Reno Gabrini: A Man in Full (17 page)

But Jimmy Mack didn’t bother to respond to that.  It had already been several minutes.  He had a sneaking suspicion, given how things worked around here and how employees constantly sought brownie points from his father by keeping him informed of every little thing, Reno already knew.

THIRTEEN

“Bad timing,” Reno said as he walked from behind his desk and headed toward her.  “I’m on my way out.”

Fran had just entered his office, and was determined to corner him this time.  “Just two minutes of your time, Reno,” she said as he approached her.

“Two minutes for what?”

“I told you there’s somebody I want you to meet.”

“And I told you not today, Franny,” he said.

“You told me that yesterday.  And the day before that.”

When they met at the door, he kissed his sister on the cheek.  She was a good woman in a lot of ways.  She loved Reno’s children completely, for one thing.  But she was something else in a lot of other ways.  With her choice in men tops among them.

“He’s not like the other guys, Ree,” she assured her brother as she returned his affection.  “He’s real sweet.  Just shake his hand, please?  I promised him.”

Reno frowned.  “You promised him what?”

“That you’d say hey to him.  He’s right outside the office.  All you have to do is say hey and bye.  That’ll be enough for Pac.”

“Pac?”

“Julian.  But we call him Pac-Man.”

Reno wanted to shake his head.  Pac-Man.  But since he was headed out of the door anyway, and had to pass this boyfriend to get where he was going, he didn’t see where speaking to him would be that big a deal.  So he agreed. 

Fran, smiling widely, took her big brother by the arm and escorted him out of his office, and into the big, outer room.

The young man, and he had to be at least ten years younger than Fran’s thirty-one years, Reno thought, looked as if he’d just stepped out of a prison yard.  He nervously stood to his feet, smiling as if he was going before the parole board.  His black hair was slicked back, his cheap suit was one of those old-fashioned types with a pleat in the back, and his lips made him look to Reno as if he’d been puckering for dudes all of his born days.  But that was what Fran liked.

“Mr. Gabrini,” he said with a broad smile that made him look even younger.  What was he, Reno wondered.  Twelve?

“How are you?” Reno said as he shook the young man’s outstretched hand.

“This is Pac, I mean Julian Bellini, Reno.  He’s a good Italian boy just like Pop used to tell me I had to have.”

“So you’re doing all right?” Reno asked when the boy wouldn’t respond to his earlier
how are you
.

“I’m doing good, sir,” he said.  “But not as good as you.  I just wanted to let you know how much I admire and respect you.”

“You admire and respect me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You don’t know me.  But you admire and respect me?”

Pac didn’t know how to respond to that.  So he just kept on smiling. 

Yep, Reno thought.  Dumb as rocks.  He was definitely Fran’s type.  “Nice meeting you,” Reno ultimately said, glanced at one of his assistants with a roll of his eyes, prompting her to smile, and then left the area. 

As soon as he left, Pac-Man threw his fist in the air.  “Yes!” he yelled with a grin as if he’d just won the World Series.  Even Fran, who usually liked his enthusiasm, didn’t see where just being in the presence of her brother was
that
big a deal.  But Pac was good in bed.  And because of that crucial fact, she often found herself making allowances for his sometimes immature behavior.  So she grinned too.

 Reno heard his screeching just as he left his office suite, and wondered what was that about.  But he wasn’t about to go back to find out.  He, instead, began making his way down the corridor toward his private elevator.  As soon as he turned the corner, however, Joey Baio, a young pit boss with visions of being Reno’s right hand man someday, was hurrying toward him.

Reno smiled when he saw him.  He liked Joey.  He was ambitious as hell and didn’t know how to hide it.  Which meant he wasn’t slick yet.  Which made him a good kid in Reno’s eyes. “Slow your roll, young man,” Reno said with a smile. 

“Yes, sir,” Joey said, virtually out of breath already.  “I’m glad I caught you, sir.  I felt I should personally come and let you know, sir.”  His fear was that someone would have phoned Reno by now, and he wouldn’t have been the first to tell him.

“Let me know what?” Reno asked as the kid made it up to him.  It always amused him how the young bucks tried to butter him up.  He allowed it, not because he was falling for their act, but because his allowance kept them loyal.  And loyalty was everything to Reno.

“It’s about your wife, sir,” Joey said clearly, as if he had finally found his second wind.

Reno’s smile, however, disappeared.  And his famous scowl emerged.  He didn’t like for some upstart like this to just casually reference his wife.  “What about my wife?” he asked him.

“She fainted, sir.”

Reno’s heart began to pound.  “She fainted?”

“Yes, sir.  She nearly hurt herself really badly.”

Reno began hurrying down the corridor.  “Where is she?” he asked as he moved.  Young Joey was moving too, but not nearly as fast as his much older boss.

“She’s downstairs, sir,” he said, trying to keep up.  “In the casino.”

And Reno took off.  He wanted to take the stairs, but he was up thirty flights.  So he took his private elevator, leaving his blabbermouth employee to make his own way.  Only Reno went to the wrong place first.  Trina and Jimmy had already left the casino by the time he arrived.  When he was informed that they had gone upstairs, to the penthouse, he angrily took off again.  Back on the elevator and headed for his penthouse apartment.  By the time he burst through the front door, Jimmy was in the living room putting Trina’s feet up on the sofa.

“Tree,” Reno said heartfelt as he rushed to his wife’s side.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Reno,” Trina said, upset that he had been bothered at all.  “Those employees of yours can’t hold water,” she added.  “I told them I was fine.”

Reno stood over her and placed the back of his hand on her forehead.  His look was so intense that Trina and Jimmy both wondered how he managed to remain in such a heightened, serious state all the time.   “What happened?” he asked her, staring at her.

“Nothing happened,” she replied.

“Bullshit!  What happened, Trina, and don’t you tell me nothing.”

Trina exhaled.  “I got a little dehydrated, that’s all.”

“You fainted?”

“I didn’t faint,” she replied as if he was seriously exaggerating.  “It wasn’t even like that.  I got a little weak, I sat down, I was fine.”

Reno looked at his oldest son, as if he had to hear a second opinion. 

“She didn’t faint,” Jimmy said, backing her up.  “But she almost passed out.  I was there to catch her.”

“Has the doctor been called?”

“I don’t need a doctor, Reno!”

“She doesn’t need a doctor, Dad,” Jimmy agreed.

“But if you wouldn’t have caught her, she would have fallen?”

Jimmy hesitated.  “Yes, sir,” he admitted.

“So why the fuck didn’t you call a doctor?  And why didn’t you contact me as soon as it happened, Jimmy?”

“I was trying to help her!” Jimmy insisted.  “I was trying to hold her up, I didn’t have time to call you or anybody else.  But she’s okay.  She doesn’t need a doctor or anything like that.  It wasn’t
that
serious.  She’s working too hard, Pop, that’s the bottom line.”

Reno nodded his head.  “I know it,” he said, looking at his wife again.  “And that’s going to change right here and right now.”

“Don’t start, Reno,” Trina said.  “I’m not going through that again.”

“You don’t tell me what you aren’t going through.  Not after this.”

“Not after what?” Trina asked with a frown.  “I told you I was just a little dehydrated.  I’m fine now!”

“Like hell you are!  You’re working yourself to death, Tree.  And what’s worse you’re working yourself to death over a failing business.  It’s a money pit if ever I saw one.  It’s draining every ounce of strength you have right along with every dime you put in it.”

Trina felt the sting of his comments.  But she couldn’t deal with that right now.  She couldn’t deal with being reminded of all of the resources, all of the sweat equity that she had thrown into that business of hers.  With so little return.  Because he was right.  It was a business on life support.  It was failing fast.  “I know my body, okay?  I know my limitations.  And I’m not overworking myself at all.”

“And you didn’t just do that slip-and-slide number downstairs, either,” Reno reminded her.  “Oh, yeah, you’re doing just fine, Tree.  Just fine.”

“I’m not giving up my business,” Trina said firmly as a flash of irritation crossed her face, “I don’t care what you say!”

Jimmy’s eyes stretched when Trina spoke that way to Reno.  She had to know he wasn’t going to let her get away with that.  Jimmy remembered a time when his father literally spanked the shit out of her for giving him lip like that.  She had to know better.

“Jimmy,” Reno said to his son without looking away from his wife. 

“Sir?” Jimmy asked.

“Who’s manning your station?”

Jimmy hesitated.  “No-one right now.”

“Get back to work.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And while you’re down there contact Dr. Reeves.  Tell him I want him to take a look at my wife.”

Jimmy glanced at Trina.  “Yes, sir,” he said, and then made his way for the exit.

When he was gone, Reno squatted down to his wife, so that they could be eyeball to eyeball. Trina tried to make amends.  “I didn’t mean to sound so harsh,” she said before he could say anything.  “But you aren’t listening to me, Reno.”

Reno stared at her, amazed that she would think it was as simple as that.  But he did listen to her.

“It’s been a tough few days,” she said.  “I’ll admit that.  Champagne’s isn’t getting the kind of foot traffic I had hoped it would by now.  So I’ve been working harder, yes, I have.  I’ve been working overtime lately.”

“Lately my ass, Tree,” Reno said, refusing to hear any more excuses.  “You’ve been consumed with that clothing store even before you first opened it.  You’ve been obsessed with its’ success.  Which was fine in the beginning.  It should have been an all-consuming deal.  I knew it was going to take a lot out of you.  I told you it would when you first told me what you wanted to do.  But it’s gotten out of hand, Tree, and I’m not talking about just here lately either.  This shit didn’t just start a few weeks ago.  Hell, you work longer hours than I work now!  You come home later than I come home sometimes!  And you think I’m going to sit back and let that happen?  Especially after what happened today?”

“Nothing happened,” she started to say, but Reno gave her that
don’t bullshit me
look that made her correct herself.  “I got weak, okay?  I got a little dehydrated.  But after things turn around at the store---”

“Stop treating this like it’s a temporary problem.  It’s a problem.  It’s a big fucking problem!  One I’m going to fix.” 

Then he exhaled.  Trina folded her arms, ready for the onslaught.

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” he said.

But Trina had to try one more time.  She had to play hardball too.  “Champagne is mine, Reno,” she said.  “It’s in my name, it’s my business, and you can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do with my own business.”

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” he said again as if she hadn’t made her plea at all.  “You’re going to take a break.  A couple weeks off.  I want you to go visit your folks.  They moved back to Dale and you haven’t been there once to check on them.  If you’re too busy to check on your own parents, you’re too busy.”

Trina knew he spoke the truth.  But the timing!

“I’ll take care of Dominic,” he went on.  “But I want you to take some time off and take care of yourself.”

“But I already have plans to go and see them.  Maybe next month some time, when things pick back up I can---”

“You’re going now.  Tomorrow,” Reno said.  “And when you get back you will announce to the public that Champagne’s will be closing its doors---”

“Reno, no!”

“You’re going to announce to the public,” he said again, “that Champagne’s is closing its’ doors at its’ present location.  And you will also announce that it will reopen its doors by early Spring, inside the PaLargio.”

Trina looked at him.  It was what he wanted all along.  Then suddenly the entire purpose for her branching out on her own and opening her own business beyond her husband’s reach would be lost.  She would once again be completely under his care and control.  She would once again have nothing to point to that would have her stamp on it.  Nothing that would say that she built that, and that she was the driving force behind that.  It would once again be Reno’s baby.  She would once again be Reno’s baby!

What she kept trying to tell her husband was that a woman like her, who’d been independent all of her adult life, couldn’t continue to maintain with a reality like that.  Being his woman was great, in many ways it was a dream come true for her, but she had to be her own woman too.

“I’m not closing my doors and I’m not relocating my business to the PaLargio, Reno,” she said firmly, looking just as serious as he was.  “And I mean that.”

Reno stared at her with a look that chilled her to the bone.  “You’re going to Mississippi to see your parents.  And when you get back,” he said, “you will do what I said you’re going to do.  I’ve let this shit go on too long.  I assumed you would get the message and cut your losses.  But your stubborn ass wouldn’t know what cutting losses mean.  I should have known that from the beginning.  So now I’m making the call.  When you get back in town---”

“Is that it, Reno?” Trina asked, attempting to sidestep the truth of the matter because she knew that his word was always final in their family.  “Is the fact that I’m doing my own thing the real problem here?”