to little pieces.
Because Reno Gabrini was not going out like that.
Because nobody was going to take the PaLargio away from
him. Nobody.
Not even its rightful owner.
CHAPTER ONE
Present Day
The bedroom door sprang open and Dominic, Jr. and Sophia
Gabrini ran across the room and jumped onto the bed, their backpacks bouncing
as they jumped. Their father, Reno,
asleep on his back, opened his eyes as soon as he felt the bounce.
“Hey there,” he said half sleepily, half smilingly, as he
hugged his two youngest children and pulled them closer.
“Why aren’t you up yet, Daddy?” Little Sophia asked him.
“He just went to bed,” said his wife and their mother, Trina
Gabrini, as she walked toward them.
“Why do you work all day and night?” Dommi asked him.
“Good question,” Trina said, her arms folded as she stood
beside the bed. Reno and his late hours
had been a bone of contention in their marriage for years. “And I’m sure there’s no good answer.”
“I work all night,” Reno said to his son, “to keep you living
large, little man.”
“Oh go on!” Dommi said with a smile, and Reno tickled him,
causing him to laugh loudly.
“Okay guys, tell Daddy goodbye. It’s time to go,” Trina said. She was dressed for work, in a pale blue skirt
suit, and the kids wore their schools uniforms: black shirt, khaki pants for
Dommi. White shirt, plaid skirt for
Sophia. Their father, who had literally
just gotten home a couple hours ago, wore nothing beneath the covers.
The kids kissed their father, said their goodbyes, and hopped
off the bed.
After Trina leaned down and gave him a goodbye peck too, he
kept his arm around her and held her there. Then he looked beyond her. “Wait
for mommy downstairs,” he ordered his children.
“But we’ll be late,” Dommi said. When Reno gave him that chilling look Dommi
knew so well, he changed his tune. “Yes,
sir,” he said, and he and Sophia left the room.
Trina smiled. “Stop
treating him like he’s one of your wise guys,” she said.
“When he stops acting like a wise guy, I’ll stop treating him
like one,” Reno responded. “Now kiss me
like you mean it,” he said, and Trina dutifully and gladly placed her hands on
the side of his in-need-of-a-shave face and kissed him passionately this
time. So passionately that he kicked the
covers off of him, pulled her on top of him, grabbed her ass beneath her skirt
and squeezed it, as they kissed.
Dommi, on the landing, tiptoed back toward the bedroom, and
was about to peep inside.
“Dommi’s looking!” Sophia yelled from downstairs as he
peeped, and Reno looked beyond Trina. When he saw Dommi’s little biracial head coming around that corner, he
tossed a pillow at him. “Boy!” he
yelled. But he missed. Dommi had already taken off. He ran down those stairs so fast he nearly
fell.
Trina laughed and got back up. “I’d better go anyway,” she said, and headed
toward the exit.
Reno watched her tight ass as she walked. He was too tired to wake her up for sex when
he plopped down in bed five this morning. He was just too tired. Now he
craved her. “I’m going to be all over
that tonight,” he warned her.
“Bye boy,” Trina responded playfully, glancing back at him
with a whimsical smile, as she left.
Reno, satisfied that his family was okay, turned over on his
stomach, and, within seconds, was fast asleep.
Jazz Hannity stopped her Kia Sophia in front of the Shady
Ranch Bar and Grill near the outskirts of Vegas, and entered the dark, dingy,
smoke-filled bar. She spotted Andre
Jackson as soon as she entered, and headed in his direction.
“This better be good,” she said as she flapped her bag onto
the counter and sat on the bar stool beside him. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I barely have gas to
get back home. Do you realize how far
out this is? Your ass better make it
worth it.”
“Are