Page 12 of Trina Gabrini: Bring Him Back Home to Me

“If some random guy wasn’t out there and was able to shove Trina out of the way, she would have been . . . She wouldn’t have made it, Sal.”

“And you think Lydia had something to do with it?”

Reno was shaking his head. “No. The guy was skunk drunk. First chance I got I ran to that motherfucker ready to take his ass out. But he was already passed out. He couldn’t even stand up. The cops said he had to be at least six times the legal limit.”

“But still, Reno.”

“I know. It’s a possibility. Especially since Lydia just so happened to show up, take my attention away from Trina because she knew I was gonna run after her ass, and then the accident happens. I get it. It’s a possibility. But that ain’t Lydia’s style. Her games don’t be rational like that. That’s too easy.”

Sal nodded. “I agree.” Then he thought about it. “But …”

Sal didn’t finish his thought. “But what?”

“I don’t get it, Reno. What are you doing at my house right now? Your wife nearly died tonight, if what you’re saying happened like you said it happened, but you would rather go out searching for Lydia than comforting Tree?”

“Absolutely,” Reno said without hesitation. “Because if Lydia’s in town because of that other thing then none of us are gonna have any comfort. Least of which Trina if she finds out.”

It was a startling admission, but Sal knew it was true too. He stood up. “I’ll call Robby and order him to get every available man on the search. And you need to do the same with your guys.”

“No, no, no, Sal! We can’t rope anybody in on this. Are you nuts? Nobody knows but you, me, and Tommy, and we’ve got to keep it that way. You can’t even tell Robby. And you damn as sure can’t tell Gemma. She’ll run straight to Trina.”

Sal exhaled. He knew it too. “So what you want me to do?”

“Sit tight for right now. Let me make some more phone calls. I got the widest net of any human being here in Vegas. Somebody knows something they can tell me. Especially for a price. And I’m putting a hefty one on the line for intel on her ass. I’ll find out if she’s doing her own bidding, or if she’s in town on his behalf.”

“Don’t let it be on his behalf. Because if that motherfucker is involved,” Sal added as he shook his head, “it’s going to be horrific.”

Reno leaned his head back. He knew. Better than anybody alive, he knew.

But when silence took over the office, Lucky, who was listening at the door outside of the office, hurried back to the living room.

And he was right to rush because within seconds Reno came out of the office and made his way for the front door.

Lucky was lounged on the sofa strolling down his phone as if he’d never left the spot. “Leaving already Uncle Reno?” he asked when he saw Reno darting for the exit.

“Yep.”

“Tell Carmine I said hello.”

“Tell him yourself,” Reno said and walked out on.

Lucky laughed. But his laughter turned into concern after what he overheard his uncle and father talking about. Because he had so many questions: Who’s Lydia? What did they mean by the other thing? And who was this guy that two of the strongest and most powerful men in the world would be fearful of encountering again? What was that all about?

But as Reno got into his Bentley, he wasn’t trying to answer anybody else’s questions because he had too many of his own. He drove trying to figure out an answer for every single question.

He wasn’t a mile away from Sal’s house when he was alerted of a new text message. He pressed the button on his infotainment screen, and when he saw that the message was from Lydia, he immediately pulled over to the side of the road. And read it:

We need to meet. Come to Boyzie’s tomorrow. 5pm. Just you. I have news about a certain secret. If you don’t show up alone, you’ll never hear the news. Until it’s too late.

And she signed it L with a broken heart emoji. Which was the way she always signed off even when her heart wasn’t broken. That was Lydia.

But her text confirmed Reno’s worst fear. She knew something about that other thing. She couldn’t possibly know the whole story: Nobody knew that but Reno. But she knew something. Even a part of a horror story was still a horror.

“Damn, damn, damn!” Reno was so angry that he punched his steering wheel, triggering his car alarm.

He was so outdone that he leaned back against the headrest, and just let it blare.

CHAPTER FIVE