Page 63 of The Enforcer

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.”