Page 43 of The Enforcer

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 likemybrother.”

“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?”