Page 16 of The Enforcer’s Revenge (Untamed Hearts #4)

“It’s about protecting her sister, and this is all common knowledge anyway.

” Nova took his sunglasses off and set the book on the table to the right of him.

Then he leaned forward and stared pointedly at Lola, still wrapped in Carlo’s arms. “The De Lucas hold Tampa. It used to be their home base until their old don retired early?—”

“Retired how?” Brianna asked.

“Car bomb, killed him and his wife.” Nova winced.

“But it didn’t take out his two sons, and there’s the problem.

They stayed with their mother’s Cuban family in Florida.

Now these motherfuckers are grown and building their own fucking empire.

My guess is they have very little loyalty to their Siciliano side after their uncle stole the Don position,” Nova clarified with raised eyebrows.

“You do not want Carmen to accidentally step on the Tampa landmine that starts a De Luca civil war.”

“God.” Lola looked concerned as she looked out at the water. “I didn’t know it was a De Luca thing. Her life’s complicated. I can’t just tell her to come home. It’s more than that.”

“What if you just had a layover in Tampa?” Romeo asked Nova dryly. “Is that allowed, or will the Cuban De Luca’s just ice you in the airport?”

Nova didn’t appear to notice or care about Romeo’s sarcasm. He was too busy being Zu.

“The Tampa De Lucas do not like outsiders, especially other Borgatas. We look like the authority to them, and no one wants to look like the authority to a bunch of paranoid Cubano-Siciliano gangsters sweating their balls off in Tampa. So, to answer your question, Rome, no, I wouldn’t take a layover in Tampa.

I don’t like playing bad hands for no fucking reason.

” Nova looked over to Carlo, still sitting behind Lola, and held out his hands incredulously. “Go get your girl’s sister.”

Carlo gave Nova a long stare of silent communication—the look of one man to his best friend that conveyed absolute betrayal. Lola turned sharply, busting Carlo despite his attempt to casually run a hand through his hair as a cover.

“Why don’t you tell everyone why you’re glaring at him?” Lola taunted. “Admit you’re scared of her.”

“I’ll admit it.” Carlo didn’t even hesitate. “I’d have to be stupid not to be. Everyone’s scared of her. Ask Tino.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Tino snapped at his uncle before he turned to Lola. “I’ve never even met your sister.”

“Stand here right now and tell me you haven’t heard things!” Carlo challenged him.

“You always do this. Just open your mouth and throw up opinions. Sometimes you are so backward,” Lola started defensively. “It was just a bad first impression.”

“A bad first impression?” Carlo choked out. “That was the worst first impression I’ve ever had in my entire fucking life, and I do personal training for a living.”

“She has a lot of reasons to be stressed about us dating.” Lola held up her hands to him as evidence. “It doesn’t usually end well for us.”

“She cursed me! Doing what I do, she said that shit.”

“Only because personal trainers make her nervous! You can’t blame her for that!”

“I can’t blame her for doing crazy Brujeria witchcraft on me? I can’t freak out about that?”

“She’s trying to become more centered. Her life is hard. It's a lot more difficult than you’ll ever know. She needs a positive outlet for all that anger, and?—”

“That makes me feel a lot better, being the positive outlet for her anger,” Carlo snorted incredulously.

“Trust me, Nova, that buttana is more than safe in Tampa. If anything, you should be warning the De Luca’s she’s there and help those motherfuckers out.

Fuck that, no, she scares the shit outta me.

I don’t hang out with a witch who hates me.

In case you forgot, this motherfucker,” Carlo gestured to himself, “grew up in Washington Heights. I know better.”

“Carmen doesn’t hate you.” Lola shook her head in exasperation and looked pleadingly at everyone else. “This is an overreaction because he’s so fucking Siciliano he dramatizes everything . She’s a little eccentric, but she’s harmless, I swear.”

“First time I ever met her, and she cursed me, Amuri. She wants me to suffer.” Carlo said it like he believed it. “That’s more than eccentric.”

“You know she didn’t actually curse you,” Nova started slowly, like he had this same discussion many times before. “She can’t magically do something to you. It’s not a real thing, and I don’t care what Washington Heights taught you.”

“It felt like a real thing,” Carlo growled, like it still made perfect sense. “Two fucking weeks I couldn’t get it up!”

Carina choked on her water, spitting and coughing while Lola and Carlo kept arguing.

“She didn’t know you were that sensitive about it. She said she was sorry. You need to?—”

“I’m not going to forget about it,” Carlo assured Lola before she could finish.

“And it’s not just Washington Heights. My mother taught me how it is.

We believe in God, but we see the darkness, too.

We don’t hide from it and pretend it’s not there.

Roll your eyes, Nova. Call me superstitious, I don’t give any fucks.

I know what I know, and I’m not the only one—ask any motherfucker about her sister. ”

“All Carmen did was make a command in a way that you believed, which wasn’t hard because your mother filled your head will all that evil eye, old country bullshit when you were a kid.

Curses aren’t real, paisan .” Nova sounded less than moved by Carlo’s speech.

“They’re nocebo effects that happen when the suggestion is planted in your subconscious brain against your will.

You cursed yourself for being the dumbass who followed her suggestion. ”

Carlo stood up and grabbed his dick through his swimsuit. “Nocebo this, motherfucker.”

“Okay, cry over it.” Nova picked his book back up and stretched out. “Most men have had that problem at some point, anyway. It was probably just stress.”

Tino snorted with amusement. “Oh yeah? Why don’t you tell us about that, Casanova? Stressed much, lately?”

“The ED industry makes billions annually. It’s a legitimate issue.” Nova lowered his head and looked past the rim of his sunglasses with a smile. “At least that’s what I’ve heard.”

“And the afternoon wouldn’t be complete without some sort of Siciliano pissing contest. Even the smart one can’t help it.” Carina rolled over on her towel, clearly unimpressed. “I need a nap now.”

Something about the suggestion left them all sleepy, even when the noise below deck changed from fighting to something much more sensual and primal. Neither Carlo nor Lola was quiet about it, but no one really minded. Not at this point in their lives, when it was one party after the next.

They just turned up the music and slept—all of them—sprawled out all over the deck in the sun. The thump of the base from the speakers was comforting somehow, an uncrashable party in the middle of the ocean, no cops to worry about.

Right then, in that moment, no one could hurt them.

For the first time in her life, Brianna knew what it was like to feel free, and she wasn’t the only one. Everyone got along for the rest of the trip. Even Carlo and Lola stopped fighting, and that was their favorite form of foreplay.

The real world felt a million miles away the whole time.

They danced.

They ate fantastic food.

They laughed a lot.

It ended up being one of the most bittersweet memories of Brianna’s life—for a lot of reasons.