Page 75 of The Enforcer

Tino wasn’t naturally an angry person.

And Carina was a brand-new sister.

He couldn’t imagine hating her too.

Carina isn’t her mother.

He said it like a chant in his mind, knowing that like karate, if he practiced something enough, it became second nature. He wasn’t going to let Cosa Nostra ruin that too.

They didn’t get to ruin it.

“What song are you dancing to?” he asked Brianna on instinct, because he needed something to be fucking excited about, but then just as he said it, he realized he didn’t want to know yet. “Never mind.”

She stopped walking and looked at him curiously.

“I don’t wanna know. I thought I did, but I don’t. I’ll wait.”

She frowned.

Carina did too.

“I want it to be a surprise,” he explained to both of them. “’Cause, you know, I don’t have cable.”

Brianna was still frowning, her cheeks pinker than usual. She got flustered easily. He thought it was cute in a way few girls had appealed to him before now. Plus, she had these amazing green eyes that glowed in the sunshine.

They were unique.

And her hair was too, this very dark red, not orange, but more copper. It almost didn’t look real, but he was sure it was.

She had on black stretch pants and one of those loose-fitting, very hip-hop-styled tank tops. The sleeves hung open down to her waist, showing off her sports bra. It almost worked; she almost fit in, except her hair was pulled into a tight, ballet-dancer-type bun.

“You should take your hair down,” he said as he started walking again. “I promise none of the girls in this crew wear their hair like that. It’s too stuck-up looking.”

“But it’ll get in my face,” she argued as she followed him.

“He’s right,” Carina agreed and pulled at one of the pins in Brianna’s hair as if she had already decided.

“Stop it!” Brianna snapped at her. “I can’t do it right if it’s in my face.”

Carina pulled out another pin.

Brianna pushed her, but Carina was unfazed.

By the time they got to the studio, Carina had a handful of pins, and Brianna’s hair was a mess of red waves that hung down to the middle of her back.

They stood outside the studio doors, and Brianna held up her hands at both of them. “This isn’t gonna work. It’ll be in my face the whole friggin’ time. If I screw up, it won’t matter how I look.”

Tino supposed that would be a problem, so he pulled off his hat and put it on her head. Carina reached over and messed with the sides of Brianna’s hair, making it fall right under the hat and pushing it out of her eyes.

Then Brianna stood there and shrugged. “Happy?”

Tino smiled, a real smile, one he felt because she looked really fucking perfect to him right then. “Now I’m happy.”

She pulled back, her cheeks turned pink again, and she messed with the hat. “I guess this works.”

“Yeah, it does,” he agreed. “Rock it out. This is the only thing I’ve had to look forward to.”

“No cable,” Brianna whispered in understanding.