Mob Boss 4: Romancing Trina Gabrini (21 page)

Mondo smiled.
 
“Yes, sir.
 
His reputation is well known in my universe, sir.”

“Why thank-you,” Jeff said.

“And over here,” Reno said, nodding toward
Dirty, “is Dirt, rather, Richie Marcasi.”
 
They all nod hello in Dirty’s direction.
 
“Back in the day Richie was one of the best
bartenders around.
 
He was my bartender
for years, until he met my sister.
 
Now,
since he’s my brother-in-law, he feels he’s too good to work the bar.”

“It’s not even like that, Reno,” Dirty said
with a smile.

“He manages the gambling tables for me instead
now,” Reno continued.
 
“But he’s still
one of the best bartenders around.
 
Rich,
this is Barkley, our bartender here.”

Barkley walked over and shook Dirty’s
hand.
 
“Glad to meet you.”

Although Barkley and Mondo were smiling, their
hearts were pounding.
 
Why did Reno bring
these major league players here to Crane?
 
To take over their jobs?
 
Mondo doubted it, in Jeff’s case, but he was
still concerned, too.

 
“Have
a seat guys,” Reno ordered, and Nell, Mondo, and Barkley sat down.

“Nell’s our new manager, Jeff.”

“Oh, okay.
 
So this isn’t Gweneth, the woman you mentioned earlier?”

“No, no, she’s gone.
 
Nell’s her replacement.”

“I see.”

“Everything going okay, Nellie?”
Reno asked her.

Nell smiled.
 
What a charming guy, she thought.
 
“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Good.
 
Now, to the point at hand.
 
Clauson’s is temporarily closing its doors.”

Nell’s heart pounded.
 
She depended on this salary.
 
“Closing the doors, sir?”

“Temporarily, yes.”
 

Mondo and Barkley exchanged glances.
 
They relied on their salaries, too.
 

“It has to close.
 
That kitchen smells like shit and looks even
worse.
 
How those health inspectors
around here allowed this place to remain open is a mystery to me.
 
I mean, somebody’s been greasing their hands
with cash to keep them from shutting this place down.
 
But I don’t play that shit. We will close
because we deserve to close.
 
I’ll reopen
when I feel we’re ready and deserve to open.
 
Understood?”

They all nodded their understanding, although
their hearts were growing fainter.

“And don’t worry,” Reno went on.
 
“Everybody will continue to be paid.”
 
They inwardly
sighed
relief.
 
“But changes have got to be
made.”
 
Their hearts pounded again.
 
It was like a rollercoaster ride for all
three of them.

“Beginning with you, Armondo,” Reno said.
 
“Your food is atrocious.”

Mondo was offended.
 
“My
food.
. . is
bad?”

“Atrocious, yes.”

Mondo frowned.
 
“But I don’t understand.”

Reno looked at him.
 
“I tasted your food.
 
It sucks.
 
It
taste
like shit.
 
Understand that?”

“I understand that you may not care for the
kind of food I prepare, but---”

“No buts.
 
That’s why Jeff’s here.
 
Clauson’s
is supposed to be a fine dining restaurant, and that’s exactly what we’re going
to turn it back into.
 
Fine
dining.
 
Jeff will work with you
and the kitchen staff for weeks on end, Armondo.
 
He’s giving us at least a month.
 
If, after that time he feels you have the
skillset we need to proceed as our executive chef, then so be it.
 
You’ll proceed.
 
If your food still sucks,
or if you’re some hothead who can’t follow directions, or for whatever reason,
you’re out of here.
  
Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Mondo said, at least pleased that
he would be working with the best, and would be given a chance to improve.

“When it comes to business,” Reno made clear,
“I don’t fuck around, guys.
 
You either
do your job or I find somebody else who can.
 
That includes you, too, Barkley.
 
Dirt, I mean, Rich, what the fuck,
Dirty
here.
 
That’s what we call him, all
right?
 
Dirty.
 
Dirty here will help you learn the ins and
outs of bartending the right way, rather than the Clauson way.
 
Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Barkley said.

“And like Armondo here, you have a month to
prove you’re up to the job, too.
 
That’s
at least how long we will be closed, and will be renovated.
 
And when we re-launch we will open with the
kind of staff I can be proud to call my own.
 
Because I don’t associate my name with losers.
 
We can’t struggle and barely get by.
 
We’ve got to be the best.
 
That requires hard work, discipline, and
commitment.”

After telling Mondo to take Jeff to the
kitchen, and Barkley to show Dirty around, Reno looked at Nell.
 
“Hang back, Nellie,” he said.
 
“I need to talk to you.”

Nell’s heart began to hammer as the others
left the room.
 
Please let it be about
work and work alone, she was inwardly hoping.
 

But a part of her, after that wondrously wet
dream she had this morning, was hoping just the opposite.
 
It was an incredible reversal for Nell.
 
Here she was, just yesterday, viewing his
return as some kind of horrific development. Now, this morning, she was viewing
it as some kind of sign of great things to come.
 
She had a man on her hands now.
 
A real man.
 
And she was intrigued by him.

“So,” Reno said, leaning back in his swivel
chair and running his hand through his thick, brown, perpetually but sexily
messy hair.
 
“How does it feel to be a
manager?”

“Feels pretty good actually,” Nell said with a
smile.
 
“Thanks for the opportunity,
Reno.
 
I just hope I can do the job.”

“You’re doing great, don’t worry.
 
You understand why I brought in Jeff and
Dirty?”

“Hell, yeah,” Nell said without thinking about
it.
 
“Both Mondo and Bark could use a
swift kick in their behinds.
 
They’ll
come through, I can promise you that.”

“Good.
 
That’ll be the best outcome.
 
But if they don’t come through then tough.
 
They’re out.”

“Yes, sir,” Nell said in agreement.

“So,” Reno said, staring at her breasts.
 
She felt heat past between them.
 
And then he looked into her eyes.
 
“I owe you an apology, Nell,” he said.

Nell’s heart hammered.
 
“An apology?” she said with a nervous
smile.
 
“You don’t owe me any apologies.”

“For what happened all those years ago.
 
In the storeroom.
 
You know what I’m talking about.
 
What I did to you.”

Nell’s face blushed at the thought of what
Reno had actually done to her seventeen years ago.
 
And what she thought he was doing to her when
she woke up this morning.
 
She could
still feel his dick shoving into her.
 
She still could hear the sound of those
boings
.
 

She shook her head.
 
“It’s not even worth mentioning,” she said.

“Like hell it isn’t,” Reno replied.
 
“We terrorized you that night.”

“You didn’t do anything but save my behind
that night, Reno, so don’t even sweat that.
 
I’m beyond it.
 
Way
beyond it.”

Reno stared at her.
 
He almost believed her.
 
“Well.
 
Just know that I’m deeply sorry.
  
My old man’s gone now, he died a while back, but what he was going to do
to you was wrong.
 
And I was wrong.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I don’t care.
 
What I did to you was wrong.”

“What you did was to save me from what your
father and his friend was going to do to me.
 
I don’t hold you responsible for what happened that night.
 
That was their doing, not yours.
 
So please don’t . . . Let’s not relive that,
please.
 
If you don’t
mind?”

Reno nodded.
 
He understood.
 
And
leaned forward.
 
“So give me
Nell’s life in a nutshell.
 
What have you
done with yourself?”

The idea that somebody would care enough to
ask about her life was new to Nell.
 
And
she wasn’t sure if she liked it.
 
“Not
much, as you can see.”
 

“I was told you left Crane.”

“I did.
 
For two years.
 
But I came back,
got married, had a kid, got
divorced,
and started
working here again.”
 
Nell knew her
recitation of her life events were not, by any
means,
in the order she cited them.
 
Especially
since Jimmy Mack was already two years old by the time she married Fred.
 
But she didn’t correct herself.
 

“Sorry about the divorce,” Reno said.

“Yeah, but,
it’s
okay.
 
I got a good kid out of it,” she
added, to see how Reno would respond.
 
“He’s an honor student actually.”

“Good,” Reno said.
 
“Good for you.”

But his response wasn’t great.
 
He didn’t ask any questions.
 
He didn’t ask if he was healthy or what age
he was, nothing like that.
 
It was as if
he didn’t care.
 
And that was why Nell
knew she had to keep it to herself.
 
Reno
had no clue and it was probably best that way.
 
Besides, Jimmy would be graduating from high school next year and then
would be off to college.
 
All in one more year.
 
If she could manage it, she was going to do all she could to keep her
life story in the exact order she said it was in.
 
At least for now, she thought again.

“What about you?” she asked Reno.
 
“What has Reno’s life been like in a
nutshell?”

“Too tough a nut to be in a shell.
 
That’s
for damn sure,” Reno added, and they both laughed.

And soon the conversation disappeared for both
of them.
 
It was as if they didn’t know
where to go from here, and decided it was best to leave well enough alone.

Nell stood.
 
“I’d better make the staff aware of the closing.”

“And Nell?” he said as she turned to leave.

She turned back.
 
“Yes?”

“I expect you to be my right hand woman,” he
said.
 
“Sure you can handle that?”

She stared at him.
 
Was he really this nice a guy, or was he just
playing one in Crane?
 
“Sure thing,
Reno,” she replied.
 

And then she was gone.

Reno leaned back in his chair, surprised by
how easy it was to get on with her and how his apology didn’t erupt into any
emotional outbursts.
 
He appreciated that
about Nell.
 
She was always a strong
girl.
 
She was always her own
person.
 
And he liked that about
her.
 

She, in fact, reminded him of another
girl.
 
One he suddenly started thinking
about.
 
And his thought led him to pick
up the telephone and give her a buzz.