Free Reno and Trina: In the Shadows of Love, Book 12 by Mallory Monroe

husband.   “He wouldn’t fire Quinn,” she said, “because
there was no proof.   Yet he fired
you.   What was the proof that caused him
to let you go?”
    “Quinn had slept with a couple of Reno’s business
associates and got them to claim that I went behind his back and promised to
float them details of negotiations they weren’t privy to if they paid me a
certain amount of money.   It was a pack
of lies, but they backed Quinn when she told Reno about it, in essence backing
Reno into a corner.   He had no choice but
to fire me.”
    Trina considered Amy.   “And that was the only reason?”
    “Oh, yes, ma’am.   Loyalty is everything to Reno.   He’d rather you do anything to him than be disloyal.   He thought I was disloyal.   And fired me.”
    “Were you disloyal, Amy?” Trina asked her.
    Tears appeared in Amy’s big eyes.   “No, ma’am.   I was never disloyal to that man.   Never.”   She reached into her
handbag for a napkin.
    “It’s okay,” Trina said
    “I didn’t mean to cry,” Amy said as she wiped her eyes
quickly, to preserve the little makeup she did have on.   “It’s just that it’s been so hard to be
shunned like this.”   She looked at Trina.
“And you’re the only person who ever asked me what happened.   You’re the only person who gave me a chance
to explain.”
    “I would have given you a chance right away, if you
would have returned my calls, or showed up for our scheduled meeting.”
    Amy shook her head.   “That’s a long story, too, ma’am,” was all she
would say about that.
    Trina leaned back.   She looked at Amy’s impressive resume, then she looked at Amy.   “I don’t know if you went behind Reno’s back
with his business associates, I don’t know if you did that or not.   And I will be looking into it, I assure
you.   And if it turns out that what
you’re telling me is a bunch of bullshit, I’ll personally make sure that you
won’t be able to get a waitress job in this city.”
    Amy nodded her head.   She heard that Trina, as a boss, could be as ruthless as Reno.   “I’m telling you the truth, Mrs. Gabrini,”
she said.   “I didn’t go behind Reno’s
back. I wouldn’t have ever done something like that to him.”
    “Then you’ll be fine.   But I can’t put you back at the PaLargio.”
    Amy looked at her.   “You can’t?”
    “No,” Trina said bluntly.   “Reno’s not going to let me.   And yes, I said that.   I help run that company, that’s the truth.   But at the end of the day Reno has the final
say.   And he’s not going to say yes to
your return.   Once he shuts that door on
you, it’s closed forever.   But I do need
a person like you here, at Champagne’s.   You can start as an assistant manager so that I can see what you’re made
of, and if you can handle that, we’ll see.”
    Amy stared at Trina.   “Does that mean . . . Are you saying that you’re hiring me?”
    Trina smiled.   “That’s what I’m saying,” she said, and before she could finish, Amy had
jumped from her seat and was hugging Trina’s neck.  
    Then she backed off. “I’m so sorry, Mrs.
Gabrini.”   She was in tears again.   “It’s just that it’s been such a hard road,
and I didn’t know how I was going to make it.”
      Trina stood
up.   “Well you’ve made it now,” she said,
removing her glasses.   Then she pointed
those same glasses at Amy.   “But don’t
fuck with me,” she said, “or you’ll regret the day you ever stepped foot into
this store.”
    “I won’t let you down, ma’am.   I promise.”
    Trina wasn’t sure about that either.   But she had to give her a shot.   Because she knew that sometimes people were
sabotaged.   And sometimes conspiracies
did exist.   Sometimes people did follow
paranoid people.
    “I’ve got to get back on the floor,” she said.   “I’ll get one of the ladies to bring you the
hiring packet for you to fill out and complete.   Bring it to me