Reno's Gift (Mob Boss Series) (7 page)

Even
last night, after they had retired to their adjourning hotel rooms after a long
day of meetings, Jimmy heard his father’s hotel room door open and close as if
somebody was either coming in, or his father was going out.
 
And this was late, something like two or
three in the morning.
 
But it bothered
Jimmy enough that he remembered it.
 

And
when the blonde stood up to leave, Jimmy didn’t feel any better.
 
Because his father stood up too, and hugged her,
which Jimmy thought was innocent enough.
 
But then they kissed on the mouth.
 
It wasn’t a lingering kiss, but it wasn’t exactly cheek-to-cheek either.

Jimmy
thought about how devastating it would be if Trina ever discovered that her
loving and devoted husband might occasionally yield to temptation.
 
Trina was the kind of woman who wouldn’t
stand for it.
 
She’d leave him, Jimmy was
certain of it, and their family would be in ruins. And just the thought of it
made Jimmy realize an inconvenient truth.
 
Their entire family life, and in many ways their very happiness, was
completely dependent on Reno.
 
It all
hinged on him and his behavior alone.
 
That was how fragile their existence had become.
 

Ever
since Jimmy nearly died of his injuries a few months back, he’d been thinking
about it, but he couldn’t verbalize what his emotions were trying to
convey.
 
Now he could.
 
When his father kissed that blonde, it
crystallized it for him.
 

And
he made up his mind.
 

He
would be a band of one for the rest of his life.
 
That was it.
 
No wife, no children, nobody.
 
A
lone wolf.
 
He wasn’t going to depend on
anybody else for his happiness.
 
Nobody
else would have the power to decide if he lived or died ever again.
 

Not
even his father, whom he adored.
 

Especially
not him.

TWO

“I
like it,” Jody Parks said as he watched Trina Gabrini eat the last of her
meal.
 

Trina
took the napkin from her lap and dabbed her mouth.
 
“You like what?” she asked.

“I
like a woman who isn’t too cute to eat. I like it.”

Trina
smiled.
 
“The day I’m too cute to eat is
the day I’m in the box, stiff as a board, and ready to go under.”

Jody
laughed.
 
“That’s what I’m talking about,
Tree.
 
There’s not a fake bone in your
body.”

They
were in Carlyle’s, a chic restaurant in Vegas, and Trina’s old friend was
humoring her.
 
She didn’t mind the
playful back and forth, but her main purpose for being there with him was all
about business.

“So
what do you think so far?” she asked him.

“I
think Reno’s a very fortunate man.”

“About
the books, Jody, come on.”

Jody
smiled.
 
“Oh, that,” he said with a whiff
of the hand.
 

Trina
smiled too.
 
He was incorrigible but
harmless enough, and Trina always enjoyed his company.
 
The fact that he was very attractive too,
with that creamy black skin and Asian eyes, didn’t hurt either.
 
He was eye candy with a brain, she once
jokingly told him.
 
They met when he used
to work for Reno.
 
And even when he left
Reno’s employ to start his own accounting firm, they would occasionally stay in
touch.
 
When she began her new clothing
boutique, he phoned and offered to help.

“Back
to business, Jody,” she said.
 
“What are
your impressions so far?”

“I’m
impressed,” he said.
 
“You guys are off
to a fairly decent start actually.
 
Other
than inventory, which is so high end it automatically creates a high overhead,
you guys have compensated well by keeping all indirect costs below market.
 
So my diagnosis is favorable so far.
 
So far so good.
 
But it’s early.
 
I haven’t gotten to the sales totals yet.”

“Which
is the meat of the matter, right?”

“That
would be correct.
 
But there was no red
flags so far.
 
I’m impressed.
 
But you’ve always had that capacity.”

“What
capacity?
 
To successfully run a
business?”

“To
impress me,” he said, and Trina threw a napkin at him.
 
“Pay the lady,” she said as she stood.

Jody
stood and took a look at the bill that had already been brought to their
table.
 
“I don’t know what’s your rush,”
he said as he pulled out his wallet and tossed the cash on top of the bill.
 
“You own your own business.”

“And
it’s a business that has to be run,” Trina reminded him.
 
“I’m not a lady of leisure you know.”

“Which
is a shame,” Jody said as he also tossed a tip on the table.
 
“If you were my woman I wouldn’t dream of
making you work.”

“Who’s
making me work?
 
I work because I want to
work.”

“Just
kidding.”

“But
don’t,” Trina said, completely serious.

“Oh,
come on, Tree.”

“I’m
serious, Jody.
 
Some things aren’t
funny.
 
And acting as if Reno’s forcing
me out here to work is ludicrous and you know it.
 
If it was left up to him I probably would
never leave the house.”

“Okay,
okay. I know how sensitive you are about that husband of yours.
 
I apologize, how’s that?”

Trina
smiled.
 
“About as insincere as your
jokes, but I’ll take it.”
 

Jody
laughed.
 
“I tell you what,” he said as
they began leaving.
 
“I’ll make it up to
you.”

Trina
glanced back at him.
 
“Yeah, how?”

“Maybe
we can drive by my place on our way back.
 
I can show you the crib, put on a little music, and we can chill for the
rest of the evening.”

Trina
didn’t even entertain such nonsense.
 
“If
you weren’t such a good accountant, I wouldn’t have anything to do with you.
You know that, right?”

“So
that’s it!
 
You’re using me for my
brains!”

“And
nothing more,” Trina said with a laugh as they headed out.

The
conversation felt like a merry-go-round to Reno.
 
It was going nowhere fast.
 
Shay Grayson, one of the biggest stars in the
country, wanted to renegotiate her contract for the third time in as many
weeks.
 
Reno had already warned her
personally that he wasn’t going to continue to put up with her diva ways, but
apparently she didn’t believe him.
 
Because, according to Reno’s COO Lee Jones, she was at it again.

“I
don’t care what she wants,” Reno said, “she’s not getting it.
 
Not this time.”
 
He and Jimmy were in his Porsche in the
parking lot of his wife’s boutique.
 
He
was on his car phone going back and forth with his chief operating
officer.
 
To his surprise, Lee was so
all-in that he sounded as if he was a mouthpiece for Shay herself.

“Her
agent says she’s going to premiere new songs at the re-launch,” Lee said.
 
“Brand new recordings, Reno.
 
That’ll be the kind of publicity for us no
amount of money could generate.”

“I
don’t care what new songs she’s going to premiere.
 
I don’t care if she promises to sit on our
faces and dance on our heads.
 
She either
accept the terms of the contract she already signed, or I’ll see her ass in
court.
 
And if she doesn’t believe that,
just tell her to try me.”

“Let’s
get together with her and her people and talk about it, Reno.
 
See what we can work out.
 
Where are you anyway?”

“I’m
in the parking lot at Champagne’s.”

“Champagne’s?
 
Oh right,” Lee said.
 
“That’s Trina’s new clothing boutique.”

Reno
was astounded.
 
“You’re supposed to be a
consultant for this boutique and you don’t remember the fucking name?”

“They
changed it so many times before they settled on that name that I couldn’t keep
up.
 
But back to Shay, Ree.
 
I think we’ll miss the boat if we lose her.
 
She’s coming through for us, let’s not forget
that.
 
She’s agreed to headline the
re-opening of the PaLargio and you know she’ll knock’em dead.
 
The last time she performed for us they were
lining around the block to hear her sing.”

“And
she was paid for every note,” Reno replied to his lieutenant. Then he frowned.
 
“And why the fuck you’re going on about it
for anyway? You sound like her agent.
 
You sound like you’re working for her instead of me.
 
She might be a nice piece of ass for you to
screw, but her ass ain’t screwing me!
 
The answer is still no.
 
No deal.
 
I’m not changing one word of that contract
again I don’t care how many times she threaten to walk.
 
And that’s final.”

“Okay,
Reno, settle down.
 
You don’t have to
blow a gasket.
 
I understand where you’re
coming from.”

“I
don’t think you do, Lee.”

“I do.
 
Trust me, I do.
 
But you have got to listen to reason
too.
 
We open in three months.
 
We can’t book another star of Shay’s caliber
in three months.
 
We open in three
months, Reno.”

Reno
exhaled.
 
He had hoped to reopen the
PaLargio a full month ago, but the damage from an explosion it suffered was far
too extensive.
 
Now the timetable was
pushed back another three additional months.
 
Three more months with nothing for Reno to do but sit back and wait, and
to argue continuously with money-grubbing agents about talentless performers
whose only claim to fame was that they could sell a boatload of records.
 
Reno hadn’t worked this little in years.
 

But
Lee still wouldn’t let up.
 
Reno knew Lee
was a big Shay Grayson fan, but he never dreamed that he would allow it to
color his judgment.
  

“If
we lose her,” Lee continued, “then her fans, which also happen to be a big
swath of our patrons, are going to be livid.
 
They may riot, Reno.
 
Many of them
planned their vacations around seeing Shay at the re-launch of the
PaLargio.
 
If you don’t appease her, we
can lose much more than just her good graces.
 
Which would be major in and of itself.
 
You hear me, Reno?”
 
Lee asked.

But
Reno wasn’t listening anymore.
 
Both he
and Jimmy were too busy watching what was in front of them now.
 
Reno even removed his sunglasses to get a
better look.

“What
the fuck,” he said, staring ahead.
 

“Is
that Ma?” Jimmy asked, staring too.

Reno
saw that it was.
 
It was Trina, his wife,
sitting on the passenger side of a Maserati that had just driven up to the
front door of the boutique.
 
The car’s
convertible top was down and Reno could see his wife clearly.
 
She had her hair styled in that summer pixie
cut he loved, where it was soft and carefree and she didn’t mind when he ran
his hands through it.
 
Her bright yellow
and white spaghetti-strapped dress revealed her thin neck and toned arms, and
her beautiful brown skin was glistening in the brightness of the sun.
 
There was no doubt that the woman in that car
was his wife.