I wondered if the cop picked up on it, and if he actually bought our story, which we tried to spin as a random robbery and kidnapping for ransom. There was no other way to avoid exposing Adriano’s illegal gambling operation. Fortunately, Romy wanted to give us some privacy, so he’d left to run an errand after he introduced us. Otherwise, he would’ve called bullshit on the whole thing.
By the time Romy returned, his friend was putting away his notebook. The cop handed over a business card and asked us to call him if we remembered anything else. Then he paused and looked at us closely before he left. Okay, so he probably suspected we were lying, but since we were the victims of a violent crime, he wasn’t going to put us through the ringer.
Meanwhile, Romy was sweetly oblivious. “See? I told you it’d be quick and painless,” he said with a smile.
“I’m just glad to get it over with,” Reno muttered. Then he changed the subject with, “How’d it go at the bar today?”
“Fine. The new window was installed, and it only took me about an hour to clean up the glass and blood. It’s all good as new and ready for Mom when she gets back from L.A.”
“Thanks for taking care of that.”
“Not a problem.”
Reno took a sip from a glass of water, and then he asked, “What do you think of Mom’s new boyfriend?”
“I like him,” Romy said, as he got comfortable on one of the mustard yellow club chairs. “Once you get past being called ‘dude’ every three minutes, he’s actually a great guy. Best of all, he adores our mom. I think she finally found her other half, and you obviously have, too. That just leaves me, Romeo Fifth-Wheel Russo.”
I asked Romy, “You’re not currently seeing anyone?”
He tried to smile, but it was unconvincing. “Nope. I’ve officially given up on finding love.”
“At twenty-seven? That seems a bit premature.”
“I’ve been dating for a decade, and I’m over it. I really tried to put myself out there and find someone, but all it got me was heartbreak, over and over again. I’ve been dumped, cheated on, lied to—it was pretty much a dumpster fire. So, I guess I’m just destined to be single, and I’m okay with that.” No, he wasn’t. The sadness in his eyes told me otherwise, loud and clear.
“You just picked the wrong guys,” Reno said. “You’re drawn to bad boys, when what you need is someone nice. What about your friend that was just here, the cop? What was his name, Freddy? He was…”
He seemed to be at a loss for adjectives, so I tried to help. “Not horrible?”
“His name’s Frank, and god no,” Romy said. “Never mind that he’s straight. He’s also just so…”
I said, “Boring?”
At the same time, Reno guessed, “Cop-like?”
Romy shot us both a look, and then he said, “I want someone who’s passionate—about life…about me. Or I did, you know, when I was looking for love.” It made me sad that he was trying to talk himself out of something that clearly mattered to him.
He stopped talking when Dante, Charlie, and Vincent came into the room. The brothers seemed to intimidate him. I really hoped he didn’t think they were trying to replace him in Adriano’s life, because there was no way that would ever happen.
As they joined us around the coffee table, Adriano asked them, “How long are you guys planning to stay in Las Vegas?”
Dante answered for them. “Vincent will need to head back to San Francisco soon. He has little kids at home, and I know he misses them and his husband Trevor like crazy. Josh and Darwin will probably head back at the same time, since they’re both in college and ditching class to be here. And Nana’s going to do what she always does—whatever the hell she wants. As for Charlie and me, we’re planning to stay as long as it takes to resolve this situation. I brought in eight more men, by the way, so there are now two dozen people out there making waves and looking for Greco. As long as he doesn’t skip town, I expect to find him any day now.”
“I doubt he’d leave town,” Adriano said. “That’d be like admitting defeat, and he’s not about to do that.”
I asked, “What exactly is the plan, once you find him? I mean, I assume it’ll involve threatening him and beating him up, but is that really going to be enough to get him to permanently back off and leave Adriano and his family alone?”
Dante and Adriano glanced at each other, and Dante told me, “That’s entirely up to your boyfriend. Whatever Adriano decides, I’ll back him up.” I wondered just how far Reno would actually take this.
Just then, the front door was thrown open and Dante, Vincent, and Adriano tensed up and leapt to their feet. But it wasn’t a raid by Greco, it was the return of the shopping expedition.
Nana led the march into the house, daintily carrying a small, pink shopping bag. Behind her were Josh and Darwin and a short, stocky little old man they’d apparently picked up along the way. All three of Nana’s companions were loaded down with shopping bags.
Her face lit up when she saw us, and she exclaimed, “There you boys are! Adriano and Jack, meet my husband Ollie. He’s actually my second husband, due to the fact that my first one was a no-good bum. Ollie had to stay behind in San Francisco for a day to finish up a charity auction we’re putting together, but he flew out this afternoon to surprise me.”
We exchanged greetings and shook hands with Ollie, after he offloaded eight bulging bags onto the coffee table. Then Adriano introduced Romy, who asked, “Was there some kind of clearance sale at the mall?”
Ollie took a seat and put his feet up on the coffee table. “Nah. My girl just got excited, because she had a cute new family member to shop for. While she was at it, she picked up a few things for herself, of course, along with some gifts for the rest of her boys.”