Reno's Gift (Mob Boss Series) Page 13

  “And your ass isn’t two seconds in my backyard and already you’ve commandeered my son. Give him back,” Reno said, grabbing for Dommi. Dommi laughed as Tommy handed him over.

  “How are you, my friend?” Reno asked as he and Tommy embraced. Dommi, by virtue of being in his father’s arms, embraced them too.

  “Hey, Grace,” Reno said as he leaned toward her, gave her a kiss on the mouth, and one-arm hugged her too.

  Although she was taken aback by his overly friendly kiss, she managed to smile and embrace him too. “Nice to see you again.”

  “You too,” Reno said as they stopped embracing. “You’re looking beautiful.”

  “Isn’t she, Reno?” Trina asked as she took Dommi and put him in her arms. “I told her that shade of peach is definitely her color.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Reno agreed. “It brings out the brown of your skin tone. And the blouse with the beading. It’s most attractive.”

  Tommy at first smiled at Reno as fashion critic, and then he burst into laughter.

  “Ah, fuck you, Tommy!” Reno said with a smile of his own. “I know style when I see it.”

  “Who knows style when he sees it?” Sal asked after he, Fran, and Jimmy stopped embracing.

  “I know style when I see it.”

  “You?”

  “Yeah, me,” Reno said defensively. “What about it?”

  “You’re the only man I know who can make a five thousand dollar suit look like something he picked up from Walmart, but you’re Mister Style?”

  “Ah, fuck you, too!” Reno said to laughter from the others. “Don’t listen to them, Grace. I know quality when I see it. And that’s you.”

  Grace actually smiled at that. Coming from a man like him it sounded like such a compliment for some reason. But then his bite turned harsh, she thought.

  “I thought they locked you up,” Reno said to Sal.

  “Locked me up?” Sal asked, puzzled. “What they looking like locking me up? Locked me up for what?”

  “For looking ugly on Tuesday,” Reno said and everybody laughed. “They said it was a crime against humanity.”

  “Yeah, you got jokes, okay,” Sal said dismissively. “Bet your ass wasn’t laughing when Tony Tufarna had you twisted around.”

  Reno’s smile left. Sal had gone there. “Tony Tufarna didn’t have me twisting around shit!” Reno said.

  “I told you not to go about it the way you did, but you didn’t listen to me.”

  “You didn’t tell me a fucking thing, Sal Luca, and your ass know it!”

  “My nephew nearly lost his life because of your dumb-ass decisions!” Sal yelled and Reno, without hesitation, took his fist and cold cocked Sal. Sal staggered back, but he didn’t fall. He, instead, was ready to return the hit.

  But Tommy grabbed him and pulled him back before he could, and Trina, Jimmy and Fran all grabbed at Reno and pulled him back.

  They all knew the deal. Reno and Sal never got along, not even when they were kids in Jersey. It was something about the similarity of their personalities that clashed mightily. And although they had landed at some kind of truce as they got older, the tension always found a way to rear its head. Everybody was accustomed to such outbursts, except Grace. Tommy could see that she was affected by it. He moved over to her and placed his arm around her waist.

  Reno, however, easily managed to jerk away from those holding him back, as if all three of them were weightless. He walked up to Sal, not to fight him again, but to set him straight. “You’re entitled to your own opinion,” he said to his first cousin, “but not your own facts. I would never do anything to endanger the life of a child of mine and your ass know I wouldn’t!”

  “What do you think I’m a fucking idiot?” Sal asked. “I know you wouldn’t do a thing like that. Endanger your own kid, come on. What do you take me for?”

  Reno looked at Sal as if Sal had just lost his mind. “Then why did you say what you said, Sal, if you didn’t mean it?”

  Sal moved around, as if he knew why but was hesitant to tell it. Then he decided to tell it. “Because you called me ugly,” he admitted. “You hurt my feelings, man.”

  At first, everybody thought Sal was serious. Even Tommy wasn’t sure. And then Sal himself smiled, and everybody else smiled, and then everybody were laughing again.

  Reno, smiling too, shook his head. “You’re one sick motherfucker,” he said, to even more laughter.

  Later, when Jimmy took over the grill, Reno, Tommy, and Sal disappeared into Reno’s home office. He explained to them what happened last night. He also explained Belle’s involvement and her insistence that Bruno had revenge on his mind.

  “But I don’t get it,” Sal said. “I’ve never known Belle Patrone to be all tight with Bruno Lucci.”

  “She claims to be looking out for me,” Reno said. “We had a face-to-face while I was in Atlantic City and she was telling me then that Bruno was making noises. She claimed then to be concerned he might give it his best shot.”

  “But she’s the one running around hiring guys to try and take you out,” Sal said.

  “If the guy was telling the truth,” Tommy offered.

  “Why wouldn’t he be?” Sal asked his brother. “He told Reno some female paid him, then he goes to, not just any house, but the house where some female, namely Belle, is staying. That’s one hellava coincidence if it’s not a connection.”

  “There’s a connection,” Reno said, certain of it. “I just don’t know what that connection is. Belle seems to be playing different games at the same time. Trina even said she was in Champagne’s the other day, asking if she was my wife.”

  Tommy looked at Reno. “She was scoping out Trina?” he asked.

  “That’s what I figure, yeah,” Reno said.

  “But why?” Sal asked. “What’s Belle playing at? She knows better than to think you’re gonna leave your wife for her old ass. And if it’s not about that, then what is it about? What does Tree have to do with Bruno Lucci?”

  “Nothing,” Reno said firmly. “She never met him before.”

  “But what does she think about the fact that Belle might be involved now? How does she feel about the fact that you traced the guy to the mayor’s house?”

  “I haven’t told her about that yet,” Reno admitted. “It just happened last night. I don’t know enough to discuss it, and I don’t want to get her worried about something that I haven’t even figured out myself. It’s frustrating as hell.”

  “Jimmy was with you,” Tommy said. “You don’t think he’ll spill the beans and tell her?”

  “Hell nall,” Reno said. “He knows I’ll kick his ass if he discusses any of my business with anybody.”

  “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 gotdamn 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.

  “Okay, guys,” Reno said, standing up. “The hosts are going to call it a night. You guys do whatever you want, have the run of the place, just don’t come to my bedroom.”

  Sal and Gemma laughed.

  Reno lifted Trina, who continued to sleep, into his arms. “Good night,” he said and left.

  Sal shook his head and watched Reno carry Trina inside the house. “I have to give it to my cousin,” he said. “He loves his wife. No doubt about that. They have such a wonderful relationship.”

  Gemma was looking too. “Yeah,” she said. “It seems like a very good relationship. If you go for that sort of thing.”

  Sal looked at her. “What sort of thing?”

  “Marriage,” Gemma said. “Life time commitments. I’m yours and you’re mine and there’s no getting out of it.” She hunched her narrow shoulders as if she had the chills. “That some scary shit,” she said, and Sal laughed.

  “I feel you, sister,” he said.

  Then she stood up and stretched. Sal’s eyes stared at her slender body. “I’d better get home to bed myself,” she said, “or I’ll be good for nothing in court tomorrow.”

  Sal stood up quickly. “Let’s get this show on the road, then,” he said, almost too giddily for Gemma’s taste, and escorted her out.

  Grace was facing Tommy, seated on his lap in the Jacuzzi, and his fully aroused dick was lodged inside of her. Her bikini top was off and he was sucking her breasts while he fucked her. She had her hands in his always manicured hair and was making it gorgeously ruffled as she felt him doing her from top to bottom. His strokes were steady, but not rushed, and she felt as if she was being sensually punctured with every stroke.