The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3) (20 page)

They had boxes and boxes of clothes. More clothes than Tino ever imagined owning in his entire life. Nova had twice as many as him, mainly because Tino was still fucked with his cast.

The don promised to take Tino shopping again when he got it off.

So in the room with a million boxes, they tossed more boxes and bags.

“We’ve been back ten minutes, and I’m already claustrophobic,” Nova said as he looked around. “This place makes me feel like we’re part of the shit they’re storing away. Too valuable to get rid of, but not worth keeping in the main house.”

“Well.” Tino tilted his head at that, because Nova was pretty dead-on with that assessment.

He might have said more, but some high-pitched squealing distracted him, and he went over to the window. In a small nook of the property, between the garage and the trees, was a trampoline. Not a small one either, but one of those huge professional ones. Which had been a terrible tease, because Tino fucking loved trampolines and his foot was broken. His ma used to send him to the kids’ gym on free days. There was nothing Tino enjoyed quite as much as free days at the kids’ gym. Even though he was twelve, he would still go sometimes when he felt like he had a little too much energy. They let him in on nonfree days, because they’d been trying to recruit him for their team. Romeo was always all for it, but Nova ragged on him about it. Tino never cared. They had a fucking trampoline there. Nova could rag on him all he wanted.

Now he stared down at Carina, who was jumping in the center, going higher and higher, shouting, “Go, go, go!”

“Okay, okay, okay!” a redhead called back as she stood on the far end of the trampoline by the gate. “Ready?”

“Ready!”

Tino’s breath caught when he watched the redhead spring forward and then flip-flop her way across the length of the trampoline. Carina leaped out of the way at the last minute, landing on the side even though it looked like she should’ve crashed to the ground.

Same with the redhead; she barely missed tumbling off with her last back handspring, but she landed on the edge instead, as if both of them were very familiar with this trampoline.

“I guess this is the BFF forever,” Nova mused next to him. “She must be a gymnast.”

“Must be,” Tino agreed distantly as he watched her flip her way back to the other side of the trampoline like she had waited all summer to do it. Both girls were wearing swimsuits, as if they had planned on swimming and gotten distracted. Tino would have to be blind not to notice those legs, miles of them, and surprisingly tan for a redhead. “I sorta wanna be her BFF forever.”

Nova laughed at him. “What about your boyfriend Dominic Brambino?”

“Yeah.” Tino laughed with him. “But she’s cute, right?”

“She’s too WASP-y looking,” Nova said dismissively and turned away. “You know, it’s funny. I thought she’d be an
Italiana
. Some button man’s daughter that was thrown at Carina to keep her happy.”

“Yeah, me too,” Tino mumbled as he watched them jump and remembered having fun like that. Why did it seem like such a long time ago? The girls’ innocence, if that was the right word for it, felt sort of contagious. Like he could catch it again if he got close enough. “I wish my foot wasn’t broken.”

He left out his back that was still healing, because that was a sure way to send Nova into a downward spiral.

“You wanna smoke?”

He shook his head, still watching as Carina and her friend started jumping in the middle. Each sending the other higher and higher, their arms out, their ponytails bouncing. “No, I wanna jump on the trampoline.”

“Tino—” Nova started.

“Tino!” Carina shouted when she jumped high enough to see him staring down at them. “You’re home!”

She’d been visiting him at Don Moretti’s mansion, but their father had obviously forgotten to mention that he and Nova were coming back today.

“You’re home!” Carina shouted again and did an impressive toe touch that made her look exactly like the cheerleader she claimed she wasn’t. “Come meet Brianna!” She jumped higher and pointed at the window. “That’s my brother! The nice one!”

Nova snorted behind him.

Though Tino didn’t see why, considering how he’d been brushing her off since that night in the shower. Which seemed unfair. It wasn’t Carina’s fault her parents were assholes. Frankie was their father too.

“Why don’t you like Carina?” Tino asked curiously, because there was nothing about Carina to dislike. She’d turned out surprisingly fun, considering her completely dysfunctional life. “She’s sorta awesome.”

“Valentino, I’ve already fucked up having two brothers. I’ve pretty much wrecked both of you,” Nova explained darkly. “Do I really need to add a sister into the mix? Go deal with her before she comes up. I’ll put away the clothes.”

* * * *

“Don’t tell him I told you.” Carina stopped jumping and fell onto her back when her brother disappeared from the window. “Promise.”

“I promise.” Brianna fell down next to her so that both of them were looking up into the late-afternoon sunshine. “Do you think he’s embarrassed about it?”

“No.” Carina shook her head at that. “I don’t think he gets embarrassed. He’s not like that.”

“Well, I would never.”

Brianna laced her hands behind her head, thinking about the frantic, sobbing phone calls she’d gotten at her father’s place in the Hamptons when Carina’s newly discovered brother,
the nice one
, nearly died in the shower. They discussed things on the phone they both knew they shouldn’t. Though Carina did have the good sense to call her from a pay phone at the corner deli up the street.

Chances were the phone at Brianna’s father’s place wasn’t tapped.

Did anyone in the government give a shit about a corporate attorney from Manhattan?

Probably not.

“Watch out,” someone called out, and Brianna tilted her head back to see Carina’s brother toss a crutch over the side of the railing. “Grab ’em for me!”

Carina jumped up and then leaped over the side of the trampoline when the other crutch came crashing to the ground. It was amazing those things were holding up if this was how he treated them.

Brianna rolled over on her stomach just in time to watch Valentino Moretti, the nice brother, lift up his legs and slide down the entire length of the staircase. She raised her eyebrows, because she knew that wasn’t an easy thing to do.

Athletic boys were cute boys.

He stayed there, holding his feet off the ground, and leaned over to kiss Carina’s cheek when she brought him the crutches. “Grazie.” Then he swung back and landed on his good foot. “I know you’re not jumping on this trampoline in front of me.”

“Do you like trampolines?” Brianna asked as Tino came over on his crutches.

“I like anything that makes me fly.” Tino smiled at Brianna, and her breath caught. In a boy type of way, he was strangely beautiful. Tanned, though it was obvious he hadn’t been in the sun much lately, with short dark hair. He shouldn’t look any different from all the other boys she went to school with, but he had these amazing features, which made him unique somehow. Full lips, dark eyes that had her longing to keep staring at him as he dropped his crutches and jumped up on the trampoline next to her to ask, “Why aren’t you an Italiana?”

“Dunno.” She smiled, hoping her cheeks weren’t showing how handsome she thought he was. “Maybe ’cause my parents aren’t Italiani.”

“We met in dance class. Which I dropped out of.” Carina hopped up on Brianna’s other side so that Brianna was lying there on her stomach between two Morettis as Carina asked, “Do I look like a ballet dancer?”

“No,” Brianna answered for her. “You don’t look like a ballet dancer. You don’t look like a hip-hop dancer either. Unfortunately.”

“Right? My ma smokes too much.” Carina didn’t look too apologetic about it. “Hey, maybe Tino will try out with you. He can be my Moretti replacement.” She looked past Brianna to her brother. “You can dance, right?”

“Not right now.” Tino looked at his cast sadly. “Other times, I do all right. I’m not a fucking ballet dancer, though.”

“There’s a dance studio in Bed-Stuy. It has a street-dance team that’s awesome. They compete nationally, but Brianna’s not allowed to try out.”

“My mother says they’re too urban,” Brianna explained sullenly.

“Urban?” Tino repeated. “Like ghetto?”

Brianna shrugged. “I guess, but if I had a Moretti on the team, she probably wouldn’t complain.”

“Carina’s not ghetto. She’s so yuppie she’s like an Italiana WASP princess. Look at her best friend.”

“No, it’s ’cause everyone’s scared of your Borgata. She lets me go anywhere if Carina’s with me. Who’s dumb enough to fuck with Don Moretti’s only granddaughter?” Brianna explained and then frowned up at Tino. “Did you just insult me? What’s a WASP?”

He laughed, and it was a nice sound, like something he was supposed to do all the time. “You’re a WASP.”

When Brianna just kept scowling, Carina explained, “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.”

“But I’m Catholic,” Brianna argued. “My grandmother was from Ireland; that’s how Catholic I am.”

“She goes to school with us,” Carina added. “Nonno pays for it. She’s been going since fourth grade.”

“Your mother lets the don pay for your school?” Tino asked in surprise. “Does she know what kinda school it is? My older brother in jail is gonna freak when he finds out, and your mother just sends you because someone pays for it?”

“I don’t think she cares.” Brianna sighed. “Anything that keeps me out of her hair, she’s game for.”

“Except for the urban dance team?”

“Yeah.” Brianna nodded. “It’s stupid. I go to school with every Cosa Nostra asshole in training, but I can’t try out for a dance team?”

“We signed up for school today. I met your cousin Dominic,” Tino said to Carina. “He’s a real sweetheart.”

Brianna rolled onto her side and propped her face in her hand, because Dominic was annoying on good days. “What happened?”

“Nova kicked the shit outta him.” Tino smiled when he said it. “Broke his nose. I’m sure of it.”

“Madonn’, that’s bad!” Carina laughed anyway. “He thinks he’s in charge. He’s the only son of a don there. I don’t listen to him. I don’t have to, but a lotta people do.”

“Well, someone forgot to give Nova the memo.” Tino was still laughing. “Then your nonno showed up. He had it out with the other don over the fight, and it was pretty fun to watch.”

Brianna realized Tino was a very strong, unshakable, and courageous type of person, and she knew for sure her cheeks were red now, because Dominic Brambino intimidated a lot of students.

Fearless boys were
extremely
cute boys.

“Would you come with me to try out for the dance team?” Brianna blurted it out because Carina was a bad influence on her more often than not. “They’re trying out this weekend, before the start of school. I already got the invite. I just need someone to go with me.”

“Yeah, sure.” Tino didn’t seem too bothered that a girl he’d known for about five minutes asked him to go with her to a dance tryout as a Moretti bodyguard. “Is your mom dropping us, or are we taking the subway?”

“I usually just take the bus.” Brianna shrugged. “My mother’s not real great for dropping me places.”

“Her ma likes wine more than my ma,” Carina explained in a way Brianna couldn’t. “And my ma likes it a whole lot. Her dad’s a dick too. He has a new family, and they treat her like shit every time she’s over there.”

“Thank you, Carina.” Brianna frowned at her best friend. “Are there any other shitty facts you wanna give him about my life?”

“Her dad’s moving to Texas next month and told her they don’t want her to come with them. The only reason they invited her out to the Hamptons house was to dump her easy before they moved,” Carina added as if she’d missed the sarcasm, though Brianna knew she hadn’t. “He’s an asshole, but I’m glad you’re not moving, Bri. I’d die if you moved.
Actually die.
I love you way more than they do.”

“Plus, Texas,” Tino offered with a wince. “Would you wanna move to Texas?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But I’m always really good when I’m at my dad’s house. My best behavior. All the time. I can’t figure out why they don’t like me.”

“Don’t feel bad. My dad tried to kill me this summer,” Tino said it casually, but he looked ahead like he was still very haunted by it. “So, you know…”

“I’m a jerk,” Brianna whispered in horror. Tino was so easygoing she had temporarily forgotten about what happened. “I’m sorry. You must hate me. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay.” Tino sounded like he meant it. “You didn’t know.” Then he looked past her to Carina and laughed. “Or maybe you did.”

“I was upset.” Carina grimaced in apology at her brother. “And she’s my best friend.”

“I don’t fucking care.” Tino shrugged. “I didn’t do it. Why the hell am I gonna be embarrassed about it? He did it. He’s the asshole. Just like your father’s the fucking asshole. It’s not your fault. It’s not my fault either. I’m gonna take my shirt off all the time just so everyone can see what a stronzo he is.” He nudged Brianna’s hand. “You wanna see it? My back. It’s sick how bad it is. It’ll totally make you feel better.”

“Okay.” She nodded, because she had heard about the night in the shower, and she couldn’t imagine how someone could get beaten to the point that they nearly bled to death. Then he pulled up his shirt, and she could only stare in awe at the map work of scabs and stitches that covered the full expanse of his back all the way below the waistband of his jeans. “Why aren’t you still in bed? Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It mostly just itches now. The don had plastic surgeons work on it, so it’s a lotta stitches,” he complained as he pulled his shirt fully over his head and tossed it onto the trampoline. Then he turned around to lie down so that his head was resting near the center of the trampoline and his feet were hanging off the side. “It hurts a little. Sometimes more than a little. It’s been a long day. The don took us shopping after he got done chewing out the priest and that Brambino bastard.”

Brianna turned around and stretched out next to him. “Did you buy your school uniforms?”