Page 19 of Trina Gabrini: Bring Him Back Home to Me

Then the front door flew open and Sal Gabrini walked in.

“Uncle Sal?” asked Sophia.

“You and Carmine okay?”

“Yes sir.” But Sal looked rattled. “Are you alright?” Sophia asked him.

But Sal was already looking at Trina. “You heard from him?”

Jimmy phoned Sal while they were still at the hospital and told him how they couldn’t reach Reno. He also, privately, told him about seeing Reno with that blonde.

“I haven’t heard a word from him,” Trina said. “Not a word. You?”

Sal shook his head. “No. And me and Robby’s been everywhere I thought he could be. But nobody’s seen or heard from him.”

Dom was shocked. “Are you saying Daddy’s missing?”

Sal looked at Dom, who once worked for him. And he nodded his head. “Looks that way.”

All the children looked at their mother. And then Sal’s phone rang. He looked at the Caller ID. “It’s Robby,” he said and answered quickly. “What?”

“He’s here, Boss.”

“Reno?”

“Yes sir.” Excitement was in Robby’s voice. “He’s on his way to the penthouse now.”

“Oh thank God!” Jimmy said with relief in his voice. And Trina, exhausted, plopped down on the sofa.

But when Reno walked through that door, and they all saw the state he was in, they were anything but relieved.

CHAPTER TEN

His thick hair was spiky and all over his head. His wrinkled suit was even more disheveled than it usually was. But his eyes were what gave it all away. Reno usually had hard, focused eyes. The kind of eyes that made clear he was always thinking or scheming or sizing you up. His eyes always had the look of a man one step ahead of everybody else. But they looked wild and emphatic, and were darting from side to side like he couldn’t focus on any one person or any one thing if his life depended on it. He looked so bad that Trina and everybody in that room stood to their feet.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Sophia immediately blurted out.

But Trina was still too angry. “Where the fuck you been, Reno? Where you been? You had me worried sick!”

But Reno was looking from Trina to his children to Sal and back to Trina. And then he began hurrying up the stairs.

“Reno?” Trina said, as she hurried toward the stairs. “Soph and Carmine could have died!”

Reno stopped in his tracks. He turned and looked at Sophia and Carmine. “What happened?”

“They were in a car accident,” Jimmy said. “A really bad one.” He didn’t have the heart to mention the crash he almost endured. Reno looked worried enough.

So much so that Sophia felt a need to blurt out: “But we’re okay,” she quickly said. She could see the pain in her father’s eyes.

Reno looked at Sophia. And he found momentary solace in her sweet face. But it wasn’t enough. Their accident only seemed to stiffen, not stifle, his resolve. He hurried on up the stairs.

“Reno!” Trina yelled after him and was about to hurry up those stairs behind him.

But Sal stopped her. “Tree?” he said.

She turned and looked as he began hurrying up the stairs instead. “I’ll go.”

Trina knew Reno and Sal shared secrets she would never be privy to. And given how Reno was looking, this felt like one of those times. She stepped aside and Sal hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time.