The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3) (14 page)

If Tino had an ounce of self-preservation, he would’ve shoved Nova away, because it wasn’t a lie. Romeo was going to prison for trying to keep Nova out of the mafia. His life was pretty fucking shredded.

Turned out, Romeo was the lucky brother.

They just didn’t know it yet.

Chapter Eleven

Thanks to his photographic memory, Nova could do this neat trick.

He could look at something and tell Tino how many there were.

There are forty thousand two hundred seventy-six people in this stadium.

There are two hundred twenty-seven cars in that parking lot.

There are nine hundred seventy-eight temporary tattoos on your body.

Considering there were only four left in the box when Nova got home, Tino used his kick-ass math skills to determine that Carina had run to the castle on the other side of the pool with one thousand eighteen temporary tattoos on her arms, legs, and face.

But her mother must not have noticed until the next morning.

Tino knew exactly when because…

“That bitch has lungs,” Nova said as he used rubbing alcohol to get the tattoos off Tino’s back. He’d gone to the store with Romeo’s car. He’d gotten the car out of the impound lot with the lawyer’s help and bought the rubbing alcohol along with a few boxes of cereal bars and a six-pack of soda, because the two of them were starving by the next morning. “Holy shit.” Nova scrubbed so hard at Tino’s back it hurt. “She has not shut up for twenty minutes.”

“She’s a cunt,” Tino told his brother as he worked on eating his third cereal bar. “She calls Carina a guinea ’cause she looks like Frankie. Can you imagine having a ma who called you that?”

Nova paused, as if something occurred to him.

“You’re an asshole,” Tino pointed out. Even though he waited until the next morning, it still needed to be stated. “A ginormous asshole.”

Nova started on Tino’s back again rather than acknowledge it, but when the voice echoed over the courtyard with, “
Worthless little guinea, you’re a waste of space like your father
,” Nova fell back and sighed.

“She said the same thing to me yesterday,” Nova admitted. “That’s where I got it. That’s why it was on my mind. She cut me, so I cut her daughter. I guess that does make me an asshole.”

“She’s a real darling, this one.” Tino rolled his eyes as he went back to listening to Carina getting bitched out, feeling all his muscles tense. He was pretty sure if someone bitched out a sibling like that, he was supposed to step in. “No wonder Frankie was all over Ma if this is what he had to come home to. I’m about to limp over there and tell that bitch how it is.”

“Just stay away from her.” Nova started scrubbing Tino’s back again. “She’s from the Brambino family. Marrying Frankie started the truce. Her father used to be the boss.”

“What happened to him?” Tino asked, realizing it had likely been a marriage of convenience, the bosses marrying off their oldest children in the name of peace. No wonder this place was so huge, with all the money flowing into it. “Her father? Prison?”

“Dead.” Nova didn’t explain the rest. “But she probably still has connections. She’s loaded. She’s entitled, and she’s a cunt. Just avoid her like the friggin’ plague.”

“So, we’re stuck here. In this storage shithole. No food.” Tino took another bite of his cereal bar. “For how long?”

“I hired a lawyer with the money in Romeo’s bank account. Romeo signed a power of attorney putting him in charge. Which puts me in charge, ’cause I’m the one paying him, but—”

“The power of attorney got ruined,” Tino finished for him. “How was Rome?”

Nova was quiet for a bit. “He’s in jail, Valentino. How do you think he is?”

“When does he get out?”

“I told him to stay there rather than get him out on bond. The attorney agreed. More time he serves waiting for trial, the less time he’ll spend in prison. It’s complicated, but it’s just a better idea right now.”

“How did you get in to see him?” Tino asked curiously, wondering if he could see his brother. “I miss him.”

“I had Frankie sign a power of attorney, making the lawyer I hired his representative as my guardian, but—”

“It got ruined too,” Tino finished for him again.

“I’ll have to get Frankie to sign another one. It needs to be notarized. I can’t forge it,” Nova admitted with a groan. “That’s gonna suck. Your new best friend is a real fuckup.”

“Shut up, Casanova. Did you know about her?”

Tino glared at his brother, and Nova sighed. “Yeah, I knew.”

“Did Romeo know?” Tino barked at him, but he could see the answer when Nova flinched. “Why didn’t you tell me I have sister?”

“’Cause you’re sentimental and you’re impulsive. You would’ve tried to find her.” Nova didn’t even have the decency to look apologetic about it. “We were protecting you. She’s not really your sister. She’s—”

“She’s my sister,” Tino cut him off before Nova could finish. “You wanna know how I know she’s my sister? She looks just like
my
brother.”

“You weren’t raised with her. It doesn’t count,” Nova clarified. “Don’t get attached to her.”

Tino flipped him off instead.

“You know why they set up Romeo.” Nova grabbed his shoulder, forcing Tino to look at him again. “Do you understand why Frankie wants custody of us even though that cunt is losing her mind over it? Do you know what they’re gonna ask me to do?”

Tino stared at his brother, feeling something horrible lodge in his chest. “What do they want?”

“They want me to do for them what I did for Romeo. They want me to take what they make and triple it. Worse, they want me to launder their dirty money. Make it legal. I’m not doing it,” Nova assured him with an icy-cold certainty. “I will eat a fucking bullet before I put one penny in Frankie’s pocket after he did this to Rome.”

“Should we run away?”

“Yeah.” Nova nodded. “I think we’re gonna have to disappear, but I have to get everything with Romeo handled. I have to think. I have to figure it out. I need time. I can’t just leave him after he got stuck in jail trying to protect me from these motherfuckers.”

“We should take Carina,” Tino suggested and pointed in the direction of the house. “She’s our sister, and her life sucks.”

“Don’t get attached to her. She’s
not
your sister.”

“Yes, she is,” Tino snapped at Nova and reminded him, “she’s yours too.”

Chapter Twelve

“So my ma’s making me try out for cheerleading this year. Friggin’ cheerleading. Do I look like a cheerleader?”

Tino lifted the manga book he was reading and studied Carina, who was decorating the bottom of his cast simply because Nova told her she was out of space. His foot rested in her lap as she colored with her metallic pens. Nova sat next to her, working on something involving Romeo and doing his level best to ignore her.

“Yeah,” Tino decided and went back to reading his book. “You look
exactly
like a cheerleader. One of those little ones they’re always tossing around.”

“Fuck you,” she snapped. “I’m no cheerleader. I’m not gonna go stand on the sidelines and wave my pom-poms for a group of sweaty, disgusting boys. No, thank you. That’s sexist. Don’t you think that’s sexist?”

“Not really.” Tino turned the page. “I don’t see what’s wrong with it, and it’s not just about cheering on the sidelines. It’s about competitions. The cheerleaders in East Harlem kick ass. We have a few girls in our building who cheer. They’re awesome, but the teams probably suck here. I doubt Dyker Heights girls know how to move.”

“My BFF forever. She rocks it out. You should see her dance, and she’s not a cheerleader.”

Nova lifted his head from the paperwork he was working on and frowned. “BFF forever? But—”

“I’m worth something more than just cheering for a boy. I have a talent, you know? A real talent.”

Nova gave Tino a look of pleading. “Where is the Off switch?”

“I taught myself,” Carina told Tino, because she was doing a very good job of pretending Nova wasn’t there. “I’ll show you sometime. My ma won’t pay for lessons, but I’m working on my nonno. I told him I’ll die if I don’t get lessons. Like actually die, ’cause I need them
that bad
.”

“Must be so hard to be you.” Nova’s voice was biting and sarcastic. “That’s a real-life issue, princess.”

“It
is
a life issue.” She apparently noticed Nova with that one. “I’m worth more than just cheering. I have a talent.”

“Oh, we’ve noticed. If there’s a record for talking incessantly, you’ll own it,” Nova offered as he went back to working on his paperwork. Tino kicked him with his good foot, making Nova’s pen skip across the page. “Damn it, Valentino, you kick me again, and I’m gonna shove
my talent
up your ass.”

Tino dropped the book on his chest and flipped both hands under his chin with extra flair, mouthing
vaffanculo
and then giving Nova the double middle finger. He knew why Carina was so determined, considering Frankie’s great career plans for his only daughter.

Father of the friggin’ year.

“Hey, chief.”

All three of them stiffened. Tino looked over to see Nova mouthing
chief
in disbelief. Carina scowled too, as if it sounded foreign to her. She turned around on the couch and said, “Hi, Daddy.”

“What the fuck, Carina?” Frankie sighed. “Your ma is gonna beat your ass if she finds you up here, and I don’t feel like hearing it.”

“You told me to stay busy.” Carina made no move to get up. “And they got no television in here and—”

“Out!”

“Fine.” Carina threw her pens in her box on the ground, and Tino lifted his foot so she could stand up. Then she seemed to think better of it and dropped back down on the couch between Tino and Nova. “But I’m bored.”

“Call your little friend.”

“She’s at her father’s house in the Hamptons.
All summer.
I have no one else to play with, and you—”

“Fuck,” Frankie groaned. “Just don’t let your mother catch you.” He snapped his fingers and pointed to the door. “Come on, pal.”

Nova gave him a look of annoyance. “Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah. Let’s take a ride.”

“I’m gonna pass on that.” Nova turned back to the paperwork on the table in front of him.

“Look, smart-ass, I’m being real nice right now.” Frankie’s voice was low in warning. “I signed your papers. Twice. Now you do me a favor. The boys are downstairs and—”

“No,” Nova said simply. “Whatever it is, fuck, no.”

Carina screamed with how fast Frankie moved, but Tino’s voice was trapped in his chest when he saw the way Frankie fisted Nova’s hair and jerked his head back over the edge of the couch.

“I’m not used to people arguing with me when I ask for something,” Frankie growled, getting in Nova’s face. “
Capisce?
”

“I guess you’re gonna have to get used to it.” Nova raised his eyebrows, not bothering to fight the hold Frankie had on his hair. “I’m
not
doing it.”

“You think you’re smart?” Frankie laughed, as if a part of him was genuinely amused.

“Yeah,” Nova said without wincing. “I think I’m smart.”

Frankie pulled a gun out from the back of his jeans. He shoved it against Nova’s forehead so hard it made a
thunk
. Every muscle in Tino’s body tightened. His pulse was thundering, but he couldn’t jump at Frankie when he had his finger on that trigger.

“How smart are you now, you little shit?” Frankie asked with a dark smile.

“Do it.” Nova kept his eyes open, staring unflinchingly at Frankie as he kept his head wrenched back over the side of the couch. “I
dare
you.”

“Casanova!” Tino shouted.

At the same time Carina screeched, “Daddy! NO!”

“DO IT!” Nova screamed when Frankie seemed to waver. “Shoot me! Blow my brains out, motherfucker!”

Tino’s pulse was still thundering in his ears as Nova’s pain suddenly exploded in the room. For that one instant, Tino could almost feel how heavy Nova’s brain felt inside his head. He wanted out so badly none of them, not even Frankie, knew how to respond to it.

Carina, who probably had more stugots than anyone, whispered, “He’s my brother. You can’t kill my brother in front of me. I’ll be traumatized for life.”

Frankie pivoted, and Tino thought he was pointing the gun at Carina. At some point in the confrontation she had crawled Tino like a tree and was practically sitting on his chest.

“Get up, Tino.” Frankie’s eyes were narrowed. There was a vein pulsing on his forehead, making it obvious he wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t used to people arguing with him. “Right now.”

Tino didn’t say anything, just kept completely still. If someone told him a week ago this would be his life, sitting there with his father pointing a gun at him while the sister he didn’t know existed sat on his chest like a human shield, Tino would’ve told them to stop smoking so much.

“Daddy,” Carina whispered. “
Please.
”

“Get outta here, Carina!” Frankie gestured to the door with the gun.

He really was
not
smart.

He’d forgotten about Nova.

Who was apparently suicidal.

Very angry.

And
crazy
fast.

Nova leaned over the edge of the couch, striking the side of Frankie’s neck with a violent, front-knuckle punch. It was a good, clean, wide-open shot, when anyone knew that bone wasn’t too difficult to break.

Or Tino thought anyone knew it.

Apparently someone forgot to tell Frankie.

Carina screamed when the gun fired, and Frankie went down. Nova cleared the couch like a fucking gymnast, shouting, “Run!” right before he kicked Frankie in the head.

Tino’s foot was broken, but he managed to make it to the door with Carina in his arms. He wasn’t even sure how he ended up with her. Some weird instinct. When he jumped up, he just swooped her up too while Nova kicked the shit out of Frankie.

Actually
kicked the shit
out of him.

That hit wasn’t something to knock their father down. It was a punch meant to
kill him
, but there was a reason why Italians, particularly Sicilian Italians, dominated the underworld. Like rats, they thrived in dark places and were extremely difficult to kill.