Reno's Gift (Mob Boss Series) (23 page)

“Including
Tree?”

“Including
Tree.
 
I tell her what’s going on.
 
It’s not his place to tell her shit.
 
He understands that.
 
She does too.”

Sal
laughed.
 
“You really got’em trained,
Reno.”
 

Reno
didn’t see it that way, but he wasn’t getting into that with Sal.

“But
I’m still confused here,” Sal went on.
 
“I mean, why would some tough broad like Belle Patrone come all this way
from Atlantic City just to warn you about some nobody like Brew?
 
She knows you can handle Bruno Lucci.
 
What’s up with her?”

Reno
ran his hand across his face.
 
“That’s
what I don’t know.
 
It makes no sense to
me either.
 
It’s like Belle and me, we go
way back.
 
I’ve considered her a friend
for years.
 
And on some level, yeah, I
can see her caring enough to warn me about Bruno.
 
But to come all the way to Atlantic City to
do it, like she’s claiming, no,” he said with a shake of his head.
 
“I don’t see it.
 
At the end of the day Belle Patrone is all
about Belle Patrone.
 
She’ll go across
the street to help you out, but not across the country.
 
Something’s wrong.”

“I
agree,” Tommy said with a sharp exhale.
 
“I know Belle too.
 
She’s always
had a thing for you, Reno, but it wasn’t that serious.
 
Something’s happened to upset her apple
cart.
 
We’ve got to find out what that
something is.”

“So
whatta we do?” Sal asked.
 
“I can check
with my people, see what’s shaking on their end.
 
Find out if they’ve been hearing anything.”

Tommy
looked at his brother.
 
“What people are
these?”

“My
people.
 
My contacts.
 
People I know.”

“People
who work for you?”

Sal
looked at Tommy.
 
“What difference does
that make?”

“Do
they work for you, Sal?” Tommy asked, refusing to be denied a straight answer.

“Some
do and some don’t.
 
I have my separate
business interests.
 
So what?”

“So
they’d better be legit business interests,” Tommy warned.

“Oh
yeah?
 
You’re telling me what my business
better be about?
 
And what if my business
is not legit?
 
What’s my big brother
gonna do about it?
 
What’s he gonna do to
me?”
 
Sal looked at Reno.
 
“He thinks I’m Mafia.
 
Can you believe this guy?”

Reno
stared at Sal.
 
It had crossed his mind
lately too.
 
“Are you?” he asked him.

“Oh,
not you too for crying out loud!
 
You
guys are killing me here!
 
What have I
done to deserve this level of disrespect?”

“Every
other week you’re flying off to Jersey,” said Reno.

“So?”

“Ah,
come on, Sal, don’t fuck with us.
 
Jersey’s a hotbed for mob activity and you know it.
 
That’s where we all come from.
 
That’s where my old man before he died
planted his flag.
 
We just don’t want you
to get hooked up with the wrong guys.
 
End up on the wrong side of history.”

Sal
snorted.
 
“Yeah, sure.
 
You’re one to talk.”

Reno
gave Sal a hard look.
 
“I’m gonna really
kick your ass one day.”

“Oh,
yeah?
 
And then you’re gonna wake up and
get serious!”

“Okay,
children,” Tommy said, “let’s focus here.
 
We’ve got to find out what’s going on with Belle and what we need to do
about it.”

“What
I don’t want us doing right now,” Reno said, “is to confront her.
 
Not yet.
 
We don’t have enough intel.
 
Because I think that’s what she wants.
 
She wants to goad me into making a move on her with too little
information.
 
But I’m not doing
that.
 
I need facts. Instead of checking
out Bruno, we need to check out Belle’s ass.
 
Ask around about her.
 
Find out
what might have changed in these last few days or weeks that could explain her
behavior.”

“And
then?” Sal asked.

Reno
exhaled.
 
“And then we confront her ass
and set her straight,” he said.

Later
that evening, when Sal was coming out of the office to head back to the patio,
Liz Mertan and Gemma Jones were heading for the front door.
 
When Sal saw Gemma again, his heart slammed
against his chest.

NINE

“Hey,”
Sal said, caught off guard.
 

Gemma
and Liz both turned around to the sound of his voice.
 
Liz was a tall blonde with a long, narrow
face.
 
Her face lit up when she realized
it was Sal.
 
Since Trina had already
pre-warned Gemma that he was coming to town, her expression went unchanged.

She
and Gemma first met Sal when he came to visit Trina at the then-operational
PaLargio some months back.
 
Liz, though
married, found him extremely attractive at the time, and asked to have drinks
with him sometime.
 
Gemma, although single,
found him attractive at the time as well, but she also found him rude and domineering
and downright insufferable.

Sal,
however, then and now, only had eyes for Gemma.
 
Her jet black skin looked as creamy to him as a vat of dark chocolate,
and her perceptive eyes looked as cunning as a cat’s.
 
She had a panther’s body to Sal, with her
long, sleek legs, and her gorgeously slender frame.
 
When he first met her he wasn’t sure if she
was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen, or the ugliest.
 
Now, seeing her again like this, the answer
was as clear as the nose on his face.
 
She was stunning.

“Where
are you going?” he asked, his arms wide with confusion with that
I don’t get it
look on his face.
 
“The party hasn’t even gotten started yet.”

Liz
smiled.
 
“Hi,” she said as he came
closer.
 

“Hey,”
he said to Liz, but his eyes moved back to Gemma.
 
“What did you guys come for if you’re leaving
already?”

“We
had to discuss a business matter with Trina,” Gemma offered.
 

“We
hadn’t planned on staying for the barbecue,” added Liz.

“And
why not?” Sal asked Liz, although he was once again looking at Gemma.

“We
weren’t invited,” Liz began, but Sal interrupted her.

“Say
no more,” he insisted. “I’m inviting you now. So you’re invited.
 
The both of yous.
 
There’s no more excuses.”

Liz
looked at Gemma, as if she was actually thinking about staying.
 
In truth, Gemma had been invited by Trina,
but had declined.

“Thanks
for the invite,” Gemma said, “but no thanks.
 
I’ve got to be in court tomorrow morning and I need my rest.”

“In
court?
 
As a defendant or attorney?”

Liz
grinned.

“Attorney,”
Gemma said, failing to see the humor, although she understood Sal was
attempting humor and probably meant nothing malicious.
 
Liz, on the other hand. . .

“Couple
hours won’t make much difference,” Sal said.
 
“You’ve got to eat dinner anyway.”

“Which
is why we can’t stay now that I think of it,” Liz said.
 
“My husband and I may have guests for dinner
tonight.
 
They haven’t confirmed as yet,
but that doesn’t mean they won’t pop up.”

“That
keeps you out,” Sal said to Liz.
 
Then he
looked at Gemma.
 
“What about you, Gemma
Jones?”
 
Gemma felt an odd sensation when
Sal said her name.
 
“Your excuse won’t
wash.
 
You’ve got to eat.
 
May as well be with us.”

Gemma
was surprised that she was even considering staying.
 
But she knew better.
 
“I rode with Liz,” she said, “so I’m going to
leave with her.”

“Why’s
that?” Sal asked.
 
“I’ll take you
home.
 
Come on, Gemma.
 
You were quick with the insults the first
time we met. Now you’re all polite and hesitant.
 
I’m not buying it.
 
You have to stick around so you can insult me
again.”

Gemma
had to smile on that one.
 
“So what are
you?
 
A glutton for punishment?”

“Oh,
yeah,” Sal said with no smile at all.
 
“In every way.”

Gemma’s
vagina began to pulsate when he said those words.
 
His words were ambiguous, but she understand
the meaning as clearly as if he had spelled it out.

“Anyway,”
Liz, who would not have understood even if it was spelled out, said in the
silence, “we’re going to leave now.
 
It
was nice seeing you again, Mr. Gabrini.”

“I’m
staying a little longer,” Gemma said firmly.

Liz looked
at her, surprised.
 
“But I drove, and
I’ve got to leave.”

“I’ll
get home,” Gemma said.
 
“I assure you of
that.”

Sal
smiled.
 
Now there was the feisty woman
he remembered.

“Are
you sure?” Liz asked.

“Positive,”
Gemma said.

Liz
glanced at Sal, with a glaring look, as if it was all his fault.
 
“I guess you can phone me when you’re ready
and I’ll come pick you up.”

“You’ll
come pick her up?” Sal asked.
 
“Whatta
you, her mother?
 
There’s planes, trains,
and automobiles nowadays.
 
And Sal
Luciano.
 
Don’t worry.
 
She’ll get home.”

Gemma
smiled.
 
And when Liz finally walked out
that door, she laughed.
 
“You were wrong
for that, Sal,” she said.

“Or,
forget that control freak!
 
Trying to
handle you.
 
I’m gonna barely be able to
handle you and I’m a
got
damn man!”

“
You
handle
me
?” Gemma asked as she began heading for the patio.
 
“In your dreams, Pizza Man.”

Sal
watched her tight ass in her tight pants as she walked away.
 
“Dreams indeed,” he said, and then hurried
behind her.

Later
that night, long after dinner, the get together was winding down.
 
Trina was curled up on the lounger fast
asleep.
 
Reno was seated beside her, his
long legs stretched out in front of him, almost sleep himself.
 
Jimmy and Dommi had already gone to bed, and
Fran had already gone home.
 
Tommy and
Grace had separated themselves and were now in the side gate relaxing in the
Jacuzzi.
 
And Sal and Gemma were seated
side by side and talking about his favorite pass time: sports.
 

He
was pleasantly surprised to learn that Gemma liked basketball too.

“So
who’s your favorite player?” he asked her.
 
“And please don’t say Jordan.
 
Everybody says Jordan.”

“No,
I like Griner myself.”

Sal
frowned.
 
“Griner?
 
Who the. . . Who’s Griner?”

Gemma
smiled.
 
“Brittney Griner.
 
She plays with the Phoenix Mercury.”

“The
Phoenix who?
 
No, darling, I’m not
talking college b-ball.
 
I’m talking the
pros.”

Gemma
smiled.
 
She was talking the pros too,
the pro
WNBA
.
 
But she didn’t correct him.
 
The way he called her darling felt so
strangely endearing to her that she didn’t want to.