Like Reno, he was a businessman in town. And like Reno, he was reputed to be a mob boss. They weren’t sure if he was or not. He was just that tight with his shit too. But he certainly looked the part.
But after every man arrived and walked into the main room, that was where the show ended for Junna and even his boss, Felix Bartoni. That was where it ended for the security crews that arrived with the big men too. Because nobody was allowed inside the main room with Reno, accept the bosses.
After their greetings, they all settled down in the chairs in front of him. Sal, Reno’s first cousin, took a seat next to Reno. Sal was there because he already had some intel. He would be the bullshit meter reader if they attempted to steer Reno in the wrong direction. And Reno got to it immediately. He didn’t beat around the bush.
“Gianni Drake. Tell me what you know.”
Reno always was a brash guy. The kind of man who knew how to schmooze Midwesterners who came to his casino in droves with no problem at all. But he had little patience for Vegas bosses. They knew they weren’t as big as he was. Who was? He owned the biggest and baddest hotel and casino on the Strip. But they always felt his impatience bordered on disrespect. In the real world these were men, all three much older than Reno and Sal, who didn’t easily share information. Nor would they allow anybody to come at them so bluntly the way Reno was coming at them. They were accustomed to getting something in return. “You need this information why?” Koop Vitalis asked.
“That’s my business,” Reno responded.
“Come on, Reno,” Aldo Savamino said. “You know what he means. What’s in it for us? You want us to feed you intel. What you gonna feed us?”
Reno already knew nothing was free in this game. He respected Aldo for reminding him of that very fact. “Depends on what you feed me,” he said.
They hesitated, as if they each were attempting to decide if that was a good enough deal, although Reno and Sal both knew it would be for men like them. They knew Reno was a man of his word.
And they apparently agreed. Grazi Damone got it going. “He’s been busy lately. Into all kinds of shit.”
“Like what?” Reno asked. “Drugs?”
“Among other things,” Grazi said.
“He purchased the Bryant across the street,” Koop said. “Which, as I’m sure you know, is no coincidence.”
“Why did he purchase it?” Reno asked.
“Word I’m hearing,” Aldo said, “is that he purchased it because he wanted to get next to you. Word is he wants to compete directly with the PaLargio.”
“In his fucking dreams,” Sal responded.
“That’s what we all figure,” Koop said. “But he thinks like that. He’s illogical. He wants what he wants and he goes for it. He thinks because they promoted him to field director, he’s some kind of genie. He thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants under the cover of his badge and title.”
“If he’s so busy lately,” Sal said, “why haven’t I heard about his movements?”
“Because you aren’t in the drug trade,” Aldo said. “Get in that line of work. You’ll know the players.”
And that was the very reason why Reno found all three gentlemen distasteful. They all sold drugs. They all pumped poison into the people who could least afford to bear that burden. But he needed intel. They were the ones who had it.
“Is it all just a business venture?” Reno asked. “Or is he planning something else?”
“Business is all I’m hearing,” Aldo said.
“Yeah, me too,” Grazi agreed.
“He’s crazy,” Koop said, “for trying to compete against the PaLargio. But he’s not insane. He’s not going to start any war with the Gabrinis.”
Sal nodded. That was what he was hearing too.
“Where is he now?” Reno asked.
“He’s around town,” Aldo said. “He just purchased the place. It’s going to take a lot of time before he’s even on the same playing field with you. But he has the money. That won’t be an issue.”
“Selling poison, yeah I heard,” Reno said, and stood to his feet.
The three bosses glanced at each other as they stood up too.
“So what’s in this for us?” Koop asked. “We fed you, now what are you gonna feed us?”
“I’m going to feed all three of you life,” Reno said.
They were on guard now. “What’s that supposed to mean, Reno?” Grazi asked.
“I know you three colluded with the Jackson brothers to rip me off.”
Their hearts began to pound.
“I understand you owe me two million at least. Maybe more. You’re going to pay me back every dime you owe me. You’re going to keep your sorry ass cameras to yourselves. And you will never step foot in my establishment ever again. And you get to live. You get to walk out of here alive. Is that a good enough feed?”
They all knew they were damned either way. They didn’t ask for anything more. “We’ll get you your money,” they said. And then they nervously, but happily left.
After they were gone, Sal turned to Reno. “That’s why you wanted their asses here to begin with,” he said. “Didn’t you?”
“I knew I had to meet with them, yes,” he said. “Drake was a convenient reason.”
“So you believe that reasoning?” Sal asked. “You believe Gianni Drake wants nothing more than a little friendly competition with you?”
“Hell no,” Reno said. “But that’s the line he’s laying down now. I’m going to get my men to keep an eye on him. If his activity increases, so will mine.”
Sal nodded. “That’s the way I’d handle it too,” he said.
Then Sal looked at Reno. “I heard about that drive by this morning,” he said. “Thanks for protecting my wife.”
“You would have done the same thing had it been Trina. Don’t even mention it.”
“Who did they get? Gemma said they took out some fruit vendor.”
Then Reno looked at Sal. “What do you know about Deeve Carney?”
“Carney? Nothing much to know. Small time hood.”
“Drugs?” Reno asked.
“What else?” Sal responded. “He’s one of those carnival acts around town, who sell and perform for a living. The cops are on to him. He’s hot. Steer clear of him if you can.”
“I can’t,” Reno said. “He might have been the punk who pulled that drive by this morning. He took out Poker Lansky.”
Sal was shocked. “Get the fuck out of here! That’s who got hit? Is he dead?”
Reno nodded.
“You don’t think his death is related to what Drake may be trying. Do you?”
“I don’t know,” Reno said. “And since I don’t know, I have to assume it is.”
Sal nodded. “Damn right,” he agreed.
“I’ve got my men tracking down Carney,” Reno said. “But if you find out anything I need to know, let me know.”
“I will,” Sal said. “Damn. Poke was a good snitch. He kept it real. I’m sorry to hear about that.”
But Reno, as usual, had moved on. He stared at Sal. There was that other matter. “Did you know about Gemma and Tree selling all of these licensing deals for new franchises?”
Sal nodded again. “Sure I did, Reno, why would you ask me something like that?”
Sal’s response felt like another twist of the knife to Reno. Gemma told her man. But Trina didn’t bother to tell him.
“Why?” Sal asked again.
But that was their issue. Their problem. “No reason,” Reno said, and left the Bowels. Sal left too.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“And then Dad started hollering,” Dommi said to Jimmy. “The higher the ride went, the louder he hollered. He started hollering like a girl!”
Jimmy laughed. Trina and Sophia, who were also at the breakfast table, smiled too.
“And then he threatened to kill the people for laughing at him.”
Jimmy laughed harder. He was holding his baby girl, so he knew he had to be
careful. But it was super funny. “Dad is gonna beat your behind if he knew you were at this table lying on him,” he said to Dommi.
“But I’m not lying,” Dommi said. “Am I, Mommy? Tell Jimmy I’m telling the truth. Tell Jimmy how Daddy acted up at the carnival.”
“Just finish your breakfast, boy,” Trina said, rising to her feet. “You too, Sophie. You guys are going to be late for school.” Although she was fully dressed in a lavender skirt suit and heels, she still had to get a few things from upstairs.
“Aren’t you going to drive us to school?” Dommi asked.
“Yes,” Trina said as she continued to walk. “I need to grab some paperwork first.”
“Then how can we be late,” Dommi asked Jimmy, “if she’s going to take us? That means she’ll be the one late, not us.” Then he hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Grown folks!”
But Jimmy was looking at Trina. He could tell something was bothering her. “Just finish your food like Ma said,” he said, rose to his feet, and headed across the house to the Nursery.
After lying Madison in her crib, he made his way upstairs to his parents’ bedroom. Trina was standing on the side of the bed, filling her briefcase with stacks of paperwork she had strewn about.
Jimmy leaned against the doorjamb. “Looks like you were working in bed last night,” he said.
“I was,” Trina said.
Jimmy decided to go there. “Looks like Dad didn’t get to bed at all last night,” he added.
He and Trina exchanged a glance, but Trina didn’t respond.
“Did Dad come home last night?” Jimmy asked pointblank.
“How long do you plan to stay?” Trina asked him, changing the subject.
“Until I can figure out what I wanna do,” Jimmy said. “Dad’s got me working back as a pit boss in the casino, but it’s kind of embarrassing, Ma. I’ll be honest with you. Everybody knew I used to run Dad’s entire east coast chain, now I’m right back working with them? With the same title as some of them? It’s weird.”
“You bought it on yourself,” Trina said. “I hate to be a broken record, but that’s a fact, Jimmy.”
“I know it is. But a million dollars look good when you’re being paid the peanuts Dad was paying me.”
“Dad was putting most of your money in a trust fund, boy. He knew what he was doing. And the day a hundred thousand dollars a year salary is peanuts, is the day the world has gone mad.”
Jimmy smiled.
“And another thing,” Trina said. “You keep bringing up that million dollars those drug dealers promised you. If you think they were actually going to give you a million dollars, you’re dreaming.”
But Jimmy wasn’t dreaming. They owed him, and he aimed to collect.
Trina looked at him. “Who were they anyway, Jimmy?” she asked.
Jimmy didn’t see the harm in telling Trina. She wouldn’t know the people involved, and he needed somebody to talk to about it. He couldn’t trust anybody else. “It was just this guy I know. Guy we called Noonie. Some other’s called Noon Devil.”
Trina frowned. “Noon Devil? That’s what y’all called him? Noon Devil?”
“Yeah. And he lied his head off. He said his own operation was about selling weed. Ended up it was all about heroin. It was a con all around. Lie after lie he lied to me.”
“That’s what you get for trusting a man named after the devil. The devil is a liar, boy. Don’t you know that?”
Jimmy laughed. “I know it now,” he said. But inwardly, he was still enraged with Noonie. Inwardly, he still couldn’t wait to wrap his hands around his narrow neck and shake the life out of him. Noonie lied to him. Noonie owed him. He still aimed to collect.
“But back to your problem,” Jimmy said.
“What problem?” Trina asked.
“Dad.”
“Your father will never be my problem, okay?”
“Why didn’t he come home last night? That ain’t cool.”
“Being separated from your wife,” Trina shot back, “ain’t cool either. But you and Val are separated.”
“Not for long,” Jimmy said. “She wants a divorce.”
Trina looked at him. “She wants it, or you want it?”
“Both.”
“Then say that.” Trina grabbed up the last of her papers and stuffed them into her briefcase. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Ma. Did he come home last night?”
Trina exhaled. “No,” she said.
Jimmy shook his head. “Why do you put up with that? You guys go home to your estate on the weekends, but through the week you make it your business to stay in the Penthouse here at the PaLargio, you and the children, to accommodate him. So that you could be a family and be together at the end of the day. And he won’t even do that right.”
“Don’t be so hard on him,” Trina admonished. “He has a lot on his plate.”
“You do too!” Jimmy responded. “But I don’t recall you ever spending the night out from home. Yet he does it all the time.”
Jimmy was only half right. Reno had been improving the last few days. But she wasn’t going to minimize it either. It was a problem.
“What’s going on, Ma?” Jimmy asked.
Trina let out an exhausted sigh, and then sat on the bed. “Your father,” she said, “thinks I’m taking on too much.”
Jimmy smiled. “You’re joking! He’s the one taking on too much. Unless there’s something I don’t know.”
“We’re licensing our brand to other investors,” Trina said.
Jimmy immediately understood the problem from his father’s perspective. “I see,” he said. “How many others?”
“Thirty already. Fifty in total by the end of the year.”
“Geez,” Jimmy said. “That’s a major-ass undertaking, Ma.”
“I understand that. But Aunt Gemma and I didn’t want to piecemeal it. We wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible.”
“I take it you didn’t tell Dad ahead of time, or he would have never approved,” Jimmy said.
“Right on both counts. I didn’t tell him early on, and he didn’t approve when I did tell him.”
“So now he’s pissed?”
“I guess so,” Trina said, rising and grabbing her briefcase. “I haven’t heard from him since he angrily left my office at Champagne’s yesterday. You know how he gets.”
When she made it to the doorjamb, Jimmy stood erect. He pulled her into his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Ma,” he said. “Dad will come around.”
Trina looked into Jimmy’s eyes. “So you don’t think I’m stretched too thin?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy replied honestly. “Because you are. But you can handle it.”
Trina smiled. She appreciated her stepson. “Let’s get downstairs,” she said, “before Dommi tears up the place.”
Jimmy laughed and continued to hug her as they made their way downstairs.
They weren’t downstairs two minutes when the door opened, and Reno walked in.
Trina was giving Dommi and Sophie their bookbags, and she and them were about to head for the exit. But Reno walked in.
“Daddy!” Dommi yelled.
“Daddy!” Sophia yelled.
And both children raced to their father, the way they always did, as if he was pure gold. Reno lifted both of them into his arms. “Hey, sweethearts,” he said, kissing them both. “How are you, babies?”
“We’re good,” Dommi said.
“We’re late,” Sophia said.
Reno sat them back down on their feet.
Jimmy looked at Trina, as she and Reno were face to face. “I’ll take them to school, Ma,” he said.
Trina appreciated it. “Thanks, Jim.”
“Come on, kids,” Jimmy said as he placed his hands on the backs of Dommi and Sophie, steering them toward the door. “Hey, Dad,” he said as he approached his father.
“Hey,” Reno said dryly. They were still pre
tty much on the outs with each other.
“Maddie’s in the Nursery,” Dommi said to his father.
“Just mind your own business for two seconds, Dom,” Jimmy said. “Dang!” Then he looked at his parents. “I’ll be back,” he said, and left.
And then there were two.
Trina folded her arms and stared at Reno, waiting for his explanation. But he started to move past her. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
Reno looked at her hand on his arm, and then looked at her. “What’s your problem?”
“Where were you all night, Reno?”
“What do you mean where was I? I was here. Downstairs. I was working.”
“And you couldn’t call and tell me that?”
“Your ass didn’t call and tell me about the fifty new businesses you’re opening. So excuse me if I didn’t think working all night was a big deal either.”
“That’s not fair, Reno.”
“Oh, yeah? It’s fair to me.”
“Where were you?”
“Working. What are you deaf? I was working.”
“Where?”
“In the casino.”
“Bullshit,” Trina said forcefully. “Jimmy was working until three this morning and he didn’t see your ass once.”
“Fuck this shit,” Reno said and began angrily moving away. But Trina grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him back. “Where were you, Reno?”
“What the fuck do you care?” Reno asked.
Trina stared at him. She was shocked. “What did you say? You don’t think I care?” Trina couldn’t believe it. She turned to leave herself, only she was heading for the door.
Reno immediately regretted his statement. “Tree,” he said. “Tree, I didn’t mean it.”
She opened the door, but he slammed it back shut. Then he leaned the front of his body against the back of hers. “I didn’t mean it, Tree,” he said again. “I don’t know what’s happening to us and it’s . . . it’s . . . scaring me, alright?”
Reno Gabrini: I'm Losing You Page 9
