MOB BOSS 6: THE HEART OF RENO GABRINI (Mob Boss Series) (14 page)

“Yeah.
 
I had nothing to do with it.”

But
Reno didn’t care.
 
Eddie was on his
mind.
 
“Who paid Eddie?” he asked her.

“Nobody
paid him.
 
Why would somebody have to pay
him?”

“Because
he’s a small-time nobody who wouldn’t have two nickels back to back.
 
Now who paid him?”

“I
told you I don’t know.”

Reno
slapped her again.
 
She cried out in
pain.
 
“Don’t fuck with me, girl!” Reno
yelled.
 
“Who paid Eddie Dreeson to set
up my son?”

“Tony!”
she screamed.

“Tony
who?”

 
“Tony Tufarna!”

Reno
looked at her as if she had suddenly grown fangs.
 
“Tony Tufarna?” he asked her, amazed.
 
“What the fuck?”

“I
never met him.
 
He’s Eddie’s friend.
 
I only heard them say his name a couple
times.
 
But he was supposed to pay us.”

Reno
ran his hand through his hair.
 
“How
much?”

“How
much what?”

“How
much was Tony Tufarna supposed to pay Eddie Dreeson?”

Ashley
hated the sight of Reno Gabrini.
 
And she
wanted to lash back at him.
 
But she knew
she couldn’t.
 
And she knew lying would
only make it worse.
 
“Two hundred
thousand,” she said.

Reno
was about to run his hand through his hair again, but he froze.
 
He looked at Lou and Artie.
 
Both were floored.
 
Two hundred thousand?
 
This shit was serious now, both of their
faces seemed to say.

But
neither of them had to tell that to Reno.
 
He knew it was serious all along.
 
The money, and the fact that Tony Tufarna’s name had surfaced, only
confirmed it for him.
 
He knew when a
dead body was involved that this was some serious shit already.

Reno
left the room, motioning for Lou to follow him.

Once
out into the corridor, Lou closed the door.

“Last
I heard Tony Tufarna was some broke-ass salesman in Kentucky somewhere,” Lou
said.

“Well
he’s apparently back in Vegas.”

“Gunning
for you?”

“And
the PaLargio, no doubt about it.
 
He’s
one of those fuckers who’ll blame the world for his own failures.”

Lou
exhaled.
 
“That’s very bad news.
 
Especially if he’s willing to float the kind
of dough that girl’s claiming.”

“Tell
me about it.”

“Think
he’s got backing?”

“He
might.
 
I can’t imagine Tony with that
kind of money muscle.
 
Not that fool.”

“And
who’s Eddie Dreeson?”

Reno
shook his shoulder.
 
“A nobody.
 
He deals in stolen goods mainly, and fake
shit, like fake Rolexes and Air Jordans.
 
He runs his clip joint mostly out of Compton.”

“Compton?
 
In L.A.?”

Reno
nodded.
 
“That’s the place.
 
But he makes his home here in Vegas.”
 
Then Reno
 
shook his head.
 
“And my son’s
woman is his woman.
 
If I wasn’t a
gentleman I’d kill her ass.”

“That
nice ass?
 
I’d fuck it first,” Lou
suggested.

Reno
smiled wearily.
 
“Me too,” he said.
 
Then he exhaled.
 
“Find the boyfriend.
 
Find Eddie Dreeson.
 
And get the word on the street that I want
the hook in Tony Tufarna.”

“To
talk or to kill?”

“Say talk.”

“What
about those two in there?”

Reno
exhaled.
 
Jimmy wasn’t going to like it,
but he couldn’t help that now.
 
“Get a
crew over to the safe house, over to number ten, and take them there.
 
Put Briggs in charge in case there’s some
monkey business with the girl.”

“Yes,
sir.”

“He’s
to keep them there until he hears from me personally.”

“What
about Coop?
 
You think he’s involved
too?”

“Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
 
Maybe not like she is, but
he’s involved.
 
Besides, I don’t know
what I don’t know right now and I’m not taking any chances.
 
If Tony’s in this it may very well be open
season on Reno again.
 
So everybody’s a
suspect until I close that season back down.
 
Got it?”

Lou
nodded, as if he lived for this shit.
 
“Yes, sir, boss,” he said.
 
“I got
you.”

Reno
walked away, knowing that every order he gave to Lou would be carried out
meticulously. But just the thought that he had to go back down this road again
angered Reno.
 
Just when peace and quiet
were the norm for them, he had to go back down this hellish road.
 
And he was angry about it.
 

Lou
saw that anger.
 
He saw it when Reno
slammed his fist into the wall, as he walked away.

Jimmy
and Trina both stood up from the sofa when Reno returned to the penthouse.
 
Trina could see how drained he was.
 
Jimmy couldn’t see anything but the fact that
Ashley wasn’t with him.

“Where’s
Ash and Coop?” he asked his father.

Reno
sat down in the chair flanking the sofa and spread his legs wide.
 
Trina hurried to get him something strong to
drink.
 
Jimmy sat back down.

“Where
are they?” he asked his father again.

“Where’s
Dommi?”

“He’s
asleep.
 
What about Ash and Coop, Pop?”

“They’re
safe,” Reno said.

“What
do you mean safe?
 
Where are they?”

“What
I said.
 
They’re safe.”

“But
what do you mean?”

“Jimmy,
what did I tell you?” Trina said this in a warning tone from the bar.
 
And Jimmy knew then to back off.
 
Trina had already told him that Reno was not
going to respond to the bum-rush and he was wasting his time attempting to get
him to respond that way.
 
So he waited
while Trina prepared the drink.
 
He
waited while Reno leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
 

But
as soon as Trina walked back over to the chair and handed Reno that glass of
Scotch, he pounced.
 
“What do you mean by
safe, Pop?” he asked again.
 

But
Reno ignored him again and drained down a big chunk of his drink.

“Pop?”
Jimmy asked, getting seriously annoyed.
 
“I need to know where Ashley is.
 
Why don’t you just tell me where she is?”

Reno
hesitated.
 
“I’m having them moved to one
of my safe houses,” he said.

Jimmy
jumped to his feet.
 
Even Trina, who was
already standing, looked at Reno.
 

“A
safe house?” Jimmy asked.
 
“You’re going
to hold them against their will?”

“Don’t
you think that’s a little harsh, Ree?” Trina also asked.

But
Reno was firm about his decision.
 
“What’s harsh?
 
They better be
glad that’s all I’m doing.”

“But
why are you holding them?”
 
Jimmy wanted
to know.
 
“They told you what
happened.
 
They told you he overdosed and
why we had to move the body.”

“Yeah,
they told me a lot of things.
 
That’s why
they stay under my thumb until I get to the bottom of this.”

“But
this has nothing to do with you!
 
You
can’t go around kidnapping people like this.”

“Oh,
yeah?” Reno said and Trina could see that he was getting worked up again.
 
“If those people are going around attempting
to set up my son then I’ll do whatever I need to do to them.”

“But
they’re kids, Reno,” even Trina had to say.
 
“To detain them against their will is going too far.”

Reno
looked at her.
 
Then he sat his drink on
the coffee table and stood up.
 
“Going
too far?” he asked.
  
“You think what I
did was going too far?”

Trina
wasn’t going to back down.
 
“Yes,” she
said.
 
“I think it’s going too far.
 
They’re kids.”

“Those
‘kids,’ as you call them, didn’t hesitate to try and frame my son.
 
His so-called girlfriend didn’t bat an eye
when she called him over to her house to initiate that set up.
 
He could be facing a murder rap or worse right
now, thanks to those ‘kids.’
 
She
admitted she and her real boyfriend were looking for a big payday when she
hooked up with Jimmy, and guess who they were planning to be the bank?
 
So excuse me if I don’t give a flying fuck
about those ‘kids!’
 
They’re no
innocents!”

“I
didn’t say they were innocent,” Trina said.
 
“But all I’m saying is that they shouldn’t have to be detained like
this.
 
You might be compounding the
problem.”

“So
what are you trying to say, Tree?
 
That I
don’t know what I’m doing?”

“That’s
not what I’m saying.”

“Then
what are you saying?”

“I’m
saying you’re overreacting, that’s what I’m saying!”

Reno
looked at Trina, his voice rising.
 
“Overreacting?” he asked as if he was shocked she would have said
that.
 
“They bring this shit to my
doorstep and
I’m
overreacting?
 
Kiss my ass, Tree.
 
Kiss my ass for even saying something like
that!”

“Ashley
and Cooper aren’t like these hardened gangsters you’re used to dealing with,
Reno,” Trina said, staying firm.
 
“Yes,
they may have done something wrong.”

“Those
angels?
 
No!”
 
Reno said this sarcastically.

“They
may have done something wrong,” Trina continued, ignoring his sarcasm.
 
“But that doesn’t give you a license to
imprison them.
 
Because that’s exactly
what you’re doing.
 
You hated that they
were trying to do that to Jimmy, but then you turn right around and do that to
them.”

“I’m
not doing shit to them that they didn’t bring on themselves!” Reno roared.
 
“Those fuckers started this!
 
Those fuckers agreed to take money in
exchange for destroying my son!”

But
Trina wasn’t trying to hear him.
 
And he
wasn’t trying to hear here.
 
And it went
on and on like that.
 
Jimmy could not
believe how angry both of them were getting.
 
He thought he was hot.
 
But Reno
and Trina were taking heat to another level.
 

Reno,
in fact, became so beside himself with anger that he eventually, after an
especially bitter exchange, grabbed Trina by the arm and began all but dragging
her to the office just off from the living room.
  
Trina was protesting, and even Jimmy was
asking Reno why was he manhandling her that way, but when Reno threw Trina into
that office and then slammed the door shut, Jimmy knew to back off.

But
the arguing continued in there.
 
Jimmy
could hear them both go at it.
 
Jimmy
could hear Reno continue to call out Ashley and Cooper as if they were
terrorists or something, and he could still hear Trina refuse to buy what he
was selling.
 
Over and over they argued
like this.
 
Until Jimmy heard a slap.

And
he couldn’t believe it.
 
A slap?
 
He
hit
her?
 

Jimmy
immediately hurried to the office and slung opened the door.
 
Reno was standing there with his hand on the
side of his face and Trina was standing there with her hand, open palm, still
in mid-air.
 
It was obvious who had
slapped whom.