Reno Gabrini: A Family Affair Read online

  “He’s entertaining guests. If he asks you where I am, tell him I went to take a dump. He knows how long it takes me when I have to do a number two.”

  Finn frowned. “Dang, Jimmy, TMI, boy! I don’t wanna know all that shit!”

  “If he asks, just tell him what I told you.”

  “I will,” Finn said. “I got it. But you can spare me the details, aw’ight?”

  “She doesn’t know who I am?” Jimmy asked. “You made sure of that?”

  “Do I look like a fool?” Finn responded. “No, she doesn’t know, man, come on! She’s some random off the street. Just get in there and do what you do.”

  Jimmy smiled, although his eyes told a different story, and the elevator pinged in anticipation of opening.

  “Admit it,” Finn said, as they moved closer to the elevator doors. “I’m the best employee you have. Just go on and admit it. I go above and beyond the call of duty each and every night.”

  “Yeah, right,” Jimmy said, as if they both knew better than that.

  “But for real though,” Finn responded. Jimmy was the floor manager in his father’s casino, and Finn was one of his pit bosses. “I figure with all the talent I bring to the table, I should at least get promoted to assistant floor manager. At least that. What you say about that, Jimmy Mack?”

  The elevator doors opened. Others piled onto the elevator ahead of Jimmy. “I’ll say what you said,” Jimmy responded, and stepped on too.

  But Finn was puzzled. “What’s that? What did I say?”

  “Do I look like a fool?” Jimmy asked rhetorically.

  Finn laughed. “Okay, you got me that time,” he said, as the elevator doors closed him out, and Jimmy in. “You got me that time!”

  Jimmy smiled too as the doors closed, but this was no laughing matter for him. This was too monumental. He stood in the elevator, saw that floor 7 had already been pressed, and stood back staring, like everybody else, at the changing numbers above the door. He had never done anything like this before in his life. But Val wasn’t putting it out nearly enough when she knew he had a major league appetite. And whenever he brought it up, when he threatened to do exactly what he was about to do, she didn’t argue with him or ask for clarification. She just told him he’d better not bring it around her. What kind of response was that? What did she expect him to do after giving him an answer like that?

  He got off the elevator on the seventh floor, walked up to room 749, swiped the keycard, looked around, and then walked on in. It wasn’t a suite, but a standard room, one of what they called their “deluxe” rooms. The room was dark, but the bright neon lights of Vegas split the night and still shined through the curtains just enough for Jimmy to see the figure sprawled out on the bed. Only a sheet covered what appeared to be her sleek, naked body.

  “Put your money on the table, big boy,” she said. “And come on in.”

  Jimmy’s heart was pounding. He never dreamed it would come to this. But his cock was pounding more. He put the money on the table, and went on in.

  Reno was still holding court downstairs, in his casino, but the crowd had dwindled. Word had spread that the slot machines were hot and people were scrambling to get in on the action. Even Reno wasn’t enough to keep gamblers away from making money. That was why they came to Vegas in the first place! But there was still the devoted few who wouldn’t let Reno go. They were primarily the star-struck young ladies looking for a sugar daddy, and the power-hungry young men looking for a hook up. Reno wasn’t interested in either group. For the past ten days, his wife, Katrina Gabrini, and their two youngest children, were in Florida visiting her folks. He’d been working practically nonstop since they left. He was bone tired and wanted to do nothing more than sit there. Preferably alone, but he knew that wasn’t possible. He would have to leave the casino altogether to be alone, and he didn’t have the energy to do even that.

  Besides, going home didn’t appeal to him either. His house was not a home when Trina was away, and she still had four days left on her little vacation. So he stayed where he sat, listening to the small group tell their life stories to him, fighting just to keep his tired eyes from closing. Although Jimmy didn’t know it, Reno knew he had slipped away from him earlier. Not because he saw his son leave, but because he felt him leave. Whenever his wife or children were around him, he could feel it. Whenever they left his presence, he could feel that too.

  He looked to see if Jimmy was at his station, and saw that he wasn’t. That boy still had a lot of growing up to do. But he would have to deal with that later. Right now, he was too tired to do anything but listen to his talkative guests.

  Those talkative guests had Reno sufficiently bored, and about ready to call it a night, until a certain woman walked into the casino. He did a double take, a move he almost never made, because of her resemblance to his wife. Her body, Reno also noticed, wasn’t bad either. But it was the resemblance that caught his attention.

  For the next several minutes he continued to listen to his guests, and continued taking peeps at her. She was African-American like his wife, had that gliding walk he loved, and had those same big, unmistakable hazel eyes. And although her complexion was a lot lighter than Trina’s, and she was pounds thinner, he still couldn’t overlook the resemblance. She was walking around the massive casino as if she owned the joint, looking at the people enjoying themselves as if they were her people, enjoying her liquor, gambling at her slot machines. She was also coy, smiling at interested men, but refusing to stop to talk with any of them. She wasn’t ignoring them, she just wasn’t entertaining them. She even glanced at Reno a time or two, as if she was assessing his interest, but she never once bothered to come his way. Which was fine by him. The only woman he was going to be banging was in Florida. Then she walked out of the casino completely, as if she’d seen enough. And that was that, as far as Reno was concerned.

  But less than fifteen minutes after her departure, Reno had had his fill too. The guests around him were talking crazy now, and he wanted no parts of crazy.

  “What do you think, Mr. Gabrini?” one of the ladies asked Reno just before his decision to decamp. “Have you ever been in love the first time you saw somebody?”

  “You mean lust,” Reno responded with his usual bluntness, “because it can’t be love.”

  “Oh, I disagree,” one of the young men chimed in. “I fell in love with my wife at first sight. She didn’t have to speak a word. I was already in love just looking at her.”

  Reno wanted to roll his eyes. That kid wouldn’t know the meaning of love if it bit him in his flat butt. But instead of offending one of his guests, he stood up instead. “I’d better get back to work,” he said, and left the small crowd without giving them a chance to object. They were disappointed, and looked at the young man unfavorably, as if it was his fault. But it was nobody’s fault. Reno wasn’t just tired anymore, he was tired of them.

  He made his way out of the casino and into the lobby of his grand hotel. By the time he began walking toward his private elevator in the back of the lobby, he could see a member of his lobby security step from behind his desk, as if somebody was following Reno. Before Reno could look behind him, he heard a voice.

  “Can you help me?”

  Reno turned around. It was the gorgeous girl who roamed his casino earlier. “Excuse me?” he asked. His security guard continued to head that way. Reno motioned that he had it under control, and the guard went back to his post.

  “There’s a leak,” she said, “in my hotel room. The maintenance person came to repair it and I decided to pay a visit to the casino during that time. When I returned to my room, I assumed it would be repaired. But it’s not. I couldn’t find anyone in maintenance, but was told by one of the clerks that you could help me.”

  Reno continued to stare at her. She had an innocence about her that she played to full effect, and a regular guy might be persuaded by her chasteness. But Reno was no ordinary guy. He’d been around that block too many times before. In
his eyes, she was innocent the way every convicted killer was innocent: in words, but not deeds. “I’ll send somebody up,” he said to her.

  “Somebody was already sent up,” she said to him, “and I still have the problem. If you are a manager as I was told, I suggest you come up and see this for yourself.” She looked hard at Reno, expecting to be rebuffed. She didn’t know why, but he had that kind of curt manner about him. Nothing about him was what she had expected. He wasn’t the suave, debonair hotel magnet she had been told he was. His suit was obviously expensive, but it was badly rumpled. His hair was thick and brown and rich, but it was messy as hell. And his eyes, those intense blue eyes she’d heard so much about, looked weary. But even with all of that, he was still attractive. Even with all of that, he still had a sex appeal that she’d been told was so alluring that she’d volunteer to be with him. But she wasn’t doing volunteer work tonight. She was on assignment. “All I’m asking,” she added, “is to be able to get a good night’s rest. I am paying to stay here, after all. I’m not being unreasonable.”

  Reno took his business seriously, and treated every guest, no matter who they were, with great respect. Because of her resemblance to Trina, she was a temptation, and perhaps she had some notion in her pretty little head that she could seduce him. Maybe this leak situation was the ruse she needed to get him in her room so that she could try out her wiles, and bend him to her will. But no woman made Reno Gabrini do anything he didn’t want to do. Not even his wife. This woman was dreaming if she thought she was going to be the exception. But she had a point. She was a paying guest. “After you,” he said, and they headed for the public elevators.

  Jimmy was just getting off of the elevator when his father walked up. He was so flustered, and so beside himself with what appeared to be shame and guilt, that he didn’t even realize his father was there, and with another woman. He brushed past them, and hurried away.

  “That was rude,” the woman said, looking at Jimmy as he rushed by.

  But Reno didn’t respond. He was too busy looking at Jimmy too. Until they had to get on the elevator, and the doors closed them in.

  “I’m Felicity, by the way,” the woman said, as she extended her hand.

  Reno, still thrown by his son’s behavior, shook her hand nonetheless. “I’m Reno.”

  “Nice to meet you, Reno. I hope we can get this matter resolved. I have a business meeting in the morning and I need my sleep.”

  “What business are you in?”

  “Import/export,” she said.

  Such a response was so vague that Reno got the message. “In other words,” he said, “none of my business?”

  She smiled. “Something like that.”

  When they arrived on the twenty-third floor, and entered her room, Reno could hear the toilet running as soon as they walked in.

  “You hear it?” Felicity asked. “It’s been that way since I checked in.”

  Reno made his way to the bathroom. She followed behind him. “I hope you can stop it,” she said as they walked.

  “Did you shake the handle?” Reno asked.

  She looked at him. “What is that supposed to mean? Shake what handle?”

  Reno glanced back at her. “The toilet handle,” he said. Then he walked up to the toilet and demonstrated. “Like this,” he said.

  “Why would I need to do something like that?” she asked. Then she smiled. “But it stopped. The noise has stopped. I didn’t know I had to shake anything.”

  “You shouldn’t have to, you’re right. It’s not supposed to work this way.” He walked over to the sink. “I’ll have maintenance come up in the morning and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He washed his hands.

  “If it does happen again,” Felicity asked, “do I have permission to ask for you?”

  “Absolutely,” Reno said, as he began drying his hand.

  “In that case,” Felicity said, and quickly lifted her dress all the way off of her body, revealing that she wore no bra. Then she just as quickly pulled down her panties, stepped out of them, and playfully kicked them aside like the pro he took her for. “You deserve to be rewarded.”

  Reno wasn’t at all surprised by her sudden switch from virgin to maven, but it didn’t matter. He began to move past her. “No reward necessary,” he said as he moved.

  But she blocked his progression. “So what’s the problem, Reno? You look like a man who knows how to have a good time. What is it? It can’t be my body. Not this body. And you’re obviously interested.” She looked down, at Reno’s bundle. He was clearly aroused. She looked back up into his handsome face. She moved closer, fondling her nipples. “What is it, Reno? Is it my body?”

  “I’m married.”

  That seemed like a non-answer to Felicity. “And?”

  “And that fact may not matter to you,” Reno said as he moved past her, “but it matters to me. Have a good night.”

  When she reached for Reno’s crotch, to squeeze it, he grabbed her by the wrist and twisted.

  “Ouch!” she screamed out.

  “Don’t fuck with me,” Reno said to her.

  “I won’t,” she said, tears of pain suddenly appearing in her eyes.

  Reno continued to hold onto her wrist, as her teary eyes only made her look sexier. He even looked down at her naked body again, which he hated his horny ass for doing. But then he released her bony wrist, and left.

  Felicity was shocked. This had not gone according to plan. In the casino, he was as interested in her as all those other men were. What went wrong, she wondered, and would they hold it against her? She quickly ran to her purse, fumbled through the contents, and pulled out her cell phone.

  As soon as Reno walked out of her hotel room, he stood at the door with his hand still on the knob. It wasn’t going away. Lately, it was on him in such a mighty way that he worked doubly hard just to suppress it. He wasn’t going to cheat on Trina, but how many more nights like this could he endure? He was accustomed to temptation. Not a day went by when he wasn’t being propositioned by some great looking female visiting his hotel or casino. But it was different when Trina was in town. He could manage it. All he had to do was go upstairs to their penthouse or, if she was staying the night at their Vegas estate, take a drive over there and get some. And whenever he was the one out of town, he usually didn’t stay longer than a couple days tops. He could manage to do without for two days. But Trina had been gone ten days. With four more to go. This shit was getting unmanageable.

  He pulled out his cell phone too, as he headed for the elevator.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Trina Gabrini poured herself another cup of coffee as she stood in her parents’ kitchen with a smile on her face. It was eight in the morning, she and the children had been on vacation for ten days, and she’d never seen her parents happier. Between their home in Dale, Mississippi, and this condo in Florida that Reno purchased for them, their retirement kept them in high cotton. But to have their two youngest grands visiting them, along with their daughter, was the stuff dreams were made of. They were overjoyed.

  “It was delicious, Katrina,” Cecil Hathaway said to his daughter. He, his wife Earnestine, and their grands were seated around the peninsular. Their plates were all completely or nearly clean of the food Trina had served. “Thank your mama for preparing breakfast for us, Dom,” he said to his grandson.

  “Thank you, Mommy,” Dominic Gabrini, Jr. said eagerly. “It was really tasty.”

  “Thank you, Mommy,” Sophia Gabrini, the youngest child, echoed. “It was really good.”

  Trina smiled. “You’re both welcomed,” she said. Both of her children were adorable to her. They were two biracial kids that everybody fell in love with instantaneously, even though they were polar opposites. One of them was as tamed as an angel. The other one, Dom, was wild.

  “What’s on the agenda for today?” Earnestine asked, and all eyes fell on Cecil. He was the event coordinator for their visit to Florida.

  “I thought the chil
dren could go out on the street corner and panhandle,” Cecil said. “They could sing some torch songs and tap dance for the people. Then we could take all the money and go on a cruise.”

  Dommi’s eyes lit up. “Really, Grandpa?”

  “No, Dommi,” Trina said. “Grandpa’s just fooling.”

  Dom was disappointed. “Really, Grandpa?”

  Cecil laughed. “I’m just fooling with you, Little Man! You know your grandpa won’t have you out on a corner begging. Although, I can book you and your sister in the rec room here at the condominium.”

  “Dad!” Trina said, and Earnestine laughed.

  “Stop worrying. I’m just kidding! I have educational things planned too.”

  Dom and Sophia attended different private schools, but both schools had an end of term vacation period that Trina always tried to make the most of. This was the first time, however, she ever took them away from home, and their father, this long. “I don’t ever want them to think that life is just a vacation,” she said to her father. “They are not now, nor will they ever be children of leisure,” she added, as the doorbell rang.

  “I agree with your concerns,” Cecil responded as he headed for the front door of the large condo with the open floor plan. “I’ve got it covered. I’ve got the good stuff you said I had to squeeze in, but I’ve also got a bumper car ride---”

  “Yea!” the children declared.

  “And other fun stuff like that. But first, we go to the children’s art museum. They have an African-American exhibit on display.”

  Trina nodded. “Sounds good, Dad,” she said, as Cecil opened the door.

  When he opened the door, and saw who was behind it, he was floored. “Reno?” he asked, and everybody looked toward the door. When Reno stepped in, looking freshly scrubbed and in a pullover shirt and jeans, his hair actually combed and in place for a change, the children’s already big eyes widened like saucers.

  “Daddy!” Dommi cried, knocking over his glass of milk as he jumped down.