Mob Boss 4: Romancing Trina Gabrini (34 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

It was almost daybreak by the time Reno
crawled into bed.
 
Trina had just dozed
off to sleep after staying awake practically all night waiting for him.
 
She was suddenly
awaken
when she felt him place his arms around her naked body and slide her ass up against
his nakedness.
 
He kissed her on her bare
back, held her tightly, and within minutes was fast asleep himself.
 
And Trina, comforted by his presence alone,
fell back asleep, too.

Later that next morning, however, she woke up
alone in bed.
 
She vaguely remembered
Reno waking up and kissing her, and she seemed to remember him feasting on her
cunt as he often did before he got out of bed.
 
But it was an even vaguer memory.
 
She was very wet between her legs, so he either ate it or fucked it, but
she had apparently been
to
sleepy to remember.
 
Now it was a new day.

The phone rang within minutes of her
wakeup.
 
She was lying on her back and
watching Morning Joe on MSNBC.
 
It was
Reno.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“I’m just leaving Nell’s,” he said.
 
“I had promised to have breakfast with Jimmy
so that we could talk some more.
 
I’m on
my way to Clauson’s.”

Trina hesitated.
 
She would have liked to have breakfast with
Jimmy, too.
 
“How did he take the news
last night?”

“Better than I expected he would.
 
That’s why I’m so grateful.
 
He took it well.”

“That’s encouraging.”

“Yes, it is.”

“He’s blessed to have you as a father.”

“Ah, I appreciate that, Tree.
 
Thanks, babe.”

“So when will I get to spend some time with my
new stepson?”
 
She asked this nervously.

“Soon,” Reno said.
 
“Real soon.”

“Where’s Nell?
 
Did she have breakfast with you and Jimmy?”

“She did, yeah.
 
She and Jimmy are still working out some
trust issues.
 
That’s another reason I
wanted to have breakfast with them, too.
 
The last thing I want is for him to turn to me, but turn against his
mother.”

Trina fully understood that.
   

But that understanding spirit didn’t change
the fact that she felt so alone last night.
 
Not that she wasn’t accustomed to it.
 
Some nights, back in Vegas, Reno would be so
involved in putting out fires at the PaLargio’s bars and supper rooms, not to
mention the casino and hotel
itself
, that he wouldn’t
make it home at all.
 
And
wouldn’t phone, either.
 
That was
just the way it was when Reno was absorbed in his work.
 
This was a vast improvement over Vegas, she
knew.
 
But it still wasn’t great.

She got out of bed and showered.
 
By the time she had brushed her teeth and
combed her hair and fully dressed, she decided that she couldn’t hang around on
the sidelines.
 
Reno called himself
protecting her, but she didn’t like this kind of protection.
 
She wanted to be with him, to make sure that
someone was there looking out for him.
 
She suspected Nell wouldn’t mind the job, but she wasn’t getting it.

She got into her Mercedes, put on her shades,
and drove to the street where Nell lived.
 
She thought about confronting her.
 
She thought about making it clear to her that Reno wasn’t available now
and never would be.
 
But she couldn’t do
it.
 
Nell didn’t owe allegiance to her,
Reno did.
 
And she had to believe that
Reno wasn’t going to ruin what they had going on just to get a piece of
ass.
 
Especially when
he was always, and she meant always, getting a piece of hers.

She, instead, drove to the Ponder Street
Community Center.
 
She had to trust her
husband.
 
She wasn’t running down some
woman and fighting in the streets, even over Reno.
 
A woman like Jazz wouldn’t understand
that.
 
She’d declare Trina was being too
passive.
 
She’d declare that she was too
dick-whipped by Reno and needed to get out there and get to the bottom of it by
going to the bottom herself.

But Trina wasn’t trying to live her life that
way.
 
If Reno wanted to cheat, he was
going to cheat, and no manner of fighting or being less passive or getting to
the bottom of shit was going to change that fact.
   
So instead of going to Nell’s and getting
into some knockdown, drag-out with her, she went to the Ponder Center where she
could actually do something far more constructive.
 
It was called being a grownup, as her father
loved to say.

And she remained at the Center all day.
 
By evening time, as she was leaving, she
noticed a few cars, including Sully’s, still parked in front of his real estate
office next door.
 
So instead of getting
in her car and heading home, to an undoubtedly empty home, she decided to pay
Sully and Blossom a visit.
 
She went next
door, walked into the small reception area, and immediately ran into Blossom.

“Trina!” she said cheerfully and she and Trina
exchanged an air kiss.
 
The
sharp-featured receptionist who sat behind the reception desk stared at
them.
 

“How are you, sweetie?” Blossom asked.

“I’m good, Bloss.
 
How are you?”

“Mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it
anymore.
 
The day before closure and this
jerk client of mine is backing out.
 
I’m going
over to his place right now to give him a swift kick in his butt.”

Trina smiled.
 
That was Bloss.
 
“If he doesn’t
want the house, what can you do, Bloss?”

“Oh, he’s going to want the house,” Blossom
said and Trina laughed.
 
“When I finish
with him, he’s going to run to that closing.”

“You need to quit.”

“He needs to quit.
 
I’m just doing my job!
 
But anyway,” she said, air kissing Trina
again, “talk with you later.”
 
And then
she was gone.

By the time Trina turned her attention away
from the exit and back toward the receptionist, Sully was standing in the
doorway of his office, which sat just to the right of the tiny reception
area.
 
When he had heard Trina’s voice in
the building, he couldn’t get from around his desk fast enough.

“Hey, Sul,” Trina said with a smile.

“Come on in,” Sully said as the receptionist
stared at Trina.
 
But Trina wasn’t
thinking about that old woman.
 
She
needed a friend right now, and Sully was the only one she felt most comfortable
with.
 
She went inside his office.

“So,” he said, closing the door and sitting in
the chair beside hers, “is it about the land?”

Trina looked at him.
 
“The land?
 
What land?”

“Reno said he was going to take a look at some
properties I recommended so he can get on with building you your dream home in
Crane.
 
Did he like any of the spots?”

“Reno’s been so busy I don’t think he’s looked
at any property anywhere.”

“So, what, you guys love the house you’re in
that much?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Trina said, and
Sully laughed.
 
“At
least, not for Reno.
 
He’s just
been too busy lately, that’s all.”

“I see.
 
All about Jimmy Mack Ridgeway?”

Trina nodded.
 
“Seems like.”
 

Then she hesitated, as a distressed look
crossed her face.
 
Sully loved when she
was distressed because that usually meant that Reno was messing up.

“What is it, Tree?” he asked her.

“It’s just. . .”
 
She exhaled.
 
And looked at him.
 
“You were right,” she admitted.

Sully’s heart began to pound.
 
“Right about what?”

“The kid.
 
Jimmy Mack.
 
You were right.”

“He’s Reno’s kid?”

Again, Trina hesitated.
 
Sully wanted to shout for joy.
 
“Reno seems to think so, yeah,” she said.

“And Reno knew all along, didn’t he?”

“No,” Trina quickly corrected him.
  
“Of course not.”

Sully still wasn’t buying it, but he let it
slide.
 
“So what’s wrong?
 
I mean, there’s plenty wrong, I understand
that.
 
But beyond Reno’s troubles, what’s
wrong?”

“That’s the thing.
 
Reno’s troubles.
 
Jimmy’s troubles are now Reno’s
troubles.
 
It’s our problem now.”

“Yeah, that’s the deal, isn’t it?
 
What, Reno isn’t taking it too well?”

“He’s okay.
 
He very accustomed to handling problems, trust me.
 
But . . .” She didn’t know how to discuss
this.

“But that baby mama drama?” Sully asked her.

Trina was impressed.
 
“How did you---”

“Because I know women, Tree.
 
And Shanell
Ridgeway probably sees Reno as her last shot at the good life.
 
And she’s probably going to milk it for all
it’s worth.”

“And that’s how you think women are?
 
Since you know them so well?”

“Not you, certainly.
 
But a lot of them, yes ma’am.
 
They’re gold diggers.
 
They want men for what they can get out of
men.”

“Nell isn’t some gold digger, Sully.
 
If she wanted money she would have told Reno
about Jimmy Mack years ago.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t know the kind of man
Reno was years ago.
 
She probably figured
he might kill her to keep her quiet, or try to take her son.
 
All she probably knew about Reno was what she
read on the internet, and it ain’t pretty.”

Trina didn’t respond to that.

Sully decided to push the envelope.
 
“She’s probably in love with Reno,” he said
point blank.
 
Trina looked at him.
 
“I’m just telling it to you straight,
Tree.
 
Reno’s a very charismatic guy.
 
Very good looking guy, too, even I’ll say
that.
 
She probably wants him in her
life.
 
Not just her son’s life.”

It was what Trina was beginning to fear.
 
She leaned back.
 
“Well, she may want him, and I can’t do
anything about what she wants.
 
But she
can’t have him.”

Sully knew to back off now. He planted the
seed he wanted to plant.
 
“And she won’t
have him,” he said with a smile.
 
“Reno’s
a hothead, but he’s a very smart man.
 
He
will do nothing to lose you.”

Trina smiled.
 
She didn’t need that reassurance, but it was nice to have nonetheless.

“You know what you need?” Sully asked her.

“What do I need, Mr. Chambliss?”

“You need to have some fun.
 
Why don’t you come with me tonight to the
basketball game?”

“What basketball game?”

“I’ve managed to get a pickup game with our
kids at Ponder and the varsity team at Crane High.
 
It’s starts in a couple of hours, and it’s
going to be fun.
 
I can guarantee you
that.
 
It’ll make the kids feel normal,
you know?
 
Yeah, they dropped out and
made it harder on themselves, but they’ll realize they still have hope.”