Page 78 of The Enforcer

Tino grew up in a family that was extremely competitive. He was raised to appreciate hard work, to admire the sheer athleticism of her movements, but what was unique to Tino was how much he enjoyed the beauty of it. The way he felt like she was dancing for him, because he saw the way she glanced over, as if searching for his approval… Or maybe it was in his imagination.

Maybe he just needed to know he fucking mattered to someone.

When she was done, Tino was the first one to shout in appreciation.

Others threw their shoes and hats, and Tino followed suit. Tino’s sneaker might have been lost in the sea of hats and shoes as Brianna stood there, the blush back now that the job was done, but she picked up Tino’s shoe like it was the only one she noticed.

Then she came over, crawling on her hands and knees between the people in front of them as they all patted her back. Her cheeks were still flushed, her forehead glinted with sweat, but her smile was wide and bright, making her green eyes sparkle under the studio lights.

She handed him his shoe and asked, “Better than cable?”

“Much better.” He nodded and found that he was fighting tears. “Thank you.”

“You got this,” Otis assured her.

“It was awesome,” Carina agreed as Brianna sat down between Carina and Otis. “Tino didn’t blink the whole friggin’ time.”

Brianna looked past Otis and gave Tino another pleased smile. “Maybe you’ll try out when you get your cast off. Then it’ll be my turn not to blink.”

“Maybe I will,” Tino agreed, even if he knew his life probably wasn’t going to give him time for a dance team. “I’ll find a way,” he said more to himself than her.

He had to find a way, because so far, seeing Brianna dance was the only thing he found that made him feel like there was a reason to keep breathing.

Chapter Nineteen

“No.”

“Why the fuck not?” Tino snapped as he sat next to Nova in the Camaro, making the long drive into Manhattan to see Romeo.

“You can’t try out for a dance team.” Nova spit out the words like they were toxic. “It’s just not something our people do.”

“Our people?” Tino repeated. “We dance. You dance. Romeo was a friggin’ stripper.”

“I’m talking about Cosa Nostra. We’re not in Harlem anymore. We dance to amuse ourselves. We dance to get women. We don’t get up on a stage and hop around to entertain.”

“Frank Sinatra entertained. The old man has pictures of him all over the palace in Bensonhurst.”

“Frank Sinatra worked for us,” Nova said simply. “He entertained us. Not the other way around. The old man is never gonna agree to you going up onstage with his last name and performing for people. Why do you think they won’t let Carina take lessons? Morettis don’t perform. Wiseguysdefinitelydon’t perform.”

“I’m not a wiseguy,” Tino reminded him. “I’m trying out for dance team. If Carina gets to try out to be a cheerleader, I get to try out for dance team.”

“Dollars for doughnuts the old man doesn’t know Mary is making Carina try out for cheerleading,” Nova said with a growl. “I think that cunt does merda like that to piss the Morettis off. She could give two shits about Carina, but all of a sudden she wants her to go cheer for all thoseteste di cazzoplaying football like Dominic from the Brambino family. I call bullshit. She’s fucking with us.”

Tino really wished Nova hadn’t brought up Mary.

Especially since she had shown up last night after Nova left, and ruined Tino’s high over Brianna’s dance. He’d run into the bathroom and taken one of those pills when he heard her on the stairs, half hoping he’d end up puking on her, but he had a cereal bar earlier so all it really did was haze things for him. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

After she left, he counted them out and hoped to God fifty-seven was enough for Mary to get sick of him.

Tino turned and looked out the window. “Us?” he asked distantly. “So we’re Team Moretti now? That’s our us? They’re our people?”

“Yes, they’re our people.” Nova sighed. “Like it or not, they’re our people. They’re our Borgata. That’s our team, and we make sure our team wins. I’m telling the old man about the cheerleading.”

“You do that,” Tino whispered as he kept staring out the window.

Tino stayed silent after that.

He let Nova listen to what he wanted on the radio, but he could only hear so much 2Pac, Jay Z, and N.W.A. before he got irritated. He was already angry.