Page 18 of Trina Gabrini: Bring Him Back Home to Me

Carmine was shocked. “You drove all the way from Mississippi? That’s nearly a twenty-four-hour drive.”

“Fortunately, I had flown to Salt Lake City to extradite a prisoner when Ma called me. Since there were no flights out any time soon, and for the time it would take the pilot to get Pop’s plane ready and cleared for takeoff, hours would have passed by. Especially since he wasn’t even on standby. So I decided to rent a car and drive here. It was only a five-hour drive.”

“That sounds more reasonable,” Carmine said as they all sat down in the various sofas and chairs in the large living space.

“What time did you get here?” Sophia asked.

“Only about thirty minutes ago. I was going to come to the hospital, but Ma said y’all were about to be released. So I came straight here.”

“I still can’t see somebody like you as the sheriff of a whole town,” Sophia said.

“I still can’t see me as one either,” Dommi said with a grin.

“You hate it?” Carmine asked him.

“Love it,” said Dommi. “Is it my dream life? No. Nowhere near it. But it’s what I need more than what I want. And like Ma says: Needs should always come first.”

“What about Mariah?” Sophia asked. “Now that you’ve got that gangster life out of your system, does she need you again? Is she and the baby coming back to you?”

“I keep telling you she found somebody else. She’s either married to the joker or getting married. One of the two. She doesn’t want to be a Gabrini.”

“Now that’s just too bad,” said Trina. “Because she’s got a Gabrini baby and that baby will always be a Gabrini. I haven’t seen my grandbaby in months. She keeps telling me she’s working on it, but that’s not fair.”

“You should go for custody, Dom,” said Sophia.

“No he shouldn’t,” Trina shot back. “Don’t ever take a baby away from the mama unless that mama is incapable. Mariah is more than capable. But you do need to get court-ordered visitation rights.”

Dom nodded. “I’m working on it,” he said.

“You sound like Mariah,” said Sophia, and they laughed.

“I’ll talk to her okay? I got a lot on my plate right now,” Dommi said.

“Have you fallen for one of those Mississippi southern belles yet?” Jimmy asked him.

“I’m not starved for attention,” Dommi said with a smile. “Let’s just put it that way.” And they all laughed.

“Where’s Pop?” Dom asked when the laughter died down.

Everybody looked at Dommi. “He’s not downstairs?” Trina asked him.

Dommi shook his head. “No ma’am. I stopped by the casino when I first came in, but the last time anybody saw him was like around lunch time today. Or yesterday since it’s four in the morning now.”

Trina looked at Jimmy. They’d both been trying to reach Reno all night. “Something’s wrong,” Trina said as she stood up, pulled out her phone, and tried to call Reno again.

“What’s so wrong?” Dom asked. “Pop’s been known to stay out late at night all the time, Ma.”

“Late at night yes,” said Jimmy. “But not all night. And he always answered Ma’s phone calls. I’m with Ma. Something’s wrong.”

They all sat there, looking at their mother. Trina ended the call.

“Still no answer?” Jimmy asked her.

“Nothing. It just rings and rings and go to Voice Mail.”

“Leave a message,” Carmine said.

“I’ve left twenty already,” said Trina. “What more you want?”