Reno and Trina: In the Shadows of Love, Book 12 (21 page)

“You planned
that too?” Gemma asked her.

“I planned
everything,” Amy responded.
 
“I was going
to get mine.
 
Reno didn’t want me, but I
knew, if I could get in good with his wife, she would believe what I told her
about being impregnated by her husband.
 
But he threatened me and no matter what lie I came up with, she was
sticking by her man.
 
So I had to go to
rape. When I found out I was pregnant, I had to tell her about it.
 
I was sick in the hospital these last few
weeks and couldn’t tell her anything.
 
Until now.”

“One way or
another,” Gemma said, “you were determined to destroy Reno’s marriage.
 
Is that it?”

“He
destroyed me!
 
Why should he be
happy?
 
He was going to give me
something.
 
If no baby, if no job, at
least I was getting money out of it.
 
That was the least you could have done for me, Reno.
 
You owe me.”

Reno looked
at her when she said those words. “I owe you?” he asked.
 
“I don’t owe you shit!
 
You knew I was a married man.
 
What the fuck you falling in love with a
married man for?
 
What about that, Miss
Innocent?
 
I wasn’t available but you
didn’t care.
 
Because it wasn’t about me
anyway.
 
It was all about you and your
wants and your needs and your fucking craziness!
 
I don’t owe you shit!”

Then Reno
walked away.
 
But as soon as he did, Amy
picked up the knife he had discarded.

Trina was
the first to see her.
 
“Reno!” she cried,
and Reno ducked and Sal ducked and they both pulled out their weapons.
 
But not before Amy took that knife, and stabbed
it straight through her own belly.
 
She
didn’t even try to go for Reno.
 
She went
for herself.
 
And her baby.
 
She fell, eyes wide open, already dead, onto
her face.

Gemma was in
shock too, but she immediately called 911.
 
Amy was already dead, it was obvious, but she called anyway.

Reno looked
at her dead body, and then he looked at Tree.
 
She was so anguished, so beside herself, that she could hardly stand.

He went to
her, to comfort her, to apologize to her, to get on his knees and beg her to
forgive him for lying in the first place, but she moved away from him.
 
She refused his touch.

And she,
with Gemma following her, headed for the exit.

“Where are
you going?” Reno asked, grabbing her by the arm.
 
“Tree, where are you going?”

But Sal
hurried over and pulled Reno back.
 
“Let
her go,” he said.
 
“She and the kids will
be at my place, Reno.
 
You’ve got to give
her some time.
 
You’ve got to give her
space.”

Reno looked
Trina in the eye, and Trina looked at him, and all each of them saw was
pain.
 
Reno let her go.

She and
Gemma left.
 
Sal placed his hand on
Reno’s shoulder and squeezed.
 
They would
wait for the ambulance and the cops.
 
They would go through all of the recriminations and propagations all
over again.
 
But they were Gabrinis.
 
They were used to it by now.

The next
day, Reno didn’t awake until noon.
 
He
had been with the cops late into the night and knew it was too late to disturb
his family at Sal’s.
 
But as soon as he awoke,
he was showered, dressed, and on his way to see them.
 
His office was blowing up his cell phone, and
every manager he had employed needed his input too, but he wasn’t thinking
about any of that right now.
 
He put on
his imported suit, his imported shoes, and his Rolex and chain, and left his
empty estate.
 
He even turned off his
cell phone, when the calls wouldn’t stop.

He drove his
Porsche fast, changing gears and revving his engine as he tore up terra firma
the way racers tore up Indy and Daytona.
 
Most of the beat cops knew Reno Gabrini’s car
and almost none of them had the nerve to ever stop him.
 
So he drove with abandoned.
 
His worse fear, that Trina would leave him
and take the kids too, was being realized, and he had to put a stop to it now.

Sal said he
had to give her time and space, as if this wasn’t something that could be
resolved overnight, but Reno needed that kind of resolution.
 
He was a desperate man.
 
He couldn’t lose his family.
 
He didn’t care what Sal said.

But when Sal
met him at the front door, as if he was some intruder or something worse, Reno
became angry.

“What’s your
problem?” Reno asked him, attempting to muscle his way pass him.
 
“I want to see my family and I want to see
them now!”

“Hold on,
Reno,” Sal said, keeping him back.
 
They
were outside, at Sal’s front door, and both men were aggressive.
 
“Settle your ass down.
 
I told you Tree needed some time and space.”

“She heard
Amy.
 
She heard that woman say with her
own mouth that I never touched her.
 
She
tried to get me to do it, but even in my drunken stupor I didn’t do it.
 
What time does she need now?
 
Why does she have to have space now?”

“Because you
lied to her, Reno,” Sal said angrily, and Reno stopped all movement.
 
“Trina can’t get pass that yet.”

“But you
know why I lied, Sal.
 
You know I was
protecting her, not trying to hurt her.”

“I know
that.
 
And I told her that.
 
Trust me, I told her.
 
But she’s not hearing it.
 
She don’t give a fuck.
 
You lied.
 
You convinced her to believe a lie.
 
Now Amy’s dead.
 
An innocent baby
is dead.
 
It’s too much!
 
This shit don’t end today, Reno.
 
This won’t be resolved today.
 
You’ve got to give her time.”

But space to
Reno was code for separation.
 
And
separation led to divorce.
 
He saw it
happen with Tommy.
 
He wasn’t losing
Trina.
 
He wasn’t going to ever let that
happen.
 
“Let me talk to her,” he said.
“Let me talk to her and see Lexie and Dommi.”

“No, Reno,”
Sal said.

Reno
frowned.
 
“What do you mean no?”
 
He tried to push pass Sal.
 
“I dare you to stop me!”

“You can’t
see them, Reno, because they aren’t here.”

Reno stopped
and looked at his cousin.
 
“They aren’t
here?
 
Where the hell are they, Sal?”

“I let them
use my plane.”

Reno’s heart
dropped.
 
The idea that his family would
be off somewhere without him was a pain he couldn’t even describe.
 
It was a pain that cut to the heart of
him.
 
They had to get away from him.
 
They had to get away from the man who loved
them more than life itself.
 
Reno was
devastated.
 
“They took your plane?”

Sal
nodded.
 
“They left early this morning.”

“To go
where?” Reno asked.
 
“Where did they
go?
 
Where’s my family?”

“Trina went
to Tommy, Reno.
 
She went to Tommy.
 
They’re with Tommy in Seattle.”

Reno’s
racing heart actually slowed.
 
It was
still devastating.
 
He was still losing
his family.
 
But if they had to be
anywhere else, and if they had to be with anybody other than him, he would want
them with Tommy.

“Tommy will
take care of it, Reno,” Sal reassured him.
 
“He always does.”
 

But that
didn’t stop Reno from taking his own plane to Seattle.
 
He couldn’t leave for some other man to do
what he had to do.
 
Not even Tommy.

He turned on
his cell phone and answered his pile of messages while his plane flew the
two-and-a-half hours it took to get there.
 
He got work done, he communicated with his staff and managers, but he
couldn’t stop thinking about Trina.
 
There used to be a time when he knew he was no good for her.
 
He even left her once, after his son died,
and begged her to forget about him.
 
Now
the idea of not having Trina in his life, not waking up beside her and being
with her, wasn’t something he could even entertain.
 
He loved her with a mighty love.
 
He couldn’t lose her.

He looked
out at the clouds around him, and his heart was so heavy.
 
He prayed.
 
He prayed for his wife, for his children, he prayed to the good Lord to
not let Trina slip away from him.

Tommy
Gabrini sat by the poolside of his Seattle estate and watched Trina sit on the
edge of his pool and wade her feet in the water while Dommi and Sophia were
playing in the water with the aid of a nanny.
 
The other nanny had Tommy’s baby girl Destiny in her arms, and was
playing in the water with her too.
 
Hell
had gone in session last night, but thankfully the children didn’t know
it.
 
They thought they were on
vacation.
 
And Tommy and Trina aimed to
keep them thinking that.

But Tommy
was concerned about this development.
 
When Sal told him what had gone down last night, and how close Reno and
Trina were to a certain break-up, he didn’t hesitate.
 
He told Trina to get the kids and come to
Seattle.
 
No ands, if’s or buts about
it.
 
She needed time and space.
 
He could give her both.

But his
motive wasn’t pure.
 
He wasn’t helping
her simply out of the goodness of his heart.
 
He was helping her because Reno was his heart and he knew how a breakup
with Trina would incapacitate Reno.
 
Tommy had been through a divorce years ago.
 
He knew how painful that could be.
 
But he overcame it.
 
He now had a new lady in Liz and was happy
with his life.
 
Grace, his ex-wife, had a
new man in Ed and was happy with her life.
 
They both had moved on long ago and were doing better apart.
 
But Reno and Trina were different.
 
They were the collective head of the Gabrini
family.
 
And the head was not going to be
cut off.

After
feeling confident that the kids were in good hands with the nannies, Trina got
up from the side of the pool and walked over to Tommy. He was reclining on one
of his loungers and she sat on the edge of the empty lounger beside him.
 
She had on shorts and a t-shirt, and he had
on trunks, but neither of them had any intention of getting in the water.
 
They were prepared, however, in case they had
to dive in for the children’s sake.

“They’re so
happy,” Tommy said when Trina sat down.
 
“As children ought to be.
 
You, on
the other hand.”

Trina looked
at Tommy, as his handsome face glistened in the sun.
 
“I’m a party pooper, right?”

“With
cause,” Tommy said.
 
“But yes.”

“I’m just
glad the children doesn’t have to deal with it.”

“Not yet,”
Tommy said.
 
“But if A progress to B,
they will be dealing with it.”

Trina stared
at Tommy.
 
Of all of the family,
everybody went to him first for advice.
 
Especially Reno.
 
“You think I’m
overreacting, don’t you?”

Tommy
frowned.
 
“No.
 
Don’t even think that.
 
He lied to you.
 
You have a right to be pissed.”

Trina continued
to look at him. “But?”

“I’m not the
one anybody should come to for marriage advice, but . . . We’re talking about
Reno, Tree.”
 
Tommy said this and looked
at her.
 
“We’re talking about Reno.
 
I can’t ever let you lose sight of that.”

Trina looked
away, at the children.
 
“I know,” she
said.
 
“And I won’t.
 
But he didn’t have to lie.
 
He could have told me the truth, no matter
how far-fetched it seemed.
 
Now I’m
questioning everything.”

“Such as?”

“All those
rumors, Tommy, about his so-called women.
 
And I’m talking rumors that won’t stop.”

“What do
they say?
 
He’s sleeping around?”

“That my
husband ain’t shit, basically, is what those women are telling me.”

“Yeah,
sure,” Tommy said.
 
“They tell you that
while they’re busy scheming up ways to become the next Mrs. Reno Gabrini.”

Trina
nodded.
 
“I know that too,” she said.

“And again,”
Tommy said, “this is Reno we’re talking about.”

Trina
smiled.
 
“Reno can do no wrong in your
eyes, can he?”

“Hell yeah,”
Tommy said with a laugh.
 
“He does plenty
wrong, trust me.
 
In my eyes and
everybody else’s.
 
Then his look turned
serious.
 
“But he loves you.
 
And he loves his children.
 
That has to account for something.”

“And it
does,” she said.
 
But then a wary look
smothered her hope.
 
“But he lied.”

The French doors
opened and Tommy’s butler stepped out onto the patio.
 
“Mr. Gabrini has arrived, sir,” he said.

Tommy was
surprised, and so was Trina, when Reno walked around the butler and headed
toward the poolside.
 
He was decked down,
in a dark blue Armani suit and shades, and even his hair looked well-groomed
for a change.
 
Tommy couldn’t recall a
time here lately when he looked better.
 
But Reno’s eyes always told his story.
 
And they were covered in dark sunglasses.

The children
didn’t see him, or they would have gone nuts getting to him, as he made his way
toward Tommy and Trina.

“I didn’t
expect this,” Tommy said as he stood up.

“How are
you, pal?” Reno asked as he and Tommy bear-hugged.
 
But instead of a quick hit, they held on,
holding onto each other because both of them knew the stakes.
 
Reno’s eyes squeezed shut, because he knew he
had to have it together when he faced Tree, but his heart was still hammering.

When they
stopped embracing, Tommy looked Reno over.
 
“You look great, Ree,” he said.
 
“Blue suits you.”

“Thanks,”
Reno said, as he glanced at Trina.
 
“I
see the kids are having a ball.”

“Yeah, they
are,” Tommy said as he sat back down.
 
“Dommi especially doesn’t realize you’re here yet or I doubt if there
will be water left in the pool after he splashes his way to get to you.”

Reno smiled,
but even Tommy could see it wasn’t even meant to be joyous. Then Reno looked at
Trina.
 
She was sitting there, in her
shorts and t-shirt, looking sexy even thought that had to be the last thing on
her mind.
 
It had only been one night
without her, but Reno missed her beyond belief already.
 
“Hello, Trina,” he said.