The sheriff looked at Reno as if he had some nerve. His men had told him that they believed this daughter of Cecil’s was a prostitute or something and nearest they could figure Reno was probably her pimp. “Can you help me?” the sheriff said. “Yeah, you can help me. You can keep your nose out of this here business, that’s how you can help me.”
“I choose not to do that,” Reno said. “What else you got?”
“Sheriff, this is--,” Cecil started, to introduce Reno, but the Sheriff cut him short.
“I’ll tell you what else I’ve got,” the Sheriff said, his body now turned toward Reno. “I’ve got a mind to sail your ass straight to the penitentiary, that’s what I’ve got. What you’ve got is about thirty seconds to get out of this room and stay out of these people’s business.”
“These people are my people, you dick!” Reno said, his control gone. Carmine, realizing law enforcement was not who they wanted to tangle with right now, hit him on the elbow.
“That’s my wife,” Reno said, ignoring Carmine. “So anything you need to say to her, you say to me.”
The sheriff seemed a little off put by this revelation, but he still wasn’t charitable. A pimp, in his book, was as low as a murderer or rapist. “I don’t know if she’s your wife or not, I didn’t know pimps married their hookers. But even if she is--”
“What?” Cecil said, astounded. “Pimp? Hooker? What are you talking about Sheriff?”
Reno was staring at the sheriff. Any other time and that red neck’s teeth would have been on the floor by now, at the very least that would have happened. But this was no ordinary time. There had been an attempt on Trina’s life. And he wasn’t even sure by whom. Reno wasn’t about to do anything that would get him locked up in some jail and unable to protect her the way he knew he had to. That was why he backed up. That was why he held his tongue. Trina’s father, however, didn’t hold anything.
“Are you out of your mind?” he asked the Sheriff. “My daughter is nobody’s prostitute, never was and never will be. And this man you’re calling a pimp owns the PaLargio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sheriff, what are you talking about? He’s nobody’s pimp.”
The sheriff looked at Reno. “The PaLargio?” he said, stunned.
“In Las Vegas, Nevada, yes,” Cecil replied.
“I know where the PaLargio is,” the Sheriff snapped. “It’s right on the Strip, along with Caesars Palace and Bally’s and the rest of those places.”
“That’s right,” Cecil said. “So I don’t know what those Klansmen deputies of yours told you, but they don’t know what they’re talking about. None of them interviewed any of us last night anyway, and it’s in the afternoon already before you get here.”
“That’s because the arson people had to be called in first. I didn’t want to talk to anybody until I knew what I had to talk about.”
“What happened?” Cecil asked. “The stove exploded or something?”
“No, Cecil,” the sheriff said, “that thing was intentionally set. This was no accident.”
Although Reno didn’t bat an eye as he stared at the sheriff, and pretended to be as astounded by the news as Cecil was, his heart was hammering. And he knew, just hearing the official version, that his days of trying to play Mr. Nice Guy, of trying to stay the hell away from that hellish life, were over. Whether he liked it or not, he was in, and he was in, with Trina right by his side, at the center of the storm.
SIX
Two weeks later
Trina woke up, in her soft bed at the PaLargio, to the feel of Reno’s hard penis entering her from behind. Her eyes fluttered and then closed again as he slid inside of her, and the feel of his rod caused her body to become so relaxed that she began to ache in anticipation of what she knew was soon to come. Reno had his hands completely around her, and the side of his face was resting against her bare back, as he slowly but surely began fucking her. It had been nearly two weeks since that horror show in Dale, and although she’d wanted this moment to come long before now, Reno wouldn’t touch her like this until he was certain she was completely healed.
Not that she was badly injured. Her mother got the worst of it. Her mother, in fact, was still hospitalized in Dale. But Trina got out with more psychological damage than anything physical. She got out wondering what in the world had she gotten herself into. She loved Reno, she’d always love Reno, but damn. They could have killed her and her mother. That alone was enough to make anybody, love or no love, have second thoughts.
Reno began to groan as his gyrations began to increase. He closed his eyes as he moved in and out of her, his rod rubbing against her wall and giving him that feel of electricity that always made him groan. His dick was leaking already, engorging already, coming already.
“Oh, Tree,” he said as he kept the side of his face on her bare back, as he held her tighter, enjoying the easiness of being with her, the calm he always felt in the early stages of their lovemaking. It had been so long, and he’d wanted her so desperately, but he wasn’t going to rush it.
Trina felt his easiness too, and lay comfortably, her hands folded on the side of her face, as he moved in and out of her. She could feel the electricity too, felt it like a pulse just beneath the surface of her clit, thumping and thumping with every swipe of her G-spot. She closed her eyes too, enjoying her husband’s masterful sex, still amazed that this big, powerful, wonderful man belonged to her.
Not all that long ago she was waiting tables in a strip joint, taking all kinds of abuse, and now she was the wife of a very rich and powerful and gorgeous man. A man who not only knew how to take care of her creature comforts, but all of her more primitive ones as well. And right here and now she refused to take the long view. She refused to become consumed, as she had for the last two weeks, about the fragility of their existence, about all of the craziness that often surrounded them, and just enjoy the moment.
For the longest time they rolled this way, in a singsong rhythm, Reno sliding in just so far, and then sliding out, over and over, his dick enlarging with every reentry. He wanted this to last, and so did Trina, as they both paddled against the tide, taking it slow when speed was all around them, enjoying the view when the view was as cloudy now as it had been back in Dale.
It was a clinging kind of lovemaking. A desperate togetherness. A tumultuous easiness.
Trina knew Reno’s massive sexual appetite well enough to know that the easy couldn’t last too much longer; that the easy would eventually stop, and the rough would begin. She knew it when his gyrations became less rhythmic, as he would remain in longer and longer before he would slide out. Once he went all the way in until his balls were rammed against her ass, and he kept trying to go in even further. That was when she knew it was time.
He pulled out of her completely and moved on top of her, sucking her breasts as he urgently slid into her again. Kissing her lips as he moved in deeper and deeper. And the pounding began. This was the best time of all for Trina. She liked it like this. He wrapped himself around her, she wrapped herself around him, as his penis made her feel like screaming his name. The headboard was banging, the bed was shaking, and Reno’s muscular body was strained as he pounded, as he fought the cum; as he fought the need to spill out now and leave it all inside of her.
He lay his body on top of hers and held her tighter as he banged. She cried out as he banged her. It was different with Reno. It was always so different with him. He never failed to make her feel as if she couldn’t take it anymore, only to take more and more of it. His rod was deep inside of her now, and she felt every inch of it, as her neck lifted up and her head lobbed back and her entire body tensed into a spasm of joy and release as she came all over him.
He pushed as deep as he humanly could inside of her, as he came too, as he stiffened into a crescendo of release, and drained into her. Into his woman. Into his wife. And the feeling of that release, and the anxiety of the unresolved madness that still swirled around them, made him feel as if he was a victim of
some crime who escaped within an inch of his life. He was relieved and happy, but was traumatized too.
Afterwards, as they lay side by side, sweaty, exhausted, and satisfied, he pulled her into his arms. He remained completely silent, which wasn’t like him. He usually cracked a joke about her prowess, or asked insincerely if she wanted more. This time, however, he said nothing.
She looked at him.
“What’s wrong, Reno?” she asked him.
He pulled her closer still. “Nothing, sweetie,” he said. “Just tired.”
“You’ve got more meetings today, don’t you?”
“A few, yes.”
“With all of those strange men coming and going.”
“What strange men? They aren’t strangers. They’re friends of the family. They help run my father’s various business interests. I’m trying to shut a lot of that down, especially the illegal stuff, but it’s complicated, it takes a lot of maneuvering. It’s a pain in the ass if you wanna know the truth,” he said with a weak smile. “But I’m doing what I can.”
“What about those cousins you told me about? Tommy and somebody.”
“Tommy and Sal Luca.”
“Can’t they help you?”
“They are helping me. They’re all over the east coast, finding whatever they can about Partanna’s underground activities. Then they’re coming to Vegas. But not before they have something to come to Vegas with.”
“But I thought Partanna operated from the west coast.”
“He did. But his underground is on the east. That much we know for sure. Tommy and Sal will be in town any day now. And believe you me, they ain’t coming unless they have some news, and a serious plan of action.”
Trina stared at Reno, fearful. “A plan of action? To do what, Reno?”
Reno closed his eyes.
“To do what, Reno?”
“What you think, Tree?” he said, opening his eyes again. “They tried to kill you. You think I’m gonna let some fucker try to kill my own wife and do nothing about it? You think I’m that kind of man?”
“But if you hit them, they’ll hit back.”
“Like hell they will! They won’t have anything to hit back with. Once we discover the target, we won’t miss this time.”
It still sounded like a vicious cycle to Trina. He hit them, they hit him, he hit back, they hit back, on and on. “You said they weren’t going to hit back when Partanna was killed.”
“We didn’t know what we didn’t know, Tree. We just didn’t know Partanna had brains. We didn’t know it was all an act. That was my fault. I should have known better. I won’t make the same mistake again.” Then he sat up, ruffled his already ruffled hair. “I’d better get dressed,” he said, looking at her naked body. “Unless you’re up to another round.”
“Get out,” she said, pushing him out of bed.
He laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m going,” he said, getting out. “I’ve got a meeting with the Feds anyway.”
Trina’s heart dropped. “The Feds?”
“FBI, ATF, it’s no big deal, Tree. They’re always questioning me. Even when I didn’t have a damn thing to do with any mob, they were questioning me. So let’em question me. They’ll never link me to any crimes.”
Trina’s heart grew faint. It was one thing to know what this life was like theoretically. She had this lifestyle down in theory. But living it was another story altogether. A story whose ending she was beginning to dread.
She called her father at the hospital while Reno went into the bathroom and showered. Her mother, who was still hospitalized, was about the same. They were planning to ship her to the burn center in Alabama once she was able to travel, Trina’s father said, but not yet. “She’s still too fragile,” he said.
“I can come back,” Trina said to her father, worried as usual. “You need somebody there with you.”
“Thank-you, baby,” Cecil Hathaway said into the phone, “but I’ll be all right. My church members make sure I have plenty company. Besides, that husband of yours isn’t about to let you come anywhere near this place again. At least not right now. You should see the guards he has on me and your mama. Folks round here think we’re rock stars or something.”
Trina smiled. “I know. Reno can overdo things sometimes. He means well.”
“No doubt about that. I’m sure he does. That’s why you need to stay put. Being with him is your best protection.”
“I know.”
“The thing is though,” Trina’s father started.
Trina’s heart pounded. “What?” she asked him.
“When will it all end? I mean, he doesn’t expect us to live the rest of our lives with bodyguards and such. Does he?”
Trina didn’t respond, because she didn’t know what to say. That was really the question, wasn’t it? What about tomorrow? What quality of life could anybody have if they constantly had to be under the watchful eye of, as her father put it, bodyguards and such? And this stumped Trina, because she just didn’t know what to say.
“It’s just temporary, Dad,” she said to say something, although she had no clue if it was true. She was as new to this lifestyle as he was.
After talking general talk with her father for a few minutes longer, and praying with him for the full recovery of her mother, she hung up. A few minutes later, Reno was out of the shower, dried off, and opening his underwear drawer.
Trina was, by now, seated on the edge of the bed in Reno’s red silk housecoat. “Dad said hello,” she said.
“Your father?” Reno said, looking at her. “How’s Ma?”
“The same. They want to move her to some burn center in Alabama when she’s able to travel.”
Reno hesitated. Shook his head. “That’s really rough, Tree. I’m so sorry that had to happen.”
“She’ll come through it.”
“I know. But it’s still a shame.” He said this as he pulled out a pair of briefs.
Trina glanced at his penis, amazed at how large it was even without any stimulation. And she was also amazed that just seeing it again made her want it inside her again. “I’m going back to work tonight, Reno,” she said.
Reno was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “Not yet, sweetheart.”
“Why not? I’m fine now.”
“Physically you were always find. But I don’t think going to work is a good idea.”
“Going tonight, or going period?”
Reno was slipping on his pair of briefs. “Going period, Tree, okay? I just don’t see where any wife of mine needs to be out there working.”
“Out where? I’m going to be right here at the PaLargio, Reno. You hired me as a manager apprentice and I plan to continue my apprenticeship.”
“Come on, Tree.”
“I do.”
Reno slipped a t-shirt on and looked at her, his frustration building. “What are you nuts?” he asked. “You think my wife is gonna work at my hotel as some apprentice?”
“But that’s what I am. When you married me I was a manager apprentice.”
“Well, you’re Mrs. Dominic Gabrini now. The owner of this establishment. You will not be working in it.”
Trina could hardly believe her ears. Who was this person? The person she had married understood her need for independence. Now, after that attempt on her life in Dale, he’d been acting so nervous, scared almost. That confidence she loved about him still there, but it was shaky at best. “I have to work, Reno.”
“Why? Why you gotta work? What’s so fundamentally necessary for you to work? Before, yeah, I understood it. You had bills to pay, you had to take care of yourself. Now you got me, and I pay your bills. I take care of you.”
MOB BOSS 2 Page 6
