She was out of theblame me, pity megame. That was over.
But when she walked up to Reno’s perch and the guard easily stepped aside to let her through, she found herself looking more at the young woman than at Reno. Because the bitch was still grinning. As if all this shit, which happened to be Trina’s life, was so damn funny. And the fact that Reno didn’t make her get up so his wife could sit down was telling too.
Trina was so hurt that she almost turned around and left. But she never turned tail in the face of difficulties before, and despite her reduced state in everybody’s eyes, she wasn’t turning tail now. She stood straight back, like the Trina of old, and spoke her mind. “Get your ass out of my seat,” she said to the young woman.
The woman was so taken aback that she actually leaned back as if she was shocked that Trina would be so bold. She even looked at Reno, as if he was going to defend her!
But Reno was actually pleased to see that Trina had some fight left in her. He hadn’t seen that during the entirety of her recovery. And he didn’t mince words either. “You heard my wife,” he said to the young lady. “Get lost.”
Now it was Trina’s time to smile.
“What’s so funny?” the woman asked as she began getting down from the perch.
“You are,” Trina said, refusing to relinquish her smile.
The woman, now annoyed, pushed Trina out of her way with such force that Trina stumbled.
And before Trina could even think to respond, Reno had jumped down from that perch and slapped that woman so hard that she fell straight back. And Reno stood over her. “Touch her again, motherfucker,” he yelled at her. “Touch my wife again!”
Although security had blanketed them as soon as the woman pushed Trina, they were now covering them as nearby patrons in the massive casino were looking on. The woman was helped up by one of the guards. She now had a nosebleed and a big bruise on the side of her face. She held one hand against the side of her still-stinging face and was looking at Reno in shock. She wanted to tell Reno how she was going to sue his ass, but she was too afraid to say another word.
“Get her out of here,” Reno ordered, and one of the guards quickly got her away from Reno and Trina.
Then Trina looked at Reno. He could defend her honor, but he couldn’t hold a conversation with her? He couldn’t sleep in the same bed with her? Nope. She wasn’t accepting that. “We need to talk, Reno,” she said in that Trina-of-old, demanding way that got his attention. “And I mean now!”
But Reno, being the domineering person that he was, had to control that too. “Not here,” he said. Then he began heading out of the casino, into the lobby of the hotel, and into one of the small, first-floor hotel rooms. Trina followed him, but only because she knew they had to have a serious heart-to-heart.
When they entered the room, Reno closed the door behind them. He opened his suit coat and placed his hands on his hips. “What is it?” he asked her as if it was all such a bother.
Which hurt Trina even more. “Do I disgust you now?” she asked him as she searched his eyes.
But Reno frowned. “What are you talking, Tree? What disgust? Where did that come from?”
“Do you want a divorce?” Trina was matter-of-factly and too serious to be ignored. It was a yes or no answer with no bull in between as far as she was concerned. That was how serious she looked.
Reno stared at her. The idea of life without Trina was still unfathomable to him. He wouldn’t go there. Hecouldn’tgo there. “No, I don’t want a divorce,” he said. And he said it the way she wanted him to say it: straight with no chaser.
His bluntness worked as a sense of relief washed over Trina. But she also knew that was just a word. His actions over the last four months said differently. “If you don’t want a divorce,” she asked, “why did you desert me?”
Reno’s heart plunged. “What desert?” He didn’t see it that way at all. “I haven’t deserted you.”I would never desert you; he wanted to add.
“I know you hate me now,” Trina continued. “I know everybody who was in that room and listened to me tell what I’d done hate me now. I expected the hate. I deserve the hate. But you can’t ignore me, Reno, as if I no longer exist. As if I’m nothing. I won’t have that. I won’t live like that. Because that’s worse than your hatred. That’s dismissive!”
When Reno saw the pain in Trina’s eyes, and heard the agony in her voice, he stepped to her and pulled her into his big arms.
Tears were streaming down her face, but they were streaming down his face too. “I won’t live like that, Reno,” she was saying as he held her.
“You won’t have to,” he said. “You won’t have to.”
That felt like reassurance, although a big part of Trina knew it was a temporary fix. But it was more than she’d had in a long time.
And when they pulled back and Reno looked into her eyes with that look of love she hadn’t seen from him in months, her heart melted. And then he kissed her, long and sweet and with so much passion that she wrapped her arms around him and enjoyed every second of it.
Reno was overwhelmed with emotion, too, as he kissed her. It had been so long and felt so sweet that he didn’t want to stop. This was his woman. Those pair of twenty-year-olds that young lady spoke about could kiss his ass. Trina was who he wanted.
And he had to have her in every way. Kissing alone was not going to cut it.
That was why he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. He lifted her dress and removed her panties, and then he crouched down in front of her and made love to her with his mouth.
