“How did it go?” Trina asked as her breath became labored.
“Jimmy saved my bacon,” Reno responded, as he went down even harder on her. It was heartbreaking for Reno that his child had to go there. But it was exhilarating too. Because he now knew Jimmy could handle it. He couldn’t handle running his businesses. Not yet anyway. That didn’t come natural for Jimmy. But protecting the family apparently did. Jimmy was a natural enforcer who didn’t cower in tough situations. Reno finally had himself a right-hand man.
Trina squeezed the sheets and slid down even further as Reno mouth-fucked her even harder. And she didn’t ask another question. Jimmy had to go there tonight to save his father. Jimmy had to go there. Her dream was any life but that one for that boy. Any life but that one. But he was a Gabrini. They always mastered the gangster first, the business second. Jimmy, apparently, had to go that route too.
“Reno!” Trina screamed when he bit her. She nearly sat completely up.
And then he moved up, and put it in her. And then they were both sitting up, with her legs on his broad shoulders, fucking that night away.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Three weeks later, as life was attempting to get back to normal, Reno walked deliberately slow across the lobby of his hotel as he headed for the exit. He was on his way to pick up Trina from Champagne’s and take her to the airport, and he was not looking forward to being without her for this four-day stretch. But before he could make a clean getaway, Clive Rivers, his Entertainment Director, hurried to his side.
“They want out of their contract, Reno,” he said as he tried to keep pace with his boss.
Contract disputes were nothing new to either one of them. Reno didn’t break his stride. “Who wants out?” he asked.
“Submission,” Clive said.
Reno stopped when he heard that name. He looked at Clive. “Are they out of their fucking minds? They’re a headliner!”
“And they want out. But if you agree to their demands, they say they’ll stay.”
Reno frowned. “What demands?”
“Three shows instead of seven--”
“No way,” Reno responded.
“And more money per show.”
It was too ridiculous for Reno to even argue about. “Where are they?” he asked. “Rehearsal hall?”
“Rehearsal hall,” Clive said with a nod, and he and Reno began walking in that direction.
Submission was a nineties boys band with one of the strongest followings in America. They still knew how to pack’em in wherever they performed. Reno viewed it as a coupe to get them. But he wouldn’t hesitate to turn them out on their asses if they showed their asses to him.
Herb Handley, their manager, jumped off of the stage where they were huddled discussing an arrangement when Reno and Clive walked in. He was going to play interference, Clive could see. He just didn’t realize he was about to play it with a man who didn’t play that.
“Give me a chance to explain,” Herb said as soon as he made his way up the aisle.
“Get the fuck out of my face,” Reno said. “I don’t deal with managers. Get Danny down here.” Danny was the lead singer, and the star of the band. Reno knew what Danny said goes. What this manager said was just talk.
“I do the negotiations,” Herb pointed out.
“Not with me you don’t,” Reno pointed out. “Get him now.”
Herb knew who he was dealing with. He used to love telling his friends how he was in direct negotiations with Reno Gabrini. Now that appeared to be over. “Danny!” he yelled. “Got a sec?”
Danny Devorto, a good-looking man who hit it big in his teens but was now in his thirties, jumped off of the stage and made his way toward the threesome. He knew their demands would be controversial, and he would rather not deal with a man like Gabrini, but he was a star. He got whatever he wanted.
“Hey, Reno, what’s up?” he asked.
“You have two demands,” Reno said without ceremony. “Three nights instead of seven, and more money.”
“That’s right.”
“I have one question,” Reno responded. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Herb immediately touched Danny’s arm in a protective stance. “That kind of language is not necessary, Reno.”
“Fuck you!” Reno fired back at Herb and then looked at Danny. “You will do seven nights and your pay is what we agreed for it to be. A contract is a contract.”
“Try to get a great performance out of a contract,” Danny shot back. “Try to get passion and feeling out of a contract! If you want the show of a lifetime, you’d better agree to our demands.”
“If you want your arms and your legs, and that beautiful voice to sing with, you’d better honor my contract.”
Danny and Herb couldn’t believe Reno went there.
“So weight it, Danny,” Reno said. “A show of a lifetime is what I’ll lose if I don’t agree to your terms. Your arms, your legs, your voice, and your life who knows, if you don’t agree to mine. Which one of those scenarios, do you think, carries the most risk?”
“You didn’t have to go there, man,” Danny said. “At least we had the curtesy to negotiate with you, Reno. We could have just walked like everybody else.”
Reno stared at him. “What is this? Some fucking gimmick to get your way? What are you talking about?”
“They’re walking. Act after act. They don’t even want to negotiate with you.”
Reno couldn’t believe it. What happened from last night to today? He looked at Clive. Clive quickly pulled out his cellphone. It was loaded with messages of acts demanding contract release. And Danny was right. It was act after act after act. He looked at Reno. “It’s true,” he said.
Just as they turned to run and see what the hell was going on, Wilk Montenegro and Jimmy came running into the rehearsal hall.
“We’ve got a problem, Dad,” Jimmy said as if he had been running for a while and was almost out of breath.
“Tell me,” Reno said.
“More staff walk-outs,” Wilk said, “and at least half of the talent.”
“Half?” Reno took off running, leaving all three men to hurry up behind him. “Why wasn’t I told?”
“It just happened, Reno,” Wilk said as he, Jimmy, and Clive hurried to keep up. “They’re leaving all at once, en masse like the other ones did, as if the whole thing was orchestrated.”
Reno stopped in his tracks when Wilk said that. He turned around to Wilk. “What did they tell you? The Bryant again?”
Wilk nodded. “The Bryant again, yes, sir,” Wilk said. “The Bryant Hotel is not only willing to pay them triple scale, they’re also willing to buy out their contracts with you. Gianni Drake is playing chess, Boss, and we haven’t even put our checker pieces on the board.”
Reno knew it was true. And he knew what he had to do.
“What you want us to do, Pop?” Jimmy asked.
Reno looked at his Entertainment Director. “Issue cancellation notices for every act that walks. Refer all complaints to the front desk. Don’t you get bogged down in that. You get those cancellation notices out. If there are lawsuits, we can say they were notified in advance.”
“Yes, sir,” Clive said, and hurried to do as he was told.
“Wilk, I want you to make sure every act that walks sign a culpable release agreement. Make sure every one of those fuckers understand they’re liable for breaking their contracts, and that I will hold them to that liability.”
“Yes, sir,” Wilk said, and hurried to do as he was ordered.
Jimmy figured Reno had no job for him to do, since he knew he still couldn’t be trusted with his father’s business affairs. He was about to leave too.
“And Jimmy,” Reno said.
Jimmy turned quickly. “Sir?”
“I’ve got to go get your mother and take her to the airport. I want you to handle the front desk when the complaints from our guests start trickling in. Reassure them that we’re working on booking new talent. R
eassure them that they will get their money back. Soothe raw nerves, in other words, until I get back.”
Jimmy was thrilled to be back in the mix. “But Pop?” he asked.
“What?”
“What new talent? I didn’t hear you tell Clive to book anybody else. When are we going to start booking new talent?”
“We won’t have to,” Reno said as he began to leave. “The old talent will be back.”
Jimmy frowned. “What makes you so sure about that?”
“They’ll be back,” Reno said firmly, and continued to walk out.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“The eagle has landed,” Jameila Mattingly said with a grin as the Porsche stopped in front of Champagne’s. She was ringing up a customer.
“What are you talking about, girl?” Oprah asked as she tagged clothing.
Jameila nodded toward the wall-to-wall picture window in the front of the store. “Out there,” she said. “Mr. Gabrini has arrived.”
Oprah, who was standing behind the counter tagging a small pile of lingerie, looked out too, just as Reno was getting out of the car. He stood there, buttoning his suitcoat, and then removed his shades from off of his face, and placed them on top of his hair.
“Have a nice day,” Jameila said after she rang up a customer and handed her the garment bag and receipt.
“You too,” the customer responded, and began leaving.
“You’d better let Boss know he’s here,” Jameila said to Oprah. “It hasn’t exactly been peaches and cream for them lately.”
“And what would you know about Boss’s personal affairs?”
“I don’t personally know anything,” Jameila responded. “You know how secretive Mrs. Gabrini is. But I heard they’d been having some knockdown drag-outs up in here. I heard he doesn’t like the fact that Champagne’s is expanding, and Miss G is on the move!”
“You heard a load of nonsense,” Oprah responded. “Now get out on the floor and ask those ladies over there if they need any assistance, and keep your gossip to yourself. Because Mrs. Gabrini isn’t just secretive. She’ll fire your ass on the spot if you come at her wrong.”
“She’s not like that.”
“Okay, you know her. You just got here, but you know her. Try her! I dare you.” Then Oprah waved her hand dismissively. “Just go check on the customers and mind your own business.”
“I just hope she doesn’t blow it, that’s all I’m saying.”
Oprah stopped tagging clothes and looked at Jameila again. “What?”
“I hope she doesn’t become a statistic. I hope she doesn’t become another black woman who doesn’t know how to keep a good man.”
“No you didn’t just say that.”
“Yes I did! Look at that man! He’s so good looking and fine I can only imagine what he can do. And I heard he can do a lot! I heard his pecker so thick it gets stuck every time he goes in.”
Oprah laughed. “Girl, you need to get your life!”
“That’s what I heard!” Then she leaned against Oprah. “I also heard,” she added, “that he spreads that pecker around town like it was a firehose at a five-alarm fire!”
Oprah playfully pushed her aside. “Go take care of our customers before it’s your career that goes up in flames. And I’m telling you it will if Mrs. Gabrini hears this kind of talk. The only reason I’m not firing you myself is because you’re my cousin and it’ll break grandma’s heart if you end up jobless again. But Boss doesn’t know we’re related. Because if she did she’d make me fire you for that reason alone. She may even fire me for hiring a relative! So cut it out, Meila, I’m telling you. That woman up those stairs up there? She doesn’t play!”
“Okay, okay,” Jameila said as she began walking from behind the counter. “But if she messes up, I’m not going to be responsible for my actions.”
Oprah frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m gonna hit it, that’s what it means!” She looked as Reno walked into the store. “I’m gonna be all over that!”
Oprah shook her head. “That girl is delusional,” she said under her breath as Jameila made it her business to walk in the direction Reno was coming. “Good morning, Mr. Gabrini!” she said happily as she walked by him.
“Hey,” Reno responded gruffly as he headed for the counter. He wasn’t in the mood for politeness and his demeanor showed it.
Jameila, being Jameila, was offended. Excuse you, she said inwardly as she stopped in her tracks and gave him a nasty, sidelong look. But Reno, being Reno, kept walking.
“Hello, Mr. G.!” Oprah said jovially as he walked up to the counter.
“Hey, Ope. Tree in?”
“Yes, sir. She’s in her office.” She reached for the phone. “Should I call her down?”
“No, I’ll go up,” Reno said, and made his way across the store to the side stairs. He took the stairs two at a time until he was on the second floor. Trina’s office was near the back of the store, with the door wide open.
Reno’s heart squeezed when he saw her, in her office, standing in the full-length mirror holding a bikini against her slender frame. He leaned against the jamb, folded his arms, and watched her. She was a woman of average height with that perfect combination of brains and beauty. But lately, he felt as if he’d been holding both against her. Especially the brains part. Especially when she came to him a few weeks back, and told him about her plans.
Champagne’s. Her other baby. Founded by her, along with Gemma, and now one of the most successful high-end boutiques in town. And she was ready to ride that wave. It was all about expansion and hitting while the iron was hot for her right now. And it was beginning to prick at Reno. Now that he was trying to gear down from his super workaholic schedule so that he could spend more time with his wife and their children, it seemed as if his wife was trying to gear up.
When Trina turned from the mirror, she was shocked to see that Reno had arrived. She smiled. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him, and made her way to him. “I didn’t know you were already here,” she said as she came. “You didn’t have to come up here.”
“Oh, yes, I did,” Reno said as he stood erect from the doorjamb and placed his arms around her waist. “I worked all night, and you were already gone when I got home this morning. And my pilot is already waiting at the airport to take you away from here.”
“I know,” Trina said. She ran her fingers through his thick, brown hair. “But this is a one-time conference. It won’t be a recurring thing.”
“Better not be,” Reno said as he kissed her on the lips. A peck first, and then a longer kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, with the bikini still in her hand, and returned his kiss with equal vigor. He closed his eyes and squeezed her ass as they kissed. His dick was expanding, he wanted to make love to her, but he knew there was no time.
But when they stopped kissing, and she looked into his big, blue eyes, his look had changed. “I thought this was a business trip,” he said to her.
“It is a business trip.”
“Funny, I’ve been going on business trips my entire adult life and I never thought to pack trunks.”
Trina smiled. “Oh, that,” she said as she moved away from him. “It’s business alright,” she added as she folded the bikini and walked toward the open suit case on her desk. “But if I get a break, I’m going to take it. I am going to Miami after all. Sun, surf, all of that.” She smiled as she tossed the bikini in the suit case. “I want to be prepared for every actuality.”
She closed and zipped her suit case shut. Reno walked toward her desk. “The timing is lousy, Tree,” he said to her.
“I know that, Reno. You told me a thousand times. But the timing is the timing. What do you want me to do? We have thirty new stores that plan to open over the next month. Thirty new Champagne’s with thirty new partners. This meeting is vital. There’s a ton of information they have to learn. We’ve got to make clear that they will follow the Champagne’s business model to the
T. It’s going to be a lot of work.”
“And that’s the problem. You have too much work to do already. Now you’re taking on this? Thirty new stores? At a time when I’ve got problems with Jimmy, problems with Drake, problems with Garcetti’s people if they choose to strike back. This is some shit-ass timing, Trina!”
Trina pinched the bridge of her nose. They’d been arguing about her decision to do this mass expansion for weeks, and now it was all coming to a head. And she was already exhausted.
“You don’t expand like this,” Reno continued. “Thirty stores at one time? Who does that? I told your ass to take it slow.”
“I know what you told me to do. But just like I can’t tell you how to run the PaLargio, you aren’t telling me how to run Champagne’s. Gemma and I decided we didn’t want to piecemeal it. We wanted to go big or go home. We decided to go big.”
“When I want you home,” Reno admitted.
Trina looked at him. She knew that wasn’t easy for him to admit. She saw the anguish in his eyes. “I’ll be home, Ree. It’s only for a week. Not even that. Four days.”
“This trip is for four days,” Reno said. “But once those franchises are up and running, somebody’s got to oversee them, and it’s got to be one of the two owners. Gemma’s always in court. She’s a lawyer and she’s not giving that up. Guess who all of the traveling is going to fall on? Guess who’s going to be overseeing all of these franchises all over the country? You, Trina! And I’m telling you I don’t like it.”
Reno looked stressed out of this world. And it touched Trina. She walked over to him and placed her hands around his waist. They were within an inch of each other. “I’ll balance it, Reno,” she said. “I promise you.”
But Reno looked even less hopeful. “That was what I used to say,” he said. “I was full of shit then when I said it; you’re full of shit saying it now.”
Trina sometimes forgot how blunt Reno could be. But that was her husband. “You should be supporting me,” she said.
“I know,” Reno said. He was honest too. “But I can’t, Tree. Not like this. This is scaring the shit out of me.”
Reno Gabrini: I'm Losing You Page 12
