Mob Boss Eleven- The Wrong One (The Mob Boss Series Book 11) (7 page)

CHAPTER SIX

The
speeding Porsche stopped at the curb in front of Champagne’s clothing store,
and Reno, always in a hurry, got out and hurried in.
 
Liz Mertan, one of the co-owners of the
store, along with Trina, was standing behind the checkout counter opening a
stack of lingerie boxes.
 
A handful of
customers were also in the shop.

Liz
rolled her eyes when she saw him approaching, but then she smiled.
 
“Well hello there, Reno,” she said as he made
his way toward the counter.
 
She didn’t
care for him, and the feeling was mutual.

“How
are you?” he responded.

“I’m
fab, thank-you very much.”

“My
wife around?”

“That’s
you, Reno.
 
Short and to the point.”

“Trina
around?”

“Yes,
she’s around.
 
She’s upstairs in her
office.”

“Alone?”

“Not
alone.
 
She’s meeting with two business
associates about reopening Halperin House.
 
I’m not sure if she mentioned it to you?”

“Yeah,
she mentioned it,” Reno said with a sudden edge in his voice as he headed for
the side stairs.

Liz,
surprised, leaned over the counter.
 
“You
don’t have to go up there.
 
She’ll be
down shortly!”

But
Reno wasn’t about to wait for her to come down.
 
He headed up instead.
 
He made it
clear to her that teaming up with those gold diggers to reopen some shelter
they probably ran in the ground anyway was off the table.
 
Trina was a strong-willed woman and stubborn
when she wanted to be, but she knew when his no meant no.
 
And at that prior meeting, he made clear, it
was a no.

He
walked onto the second floor landing and headed for the backside office.
 
The door was open and he could see those same
two moochers sitting in front of the desk.
 
Trina was sitting behind the desk.
 
She wore the glasses she only wore for reading and she looked, to Reno,
as studious as she looked beautiful.
 
If
he didn’t love her so much he wouldn’t care if she hitched her wagon to a dozen
different causes.
 
But he loved her.
 
Deeply.
 
She wasn’t hitching her wagon to anything more.

Trina
sensed him before she saw him.
 
She
looked up, toward her office door, and there he was.
 
She would have smiled, but she could already
tell he was not in that kind of mood.

“I
didn’t expect to see you this morning,” she said to him.

“That’s
obvious,” he said to her as he walked into the office.
 
Maurice and Gennifer looked at him as if they
were looking at Killjoy himself.

But
Reno wasn’t thinking about them.
 
He was
staring at Tree.
 
“What do you think
you’re doing?” he asked as he approached her desk.

“I’m
having a meeting.”

Reno
continued to look at her.
 
He stood
beside her desk.
 
“I thought I told you
to let this go.”

“I am
letting it go.
 
I’ve already told them I
won’t be able to participate.
 
At least
not right now.”

Reno
exhaled.
 
“Then why a meeting?”

“To
tell them.
 
I just told them.”
 
Then she stood up.
 
“As I said,” she said to the twosome, “the
timing just isn’t right.
 
Not right
now.
 
But thank-you for discussing it
with me.”

Reno
looked at the twosome as they stood to their feet.
 
Neither one of them were ready to throw in
the towel.
 
Especially Maurice, Reno
noticed.
 
And he was right.

“You
simply must reconsider, Mrs. Gabrini,” Maurice said.
 
“You said yourself this is a worthy undertaking.”

“And
it is.”

“We’ll
run the day-to-day.
 
You will not be
needed for any reason.”

“Beyond
her money you mean?” Reno asked.

Trina
gave Reno one of her
stay out of this
looks.
 
Then she looked at Maurice.
 
“I get it, Mo,” she said.
 
“And I’m sure you and Gen will run the
day-to-day just fine.
 
But I won’t be
involved.
 
The answer is no.”

Maurice
looked at Gennifer.
 
Gennifer was
disappointed too.
 
“Will you at least
consider a donation,” Gennifer asked, “even if you won’t become an investor?”

“Yes,”
Trina said.
 
“I’ll be happy to donate.”

“Well
at least
that
,” Maurice said in a
flippant tone, and Reno looked at him.

“But
I won’t donate a dime until all of your investors are on board,” Trina
added.
 
“I’m not throwing my money down a
black hole.”

Gennifer
was angry, and Reno could see the underpinnings of that anger, but she nodded,
and put on a smile.
 
“Understood,” she
said.
 
“Hopefully, once we have everybody
onboard, we’ll be back.”

“That’ll
work,” Trina said.

“Mr.
Gabrini,” Gennifer said with a nod toward Reno, and then she began to
leave.
 
She had to coax Maurice to leave,
but he left too.
 
Reno went and closed
the door behind them.
 
He walked back
over to the desk.

 
“So what brings you to my hideaway?” Trina
asked.

Reno
smiled and kissed her on the lips.
 
“Can’t a man come and see his wife?”

“When
that man is a workaholic like you, and it’s the middle of his workday?
 
No.”

Reno
laughed.
 
“Remember when I told you I
needed to be in Georgia this weekend to look over some details before I would
agree to finalize the deal?”

“I
remember.”

“I
was able to give my people the go-ahead to finalize the deal, babe.”

Trina
smiled.
 
“For Georgia?
 
For PaLargio South?”

Reno
nodded.
 
“We will have a footprint in
Georgia now, that’s right.”

Trina
moved from around her desk and hurried to him.
 
She threw herself into his arms.
 
“That’s great, Reno!”
 
They kissed
again.
 
“So when’s the big day?
 
When do you sign everything and making it all
official?”

“Monday
is still the day.
 
I’m going to fly down there
Sunday night.”

“But
why?” Trina asked.
 
“Why not wait until
Monday morning?”

“I
need to have meetings with my people just in case we missed anything.
 
It’s how I do business.
 
I need to see each one of the negotiators
face to face, to make sure they all agree with this deal, or if any of them
feel we can wring out a better offer.”

Trina
smiled.
 
“You are one savvy businessman,
Mr. Gabrini.
 
I’ll give you that.”

“I
just pray this little experiment works.
 
I’m dumping a lot of money into it.”

“I
think it’s going to be fantastic,” Trina said.
 

“I
agree with you,” Reno said.
 
“The
PaLargio South hotels will definitely give us the best bang for our buck.”

“And
you do look out for our bucks,” Trina said with a smile.

Reno
gave her a spank on the ass.
 
“And so do
you, I see.
  
I liked the way you handled
that situation with those two money grubbers.”

Trina
laughed.
 
“Don’t call them that.”

“That’s
what they are!
 
I like the way you
handled them.”

“Thanks,
Ree.
 
Coming from you?
 
That means a lot.”

Reno
stared into his wife’s eyes.
 
Then he
moved to give her another, more sensual kiss.
 
But before he could make his move, the office door flew open and Maurice
Pender came marching back in.
 
It was
obvious that Gennifer had tried to stop him, because she was hurrying up behind
him with a flustered look on her face and her wild red hair flapping against
her bone-thin back.
 
But he seemed like a
bull coming into a china shop.
 
Nobody
was going to stop him.

“I
have to give you a piece of my mind, Mrs. Gabrini,” he said as he made his way
toward the couple.

Reno
frowned and moved in front of Trina.
 
“You have to
what
?” he asked
the charging bull.

But
Maurice’s total focus was on Trina.
 
“You
said we had a great idea.
 
You said how
near and dear to your heart the entire project would be.”

Gennifer
grabbed Maurice by the elbow, to pull him back, but he jerked away from
her.
 
“You said it was something you
would love to back,” he continued to rant.
 
“You said it was the best idea you’d heard in years and you would love
to back it!”

Trina
frowned.
 
“Yes, I said all of that.
 
So?”

“So?”
Maurice asked as if the word itself was insulting.
 
“Are you kidding me?
 
We were relying on that money!”

“Then
that’s your problem,” Trina fired back.
 
“I didn’t tell you to rely on anything.”

“But
you were in favor of it!”

“I’m
still in favor of it!
 
But my husband and
I have decided that I’m not participating in it.
 
So what I don’t understand is why are we
still discussing this?”

“Liz
claimed you had so much integrity,” Maurice said like the desperate man he
appeared to be.
 

Reno
was staring at him.
 

“She
said you were a woman of your word,” Maurice continued.
 
“She said we could count on you to come
through for us every time.
 
But she
lied.
 
She lied through her teeth!
 
You’re no woman of your word.
 
That’s absurd now!”

Trina
moved in front of Reno.
 
“If you know
what’s good for you,” she warned him, “you’d better get your ass out of my
office and get out now.”

Maurice
wanted to continue his tirade, but he looked over at Reno.
 
And that cold stare chilled him to his
bones.
 
He finally allowed Gennifer to
grab him, and get him out of there.

When
they left, Trina turned to Reno.
 
She
could hold her own with anyone, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed
confrontations.
 
He pulled her into his
arms.
 
But his eyes were wide open.
 
Because he was staring at the blur, at the
contrail left by that foolish little man.

CHAPTER SEVEN

He
slid his dick into her with a slow, loving, sensual glide.
 
But she just laid there.
 
She used to respond with a start, or with a
smile that was so sexy it almost broke Jimmy’s will.
 
But not anymore.
 
Now she was just lying there, as if he’d just
withdrawn rather than moved in, and it broke Jimmy’s heart.
 

But
he kept doing her.
 
He kept it slow and
beautiful just for her.
 
It wasn’t his
style.
 
He liked it hard and fast, and
Val used to like it that way too.
 
But
now, he realized, as he began fucking her, that she didn’t like it at all.
 
Either way.
 

He
stared at her as he fucked her.
 
He began
grunting as the feelings began to intensify within him.
 
But he had no partner in Val.
 
She wasn’t talking to him.
 
She wasn’t sighing or arching or doing shit
like she used to do.
 
She continued to
lay there, her head turned to the side, her beautiful eyes closed.
 
And her action, or lack of action, caused
Jimmy to feel burdened down with guilt.
 
He felt guilty making love to his own wife.
 

But
he couldn’t stop.
 
It had been over three
months now and he had to have it tonight.
 
She said he could have some, and he was getting some.
 
And the way it felt to him, as he rubbed
along her ridges, made him certain he had to continue.

And
he did.
 
It felt too good.
 
He laid down, on top of her, and continued to
pump into her and pump into her.
 
He
began sweating he was pumping so hard.
 
And soon his will power broke.
 
His tempo began increasing because that was the only way his young dick
knew how to get satisfied.
 
The slow way
wasn’t working for Val.
 
So he decided to
do it his way.
 
Hard and fast.
 

He
began thrashing into her.
 
He wanted to
feel that feeling again and he wanted to feel it now.
 
To hell with being the understanding
husband.
 
To hell with being
longsuffering and giving her room and being turned down over and over and over
again.
 
He felt he needed her pussy
tonight like he needed air to breathe, and he was getting it.
 
She had agreed.
 
She had told him to just do it and get it
over with.
 
And although it hurt him the
way she said it, he didn’t turn her down.
 
He was doing it.
 
He was getting
it over with.

She
didn’t cum.
 
But he did.
 
He strained his muscles as he poured into
her.
 
It was so intense that he knew she
had to have felt it.
 
She had to!
 

But
after he had throbbed and pulsated and poured completely out, he leaned up on
his elbow and looked at her.
 
He was
certain that it had at least excited her.
 
But instead of seeing a woman who had to admit it was good to her too,
he saw Val.
 
A woman with a sad
look.
 
And tears were in her eyes.
 
His heart sank.

“Honey,
what’s wrong?” he asked her for the thousandth time.

“Nothing’s
wrong,” she said firmly, and wiped away her tears.

But
Jimmy wasn’t buying it.
 
He continued to
stare at her.
 
“I think we need to go
back to the therapist, Val.
 
Or at least
talk to your pastor about it.”

“I
told you I’m fine,” Val said harshly.
 
“I’m not talking to any therapist or anybody else.
 
There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“But
yes, there is!
 
I know we had a
miscarriage.
 
I know what that did to
you.
 
But this isn’t normal, honey.
 
You’re not yourself anymore.
 
You were handling it better than this two
months ago.”

Val
knew it was true.
 
But she couldn’t help
it.
 
Didn’t he realize that?
 
“I’m alright,” she said.

But
Jimmy shook his head.
 
“No, you’re
not.
 
Your recovery is regressing.
 
There is something wrong, Val.
 
For both of us.”

Val
frowned. “For both of us?” she asked.
 
“
Both of us
?”
 
She couldn’t believe he would compare his
pain to hers.

“What
did I say?”
 

“Speak
for yourself,” she said angrily. “Don’t you dare speak for me!”
 
Then she pushed him off of her, and got out
of bed.

Jimmy
was so frustrated, and so angry, and so hurt that he grabbed the alarm clock
off of the nightstand and threw it across the room.
 
It dented the wall, and then, just as Jimmy
felt about their marriage, it crashed to the floor.

He
placed his hands on his head, and closed his eyes.

“Oh,
yes,” he was moaning.
 
“Oh, yes!”
 
He kept jerking it.
 
Faster and faster and faster.
 
“Oh, oh, oh, yes!”
 
He was soon to cum and the anticipated drove
him crazy.
 
He jerked even faster.
 
He kept squeezing the tip ever so softly, and
yanking it harder and harder.
 
He was
almost there.
 
He was almost about to cum.
 
Just one more jerk.
 
Just one more yank.
 
Just one more second and his world was going
to erupt with the euphoric feeling that only he could give to himself.

Then
the light came on.
 
At first he kept
jerking, because he knew he was alone, lying on the top of his bed, in his
small house.
 
And he hadn’t turned on any
lights.
 
Then he wondered if he was
delirious.
 
Had he jerked so hard that he
caused his brain some harm?

But
then he turned his head, toward the light, and nearly jumped out of his skin
when he saw Reno Gabrini standing there.
 
His dick hit hard against his stomach.

Maurice
Pender quickly moved to get up, but Reno’s gloved hand pushed him back
down.
 
“Enjoying yourself?” Reno asked
him.

“What
do you want?” Maurice asked Reno.

“Answer
my question.
 
Are you enjoying yourself?”

Maurice
stared at Reno.
 
He had that same, icy
look.
 
He decided to smile.
 
Maybe Reno was on the down low.
 
Macho guys like him often were.
 
“Not anymore,” he said with a smile.

But
Reno remained serious.
 
This was a matter
of business for him, and he wasn’t joking.
 
“No, I think you’re enjoying yourself,” he said.
 
Then he took his gloved hand, picked up
Maurice’s dick, and began rubbing it. “I think you’re having the time of your
life.
 
It has to be that way.
 
You have to be getting some kind of serious
high off of approaching my wife and giving her a piece of your mind the way you
did earlier today because only a man high as hell and out of his fucking mind
would approach my wife that way.”

Maurice’s
heart began to hammer.
 
Reno was fondling
his dick, but he knew right away that it was no sensual fondle.

And
he was correct.
 
Reno squeezed his dick
so hard, and then twisted it so violently that he nearly detached it from
Maurice’s balls.
 
Maurice screamed in
agony and doubled over in pain.
 

“Don’t
you ever,” Reno said angrily, “go near my wife again.
 
Ever!
 
Do
you hear what I’m saying to you, Maurice?”

“Yes!”
Maurice screamed. “Oh, yes!
 
I hear you
loud and clear, Mr. Gabrini. Nobody could hear you better!”

“If
she offers to give you a thousand dollars for that shelter you want to run, you
turn her down.
 
A hundred thousand, a
million.
 
You turn her down.
 
You hear me?”

Maurice
was crying.
 
He nodded.
 
“Yes,” he said.
 
“I hear you.”

“I
want you to hear me loud and clear.”

“I
hear you.
 
A jet engine couldn’t be
louder than how loudly I hear you!”

Reno
took Maurice’s face in his hand and turned it toward his own.
 
“I’m a nice guy, I really am.
 
But you can’t step to my wife that way.
 
I understand you, Maurice.
  
I know you care as much about battered women
as a brick cares about a building.
 
You’re in it for the money, Mr. Pender.
 
And in my wife you saw dollar bills.
 
You got desperate when she said no.
 
And desperation, well I know about that.
 
It’s a dangerous thing.
 
It makes
you say and do what your good sense would tell you not to say or do.”

Reno
squeezed the man’s face.
 
The fear in
Maurice’s eyes was palpable.
 
“I’m your
good sense today,” Reno said.
 
“Don’t
approach my wife again.
 
Don’t call her
on a phone.
 
Don’t arrange a third party
meeting.
 
Or the only thing you’re going
to be jerking on is the stem that will be left when your dick is gone.”
 
Then Reno smiled a chilling smile.
“Understand?”

Maurice
was nodding so hard he was giving himself a headache.
 
“Yes, sir. I understand.
 
I truly understand.
 
You’ll never know how much I understand!”

Reno
stared at him longer.
 
Then he released
his chin and began heading for the exit.

Maurice,
still holding his testicles, sat up.
 
But
Maurice, being Maurice, couldn’t hold his tongue.
 
“So you’re Mafia after all?” he asked Reno.

Reno
couldn’t believe that fool would be foolish enough to say another word.
 
But it only reinforced his calculation about
the man.
 
He was a fool, not a
fighter.
 

Reno
turned around.
 
“Whatever your worst
nightmare is to you,” he said to Maurice.
 
“That’s what I am.”

And
then Reno, satisfied that Maurice was finally getting the message, left the
house for good.