Reno and Trina: In the Shadows of Love, Book 12 (5 page)

“Anything
for Paulo’s son.
 
Your father was a great
man.”

“My father
was a ruthless man.”

“A mob boss
who is not ruthless,” Mick responded, “is not a mob boss.”

Reno smiled,
and nodded his head.

“Your father
was a good boss,” Mick continued.
 
“He
knew how to take care of business.
 
I
looked up to him.”

“Until?”
Reno asked.
 
There had been a falling out
between his father and Sinatra.
 
He heard
about it when he was younger.

“He was a
good boss, and I looked up to him,” Mick repeated himself, “until the day he
attempted to boss me.
 
I was young, you
see.
 
I am not that much older than
you.
 
Men like your father thought a kid
like me could be manipulated and controlled.”

Reno knew
exactly what he meant.
 
His father had
tried to control him once upon a time too.
 
It didn’t work.
 
“You had a
falling out with him?”

Mick paused,
as if the memories of that long ago time were still raw.
 
“To put it mildly, yes.”

“What
happened?”

“I kicked
his ass.
 
I took over half of what was
his.
 
I went to war with him.
 
Something that was never done by an outsider
like me.”

“But it
worked.”

“He came to
realize there was no honor in me.
 
I
would not show mercy.
 
Mick the Tick was
my nickname, because they viewed me as a ticking time bomb, and I lived up to
it.
 
So he left me alone.” Mick looked
Reno dead in the eyes.
 
“Powerful men,
Dominic, only respond to might.
 
Not
power.
 
That is the misperception.
 
They already have power.
 
Power does not impress power.
 
But might does.
 
Strength does.
 
Being willing to push the world and all of
its inhabitants into the
got
damn
ocean before giving up an inch does.”

And that was
Mick the Tick that Reno had heard about in his youth.
 
He didn’t know he was a Sinatra then.
 
He didn’t know he was Sal’s uncle then.
 
He just knew there was a badass kid who once
went toe-to-toe with Reno’s badass father, and won.
 
Reno couldn’t help but respect a man like
that.
 

So he got
down to business.
 
“Stanislav
Provenzano,” he said.

Reno could
see a change in Mick’s expression.
 
Mick’s jaw tightened.
 
“Yes?” he
asked.

“Do you know
him?”

As usual,
Mick answered the question with a question of his own.
 
“What is your dealings with him?”

“He’s taking
over territory.”

“Yours?”

“Hell no,”
Reno responded.
 
“He knows better than
that.
 
But he’s muscling some small
operators.
 
They came to me for help.”

Mick stared
at Reno.
 
“Are these small operators as
legitimate as you are, or are you as illegitimate as they are?”

Reno looked
Mick dead in the eye.
 
“They’re legit,”
he said, “when they need to be.”

“And when
they do not need to be?”

“They
aren’t,” Reno responded.
 
“Like most
businessmen from our background.”

They spoke
the same language, Mick thought, which was good.
 
He nodded.
 
“I know Provenzano,” he said.

“Tough?”

“He would
say so.”

“Would you
say so?”

Mick thought
about it.
 
“Yes.
 
What is your main concern?”

That was an
easy one for Reno.
 
“How far does he
reach?”
 

“Far,” Mick
said.

“Farther
than you?”

“Let me put
it this way,” Mick said.
 
“I do not fuck
with him unless I have no fucking choice.”

Reno
smiled.
 
“Your advice to me?”

Mick didn’t
hesitate.
 
“Do not fuck with him.
 
Unless you are willing to go to war.
 
And I mean long, hard, nasty war.”

Reno
exhaled.
 
“I don’t like bullies,” he
said.
 
“Provenzano is bullying the little
guy.”

“When a man
decides to delegitimize his business, then that is on him,” Mick said.
 
“He is swimming with sharks and if he is not
equipped, he will get eaten alive.
 
My
advice is for you to stay out of it.
 
You
cannot bully a bully.
 
Because those same
small operators you wish to assist, are bullying smaller operators.
 
It is tough out there, Dominic.
 
A man who disturbs his own home inherits the
wind.
  
That’s Bible.
 
Besides, the idea that Provenzano would take
another man’s territory doesn’t have the ring of truth to it to me.
 
That’s not Provensano’s style.
 
He has to have a reason, and a very good
reason, to reduce to that.”
 
Then Mick
smiled.
 
“My view.”

Reno could
respect every word Mick spoke.
 
He was no
fool.
 
He didn’t know this Stanislav
Provenzano.
 
Mick did.
 
“I’ll take your view under advisement,” he
said.
 
“Thank-you.”

“Not so
fast,” Mick said.
 
“One hand washes the
other, no?”

Reno
smiled.
 
“Your ruthlessness is showing,”
he said.

“As is
yours,” Mick shot back.
 
Then he moved to
the edge of the sofa.
 
Reno,
understanding the gesture, moved to the edge too.
 
The two powerful men were now shoulder to
shoulder, and speaking quietly.

“There’s
heat on me,” Mick said.
 
“A lot of
heat.
 
For what?
 
We will not get into.
 
But I need more to show.”

“Legitimate?”
Reno asked.

“Through and
through.
 
I need more legitimate
businesses to show.”

“I thought
you had plenty up and down the East Coast.”

“I do,” Mick
responded.
 
“But I need a global
reach.
 
I need the Feds wondering what
the fuck is going on.
 
I need a business
partner in the global arena.”

Reno was
stunned by this development.
 
A partner
of the caliber of Mick Sinatra was a serious partner to have.
 
But he came with serious drawbacks.
 
Mick Sinatra the businessman was also Mick
the Tick the gangster.
 
Reno had his own
share of Fed heat to deal with.
 
He
wasn’t so sure if he wanted to take on Mick’s also.
 
“You do know your nephews, Sal and Tommy,
have a global reach also.”

“I have no
dealings with my sister’s children.
 
Especially Sal.
 
One day I will
have to come to terms with what he did to my sister, but that day has not yet
appeared.
 
And I do not move before it’s
time to move.”

Reno
immediately went to Sal’s defense.
 
“Sal
Luca didn’t want to kill his own mother,” he said.
 
“Not for a second did he want it to come to
that.
 
But his mother, your sister, was
going to kill his wife.
 
That’s a fact.
 
He had no choice.”
 

“I
understand that,” Mick said.
 
“But if
that was your sister he killed, even with that fact in mind, would that matter
to you?”

Reno didn’t
blink.
 
“Yes, it would,” he responded.

“Then we are
not as alike as I thought,” Mick said.
 
“Because it don’t mean shit to me.”

Reno was
surprised by his bluntness.
 
But that was
why he had enough sense to keep his friends close, but his enemies closer.
 
And if this man had any ill intent regarding
Sal Luca Gabrini any time in the future, Reno wanted to be in position to know
about it.
 
He, Sal, and Tommy were like
brothers.
 
You mess with one, you mess
with all.
 
“What kind of businesses were
you interested in?” he asked Mick.

And their
business conversation began.
 
Mick was
looking at opportunities in the UK and France, and Reno was looking more at
Eastern European possibilities.
 
And they
talked about it until there was a knock on the door and Security let the
servers in.

The
gold-crusted cart was filled with gold-crusted trays of food and the two
servers moved toward the two men ready to lift the lids and reveal the gourmet
food the chef had especially prepared for such a powerful guest.
 
Mick’s security had already frisked them, so
there was no need for any concern, but Mick had an additional layer of
security.
 
“Before you leave,” he said to
the two men, “I would like each of you to taste the food first.”

It was
obvious that the servers found such a request odd, but they did as they were
told.
 
While they lifted the lids of the
various trays, and Mick paid attention to that activity, Reno smiled and
thought about the possibility of doing business with a man like Sinatra.
 
It was implausible at best.
 
Because with Reno, honor came first.
 
He wasn’t sure if Mick Sinatra understood the
word.

Tennis
shoes, Reno suddenly thought.
 
Why the
fuck were his servers wearing tennis shoes?
 
They knew the dress code.
 
They
knew better than that.
 
And just as Reno
saw the breach, he also saw one of the servers slice into the pile of spaghetti
on one of the trays and pull out a handgun.
 
The server’s body had been frisked, but not the food.

Reno pushed
Mick aside as he was pulling out his gun and the server was pulling a pistol
from the pile of pasta.
 
Reno fired.
 
He was leaned back firing and firing.
 
By the time Security broke through the door
with their own weapons drawn, both servers were already down and both were dead.

Mick looked
up, stunned that he didn’t see it coming.
 
Then he looked at Reno.
 
And it
unsettled him greatly.
 
Because he now
was in Reno Gabrini’s debt.
 
He owed him
one.
 
He owed him big time.

“Good evening, Mrs. Gabrini.”
 
The valet opened her car door while Dommi
jumped out, opened the backdoor, and unbuckled his baby sister.
 
He was about to lift her out of her car seat
when Trina stopped him.

“I told you about that, boy,” she said as she eased
Dommi aside.

“I can carry her, Mommy.”

“No, you cannot.
 
Daddy has told you time and time again about trying to pick up his
baby.
 
She’s almost as big as you are.”

“I’m as big as you are,” Sophia said to her brother.

“You’re a baby,” Dommi said.
 
“Shut up.”

Trina stopped all activity and looked at her son.
 
“Dommi,” she warned.

He didn’t like it, but he apologized. “I’m sorry,” he
said.
 
“But she gets on my nerves.”

Trina smiled.
 
What did he know about nerves, she thought, as she lifted Sophia into
her arms.
 
She worked harder than most,
but she made it her business to always pick up Sophia from the exclusive
daycare she attended, and Dominic from his exclusive private school.

“Hey, Ma,” a voice said behind her and she turned to
see Val walking out of the PaLargio’s front entrance.

“Hey, Val.
 
Where did you come from?”

“I just got here.
 
I saw you drive up.”

“Hello, Auntie Val,” Dommi said to his brother’s
wife.
 
Trina smiled.
 
Val wasn’t his aunt, but that never stopped
the Gabrinis from mixing it all up anyway.

Val smiled too.
 
“There’s my angel,” she said, and attempted to pick him up.
 
“Oops, too heavy.”
 
She put him back down and held his hand
instead.

“I’m too heavy for you,” Dommi said, “and Mommy says
Sophie’s too heavy for me.”

“Well she is,” Val said.
 
Then she looked at Trina.
 
“How are you doing, Ma?”

“Pretty good.”

“Picked them up early today?”

“Yep.
 
Dommi’s
school let out early for some weather day or something and I forgot all about
it.”

“Oh, no, you had Dommi all day?” Val asked.
 
“Is he driving you crazy yet?”

Trina gave her an
are
you for real
look.
 
“When does he
not?” she asked.

“How can I drive her crazy if I can’t drive at all?”
Dommi asked.

Val laughed.
 
“It’s a figure of speech, boy,” she said, and they all began heading
toward the entrance.

“I tried to call Reno,” Trina continued, “but I
couldn’t reach his busy behind, as usual.
 
Couldn’t reach Jimmy, either.
 
Have you seen him?”

“He called.
 
He’s supposed to be around here somewhere.
 
I drove over as soon as I could.
 
I couldn’t believe it.
 
It was pretty bad, hun?”

“Yes, Lord,” Trina responded, pushing Sophie further
up on her small hip as they entered the lobby. They were immediately greeted
with numerous hellos from staff.
 
“I
could have been here thirty minutes ago if it wasn’t so bad,” Trina added.

Val frowned and looked at her mother-in-law. “If what
wasn’t so bad?
 
What are you talking
about?”

“I’m talking about traffic,” Trina responded.
 
Then she looked at Val.
 
“What are
you
talking about?”

“The shooting.”

Trina frowned.
 
“What shooting?”

“The one in the Presidential suite today.
 
Didn’t Mr. Gabrini tell you about it?
 
He was the one who took out the bad guys.”

Trina’s heart dropped.
 
“Reno was involved?
 
Where is he
now?” Her voice was on this side of panic.
 
“Where’s Reno?”

“Probably still in the suite.
 
It didn’t happen that long ago.”

Trina hurriedly placed Sophie in Val’s arms.
 
“Take them to the penthouse, will you, Val?”

“Okay,” Val said, and Trina took off.

“Mommy!” Dommi yelled after her, prompting Sophia, who
always followed his lead, to yell for Trina too.
 
But Trina was gone.

She hurried onto Reno’s private elevator and made her
way up to the Presidential suite.
 
After
getting clearance from the police at the elevator, she hurried toward the
suite.
 
Officers were everywhere,
questioning the staff and men, bodyguards, she didn’t recognize.
 
But when she realized the door to the suite
was open, she hurried inside.
 
As soon as
she walked in, a man in a long, white overcoat, who was standing at the bar on
his cell phone, his back to the door, turned around.
 

As soon as he did and Trina saw him in full: from his
tall, elegant body, to the magnificence of his face, she stopped in her
tracks.
 
Who in the world was this, she
wondered.

And when Mick saw her, standing there looking hurried
and harried all at the same time, he felt a jolt too.
 
What
the fuck
.
 
“May I help you?” he
asked.

“I’m looking for Reno.
 
For my husband.”

“You’re his wife?”
 
Mick was surprised.
 
He expected
her to be beautiful.
 
Reno was a major
player.
 
But even Mick was impressed.

“Do you know where he is?
 
Is he okay?”

“I’m sorry, yes,” Mick said, moving toward her, his
coat flaring around him.
 
He floated
rather than walked, Trina noticed.
 
“I’m
Mick Sinatra,” he said, extending his hand.
 
“Reno is fine.
 
And thanks to him,
so am I.”

“What happened?” Trina asked, absently shaking his
hand.

“Two men, apparently employed by my enemies, pretended
to be servers and opened fire on your husband and myself.”

Trina held her breath.

“But your husband saw them as frauds in the nick of time,
or they would have took us both out.”

“Dear Lord.
 
I’ve got to, nice to meet you, but I’ve got to find my husband.”

Trina moved to leave, but had to pull away from a hand
she didn’t realize still held hers.
  
She
looked into Mick’s bright green eyes.
 
He
released her hand.
 
And she took off.

Mick just stood there, stunned.
 
“Wow,” he said.

But Trina didn’t hear him.
 
She took the private elevator to the
penthouse, to what was now their second home, and entered the home just as Val
and the children were making their way into the kitchen.
 
“Is he here?” Trina asked as she hurried in.

“I think so,” Val said.
 
“The shower’s running in the back.”

Trina began to hurry toward the back of the house.

“I’ll come with you, Mommy,” Dommi said.

“Stay right there with Val,” Trina said as she
left.
 
“I need to talk to your father.”

Trina hurried around corridor after corridor until she
arrived at the back of the penthouse, a private wing housing only the master
bedroom.

“Reno,” she yelled as she opened the double doors and
entered.
 
She wasn’t so thrown, however,
that she didn’t close and lock the doors behind her.
 
It was a habit she and Reno never failed to
remember after Dommi almost walked in on them and could have become traumatized
for life.
 
But when she heard the shower
running, she didn’t hesitate.
 
She
hurried to the en-suite bathroom.

As soon as she walked in, she hurried to the shower
stall and opened the door with a wide sweep.
 
And there was Reno, his head down, his hands against the tile, his dick
dangling against his thick thigh as the water caressed his tired body.
 
When he looked up and saw that it was his
beloved Trina standing there, his heart squeezed with emotion the way it
usually did whenever she entered his space.
 
But when he saw the worried look on her pretty face, he became worried
too. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.

Trina was still in a state of shock.
 
“Are you alright?” she asked him.

Reno didn’t get it.
 
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said.
 
“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Trina couldn’t believe it.
 
“Val said there was a shooting.
 
The guy in the P suite said you could have
been killed!”

Reno smiled his best charming smiles.
 
Trina loved him, this he knew.
 
“Oh, that,” he said as if it was nothing.

But Trina wasn’t charmed at all.
 
She was disgusted.
 
“
Oh, that
?
 
Is that all you have to say?
 
I nearly had a heart attack when Val . . .”
And then she shook her head.
 
She was
dying inside with worry and he was acting as if it was another day at the
office.
 
And it was typical Reno.
 
She slammed the door so hard it nearly broke
the glass, and left the bathroom.

“Trina!” Reno yelled, suddenly realizing his
mistake.
 
“Tree!
 
Got
dammit!”
 
He pushed off the water dial.
  
“Tree!”

He got out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and hurried
into the adjoining bedroom.
 
When he saw
Trina lying across their bed, on her back, her hands over her forehead, his
heart sunk.
 
“Honey, I’m okay,” he said,
drying off.
 
“I didn’t mean to be flip.”

But when he realized she was quietly sobbing, he
ditched the towel and hurried to her.
 
He
sidestepped her heels that she had already taken off, and got on the bed beside
her.

But when he attempted to pull her into his arms, she
fought against it.
 
“Leave me alone,
Reno,” she said angrily, as she pushed him away.

But she was no match for his muscular bulk, and he
easily took control of her.
 
“It’s okay,
babe,” he said as he wrestled with her and then held her in his arms.
 
“It’s okay.”

Trina didn’t mean to cry.
 
But when it came to Reno she always held
deep-seated emotions that were all over the place.
 
He was a loose cannon who had more courage in
a finger than most men had in their entire bodies.
 
It used to be sexy to her.
 
Now it was just nerve racking.
 
Because she married a man’s man.
 
She married somebody who always had to be out
in front; who always had to be the hero; who always had to be the go-to
man.
 
Jimmy was just like him, and she
was beginning to see traces of it in Dommi too.
 
They were fearless through and through.

Trina knew she was no punk either, and that was why
Reno fell in love with her to begin with, but she knew when to dial it
back.
 
She knew when to let somebody else
take the risk for a change.
 
But the
Gabrini men, with Reno leading the charge, would find such an acquiescence a
dereliction in duty tantamount to treason.
 
A man who relied on another man to stand where he should stand, Reno
once told her, should lay down and die.
 

After allowing her to get her cry out, Reno placed his
finger and thumb beneath her chin and lifted her face up to his.
 
Now he not only had her body in his arms, but
her undivided attention.
 
He looked deep
into her watery, beautiful hazel eyes.
 
“I’m fine, baby,” he said.
 
“I
wasn’t in danger.”

“Quit lying,” Trina responded.
 
“You were in danger.
 
That man said you saved his life.
 
He said if it wasn’t for your quick thinking
you and he both would have been dead.”
 
She looked at him with a look he knew meant she wasn’t playing with
him.
 
“That’s danger, Reno.
 
Don’t lie to me or I’ll rip your dick off.”

Ouch
, Reno thought, because he wasn’t a
hundred percent certain Trina didn’t mean what she said.
 
“It was dangerous,” he admitted, “you’re
right.
 
It was a bad situation.
 
But I handled it like I always do.”
 
He began rubbing her hair.
 
“You have nothing to fear.”