Page 161 of The Enforcer's Revenge

“Okay, sure, a weekend every one or two months, but it didn’t take you long once you came back to start again. Maybe I’m the problem.”

“You are not a problem,” Tino assured him quickly. “Really, Tony, it’s not you. I’m the problem. It’s me. It’s my issue. I don’t like how this job makes me feel. It’s sticking all over me. It makes me feel disgusting and?—“

“Jesus.” Tony groaned before he could finish. “Tino?—”

“I’m okay,” Tino said quickly, wincing over saying it out loud. “It just came out wrong.”

“You’re not okay. She’s in your head.”

“No, she’s not. It’s just a word. I’m not having problems every single time I say it. I’d tell you if she was in my head. I admitted to the blow, didn’t I? I know you’re scared, but I’m only using it for work, I swear. I used it to help with work for years without it turning into a problem. You just caught me when my life was falling apart the last time, but I can manage it until I solve this don issue. Then, the way will be clear for Nova, and I’ll clean up again. I’ll figure it out. I promise.”

“How? By moving back to Kentucky to make out with Garcia for two more years?”

“It sounds like you’re jealous,” Tino barked at him. “I think you’re legit jealous of Chu.”

Tony looked at Tino like he wasn’t sure. “You really think so?”

“Yes,” Tino said quickly, and then considered him for a second. “That’s actually a big deal for you. That’s a really normie emotion. I didn’t think you’d ever get to jealousy.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed with him, and was quiet again, like he was really trying to decide how he felt about. “I don’t think I like it.”

“No one does,” Tino said quickly. “It’s a shitty feeling. I’ve been fucking drowning in it over Brianna. Imagine that.Constantly thinking of her husband touching her, hurting her. It’s guilt and jealousy. Worst feeling in the world. It’s that more than anything that has me using blow again, really, it sucks. Maybe you can get it now.”

“Maybe.” Tony shrugged, still seeming to ponder it before he admitted, “I didn’t feel bad helping you drop a car on him, that’s for sure. Did killing him make you feel better about it? Did it help with the jealousy?”

“Why are you asking?” Tino asked with a look of concern. “’Cause you can’t kill Chu. He’s my friend, like for real, Tony. You’re going to have to go to one of Maria’s circle meetings or get a private meeting with one of her shrink buddies if that’s how you’re feeling about the situation. We need to sort that shit out immediately.”

“It has nothing to do with that. I just wanna know if watching that woman abusing cunt beg and plead while we dropped a car on him made you feel better about the situation.”

“No.” Tino shook his head. “It made me feel like I’m the one who needs to go to Maria’s shrink buddies to fix whatever the fuck is wrong with me that let me do that, and then go out to eat afterwards like it was no big deal. In my defense, it’s been areallylong time since I had good pizza.”

“You liked it?” Tony asked curiously, because the place had been new, and he recommended it once they got back to Manhattan. “Worth the wait, right?”

“Yeah, it was great,” Tino said distantly, thinking about everything for a moment before he asked in concern, “How’d Brianna take the news? What’d she say when the cops told her?”

“Now you wanna talk about it?”

“Yeah, tell me about it. We’re here now. I’m already feeling uncomfortable, and I do wanna know,” Tino decided because Tony had been at the theater earlier when Brianna got the news. Tino had been avoiding talking about the details for a lot ofreasons, but he did want to know. “What was her reaction when she found out?”

“She started crying,” Tony said with a wince. “Like really sobbing and crying. It worked. No one questioned anything. She looked very sad because that motherfucker was dead.”

“Oh,” Tino whispered, and stared ahead as he processed that. “Well, I guess that’s good, right?”

“Yeah, those cops bought it. I almost did too,” Tony added hesitantly, and then glanced at Tino again. “We had a bet, though. To see who was the better actor. She could’ve been acting.”

“Do you think she was acting?” Tino asked hopefully. “Was she pretending to be sad that he was dead, or was sheactuallysad? I know she’s a normie, and it’s hard for you to tell, but?—”

“She doesn’t really feel like a normie to me. I think she’s just sad because lotsa of sad shit has happened to her, and that made it easy for her to cry when she was supposed to cry. She kinda feels like a circle girl. She always has, even before he tried to kill her. Every time I did work for Carina, I picked it up. It feels like Brianna’s been one of us for a long time now. Do you know what I’m talking about? Did you get that when you were with her in West Virginia?”

Tino felt something lodge in his chest, because the truth was, “Yeah, I got that. I know what you’re talking about.”

“Is that how she was before?”

“No, she wasn’t anything like that before.” Tino shook his head, and he had the urge to do blow right there in front of Tony, even though he just promised it was only for work. Remembering what Canner said about his sister, Tino repeated, “She used to be happy. I guess he stole that.”

“Yeah, I guess he did. She kinda is one, right?” Tony went on. “Going from you to that guy was a massive downgrade, even if he wasn’t a cunt, which he was. She didn’t love him. I’m sureof that. She and Carina always called him broccoli in a way that made it obvious Brianna did not like it, but ate it anyway—because she had to.”

“I kinda wish I’d known that broccoli thing before now. That’s something you probably should’ve told me,” Tino said, knowing Tony was telling the truth. “I would’ve helped her before he tried to kill her.”