Trina put her shirt-styled gown over her naked body and got into bed.  She laid on her back, staring up at her ceiling.  Outside was lively, and why not?  It was Thursday night.  People in her neighborhood always believed in four-day weekends and they were out in force tonight.  Music playing.  People laughing and talking and drinking like happy fools.  And even kids’ voices could be heard as they played ball in the streets under the street lights, while parents sat on stoops with watchful eyes.  It was not an unusual night for Trina’s world.

But it was an unusual pain Trina was experiencing because this was the third time.  The third time Reno had stood her up.  What was she supposed to take from that?  Whenever she was with him, she felt as if he wanted to make this work as badly as she did.  But every time they were apart, it was as if they weren’t on the same page at all.  Reno was in his own world, doing his own thing.  He never called.  Never just dropped by.  Why was she putting up with this?

Trina was nobody’s patsy.  She was known to love’em and leave’em without ever looking back.  But she was just getting started with Reno and already he was treating her like secondhand clothes.  What astounded her was the fact that she was allowing it!

And then her doorbell rang.  It was ten at night now, and her doorbell was ringing.  She got up, walked over to the window, and looked out.  When she saw Reno’s convertible, she exhaled.  He came alright.  Just two hours too late, and without so much as a phone call.  She stood there, wondering if she should open the door at all.  Who did he think he was?  Did other women give him this kind of latitude with their hearts?

But the doorbell kept ringing.  And then the knocks.  And then a phone call.  And she was in a quandary.  Because this man was also her boss.  Not her direct supervisor.  She had to go through probably two hundred people before she was up the chain to Reno’s level.  But that made it worse.  Because he had the final say.  There was no person above him.  She could lose her job if this budding romance petered out.  And it wasn’t any job.  It was the best, most lucrative job she’d ever had.  She closed her eyes and shook her head.  What kind of dark hole had she gotten herself into?

Instead of answering the phone call, she went to her front door.  And opened it.

Reno was standing there.  He was dressed in a nice suit, but it looked as if it had been slept in.  And his hair was a mess too.  And his eyes looked unsteady.  He had a look Trina had never seen on him before.  He looked desperate.

“I’m late,” he said.

“Yes, you are,” she said.

She waited for more of an apology.  But nothing else came.  Then he asked to come in.  Although her heart was gravely disappointed in Reno, she stepped aside, and let him in.

Reno walked in and closed the door after he did.  And they just stood there, like two people who didn’t know where to begin.

For Trina, it was all the heart of the matter.  Reno was treating her in a way that used to annoy her when other guys tried it.  The never calling her.  The missed dates.  The coming late.  It was all a pattern she usually cut off right away.  But she had actually let Reno into her home, as if he would have some grand explanation, when he was just standing there, telling her nothing.

Reno wasn’t talking because he wasn’t sure if he could complete a full sentence.  That scene in that limo still flashed through his head like lightning bolts in dark rooms.  They killed Dellboy Pizzano.  That was a good thing.  That fucker had tried to ice Reno’s father.  But they also killed the man’s wife and kid.  And that wasn’t just a bad thing.  That was, to Reno, unforgiveable.  Wives and kids were off limits.  He didn’t pull that shit.  But he had, unwittingly, pulled it tonight.

Dirty and Carmine got a mouthful from Joey.  How could they not realize the man had his wife and kid with him if they had been tailing him all day?  But, as usual, Dirty and Carmine had no clear answers.  They didn’t see who got into the limo.  They thought he was heading to a strip joint, although, they also conceded, he could have been headed to his apartment downtown.  It required the same route.  They didn’t mention that to Reno at the time.  And Reno was livid when he heard them mention it after the shooting; a shooting that saw three of their men go down on the opposite street too.

But instead of confronting Dirty and Carmine, or listening a moment longer to Joey’s self-righteous takedown of the two mobsters, Reno ordered Dirty to take him home.  And Dirty did just that.  He took Reno back where he picked him up from: the portico at the PaLargio.  Dirty tried to talk about it.  He tried to say he didn’t know what happened, and how it was that the man’s wife and kid was in that limo too.

But Reno didn’t want to hear it.  He got out and headed for his convertible, which sat near the valet station.  He wanted Trina.  He wanted to forget about what he saw, including that little girl’s innocent face, and get to Trina as fast as his fast car could take him.  And he hustled.  He got to her in record time.

But she wasn’t nearly as certain about his presence as he seemed to be.  She had too much doubt to be certain about anything at that moment.  Especially now that he was in front of her, and looked so distant from her still.  He looked as if he was miles away.  And it hurt.

She began walking away.  She figured they would have their conversation on the sofa, and she would make clear to him that she was not the one.   He couldn’t treat her anyway he pleased and think there would be no consequences.  Although, she also knew, she’d done nothing so far to disabuse him of any inkling he might have that no matter how badly he treated her, she would still be in his corner.

But before she could take a second step, Reno grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back against his body.   He stared into her beautiful eyes.  But what she saw in his, scared her.  “Reno, what’s wrong?” she asked him.

He didn’t seem able to speak.

“Reno, what is it?”

Then his eyes blinked, and they almost glassed-over.  “Take me away, Trina,” he said in an almost whisper.  “Take me away!”

He covered her mouth with his own and kissed her with such intensity that it almost seemed harsh.  He wrapped her in his arms and seemed unable to stop kissing her.

Trina was uncomfortable with this.  She wasn’t used to Reno this way!  But for some strange reason she didn’t pull away.  Somehow, she couldn’t.

And when he came back up for air, he looked her in the eyes again and leaned his forehead against hers.  “Take me away, Trina,” he said as if it was a plea.

But Trina was completely lost, and felt overwhelmed by this kind of emotion.  “Take you away where?” she asked him.

“Take me away,” he said again.

“Away where?” she asked again.

But then he was kissing her once more.  And as he kissed her, he was unzipping his pants.  Then he lifted her shirt-styled gown, lifted her until her legs were around his hips, and thrust his dick into her without putting on a condom.  Trina couldn’t believe she allowed it.  What was she thinking?  But she had allowed it.  She was letting this man get away with murder!  It was so unlike her that it frightened her.

He hadn’t prepared her for his entry, and his sudden and deep thrust inside of her vagina hurt.  Until he began stroking her.  Until his big dick caused her to get moister and moister until she was completely wet and able to enjoy his fullness without pain.

He carried her to the sofa, laid her down, and got on top of her.  And he continued making long, passionate love to her.  And continued to ask her to take him away.

She continued to ask him where, until it didn’t matter where.  They were too far gone.  She stopped asking where, and just took him away.