He found him in the crowded casino.  At the blackjack tables.  As Reno walked toward him, he noticed a black lady cheering and raking in the dough.  It didn’t appear to be much, given the chips on the table, but she was happy nonetheless.  He didn’t realize the woman was with Alex Drakos until he saw Alex place his arm around her waist.  For some reason, it surprised Reno.  She didn’t seem like Alex’s type.  Especially when Reno considered that Alex had wanted to fuck his wife, a woman Reno considered to be at the top of the food chain when it came to desirable women.

But he also knew people’s taste could change.  Maybe after the death of his son, Alex was turning over a new leaf.  Getting his act together.  Or maybe he was still old Alex, fucking anything he could get his hands on.  But whatever.

“There’s the man,” Reno said as he approached.

When Alex and Kari turned toward the sound, Alex smiled too.  “Well if it’s not Reno Gabrini.  My competitor.”

“Competitor my ass,” Reno responded jokingly. “You just got in the game.  I changed the game.  You’d better get a life, motherfucker!”

Both men laughed, and Reno extended his hand.  “How are you, Alexander?”

“I’m great,” Alex responded, as they shook hands.  “How are you?”

“On the verge of a nervous breakdown,” Reno said, rifling through his already ruffled hair.  “About to put a bullet through my brain if these fuckers don’t leave me alone.  But other than that?  I’m good.”

Although Both men laughed, Kari was shocked by the bombastic style of the man before them.  Was this really the owner of the PaLargio?  He was, because Alex called him by his name.  But she was expecting some button-down stuff shirt with his nose all in the air.  But this guy, with his wrinkled-looking suit, and his unshaven face, and his bloodshot blue eyes, looked more like a gambler with a gambling problem, than the owner of the place.

Since Kari was staring at him, Reno looked at her.  “And who, may I ask, is this?” he asked.  “Or are you two not together?”

“We’re together,” Alex quickly said, and placed his hand around Kari’s waist.  “Reno, I want you to meet my lady--”

Reno interrupted him before he could continue.  “Your lady?  So you’ve got a lady now?”

“That’s right.”

Reno seemed surprised.  Kari didn’t understand why.  She knew she shouldn’t ask.  This man would probably think she was so out of their league if she did ask.  But since she already knew she wasn’t in their league, and that reality was no big deal to her, she asked anyway.  “You seem surprised,” she said to Reno.

At first, she could see a little bit of that who the fuck are you to ask me a question look in his eyes.  But then he nodded.  “I am,” he said.  “Matter of fact.”

Alex, who saw that momentary look in Reno’s eyes, too, rescued his lady and took over her questioning.  “Why would you be surprised?” he asked Reno.

“Why do you think?  The times I’ve seen you around Vegas and you had some chick on your arm, you never introduced her as your lady.  Not one time.  Meaning no disrespect, young lady,” he added, looking at Kari, “but I’m just going to tell it like it is.  Those females were just sex kittens to this guy.  They were no big deal.”  Then he looked at Alex again.  “But now, all of a sudden, you want to introduce this one as your lady?  I’d say I’m surprised.  You’ve elevated this one.”

Kari was a little shocked by how real he kept it, but Alex didn’t seem to be.

“She’s definitely not one of them,” Alex responded to Reno.

Reno smiled.  “Well good.  About time your horny ass settled down.”

Alex smiled, too.  “Who’s settling down?  I’m amped up, if anything.”

Reno laughed.

“But this is my lady, I’m very proud to say,” Alex said, continuing the introduction.  “This is Kari Grant.”

Reno smiled.  “Nice to meet you,” he said as they shook hands.  “Any kin to that other Cary Grant?  And I know, it’s a stupid question since you have the exact same name, right?

Kari smiled.  “I’m used to the question.  But my Christian name is actually Karena.  Everybody just calls me Kari, and not with a C and a Y, but with a K and an I.  So no, I’m no kin to the actor.”

Reno smiled and nodded.  “Well good to meet you, Kari.  You seem like a very nice person.  Well-spoken.  Intelligent.  Got it together in every way.  But that only begs the question.”

Kari and Alex were both confused.  “What question is that?” Kari asked.

“Why the hell are you with this loser?” Reno asked, motioning his head toward Alex.  “You can do better than him!”

Alex laughed.  Kari smiled, but then she responded.  “Actually,” she said, “I don’t think I can.  I don’t think anyone can.”

Alex and Reno said “Ooooh!” at the same time, as if they both understood that Kari had held her own against Reno’s put down of her man.  Then Alex happily turned to Kari and he and she high-fived.

“What do you say about that, old man?” Alex, grinning, asked Reno.

But Reno was staring at Kari.  He was impressed by her refusal to even joke about Alex.  “I’d say you’d better hold on tight to that one,” he said.

Alex’s smile slowly dissolved, and he and Reno exchanged a glance.  And Alex nodded.  “I think you’re right,” he said.

But Reno, a man who prided himself on getting quick reads on people, suddenly saw that side of Kari that made him understand Alex’s attraction to her.  It wasn’t about her looks, which were just okay in the full scheme of things, but it was about her guts.  She had guts.  It reminded him of his own wife.

But like Trina when she and Reno first met, Reno wondered if this one really understood what she was getting herself into?  Did she know about the real Alex Drakos?  It took Reno time and a lot of private investigators sent to Greece to find out himself.  Did she want to hitch her wagon to a man with that kind of background?  To a man with the kind of nasty life Reno himself knew all too well?

And suddenly Reno’s protective side overtook him, and he felt a need to warn her.  He looked at Kari. “He’s no angel,” he said to her.

“Neither am I,” she said to him.

Alex again laughed and shook his head.  To not just have found a good woman, but one who wasn’t too timid to stand up to Reno Gabrini, was a sight to behold.  He was loving it!

But Alex was cautious, too.  He didn’t know Gabrini well, but he’d heard he could be vindictive as hell.  Get the upper hand on him, and he’d cut you down to size.  And although Reno was smiling, too, Alex could see more at work in his big, blue eyes.

  Alex decided, once again, to run interference.  “Where’s Trina?” he asked.

Although Alex had his own motive for asking that question, Kari didn’t know his motivation.  But she did know that a sense of pain coursed through her body when he asked it.  She was not looking forward to meeting this special lady as it was!  She knew this Trina Gabrini had to be a serious piece of work to command the interest of these two titans.

“She’s meeting us at the restaurant,” said Reno casually.  Kari wondered if he even knew about the attraction Alex had had to his wife.  “You know how hard she works.  But she promised to be there.”

“Good,” Alex said.

Then Reno asked if they were ready to go.  They said that they were.

And they were off.