Page 108 of The Enforcer's Revenge

“Is he hungover? With a bullet wound?” Carina flinched as if she were feeling it herself. “That sucks.”

“I need weed,” Nova grunted from the bathroom and then started throwing up again.

“Oh, and fast food,” Carina agreed with him. “Like a really greasy cheeseburger. It’s really supposed to be a cheeseburger with an egg on top, but desperate times.”

“That’s not true,” the doctor argued. “It’s a myth.”

“Look, I dunno what you do on your weekends, Doc,” Carina started with a look of disbelief, “but I’ve tested this for you more than once.”

“You don’t heal hangovers with weed and cheeseburgers,” Dr. Acciai said with grim certainty. “I promise it won’t work.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

Despite the doctor’s argument that it wouldn’t work, Carina sent Gino to the closest burger place since he was so desperate for a different job.

Next, she produced a secret stash of weed—all sorts. Carina had it stored in a handheld wooden chest, which she opened to reveal folding trays displaying a collection of ornate containers.

Carina stood by the bathroom sink while Nova sat on the floor with Dr. Acciai, who had taped up the old IV wound and started a new line in Nova’s other arm to give him more fluids.

Nova was bare-chested and barefoot, wearing only a pair of black sweatpants. He always looked like a completely different man without a suit. Unlike other gangsters who used their expensive threads to induce fear, what was underneath Nova’s power suits seemed so much harder and unapologetically gangster than any of the custom Italian he wore.

TheOmertàtattoo stained his side, and Nova’s thick, muscled back revealed the warning ‘Solo Dio può giudicarmi’ across the broad expanse of his shoulders.

‘Only God can judge me.’

Brianna knew what it meant because she asked Carina once.

“This is my top-shelf shit, boss.” Carina lifted her prized box of weed to take his order. “Sativa or hybrid?”

“Sativa,” Nova said without hesitating, and then got specific about his marijuana strain choices. “Something up and focused.”

“I have Jack Herer.”

“That works.” Nova was still sweating, looking green, with his forehead resting on his knees. “I don’t understand. Why would they raid us?” He was questioning Brianna while she leaned against the doorway. “The Feds don’t show their hand for nothing. They’d need a really good reason.”

“Maybe because the Brambino compound was burned to the ground with Brambinos in it.” Brianna shrugged. “Seems like a good reason.”

“Right, the fire.” Nova lifted his head and squinted at her, obviously still fighting to think clearly. “And Tinodidn’tburn it down?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Nova dropped his head back to his knees. “But how would they get the warrant? For what? They didn’t grab Tino, so he wasn’t it. Something’s missing.”

Brianna got the impression he was talking to himself, but still, she asked, “Am I supposed to know the answers to these questions?”

Nova was quiet rather than responding, while Carina used a small metal grinder to break up the weed. She rolled it with light brown paper, which she claimed was pure organic hemp. Nova didn’t seem too impressed with her attention to fine details.

Carina lit her top-shelf organic joint and took two long pulls herself before she handed it to him. “This’ll work.” She looked at Nova hopefully. “Right?”

“Yeah, gimme a minute, princess.”

Nova closed his eyes while he smoked, breathing deeply and taking another large draw before he blew out the smoke slowly.He coughed, which seemed to surprise him. He opened his eyes and stared at Carina with a bloodshot gaze that was clearly impressed.

“Nice, right?”

Nova hummed in agreement.

Carina put an ashtray in front of him, and Nova was tapping the joint against the glass bottom when he whispered, “Where’s Carlo?”