Reno and Son: Don't Mess with Jim (The Mob Boss Series) (18 page)

THIRTEEN

Stanley Quebec, the general manager of the
PaLargio Hotel, was sitting in his office signing off on a stack of claims forms
when his door flew open.
 
It was one of
his assistants.

“Oh, for crying out loud!
 
What is it now?”

“Sorry to disturb you again, sir, but Mr.
Gabrini just arrived.”

Stanley quickly stood and grabbed his suit
coat from the back of his chair.
 
“Which
one?”

“Both of them, sir.”

“Geez,” Stanley uttered.
 
“Nobody tells me anything.
 
Yet they expect me to be there waiting for
these folks.
 
But nobody said a word.”

Out front, the limo stopped in front of the
entrance and Tommy and Sal were already stepping out, buttoning their suit
coats.
 
And as soon as they entered the
lobby, the Concierge, surprised to see them, hurried over and asked if there
was anything he could get for them.
 
They
were fine, and told him so, but that did not stop the entire available staff
from coming over and also asking if there was anything they could do for
them.
 
The GM wasn’t there to meet and
greet, and they all knew they had to compensate.

Then Stanley stepped off the elevator and
began hurrying toward them.
 
And his
assistant was right.
 
It was both of
them.
 
Tommy, looking like his usual
Mister Elegant in his charcoal gray Tom Ford suit, and Sal, in his
double-breasted blue suit, looking like some unsavory mobster.

“Mr. Gabrini, welcome!” Stanley uttered
these words and extended his hand to Tommy while he was still a good distance
away from the two brothers.
  
“We are so
glad to have you with us again!”
 
He
shook Tommy’s hand.
 
“And Sal, hello to
you too.”

Sal didn’t bother to respond.
 
It used to anger him the way these uppity aides
always acted as if he was less than Tommy and Reno.
 
It used to bother him mightily.
 
But now that he had Gemma Jones in his life,
he didn’t give a shit.

Stanley waited for a greeting from Sal, but
when none came he returned his attention to Tommy.
 
“Planning to stay very long this trip, Mr.
Gabrini?”

Tommy, however, turned toward his baby
brother.
 
“What do you think, Sal?”
Stanley may not have thought very highly of Sal, but Tommy did.
 
“Think we’re going to stay in Vegas for a
long time this trip?”

“Who knows?
 
We might, we might not.
 
Why
should he care?
 
It’s none of his
business.”

That was exactly why Stanley had issues
with Sal.
 
He never played along.
 
Not even with small talk.
 
“I’m not attempting to get involved in your
business,” Stanley pointed out.
 
“I
merely wanted to alert the staff so that they may be on their best behavior.”

This made it worse in Sal’s eyes.
 
“Oh, so if we were just your average Joes
then they wouldn’t need to be on their best behavior?
 
Is that what you’re telling us?
 
They act right only for the uppity-mucks?
 
Is that your style?
 
I’ll bet you any amount of money that Reno
won’t like that style. I’ll bet you any amount of money that if Reno finds out
then that won’t be your style any longer.”

Stanley’s heart pounded.
 
Would he really say something to Reno?
 
“Oh, no, sir,” he quickly backtracked.
 
“You took me seriously, but please
don’t.
 
I was just joking, Mr. Gabrini.”

Sal smiled.
 
“Oh, so I’m
Mister
Gabrini
now?”

“I was joking,” Stanley said again.
 
“Of course we’re on our very best behavior
for all of our guests.
 
For
everyone.
 
Please understand that.”

They arrived at the private elevators.
 
Stanley swiped his keycard and the doors slid
open.
 
“Just so we’re clear,” he
said.
 
“I was honestly attempting
humor.
 
We put our best foot forward for
everybody.”

“Sure you do, Clyde,” Sal said as he and
Tommy stepped onto the elevator.
 
“Sure
you do.”

When the doors slammed shut, Tommy looked
at Sal and smiled.
 
“Have you no shame?”

Sal hunched his shoulders and laughed.

When they entered the penthouse, Jimmy and
Val stood from the sofa.
 
Only Jimmy ran
to his uncles, to Sal first and then to Tommy, and hugged them both.
 

“Look at you,” Sal said with a grand
smile.
 
“All grown up and everything!”

“How you doing, Uncle Sal?” Jimmy couldn’t
stop smiling himself.
 
It always felt as
if he and his father were not alone, whenever his uncles showed up.

“I’m doing great.
 
Better than you.”

Jimmy laughed.
 
“I’m surprised you came here first.
 
You usually head straight for Miss Jones’ house
first.”

“Miss Jones, for your information, is out
of town, and you’re right.
 
I would have
been there.”

“She’s out of town?”

“Yup. She had to attend some lawyers’
convention in Minnesota.”
 
Sal looked
downright depressed about it.

“So we have you all to ourselves?”

“Don’t remind me,” Sal said, and Jimmy
laughed.

“Introduce us, James,” Tommy said, smiling
at Val.
 
“I assume this is your lady?”

“Yes, sir,” Jimmy said as Val began to walk
over to them.
 
Jimmy’s relationship with
his Uncle Sal was very informal and extremely affectionate, but his
relationship with Tommy was a different matter.
 
For some reason Tommy, like Reno, still intimidated him.
 
“This is Valerie Wellstone.”

Tommy extended his hand.
 
“Nice to meet you, Valerie.”
 

Valerie was taken aback as she shook
Tommy’s hand.
 
Jimmy used to brag about
his uncle, and how great looking he was, but not until now did she understand
why he would single this man out.
 
After
all, Jimmy’s father and mother were great looking too, and Jimmy was adorable,
so she didn’t understand what was so different about this man.
 
Now, standing in front of Tommy, she knew
exactly what.
 
From his startling eyes
that seem to be a combination of green and blue, to his perfect nose, eyebrows,
and hair, to his lean, slender body and well-tailored suit, this man certainly
stood above the rest.
 
He could have any
woman he wanted, she thought as they shook hands, and he probably did.
 
“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said.

“And this,” Jimmy said, turning her toward
Sal, “is my Uncle Sal Luca.”
 

Jimmy said this so affectionately that it
made Val smile.
 
“Hello, sir,” she said.

Sal wiped his hand on his suit before he
shook hers.
 
“Hello to you too, young
lady,” he said.
 
“What happened to you?”
He pointed at her black eye.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said
with a smile.

“The guys who snatched her did that to
her,” Jimmy explained.

“Motherfuckers,” Sal said.
 
“They’ll get theirs.
 
Don’t worry.
 
But it’s nice to finally meet you, Valerie.
 
Jimmy never brought you around when I was in
town.”

“That’s because you were never around for
me to bring her around,” Jimmy said.

Sal looked at him. “What the fuck did you
just say?”

They all laughed.

“So,” Sal asked, looking around, “where’s
moron?”

Val looked surprised that he would call somebody
such a name, but Jimmy and Tommy weren’t surprised at all.
 
They smiled.

“He’s in the back.
 
I’ll go get him,” Jimmy added.

“No, you won’t,” Sal stated.
 
“You’ll stay right up here and entertain your
beautiful lady.
 
I’ll go get him.”

And as Sal left, Val and Tommy took a seat
on the sofa.
 
Jimmy headed for the
expansive bar.

“What would you like to drink, Uncle
Tommy?”

“It’s early,” Tommy replied, “but if you
give me a gin and tonic anyway, I won’t be mad at you.”

Jimmy smiled.
 
“Yes, sir.”

Tommy sat next to Val and crossed his
legs.
 
He smelled wonderful too, she
thought, as she immediately felt intimidated.
 
Tommy Gabrini oozed power and authority.
 
But unlike Sal and Reno, who oozed it too, his seemed more
understated.
 
More sophisticated.
 
As if he was old money and they were
new.
 
As if he was fine wine and they
were beer.
 
Then she had to catch
herself.
 
She was letting the man’s good
looks cloud her judgment because she knew there was nothing unsophisticated
about Reno Gabrini either.

“You’re a realtor, if I’m not mistaken,”
Tommy said to her.

“Yes, sir.”

“You work for your father?”

“Yes, sir.
 
He owns Wellstone Realty here in town.”

“Ah.”

“You might have seen his billboards around
town.
 
Unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?”
 
Tommy asked.
 
“You don’t like them?”

“I mean, they’re probably good for
business, although the jury’s out on that still.
 
But when I was in high school it was so
embarrassing to me.”
 
Tommy laughed.
 
“We’d be riding along and there would be his
mug.
 
Or we’d be at the Mall and a city
bus would pass by.
 
‘There’s your Daddy,’
some kids would say as his smiling face was right there on the bus.”

“I see.
 
He placed his ad on the bus.”

“Yes, sir.
 
It was so embarrassing.”

“I would be lying if I said I sympathized
with you,” Tommy admitted.
 
“It’s been so
long since I’ve been in high school and had to deal with that teenage angst
that I couldn’t begin to know how you felt.”

Val smiled and looked at him.
 
And suddenly something seemed off about
him.
 
He was still sitting up here
smiling and looking as if he was Mister Perfect personified, but suddenly he
seemed too perfect, too well put together.
 
As if he was inwardly falling apart.
 
She didn’t understand why she felt that way, but she felt that way.
 
“But thankfully I’m not in high school
anymore,” she said to him.
 
“Now that I’m
safely out, and survived those hellish years, it doesn’t bother me at all.”

Tommy laughed.
 
“Good girl,” he said, and patted her
thigh.
 
A pat that surprised Val.

It surprised Tommy too.
 
They exchanged a glance, proving each other’s
surprise, and then Tommy removed his hand.
 
Although they also exchanged a smile, as if he was saying that no harm
was intended and she was agreeing with him, he nonetheless stood up and walked
over to the window, frowning at his own behavior.
 

What the hell was wrong with him, he
wondered.
 
Yes, he’d been away from his
wife for far too long and on too many occasions lately.
 
In fact, he was just wrapping up a business trip
when he got the call from Reno.
 
He
didn’t have time to stop back through Seattle.
 
But that didn’t excuse his behavior.
 
That didn’t excuse the fact that he took a look at that gorgeous
girlfriend of Jimmy’s and now his dick was throbbing.
 
He and Grace hadn’t been married that long
and already they were having issues, which was bad enough, but this was
ridiculous.
 
Getting the hots over his
nephew’s woman just because she was that beautiful black woman type he
favored?
 
He rubbed his forehead.
 
That infamous libido of his was rising again,
something he knew he had to control.