Reno's Gift (Mob Boss Series) (28 page)

“That’s
different.
 
You’re a tough old broad who
thinks she’s some
got
damn Pam
Grier.
 
I have to slow your ass
down.
 
She’s a virgin compared to your
experience.”

“She
did witness what happened with ShoShawna Shanks.
 
Don’t forget that.”

“Yeah,
but that was after Shanks threatened her life.
 
Now she needs to see when no such obvious threat is involved.
 
She needs to see what happens when a Gabrini
has to go on offense.”

“But
Tommy’s gonna kill you if you put that girl in harm’s way.”

“I’m
not putting her in harm’s way.
 
Besides,
I can handle Dapper Tom.
 
He needs to
stick to beauty, and let me stick to beast.”

Beast my ass
, Trina wanted to say.
 
In many ways Reno was just as pretty as
Tommy, and maybe even more so because of his contagious personality.
 

“Just
be careful, Reno,” she said.
 
“Some of
these females, when they want a man, they’ll go all-out.”

ELEVEN

After
going to the mayor’s home and being told at the gate that Belle was no longer
staying there, but was renting a small house on Wagner Road, Reno got back into
his Bentley and drove, with Grace in tow, to the new location.
 
This concerned him because he knew there would
be just so much craziness that could go on at the mayor’s estate, compared to
some new location.
 
But he wasn’t so
thrown that he felt a need to alter his plans.
 

The
house was small indeed, Reno thought, as he pulled into the single-lane
driveway.
 
A Lamborghini was sitting on
the drive, which was odd enough.
 
Reno
opened the passenger door for Grace, took her hand to assist her getting out,
and then walked with her toward the front door.
 
Grace felt great around Reno, and oddly fearless.
 
It was as if she knew everything was going to
be all right just because he was there.
 
With Tommy, she felt loved and cuddled, somebody who was going to take
care of everything for her.
 
With Reno,
she was on her own.

Belle
Patrone living in this dump of a house was strange in and of itself to
Reno.
 
And after ringing the bell and
Belle herself answering, it was downright eerie.
 
Reno didn’t feel threatened, or otherwise in
danger, but he did feel unsettled.
 
As if
he was walking on the set of the wrong movie, with the wrong script, at the
wrong time.

“I
was expecting you,” she said.
 
Then she
looked at Grace.

“Bet
you didn’t expect her,” Reno said, removing his shades.

“No,”
Belle said, finding his blue eyes mesmerizing.
 
“What, Reno, figured you needed a witness?”

“Yeah,
right,” Reno said.

“First
your wife, and now her.
 
I didn’t know
you favored the black side, Reno.
 
In
fact, if I’m not mistaken, you used to favor blondes.
 
This chick, and that wife of yours, is a long
way from that particular type of lady.”

“Aren’t
you gonna invite us in, Belle?” Reno asked her.
 
“I wouldn’t want to cause a scene in front of your neighbors.”

Belle
stepped aside, and allowed Reno and Grace, with Grace getting extra scrutiny,
to walk in.
 
She closed the door.
 

Reno
immediately looked around, checking out the place.
 
Everything was generic.
 
From the furniture to the fixtures to the
artwork on the walls.
 
It didn’t matter
what it looked like.
 
It just needed to
be there.
 
And he immediately recognized
what it was.
 
They were in a safe
house.
 
It was Belle’s, or somebody’s,
safe house.
 

“So,”
Belle said to Grace, “you’re one of Reno’s too, are you?
 
I knew he had a stable of them.
 
But
got
damn.
 
He brings one to my house?”
 
She looked at Reno.
 
“Really, Reno?”

But
Reno returned the sarcasm.
 
“Your house?”
he asked.
 
“Really, Belle?”
 

Belle,
instead, looked at Grace.
 
“Pretty.
 
Kind of young for his taste.
 
But you are his piece on the side.
 
Aren’t you?”

Grace
took the measure of Belle Patrone.
 
It
was obvious she was a bitter woman, aging ungracefully, making mischief
wherever she could.
 
But she was also a
dangerous woman.
 
Somebody not to be
trifled with.
 
Grace saw that too.
 

But
that didn’t mean she was going to placate her.
 
“What’s it to you?” she asked Belle, to Reno’s delight.

“Just
asking a question,” Belle said.
 
“You are
in my home, after all.
 
I figure I’m
entitled.”

“Okay,
let’s cut the crap, Belle,” Reno said impatiently.
 
“Why did you feel a need to go to my wife’s
place of business and tell some pathetic lie about you and me?”

Belle
began walking toward the sofa.
 
“Can we
at least sit down first?” she asked.

Reno
started to say something about sitting her down, but he didn’t.
 
He motioned for Grace to have a seat.
 
Grace, looking so graceful, he thought, in
her green blouse and white pants, took a seat.
 
He, however, remained standing.
 
“Now talk,” he said to Belle.

“Now
you wait a good
got
damn minute,”
replied Belle.
 
“Don’t you try to handle
me, Reno Gabrini.
 
I know your ass.”

“I
know yours too.
 
Now talk.”

He
wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
 
She glared at him. “You know why,” she said.

Reno
glared back.
 
“If I knew I wouldn’t ask
you.
 
Now don’t fuck with me.
 
Why, Belle?”

“Because
I missed your ass, all right?
 
I want you
back.
 
I think we can do some special things
together, like we used to.”

“Oh,
yeah?
 
That’s what you think?”

“Yes,
Reno.
 
After we met up again in Atlantic
City, I felt that we should be together.
 
Yeah, it started out with me warning you about Bruno because I still
cared about your ass.
 
But then I saw you
again, still looking like good old Reno, and I wanted you.
 
I admit it, all right?
 
Prick!”

“So
that’s what this is about?
 
You wanted
me?”

“Yes.”

“You
wanted me so bad that as soon as we left the mayor’s dinner party that night
you had some asshole ram my car on my wife’s side and nearly kill us both.”

Grace
looked at Reno.
 
This was news to
her.
 
And from the way Belle frowned, it
was news to her too.

“What?”

“Oh,
so you’re playing dumb now.
 
Or maybe not
dumb.
 
Maybe you’re just playing me.”

“Reno,
what are you talking about?
 
What asshole
rammed your car?”

“When
I went to see Lefty Gromes, he told me what the deal was.”

“Who
the fuck is Lefty Gromes?” Belle asked.

Reno
hadn’t expected denials.
 
That was never
Belle’s style.
 
But then again, he
thought, studying her, he really didn’t know what her style was anymore given
the lies she told to Trina today.
 

But
Reno continued.
 
“After I spoke with
Lefty,” he said, “and he told me he was going to meet with the female who hired
him, he thought I had left.
 
But I
hadn’t.
 
I followed his ass.
 
He went straight to the mayor’s house.”

“So?”

“So
you were the only female at the mayor’s house.”

“But
nobody came to that house after you and Katrina left.
 
Nobody.”

“You
think I’m fucking playing with you, Belle?
 
I followed Lefty Gromes to that very house.
 
I saw him leave the bar and drive straight to
that very house.
 
I saw it with my own
two eyes!”

“But
it’s not true!
 
Why would I want to harm
you?”

“Maybe
not him,” Grace interjected.
 
“Maybe his
wife.
 
Since you want him so badly.”

“This
is bullshit,” Belle said.
 
“I wouldn’t do
something that stupid and Reno you know it!”
 
Then she thought about something.
 
“I can get the tape,” she said.

Reno
looked at her.
 
“What tape?”

“The
tape at the security gate.
 
If a car came
to this house after you and Katrina left, then it would show on that tape.
 
I can have Ronald send a copy of that tape
for that night to my phone.
 
And yes,
it’ll be complete with date and time, to prove it’s authentic.”

“Then
get the shit rolling,” Reno said impatiently, although he was beginning to feel
uneasy again.

And
sure enough, the tape was ultimately saved to her phone.
 
They watched it, with date and time
appearing.
 
And Lefty Gromes did indeed
arrive at the gate of the mayor’s house that night.
 
Reno’s car was shown too, slowing down and
then driving on off.
 
But then, what
stunned Reno, was when Lefty then drove away too.
 
He never got out of his car.
 
He never requested entrance into the mayor’s
gate.
 
He just drove away too.

Reno’s
heart began to pound.
 
“Mother fuck,” he
said, and Grace looked at him, puzzled too.
 
“I’ve been had.”

Tommy,
Sal, and Jimmy were walking out of Reno’s still-under-construction PaLargio
Hotel and Casino just as Reno’s Bentley stopped under the portico.
 
He and Grace hurried out.

“Well
hello there,” Tommy said with a grand smile.
 
Because of the heat, all three men were in shirt sleeves.
 
Jimmy wore a Lakers t-shirt and a pair of
Puma shorts.
 
Sal wore a nicely pressed
white dress shirt and dress pants.
 
And
Tommy wore an off-pink dress shirt with matching suspenders, and black
slacks.
 
Tommy and Sal looked as if they
owned the PaLargio, rather than was just touring it.

“Why
didn’t you tell us you guys were coming by?” he asked.
 
“We were just leaving.”

“It
wasn’t Belle,” Reno said as soon as he approached.
 

Tommy
frowned.
 
“She wasn’t the one who paid
Lefty Gromes?”

“She
wasn’t the one,” Reno said with frustration in his voice.

“But
how do you know that?” Sal asked, concerned too.
 
“How could you be certain she wasn’t
involved?”

“I
saw it on the mayor’s surveillance video.
 
Lefty drove up there all right, but as soon as I drove off, he drove off
too.”

“Get
outta here!” said Sal.

“He
didn’t go in?” asked Tommy.

“He didn’t
go in.
 
I left, and then he left right
after me.
 
Mother fuck!”

But
Tommy was still confused.
 
“How did you
get hold of that video?” he asked.

“That’s
the crazy part.
 
Belle went to see Tree
today.”

“No
that fucker didn’t!” Sal said.
 
“What did
she want with Tree?”

“She
was telling her some cockamamie bull about me fucking around with her.”

“I
sure hope Tree didn’t fall for that.”