“Tough,” said Sal. “Do what Jimmy says.”
Sophia looked at Reno. “Daddy, do I have to?”
Reno looked at her as if she was insane. “Your big brother told you to get your ass out of here. Your Uncle Sal told you to get your ass out of here. What do you think you have to do?”
“Get her ass out of here,” said Carmine, which caused Mick to almost smile. He had his eyes on that young man the same way he once had his eyes on Dominic. Not that he had ever wanted either one of them to step foot anywhere near the mob. He didn’t. It was a tough life. But to Mick people were who they were, and you couldn’t go against that. And Carmine, if he had to bet his life on it, was one day going to be a bigger boss than he was. And even more vicious.
“I know you’re hurting,” Reno said to his daughter. “I am too. We all are. But get your ass out of here and do whatever Jimmy tells you to do. You understand me? He’s only lookingout for your best interest because right now I’m in no position to look out for anybody.”
A pained look came over Reno’s face and Sophia could feel her father’s pain. And she was ashamed for adding to it. “Ma’s gonna be alright, Daddy,” she said, and hugged him. She knew how much her father loved her mother even if the world didn’t think so. Then she stood up and she and Carmine headed for the exit.
Carmine, feeling sorry for his big sister, held her hand.
But Reno wanted full protection for his children. “How many men do you have outside of this door, Sal?”
“Five.”
“Have four of them go with my children,” he said.
Sal got up and followed the children to the door. He gave the order for four of his capos to blanket Jimmy, Soph, and Carmine. He knew it didn’t take that many. Three tops, one each, would more than do the trick. But he knew Reno was too scared to leave anything to chance.
Then Sal came back inside and closed the door behind him. He went and sat next to Reno. “So the bottom line,” he said to Mick, “is that you don’t know anything either.”
“Other than the fact that somebody was blackmailing her again and that their ask was astronomical.”
“Wait what?” asked Reno. “What do you mean blackmailing heragain? This happened before?”
Mick exhaled. And sat in a chair against the wall. “Yes, it happened a year ago.”
Reno and Sal looked at each other. Both were stupefied. “What was the ask then?” Sal asked Mick.
“Fifty-one percent ownership of the PaLargio was their original ask.”
Sal and Reno were floored. “Fifty-one percent of my place?” Reno had incredulity in his voice. “They wanted fifty-one percent ofmyshit?”
Mick nodded. “But that wasn’t happening with Trina. So they settled on three million dollars.”
That was incredible to Reno too. “And Trina paid them?”
“Yes,” Mick said and looked at them. Because he knew they both knew what that meant.
“Are you telling me that my wife paid blackmailers three million dollars a year ago and I knew nothing about it?”
“That’s what I’m telling you.”
“Damn,” said Sal. “To first ask for fifty-one percent, and then to agree to three million bucks? That must mean they’ve got some heavy shit on Trina.”
“But there’s nothing heavy for them to have on her,” Reno insisted. “I’m tired of people acting like my wife has some double life she’s living and I know nothing about it. She doesn’t roll like that. She’s an upfront person who tells it like it is and she hides nothing from me. So get that shit out of your heads,” he ordered. “Get it out of your heads right now!”
Sal and Mick looked at each other. First of all, nobody ordered them to do anything. Mick, the most powerful mob boss in the entire world, and Sal, the number two most powerful boss, didn’t take orders from anybody.
But second of all, they understood what Reno was doing. He was scared to death of the truth and was therefore lashing out. Hell, they loved Trina. They were scared of the truth too.
But Mick refused to visit fantasylands. Trina had a secret. That was a fact. “Maybe there’s a tie-in to Dominic’s situation,” he said. “I’ve got my guys looking into it.”
“Mine too,” said Sal. “But so far they’re turning up blanks. I just wished we knew what Trina knows.”
“Since this is their second time around with the shakedown,” said Sal. “What’s their ask this time? Same thing?”
