him up.” And then Reno released the button and exhaled.
But nobody spoke. Nobody wanted to get anybody’s hopes up. So they remained silent until Von walked into that living room.
He nearly stopped in his tracks when he saw Sophia again. And the pain on her face! He felt that pain.
Sophia’s heart was already hammering as soon as she heard his name, and now it was fluttering too. Why was he there, she wondered? What did he know?
And Reno gave him no grace. “Okay, what is it?” he asked him. “What your ass want now? You know where my boy’s at?”
“No, sir,” Von said.
Reno frowned. “Then what the fuck are you doing here? Don’t you realize my son’s been snatched?”
“Yes, sir, I heard about it.”
“Then what do you want if it’s not about my son?”
“I don’t know where they took your son,” Von said, and then he swallowed hard. “But I know who took him.”
They all were stunned. Everybody was looking at Von. “Who?” asked Reno.
“You know who took him?” asked Trina.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Who?” Trina asked nervously.
Von exhaled. “I was on my way to my old man’s house when I get the Amber alert on my phone that says your son is missing.”
“Who took him?” Reno asked anxiously.
Von exhaled again. “My old man took him,” he said.
Everybody was shocked. And everybody took on their feet. “Your old man?” Reno asked, beyond shocked. “The contractor?”
“Yes, sir.”
Reno could hardly believe it. “What’s his beef with me?”
“I thought it was my brother’s death,” said Von.
“Your brother? Who the fuck’s your brother?”
“Alphonso Dorsey.”
Reno shook his head. “Never heard of him.”
“That’s because I just found out that his death had nothing to do with it,” Von said. “I’ll take you to my old man, but first you need to understand why he did what he did. You need to understand the kind of rage you’ll be up against.”
“Tell us,” said Mick. He was a firm believer in never going in blind. He wanted the whole story first, if he could get it. He also wanted a minute to judge this kid for himself: were they walking into a trap?
And Von proved to be a bold young man, even in the face of such power. “Take Sophie out of the room,” he had the nerve to say.
Reno frowned yet again. “Who the fuck you think you are? We aren’t taking her anywhere!”
“I want her out of the room,” Von said bluntly.
Every man in that room stared at Von, including Reno. Because he stood his ground. Because they all decided that it wasn’t himself he was protecting. It was Sophia.
Everybody decided that, except Dommi. “Who gives a shit what you want?” he asked him. “You don’t run this up in here!”
“Sophia,” said Reno, “you and Destiny go to your room.”
Sophia was staring at Von, too. But she was an adult now and she was not going to be treated like a child. “No,” she said. “He’s my brother too. I’m staying.”
“You’re going,” said Von. There was no way she needed to hear this about her father. That was why he added, with a plea in his voice: “Please.”
His plea captured Sophia’s heart. He came across as an emotionless man, but he was so emotional too! And she knew he was protecting her. But she had to know the truth. She was grown now, and she was a Gabrini. She needed to know what it really meant to bear that name. “I’m okay, Giovanni. I can take it.”
But Tommy and Grace looked at each other. They weren’t so sure if they wanted Destiny taking it.
But Destiny, knowing her parents and how extra they could be about shielding her from the realities of being a Gabrini, spoke up for herself. “I can take it too,” she said.
Grace looked at Tommy. Tommy nodded. And then all eyes were back on Von. “Now tell us why,” Trina said. “Why does your father hate my husband so much?”
“You know that casino on the north end of the Strip?” Von asked.
“Yeah, we know it,” said Sal. “Somebody just bought it. Why?”
“My father planned and saved and did everything right for nearly a decade to try and get a foothold on the Strip. And when that casino came up for auction, he knew that was his chance. Once in fifty years does prime real estate become available on the Strip, and Pop knew it was his one and only opportunity in his lifetime. He had dreams of having the first black-owned casino on the Strip, and