Reno and Trina: In the Shadows of Love, Book 12 (8 page)

Trina smiled
and shook her head.
 
“Only a Gabrini,”
she said, “would fix his mouth to say something like that.”

Reno thought
about it, realized how true she was, and then he laughed too.
 

But when the
laugher died into a peaceful co-existence, Reno found his fingers slipping into
her panties and massaging her pussy.
 
His
mouth began ravaging her lips.
 
Trina
found herself running her fingers through his hair and lifting her blouse.
 
She was getting that urge too.

He lifted
her bra and began sucking her breasts.
 
Then soon, he was pulling down her shorts and panties and unzipping his
jeans.
 
And even with her sitting
sideways on his lap, he took out his aroused big dick and put it inside of her
tight, sweet place.
 
That special place
reserved for him, and him alone.

Amy Shumer sat in the small, interview room inside of
Champagne’s, a high-end clothing store, and waited for Trina to get some free
time.
 
The store had been super busy when
she first arrived and one of the salesladies had to escort her to this backroom
off from the main floor to wait.
 
And she
waited and waited.
 
After nearly half an
hour of waiting, Trina found some free time.
 
She walked in with a sheet of paper and a pair of eyeglasses in her
hand.

“Sorry about that, Aim,” she said as she took a seat
at the small conference table across from Amy.

“I understand completely,” Amy responded with a smile.
“You’re very busy.
 
Which, I’m sure, is a
blessing.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe.
 
There was a time we were talking about
shutting it all down we were struggling so much.
 
Now both of our stores are doing fantastic.
 
There’s a lot to be said for hanging in
there.”

“Amen.”

“So,” Trina said, putting on the reading glasses she
had in her hand and looking down at the paper in front of her, “I’ve had a
chance to take a look at your resume.”
 
She looked up.
 
“I didn’t know you
got your start in Atlantic City.”

“Oh, yes.
 
I
worked there for several years before I came to Vegas.”

“Why did you come to Vegas?” Trina asked her.

“Reno,” Amy said.
 
“He asked me to come.
 
To work for
him,” she quickly added.

“And by all accounts, including mine, you did an
excellent job for him.”

“I did, Mrs. Gabrini,” Amy said with passion.
 
“I worked my butt off for your husband, and
for the PaLargio.”

Trina considered her.
 
“Why did he fire you?”

A stormy look appeared in her big, blue eyes.
 
It was still an open wound with her.
 
“Quinn Chan, she was my assistant, started
spreading all kinds of lies about me.
 
She started sabotaging my work and getting others on staff to sabotage
me too.
 
And please don’t think I’m some
paranoid talking crazy, because I’m not that girl.
 
She really did a number on me.
 
Reno stood by me, in the beginning, but he
wouldn’t fire Quinn because there was no proof that she was behind any of
it.
 
He wouldn’t let me fire her,
either.”

But Trina knew her husband.
 
“He wouldn’t fire Quinn,” she said, “because
there was no proof.
 
Yet he fired
you.
 
What was the proof that caused him
to let you go?”

“Quinn had slept with a couple of Reno’s business
associates and got them to claim that I went behind his back and promised to
float them details of negotiations they weren’t privy to if they paid me a
certain amount of money.
 
It was a pack
of lies, but they backed Quinn when she told Reno about it, in essence backing
Reno into a corner.
 
He had no choice but
to fire me.”

Trina considered Amy.
 
“And that was the only reason?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am.
 
Loyalty is everything to Reno.
 
He’d rather you do anything to him than be disloyal.
 
He thought I was disloyal.
 
And fired me.”

“Were you disloyal, Amy?” Trina asked her.

Tears appeared in Amy’s big eyes.
 
“No, ma’am.
 
I was never disloyal to that man.
 
Never.”
 
She reached into her
handbag for a napkin.

“It’s okay,” Trina said

“I didn’t mean to cry,” Amy said as she wiped her eyes
quickly, to preserve the little makeup she did have on.
 
“It’s just that it’s been so hard to be
shunned like this.”
 
She looked at Trina.
“And you’re the only person who ever asked me what happened.
 
You’re the only person who gave me a chance
to explain.”

“I would have given you a chance right away, if you
would have returned my calls, or showed up for our scheduled meeting.”

Amy shook her head.
 
“That’s a long story, too, ma’am,” was all she
would say about that.

Trina leaned back.
 
She looked at Amy’s impressive resume, then she looked at Amy.
 
“I don’t know if you went behind Reno’s back
with his business associates, I don’t know if you did that or not.
 
And I will be looking into it, I assure
you.
 
And if it turns out that what
you’re telling me is a bunch of bullshit, I’ll personally make sure that you
won’t be able to get a waitress job in this city.”

Amy nodded her head.
 
She heard that Trina, as a boss, could be as ruthless as Reno.
 
“I’m telling you the truth, Mrs. Gabrini,”
she said.
 
“I didn’t go behind Reno’s
back. I wouldn’t have ever done something like that to him.”

“Then you’ll be fine.
 
But I can’t put you back at the PaLargio.”

Amy looked at her.
 
“You can’t?”

“No,” Trina said bluntly.
 
“Reno’s not going to let me.
 
And yes, I said that.
 
I help run that company, that’s the truth.
 
But at the end of the day Reno has the final
say.
 
And he’s not going to say yes to
your return.
 
Once he shuts that door on
you, it’s closed forever.
 
But I do need
a person like you here, at Champagne’s.
 
You can start as an assistant manager so that I can see what you’re made
of, and if you can handle that, we’ll see.”

Amy stared at Trina.
 
“Does that mean . . . Are you saying that you’re hiring me?”

Trina smiled.
 
“That’s what I’m saying,” she said, and before she could finish, Amy had
jumped from her seat and was hugging Trina’s neck.
 

Then she backed off. “I’m so sorry, Mrs.
Gabrini.”
 
She was in tears again.
 
“It’s just that it’s been such a hard road,
and I didn’t know how I was going to make it.”

 
Trina stood
up.
 
“Well you’ve made it now,” she said,
removing her glasses.
 
Then she pointed
those same glasses at Amy.
 
“But don’t
fuck with me,” she said, “or you’ll regret the day you ever stepped foot into
this store.”

“I won’t let you down, ma’am.
 
I promise.”

Trina wasn’t sure about that either.
 
But she had to give her a shot.
 
Because she knew that sometimes people were
sabotaged.
 
And sometimes conspiracies
did exist.
 
Sometimes people did follow
paranoid people.

“I’ve got to get back on the floor,” she said.
 
“I’ll get one of the ladies to bring you the
hiring packet for you to fill out and complete.
 
Bring it to me when you’re done.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Amy said with a grand smile.
 
“And thank-you so much.
 
You won’t regret it.”

Trina looked at Amy.
 
“Maybe, maybe not.
 
We’re see.”

Shaun’s Lexus parked at the curb a few car lengths
down from Champagne’s front entrance, and he stepped out.
 
He knew there was a second Champagne’s store
inside the PaLargio, because he went there first.
 
But she wasn’t there.
 
He wanted to ask about her, to save himself
another blank trip, but he didn’t dare.
 
He’d heard about her husband and how overprotective he could be about
her.
 
If he ever wanted to get her
attention, he knew he had to play this just right.
 
Like Monty told him yesterday, he couldn’t
come at a woman like her any kind of way.
 
His plan: hang around, be that fly on the wall, until she needed an ear
to listen, or a shoulder to cry on.
 
And
then, when she was at her most vulnerable, he would stake his claim.
 
He needed a new sugar mama.
 
His last one ran out of funds too
quickly.
 
And no funds, no fun.
 
He left her ass.

Trina, he thought as he buttoned his suit coat and
headed for the entrance, was exactly what he needed right now.
 
Her funds would never dry up.
 
Because he knew these rich ladies.
 
He knew Trina would never tell a man like
Reno Gabrini, and she would never let him know, that she was tipping out on
him.

When Shaun walked inside, he could see Trina in the
back of the store, behind the customer service counter, ringing up an
order.
 
He removed his shades and began
to peruse a rack of lingerie.
 
He wasn’t
going to approach her.
 
That wasn’t his
style.
 
He would peruse and wait for her
to approach him.

At first, one of her salesladies approached him.
 
She was a looker too.
 
But undoubtedly as broke as he was.
 
He told her he was fine, but thanks.
 
And he continued to peruse and take sly peeps
at Trina.

She was gorgeous, he thought, as he watched her
work.
 
She wore a stunning periwinkle
pantsuit with a tan, long-sleeve blouse.
 
A Zac Posen design, if he had to guess.
 
Gabrini had very good taste.
 
From
her dark brown skin and big hazel eyes, to her high-maintenance hair and
exquisite clothing, she dressed beautifully and carried herself with equal
grace.
 
But it would be several more
minutes of his perusing and peeping before Trina even realized he was in her
store.

She was on the floor, checking her inventory list
against the stock on display, when she saw him.
 
And, as he had planned, she walked over to him.
 
“Well, hello,” she said, when she realized it
was him.
 
“Mr. Connors, correct?”

Shaun played it cool.
 
He turned toward her cautiously, as if
she
was trying to pick
him
up. And then, as if suddenly realizing it was Trina, he smiled.
 
“Hey,” he said jovially.
 
“It’s you again.
 
What are you doing here?”

“I work here.
 
What are you doing here?”

Rich married women, he’d come to realize, preferred to
fool around with married men.
 
That way,
they figured the man had just as much to lose as they did.
 
“My anniversary is coming up,” he said.
 
“My wife loves nice, dainty lingerie, but . .
.” He smiled and threw up his hands.
 
“I
don’t know where to start!”

Trina smiled.
 
“Let me help you,” she said, and sat her clipboard on a nearby
table.
 

Outside of the store, Reno parked his Porsche just
behind Shaun’s Lexus and stepped out.
 
He
was dressed in a double-breasted suit and wore shades himself, and although he
was trying his best to look otherwise pristine, his hair was already windblown
and his suit was already wrinkling.
 
He
looked at his reflection through the plate glass window across the sidewalk and
shook his head.
 
Although he wore clothes
by top designers from around the world, he was no fashion plate.
 
He had nothing on Sal and Tommy, who knew how
to dress for success with the best of them.
 
Oh well, he thought.
 
He couldn’t
out-dress them, but he’d bet he could kick both their asses.
 
And then he smiled at the thought, and headed
toward the store.
 

“What colors do she mainly like?” Trina was asking
Shaun when Reno walked in.

“Blues and pinks, I think,” Shaun responded.

“Okay.”
 
Trina
was going through the rack.
 
“And what
type of lingerie you want to get her?”

“A bra, a pair of briefs, or should I say
panties?
 
Sleepwear.
 
All matching.
 
I think she likes her panties to match with her bra.”

He looked at Trina when he named those items, to see
if such words would provoke some rise out of her.
 
Reno, seeing the two of them together, was
looking at Shaun.

But Trina was all business.
 
“What size is your wife?” she asked him.