothing left.
They collapsed.
And stayed that way for a good long time.
Until Reno, already late, kissed Trina on the side of her face, and got up.
Trina planned to get up, too. She had a business to get to as well. But she was too relaxed, too satiated by Reno’s wonderful skills, to move. She fell right back asleep.
Three hours later and Reno’s office at the PaLargio was as chaotic as ever. Trina must have entered that same office a thousand times before, but every time she entered, she still was amazed at how in the world Reno could even hear himself think in such madness. He must have had twenty aides around his conference table, and every one of them were loud and busy. Reno was behind his desk, his feet propped up on top of the desk, reading over a stack of papers. He didn’t even realize Trina had walked in.
Trina knew nearly every female in her husband’s office was staring at her as she made her way toward his desk. They were young and smart and ambitious, and she also knew most of them, if not all of them, had a crush on Reno.
She understood why. Reno wasn’t necessarily the most beautiful man in the world like his best friend and cousin Tommy Gabrini, but he was ruggedly handsome and tough as nails and a man’s man through and through. Women liked that. And the fact that he owned the best hotel and casino on the Vegas Strip, giving him wealth with his power, didn’t hurt either. Add a big dick to that equation, and the kind of skills Reno was reputed to have, and actually did have, and she understood fully why those aides would be attracted to him.
But she stared back at them, anyway, to remind them that attraction was one thing. Plotting ways to act on that attraction was another thing, and wasn’t going to be tolerated. Her stare was just a friendly reminder for those who needed to know that they had better stay in their lane.
It wasn’t until she was in front of his desk did Reno finally look up from his paperwork. When he saw Trina, he smiled. “Hey, babe,” he said, glancing down the length of her. He remembered their early morning fuck, and how wonderful it felt to be deep inside of her. He wanted that again.
But duty called. Both of them had major responsibilities. It would have to wait.
He took his feet off of his desk and stood up. He walked around the desk and up to her.
Trina, he noticed, was dressed elegantly as usual, in a red, form-fitting skirt suit, and the color only added sparkle to her already beautiful brown skin. He placed his hand on her upper back and kissed her. Every woman in that room stared at them when he kissed her.
“I thought you’d be heading to Champagne’s by now,” he said when they stopped kissing.
“I am heading that way,” Trina responded. “But I wanted to see how you were doing first.”
Reno smiled. Their marriage, which had always been tumultuous, felt fresh and new. What a difference, Reno thought, a day made! That was why he learned long ago to never make life-altering decisions based on a bad day. “I’m doing good,” he said, offering her a sit down.
“No more panic attacks?” Trina asked as she sat d
own.
Reno glanced at his staff to make sure they didn’t hear her. “No,” he said. Instead of going back behind his desk, he sat down in the chair beside her. “Why would there be anyway? You and the kids are back.”
Trina smiled.
“In fact,” Reno added, “I’m feeling great. I got myself the best night’s sleep that I’ve had in years.”
“You slept like a baby.”
“A baby in his mother’s arms,” Reno said with a smile, remembering how Trina held him all night. “And it wasn’t bad this morning, either,” he added with a wink.
Trina laughed, remembering how it felt to be back in her own bed, and Reno back inside of her. “Not bad at all,” she said.
“How’s the children?” Reno asked.
“They’re thrilled to be back home,” Trina said. “Dom’s glad we’re letting them still do virtual school rather than going back just yet.”
Reno shook his head. “That boy and school is like oil and water.”
“But I think our children are actually fine,” Trina said. “It’s amazing how resilient kids can be. They’re good, but I think it would be a mistake for us to just forget about what they went through.”
Reno nodded and crossed his legs. “I agree.”
“I think maybe we should get Tony to come in and have a talk with them.” Tony Sinatra, a trained clinical psychologist, was Mick Sinatra’s nephew and Big Daddy Sinatra’s son. “He helped me when I was going through my problems. I’m sure he can help the kids too.”
“Have you mentioned it to them?” Reno asked.
“I did.”
“And?”
“And both of them said no way, no how. They don’t need a shrink, blah blah blah.”
“Set it up,” Reno said. “Their asses will be there. I’ll see to that.”
Trina smiled. “Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I said it too. And already set it up.”
Reno laughed, causing some of his staff to look over at him. Then his desk intercom buzzed. He stood up, reached over his desk, and pressed the button. “Yeah, what is it?”
“Queen Ava is here to see you, sir,” his secretary said.
Reno inwardly smiled. He knew her ass would bite. “Send her in,” he said, then he turned around and sat on the edge of his desk. And outwardly smiled.
Trina smiled too. “I guess your plan is working,” she said.
“We’re about to find out,” he said as his door opened and Ava, alone for a change, walked in.
When she saw him sitting on the edge of his desk, she smiled and made her way up to him. She also glanced at the large army of workers at that conference table, as she walked. “Hello, Mr. Gabrini,” she said with a grand smile.
But when she saw that Trina was sitting in front of the desk, her smile didn’t disappear, but it certainly weakened. “Hello,” she said to Trina.
“Hi,” Trina said.
The queen, apparently, was accustomed to people standing in her presence. Neither Reno nor Trina had done so.
“Queen Ava,” Reno said, “I want you to meet my wife, Katrina.”
Although Ava extended her hand to Trina, anybody with eyes to see could tell she was surprised that a black woman would be Reno’s wife. In Morovia, the country she ruled, black women were so few and far between that they were a novelty. A novelty many Morovian men wanted badly, and often the most successful of their men would get. But such interracial love created a lot of jealousy and mistrust between the exotic blacks and Morovian women.
Ava couldn’t hide that mistrust as soon as she saw Trina. “Nice to meet you,” she said as they shook hands.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Trina responded. “Please, have a seat,” she offered.
Ava, again, wasn’t accustomed to being handled this way. She would usually be offered the best seat in the house, which, in that case, would have been behind Reno’s desk, not in some chair next to his black wife. But she sat down anyway.
Reno folded his big arms and crossed his muscular legs. “How can I help you?” he asked.
“We need more rooms. Two simply will not do.”
“We don’t have more rooms.”
“Come now, Mr. Gabrini. You’re a very resourceful man. I am sure you can find more if you wanted to find more.”
Reno stared at her. “We’re full.”
“That will not do,” Ava said. “We are going to be in this city for nearly two weeks. We need more space.”
“If you had a reservation--”
“I am the queen of Morovia. I don’t make reservations. I come. I get accommodated. That’s how it works in my world.”
“Well,” Reno said, and Trina wanted to tell him to be careful. Don’t blow it. But Reno felt he had it well in hand. “In my world,” he said to Ava, “you need a reservation. Or you have to take what’s available.”
“I need more space.”
“Then move. There’s a hundred hotels in this town to choose from.”
“The PaLargio is the best. I only stay at the best.” Then she stared at Reno. “Name your price.”
Reno inwardly smiled. And he didn’t hesitate. “Grant me a license to expand my business interests in Morovia, with unlimited access, and you’ve got all the rooms you need.”
“I will license you for expansion in Morovia,” Ava said, “but with a limit of two properties only, with final approval of any further expansions through my interior secretary’s office, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
Reno, pleased, stood erect and extended his hand. “Then we have a deal,” he said, and she rose to her feet and shook his hand.
“I want twenty rooms forthwith,” Ava said.
“My attorneys will be at your suite within the hour, with the contract. Once that’s signed, you will have your twenty rooms.”
Trina could tell she wasn’t thrilled that he didn’t just take her word for it, but she nodded at him, nodded at Trina, and then left the office.
When she was gone, Reno made a fist and pumped his arm. “Now that’s how you do that shit,” he said.
Trina smiled and rose to her feet. “Boy, please. Your ass just lucky.”
Reno laughed, they kissed, and then Trina turned to leave just as the office door opened again, and Tommy Gabrini, along with his kid brother Sal, walked in.
When Trina saw him, she smiled grandly. “Tommy!” she said, and hurried to him.
When Tommy saw her, he smiled grandly, too, and hurried to her. “Hey, girl!” He and Trina met in the middle, and hugged warmly. Reno’s staff, particularly the women, took notice. They always did, Reno knew, whenever Dapper Tom, looking Dapper as ever in his tweet suit, was in the house.
Sal took notice of Tree’s reaction. “I show up and I barely get a grunt from Tree,” he said. “Tommy shows up, and she’s all gushing and grinning like some fucking Cheshire cat.”
Reno laughed. “Now you know how I feel!” he said.
When Tommy and Tree stopped embracing, they leaned back and looked at each other. “Still looking beautiful,” Trina said.
“Still looking beautiful,” Tommy said.
“Where’s Grace? I thought she was coming with you.”
“She’s here. I dropped her off at Champagne’s. Gem said you were on your way there, so she decided to meet you there.”
“She’s right. I was supposed to be there already. I’m just running late. What about the kids? How are they?”
“They’re here too. I dropped them upstairs at the penthouse. We couldn’t leave town without them and since their private school allows them to get their lessons online, we decided to bring them with us. Or one of us would have had to stay back.”
“The Gabrini life,” Sal said as he made his way toward the desk. “It’s like a prison sometimes with all of these fucking lockdowns. I dropped Lucky over at the penthouse too. So all the Gabrini kids are in one place. Except Madison. Where’s Maddie?”
>
“With the nanny. Jimmy will probably take her upstairs later this morning too.”
“That sounds like Buddy,” Sal said.
“But anyway,” Trina added, “I am so not on time. I should have been to Champagne’s by now. I need to get going.”
“Leaving already, Tree?” Sal asked.
“It’s time for us to review our Spring collection. I have to leave.”
“Spring collection? No wonder Gemma’s been working overtime,” Sal said.
“And you thought she was just trying to stay away from your ass,” said Reno, and Tommy laughed.
Sal gave Reno the finger.
But then Tommy, who was still holding Trina by the waist, turned serious. “Sorry to hear about what happened. But I’m glad you came back home.”
“So am I, Tommy. Thanks. I just hope they find who was behind that ambush. I’ll sleep better at night once that bastard’s caught.”
“Don’t worry,” Tommy said, “we’ll catch’em. They can run but they can’t hide. We’ll smoke their asses out eventually. Security is tight, I hope,” he added, looking mainly at Reno.
“It’s tight,” Reno said. “It’s super-tight. I’m not taking any chances on my end.”
Tommy nodded. “Good.”
“Well, anyway,” Trina said, “I’m out. Talk to you boys later. And Reno, Chef Antwan is preparing you lunch, and you better not change the menu to hot wings.”
“We’ll see,” Reno said.
“You’d better not,” said Trina, and then she walked out.
“You’d better not order no wings,” Sal said with a chuckle, mocking Reno. “Trina got you right where she wants you. By the balls.”
“And where the fuck Gemma got you?” Reno fired back. “By the nipples?”
Tommy wanted to laugh, but he knew how sensitive Sal could be. “Cut it out, boys,” he said instead. “How are you, Reno?” he asked as he and Reno hugged.
“I’m good,” Reno said as their hug lingered. Dapper Tom was his best friend, and it was something special whenever they got together.
“So what’s the deal?” Reno asked when they stopped embracing. “Your people found out anything, because my guys and Sal’s guys are just running into brick walls.”
Reno Gabrini: Turn Back Time Page 8
