Reno's Gift (Mob Boss Series) Read Online Free PDF

his father really was.   “I could never hate you, Pop,” he said
firmly.
    It
was unspeakable, Reno decided.   He also
decided that dwelling on it would only make it worst.   He therefore looked at Jimmy and smiled.   “So you don’t hate me?”
    “No,”
Jimmy said, glad to see a smile on his old man’s face.   “I’ll never hate you.”
    “Oh,
yeah?   Then why are you calling me
Pop?   You only call me Pop when you’re
upset with me.”
      Jimmy frowned.   “What?”
    “You
only call me Pop when you’re upset with me.”
    “No,
I don’t.”
    “Yes,
you do,” Reno said firmly.   “That’s the
only time that word comes out of your mouth.   Otherwise, I’m Dad.”
    Jimmy
smiled and then laughed.   “Pop, I mean
Dad, I mean fuck!”  
    Reno
laughed.  
    “I
call you Pop,” Jimmy said, “whenever we’re discussing something heartfelt.   I noticed that a long time ago.   It just comes out like that.”
    “Heartfelt,
hun?”
    “That’s
right.”
    “So
when you were calling me Dad during that business conversation we had a few
minutes ago, meant we weren’t discussing anything heartfelt?   Right?”
    Jimmy
wanted to laugh.   “I walked right into
that one, didn’t I?”
    “Slammed
right into it,” Reno offered.
    “From
here on out you’re Pop, okay?   No matter
how I feel.   No misunderstandings could
possible come from that.   Deal?”
    Reno
chuckled.   “Deal,” he said and he and his
son shook hands.   Then Reno turned
serious again, and kept his son’s hand in his grasp.   “Just know you mean everything to me, James,”
he said.   “I love you dearly and I’ll
never hurt you again.”
    “You
didn’t hurt me that time, Pop.   That
wasn’t on you.   That was all on Tony
Tufarna.   And I’m sure,” Jimmy added,
looking his father dead in the eyes, “you took care of Tony Tufarna.”
    Reno
never wanted his son to know that side of him.   He never wanted his son exposed to the kind of violence he was exposed
to.   But Reno’s father was a mob boss and
that mob life latched onto Reno like a second skin.   It never let him go.   He never joined any mob or any crime family
or syndicate, but he didn’t have to.   He
never visited the rodeo, but the rodeo kept visiting him.   Now Reno had enemies that his son was taking
on as his own.   And although Reno never
visited the rodeo, Jimmy Mack seemed to be itching for an invitation.
    “Yes,”
he said to his son, “I took care of Tony Tufarna.”
    Jimmy
was pleased, and couldn’t suppress it.   He smiled.   “Good,” he said.
    “I
hated to have to go there,” Reno said.   “That level of violence always takes something out of a man.   But I had to go there.”
    Jimmy’s
smile dissolved.   His father always
brought him back to earth.   His father
always had a way of reminding him that there were always consequences.
    “Let’s
go,” Reno said, patting his son on the leg as he stood to his feet.
    “Where
to?” Jimmy asked as he began following his father.
    “Café
just past the Tropicana.   I’ll race you
there.”
    “You’ll
race me?   Are you serious?”
    “As a
heart attack,” Reno said and took off running.   When Jimmy realized that his father wasn’t joking around, he took off
after him.  
    As
father and son ran along the boardwalk, generating looks and comments by their
sudden burst of activity alone, Jimmy was nonetheless confident that he would
eventually overtake Reno.   Reno was fast
for a man his age, but Jimmy was in a different league.   Even with his father’s head start, Jimmy just
knew he would overtake him. His age, and pride, demanded it.
    But
as they ran past Caesar’s Palace, and Donald Trump’s hotel, and store after
store after store, Jimmy continued to lag.   It was a matter of a mere second or two, but Reno made it to the café
first.  
    There
was a difference once they arrived, however.   Whereas Reno was now hunched over, barely able to catch his