The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3) (13 page)

He wanted to see him, but he was mad as hell at him. First, Nova threw Tino under the bus over the ADHD and jumping off the landing. Then he puked all over Miss Laura’s shoes, which freaked Tino the hell out because Nova never lost his cool.

Now there was a fuckload of stairs, a broken leg, his elbows scraped up and bleeding from biting it on the driveway, and no one to give a shit. Just his father gesturing to the building over in the corner of the property behind the pool.

Yeah, a fucking pool.

In his next life, Tino was going to be a legitimate mafia brat instead of a bastard. In
this
life, it’d be nice for Nova to show up and be a brother sometime in this century. If Tino had broken his leg two days ago, he’d have both his brothers fussing over him. Today, he was tired as hell and trying to take the stairs with crutches all by his lonesome.

Though he supposed out of the three of them, Tino wasn’t the one who should be bitching. Romeo was in jail for attempted murder, and Tino was almost positive it was some sort of setup.

He kicked the door open to the place above the garage.

“
Ehi, stronzo
,” he called out to Nova and then looked around at all the boxes stacked in the room. “Jesus, what a shithole.”

So much for living it up.

He wasn’t real sure how Nova was going to fix this shit storm, but Tino wished he’d hurry up and do it. In the meantime, Tino was hoping to find out more about the sister he didn’t know.

“Asshole,” he called out again, this time in English, but was met with nothing but silence.

Tino kicked the door closed, already sick of these fucking crutches. This room had to be used as a storage area. There were mattresses everywhere, shoved up against the walls, and so many boxes the whole place smelled like mildewed cardboard.

Where the hell were they supposed to sleep? Tino found a room off the kitchen and pushed the door open, seeing one bedroom, with a bed in the corner and a bathroom.

He shrugged at that, figuring it was workable.

Truth again.

He and Nova slept in the same bed until their ma died.

Two bedrooms, three boys. They had one of those bunk beds that was bigger on the bottom. Romeo slept on top; Tino and Nova slept on the bottom. Then when Romeo moved into their mother’s room after she was gone, Tino slept on top.

Nova lost that fucking bet.

Closer to the ground meant closer to the rats.

Tino shuddered and looked around again. Thousand bucks said the only rats in Dyker Heights were in this room.

“
Penso che tuo fratello sia uno stronzo.
”

Tino turned around, seeing the girl from the fence standing at the front door. He frowned at her, ’cause how could he not? She had on one of those expensive designer dresses Tino saw on the girls uptown, like their parents brought home living dolls from the hospital instead of kids.

Except her socks didn’t match—one was a blinding shade of yellow; the other was bright pink, which in no way matched with the pale blue dress she was wearing. It came down to midknee, which was a poor choice on her mother’s part. The ink looked like it’d been rubbed at a lot, but Tino could still see the giant peace signs she’d drawn on each kneecap.

“
Io lo odio
,” she said slowly, raising her eyebrows. “
E odio anche te.
”

Tino laughed. “You don’t even know me. Hating me already?”

The girl looked so shocked he wondered if she tried her little trick on Nova. Tino was sure that went over fantastic, because though he could understand her, her words were stilted and broken. It was obvious her Italian was a work in progress.

“I speak Italian,” he said simply in Italian, speaking slow so she could understand him. “So does my brother. That’s all we speak at home.”

He left out that was all they spoke until his ma died.

“Oh.”

She considered that, glancing down at her shoes that were also colored on with designs of hearts and flowers and peace symbols.

“My ma’s been drinking since he got here.” She lifted her head and stared at him with those dark Nova eyes. “You should stay away from her when she drinks.”

“I plan to stay away from her
all
the time,” Tino assured her. “Do you know where my brother is?”

“He made my daddy sign a buncha papers. He said something about a lawyer and a car.” Carina scowled at Tino. “He’s a weird teenager.”

She didn’t know the half of it, but he didn’t trust her well enough to admit anything. He just pulled the pills out from the waistband of his pants where he’d stuck them, and tossed them on the bed.

“My name’s Carina,” she announced as she followed him in the bedroom.

“I heard.” Tino remembered their father saying it.

“What’s your name? Daddy didn’t say. I know your brother’s name is Casanova, but he didn’t tell me there was another one.”

“Valentino,” Tino said and then added, “Tino.”

“Well, which one is it?”

“Just Tino.”

“What happened to your leg?”

“Broke it jumping off the landing.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Like a bitch.”

“Your arm’s bleeding. Do you want me to get the first-aid kit?” she asked as she tilted her head and looked at his arm.

Tino shrugged. “Sure.”

Not like he had anything else to do.

* * * *

“Got it,” his sister Carina announced when she came back into the room ten minutes later, carrying a big box of supplies. She was breathless, as if she’d run the whole way back. “I brought pens to sign your cast, and my
zio
gave me some temporary tattoos to piss my ma off. Maybe we can decorate your new room or something.”

“Why would a gift piss your ma off?” Tino asked from his spot on the floor, because the couch had boxes on it and moving boxes while on crutches was not easy.

Carina didn’t explain as she sat down next to him. She pulled the first-aid kit out of the box and opened it as she said, “I have a best friend. She’s my BFF forever.”

“Doesn’t the last F stand for
forever
? So she’s your best friend forever forever?” Tino asked with a frown as Carina grabbed his arm and then sprayed something on it that made him grunt. “Son of a bitch.”

“I’d take a bullet for her,” Carina went on as she ignored his pain. “So I don’t need your brother to be my brother. Brianna’s like my sister.
My real sister.
I don’t need him.”

Were they still talking about Nova? He must have left a lasting impression. “What did he say to you?”

“I came up here to say hi. I was real nice too, even if he made my ma drink the whole damn box of wine, and he told me to take my spoiled
guinea-pig
ass back where it came from.”

Wow, that was ghetto, even for Nova.

She glared at Tino as if he was the guilty party. “I know what it means.”

“I’m sorry,” Tino said as his sister put a bandage on his arm. “He’s having a bad day.”

“I hate him.”

“I guess,” Tino agreed. He’d probably hate Nova too if that was the first thing Nova ever said to him. “I don’t like that term. I never say it.”

“I don’t like it either,” she whispered and sat cross-legged in front of him. “Do you think I’m too dark?”

“What?” Tino frowned at her again. She was dark by Italian standards, very Sicilian looking, with long black hair that was thick, shiny, and wavy. She was tan too, probably because of the pool, but he wasn’t sure why it was an issue. “Why do you think it matters?”

“My ma has blonde hair. Real blonde. She calls me a little guinea. Says I’m dark like my daddy. I never believed her, but now your brother—”

“Look, Nova didn’t know you were sensitive about it,” Tino promised her. “And who the fuck is he to be calling anyone a guinea? Tell him to look in the friggin’ mirror the next time he says it.”

“My ma freaked when she saw him,” she whispered softly.

“Yeah, I bet.” Tino studied Carina again, who, up close, looked so much like Nova it was bizarre. Only she was petite and feminine in a way Nova would never be, and it was sorta freaking Tino out, like seeing what his brother would look like as a girl, so he asked, “How old are you?”

“Twelve.”

“Get out!” Tino shouted, first because she was so small and second because, “I’m twelve!”

“Whoa, you’re pretty big for twelve,” she said in surprise. “When’s your birthday?”

“November.”

“Mine’s in December.”

The two of them sat there in shock for one long moment before Tino pointed out, “That is fucked-up.”

“We’re like twins,” Carina decided, ignoring that their father knocked up their mothers at almost the same time. “Cosmic twins.”

“This is freaky.” Tino was still trying to wrap his mind around having a sister he didn’t know about.

Who looked like Nova.

And was only a month younger than him.

“I should decorate your cast,” Carina announced as she reached into her box of supplies and pulled out a handful of pens. “I grabbed metallic, so they’ll show up on the black. I wonder what would happen if we put temporary tattoos on it. You think we could get them to stick? Would you let me try?”

“Sure. I got no friends here. The only one who’s signing it is you, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Carina pulled out a big plastic container of temporary tattoos. “Two thousand.” She held it out to Tino. “My record is five hundred.”

Tino took the container, seeing that they were all butterflies and flowers. “Record for what?”

“Most tattoos at one time.”

“You put five hundred tattoos on at one time?” Tino laughed, his eyes wide. “No wonder your ma hates them.”

“Sarah Rapoli dared me once in second grade. I had a whole pack. She said I wouldn’t do it.” Carina gave him a smug smile. “I did it.”

“You got stugots,” Tino whispered, remembering his father saying it outside.

“Gross.” Carina uncapped a shiny pink pen. “You sure I can decorate it? Any way I want?”

“What do I care?” Tino shrugged. “Basically stuck in the house for eight weeks anyway. Do your worst.”

“You got it.” Carina leaned down to draw a big pink flower on his cast.

* * * *

The problem was, there was no television in this room.

Nova was missing in action.

Carina’s mother was clearly too drunk to notice she was gone.

Their father didn’t give a shit…about either of them.

And they had a box of two thousand temporary tattoos.

When Nova finally decided to show back up, he just paused at the open door, looking to where they were sitting, now surrounded by hundreds of strips of paper, wet towels, and bowls of water.

Carina pulled back the paper she’d been pressing against her forehead and then whispered to Tino, “Is he gonna freak out?”

Tino nodded. “Probably.”

“He dared me,” Carina offered to Nova, as if hoping he spoke the same language they did.

“And she had a record to break,” Tino added, though he knew Nova didn’t speak their language at all.

Nova still hadn’t moved, hadn’t closed the door, but he did put a hand to his mouth as he stood there staring at them.

“They’re temporary,” Tino pointed out.

“I have to be seen in public with you.” Nova sounded a little manic, as if he was on the verge of losing his lunch again. “We have to go back to Harlem and get our shit.”

“They come off after a few showers,” Carina said with the authority of a girl who knew.

“Oh, great.” Nova laughed, though there was no humor in it as he jerked the door closed so hard the frame shook. “That’s gonna be so easy with a cast.” He stormed over to the two of them, the anger pulsing off him so potently Carina shrank back. “What part of
stay the fuck out
did you not get, baby guinea?”

Carina lifted her chin, her dark eyes narrowed, and she did a damn good job of hiding the hurt.

Tino still grabbed the crutch resting against the couch and swung it like a bo staff. It was awkward, but the bo staff was one of his stronger skill sets. Nova crashed like a ton of bricks between them, the papers under his arm flying everywhere.

Then, just because Tino had his own reasons to be pissed off at Nova, he kicked him in the head.

With his cast.

Holy shit!

Tino nearly blacked out from the pain. Then Nova jerked his good foot, forcing Tino onto his back so fast it knocked the air out of him. Carina grabbed a bowl of water and threw it at Nova to stop him.

“Cazzo!” Nova forgot about Tino and jumped to save his papers, most of which were dripping wet. He held one up, staring at it with wide eyes. “This was a power of attorney.”

Carina looked at it in horror. “That sounds important.”

“Do you know what I went through today?” Nova screamed at her. “Do you know what I had to do to get this? Do you have
any
concept how hard it was to get in to see my brother in lockup without a guardian and have him sign these? GET OUT!”

Carina didn’t have to be told twice. She got up and ran for the door. She left her supplies behind, but Nova made sure she had them when he tossed the entire box after her.

By the time Nova got back, Tino had mostly caught his breath and was about to tell him what a ginormous asshole he was, but then Nova did something Tino hadn’t seen him do since the day they took Ma’s dead body away.

He fell down on his knees in the middle of that storage-filled room. Face in his hands, he let out a sob. Then he just bent in half and pressed his forehead against the floor, his entire body quaking from the pain as if he had waited until right now to let it loose. So Tino did the only thing he could think of. He forgot about his broken foot and Nova being a ginormous asshole and crawled over to his brother.

Nova grabbed him. He buried his face against Tino’s shoulder and cried like their mother had just died all over again. Which made Tino cry. She’d only been dead a year, and the wound was still very fresh.

Plus, he hadn’t slept in a long time.

And he hadn’t eaten since the Jell-O in the hospital.

He knew it was bad, but it wasn’t until Nova finally choked out in Italian, “He’s going to prison. There’s no way we’re getting him off,” that Tino understood why his brother had puked in the street. Nova was still shaking, as if the guilt was seizing his muscles. “His life is ruined. I’m poison. It’s my fault.”