Page 145 of The Enforcer's Revenge

“Yeah, let the Zu smoke,” Maria agreed as she worked on tying her robe that had been hanging open while she was lying against him. “He’s Tony’s boss now. That means he gets to do whatever he wants.”

“I know you two don’t care, but it bothers me.” Tino set his coffee on the television stand and tied his towel tighter. “And he doesn’t get to do whatever he wants just ’cause he’s Zu.”

Nova had glanced away, giving Maria privacy she hadn’t asked for. He was saved from having to say something by the news report that caught everyone’s interest.

“After this morning’s murder of fifty-eight-year-old Enzo Brambino, who was gunned down on the sidewalk outside his Dyker Heights home, authorities now consider Carlo Moretti the primary suspect in three separate brutal attacks over the past week that have left residents in Brooklynn on high alert. NYPD Chief of Police Theo Mencali says they are now investigating a total of eight murders possibly linked to Carlo Moretti. In a news conference at the top of the hour, Chief Mencali said there is a motive and strong evidence linking him to the crime scenes in question. All the victims were members of or connected to the Brambino crime family. That is significant, as Carlo Moretti is the youngest son of Aldo Moretti, the suspected head of the Moretti crime family. The FBI’s Organized Crime Unit is investigating the possibility of the murders being linked to organized crime. If you see the suspect or have any information on his whereabouts, they advise members of the communityto consider him armed and extremely dangerous. Call the number on the screen. Do not attempt to make contact with him.”

“You’ve heard.” Nova refused to look at the screen. “That was one of the things I needed to talk to you about.”

“Yeah.” Tino glanced away from it, too. “Can we at least give them a better picture of him?”

“They don’t want a better one. They want that one.” Nova looked back to Tony. “Is there a place we can talk?”

“Use the roof. Maria’s dad owns the building. I check it all the time in case he stops by. And I just scanned it this morning since Tino’s with us. There are no bugs. I promise it’s good.”

“That’s great.” Nova let out a broken laugh that sounded almost manic, making Tino realize he really was fighting off the urge to completely break down in front of all of them. “Let’s bring the Savios into our shit. Why not?”

Tino started walking to the door leading to the roof, knowing his brother was on the edge of falling apart, and Nova didn’t have a blow habit to help like Tino did. “Come on, Casanova.”

Tino never bothered with pants. He ended up on the roof of the Savios’ beautiful Brooklyn brownstone in only a towel. He stretched out on one of the lounge chairs that Tony and Maria set up to get tan. Chances were the two of them were sunbathing naked since neither of them had tan lines.

Tino threw a hand over his eyes and felt the late afternoon sun on his bare skin. He did an extra bump of coke when he refilled his coffee because why the fuck not? The idea of rationing drugs seemed stupid now. Lucky for him, he was a high-functioning addict, considering he’d been doing it since he was twelve.

There was a ringing in his ears that was annoying, but other than that, the majority of his problems felt far away, especially in the summer sunshine.

He heard the click of a lighter and lifted his hand to watch Nova shakily take a drag off his cigarette. Nova held it in a little longer, making it obvious he was trying desperately to absorb more than the nicotine.

“Why don’t you just carry regular weed on you?” Tino asked him. “It’s better for you than smoking it like that.”

“I can’t just smoke a joint whenever I’m having issues with my stomach,” Nova barked back at him. “No one says anything about cigarettes.”

“Not to your face.” Tino rolled his eyes. “It’s an ugly habit. I don’t like it.”

Nova let out a bitter laugh. “Sorry to offend you with my habits.”

“Is your stomach bothering you?” Tino asked in concern.

Nova nodded. “Yeah.”

He took another long drag of his cigarette, holding it in too long, and shakily blew out the smoke.

“I have this rule about Cosa Nostra. I made it the night Romeo got arrested, and it’s been pretty dependable,” Tino explained, and when Nova arched a curious eyebrow in response, he told him, “If Nova Moretti’s puking his guts up, everyone’s fucked.”

Nova snorted and took another puff. He blew it out and said, “There’s probably some merit to that rule.”

“Is everyone fucked?” Tino asked curiously.

Nova considered that and shook his head. “No, not everyone. From a business perspective, the two of us are doing great. With Frankie in prison, I could easily ask for the Capo Bastone position after your little display yesterday. Who would fight me for it? You’re the lead enforcer now. The Don’s got no one.Frankie’s down for another year, and Carlo’s—” Nova’s voice cracked.

He took another drag off his cigarette instead of finishing his thought.

“So, not everyone’s fucked,” Tino clarified after a long moment. “Just Carlo.”

Nova shrugged and put a hand over his eyes. “Angelo says the NYPD has DNA evidence from two of the three crime scenes that link him to the murders. For all I know, they’ll find more from the one today. It’s blood. He must’ve gotten injured. He probably got shot. I can’t imagine why else he’d bleed at two separate crime scenes.”

“When did you talk to Angelo?”

“The Feds came down on the Don after the shooting this morning. Hard. It’s a fucking miracle they haven’t questioned us yet, but they’re more focused on the Don. They would love to put him in prison again. I had Angelo meet me at Romeo’s place after I got off the phone with the old man. I knew the evidence had to be something pretty solid if they were showing Carlo’s picture on the fucking news and listing him as the main suspect.”