CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
A week later and Reno and Trina sat together on a lounger on their terrace just outside of the penthouse parlor. Dommi sat in a chair beside them, while Sal and Gemma and Monk and Ashley sat on the terrace too.
Ashley removed Monk’s fedora hat he always wore and put it on her own head, which allowed everybody to see just how thick and beautiful Monk’s dark hair truly was.
“If I had hair like yours,” Sal said to Monk, “no way would I be hiding it beneath a hat all the time like you do.”
“But that’s always been Frankie,” said Reno. “He don’t give a shit about that. He’s got hair that’s better-looking than most ladies’ hair. He’s got those big-ass eyes that’s better-looking than most ladies’ eyes. But he’s still so … so monkish.”
They all laughed. They were sipping wine and watched as the Vegas skyline sparkled in flashing lights over the Strip. Sharpshooters were on the roof just in case an attack was launched, and they had their own drones ready to go if needed. It was a safe space.
Reno answered two phone calls back-to-back as they continued to small talk. Then he ended the last call.
“Who was that?” Trina asked him.
“The first call was from Tommy. The second call was from Big Daddy. They both wanted to know if we needed them to come back to town. But I told them nope. We still haven’t found Rats.”
“You should have told them we aren’t even needed the way Uncle Mick was going about it,” said Sal. “The way he dropped us off like we’re little kids.”
“I still can’t get over how he lied about Rats being a member of that club or whatever it is,” Reno said. “And you’re right. He did drop us off so he could go it alone to find Rats. As if we would slow him down.”
“It’s because Rats is a member of Fort Knots,” said Monk. “He has protection. Since Mick owns it, he’s the only one can break down that wall of protection. That’s why he had to go it alone. But he has to find him first.”
They looked at Monk. “How come you know so much about it, Frankie?” Reno asked him. “Are you a member?”
“No, Uncle Reno,” said Ashley. “Frankie doesn’t need to be a member. It’s not for mob or even mob-adjacent people. It’s for regular people.”
“Then how come Rats is a member, Miss Know-it-All, when he’s all mob?” Reno asked her.
Ashley looked puzzled. “Who’s Rats?”
Reno realized she had no business knowing any of it. “And how would you know anything about Fort Knots anyway?” Reno looked at Monk. “You let her sit in on discussions of that magnitude, Frankie?”
“It depends on the discussion,” said Monk. “But no. I would not have allowed her to sit in on that level of conversation.”
“Then why is she here right now?” asked Sal.
“Because she already knows about it,” said Monk.
“How?” asked Reno.
“I am a Sinatra you know,” said Ashley. “I hear a lot. Especially from Auntie Amelia.”
Reno shook his head. “That Millie is gonna be the death of all of us one day with her big mouth. But since this is my house, and since we’re talking about certain things and certain other things, you hearing a lot won’t work here. So Ashley?”
Ashley exhaled. She knew what was coming next. “Yes, Uncle Reno?”
“Get lost.”
Everybody looked at Reno like he was insane. “Pop!” said Dommi. “You can’t disrespect Monk Paletti like that. Do you realize who he is?”
“I know who his ass is. What do you take me for?”
“Then you can’t talk to his wife that way.”
“I’m not talking to his wife. I’m talking to Ashley Sinatra. Now get out of here, Ash. Go inside with people your own age.”
Ashley looked at Monk. But Monk was already looking at Reno. “Say what you have to say, Reno. You have that right.” He was calm, and strong. “But what you’re not going to do is handle my wife. She stays.”
Ashley snuggled against Monk. Reno stared at Monk. He knew why he got his nickname: He didn’t smoke, he didn’t drink, he didn’t run around with women like everybody in mob land did. And he didn’t allow anybody to push his buttons. Except, in Reno’s view, young, party girl Ashley.
“Ashley is young, gifted, and black,” he said to Monk.
“She’s a prize, I get it. But again, she’s young.
Much younger than you, and much, much younger than the rest of us.
Keep her on a leash or she’ll break free and bite you right up your ass one of these days.
You mark my words. I’m more experienced than any man alive concerning these matters. ”
Trina looked at him. “Concerning what matters?” she asked him.
Dommi, Sal, and Gemma laughed. Ashley did too.
Reno frowned. “Whatever,” he said.
And then the doors to the terrace opened from inside the parlor, and Robby Yale, Sal’s underboss, stepped out. “Uncle Mick just called,” he said.
“And?” said Reno.
“The package has been delivered.” Then he went back into the house.
Every single person on that terrace, except for Ashley and Gemma who knew their husbands weren’t going to let them go, started standing up.
But Reno sat Trina right back down. “Not this time, sweetheart,” he said to her. Then he looked at his son. “Dom, you stay here with the family too.”
“But Pop! You can’t keep doing this to me!”
“Oh yeah? Says who?”
“Reno,” said Trina.
Reno settled back down. “It’s no disrespect to your new role,” he said. “But somebody’s gotta stay back with the family.”
“Robby Yale is here, and Malcolm’s here, and even Jimmy’s here too.”
“And Jimmy is capable. But he’s corporate. I need the other side. You’re the other side.”
“What about Robby Yale?” asked Dommi. “He’s the other side too.
“You’re staying Dom,” Reno said firmly.
Dom, upset, left the terrace.
“I hope he stays anyway,” said Ashley. “He’s the only one who knows how to have any fun around here.”
“Well thanks a lot,” said a smiling Gemma.
“You know what she means,” said Sal. “You and Tree are out of her league.”
Monk looked at Sal.
Sal realized what he had said. But he wasn’t taking it back. “Let’s just go,” he said with a frown on his face as he hurried off of the terrace. The ladies laughed. Including Ashley.
But Monk took his hat off of Ashley’s head and put it on his own head.
Once he smoothed down the brim, he looked at her.
He knew that little remark by Sal hurt her.
She was the party girl of the family. And because of that, and because she always wanted to have some fun, she was always thought of as less-than no matter who she was around or in which room she sat.
And he didn’t like it. “You okay?” he asked her.
She smiled. “I’m good.” Even when she was in pain, she could still find a smile. “Just go get the bad guys.”
Monk smiled. “Behave,” he said.
“Beehive?” asked Ashley sarcastically. “Did you say Beehive? Is Beyonce here?” Then she grinned. Gemma and Trina laughed too. That Ashley, they thought. Although Trina just wanted Reno and company to get downstairs and get some more intel on what was going on.
Reno could tell Monk had his hands full with Ashley. Any man would. And after the rumors he’d been hearing about her behavior in Jersey, he knew Monk was probably overwhelmed with keeping his tabs on his syndicate and his wife too. It had to be a lot.
But they all had baggage to carry. And right now, they had work to do. “Let’s go,” he said to Monk, tapping him on his chest, as they made their way off of the terrace, through the parlor, and down the hall that led to the foyer.
At the dinning room table, Jimmy, Malcolm, and Robby were playing cards. Dommi was standing beside as he grabbed Jimmy’s bottle of beer and took a swig. They watched as Reno, Sal, and Monk left the penthouse.
“You should be with them, Dom,” Robby said.
“That’s what I say too,” said Dom. “But with my old man and my uncles and Monk Paletti too all up my ass? It’ll never happen.”
“It’ll happen,” said Jimmy as he tossed down a card. “But with restrictions.”
Dom looked at his big brother. “What kind of restrictions?”
“You’re in their club now. You’re a boss now. But you will always be the mob boss who comes with parental supervision.”
They all laughed. But Robby was laughing too hard for Dommi’s taste. He slapped him playfully upside his head. “Very funny,” he said.