Page 78 of The Enforcer’s Revenge (Untamed Hearts #4)
“You scared our new little bro,” Tino growled at him. “You don’t just fucking walk off. You have to close out the conversation first. That shit’s rude.”
“I’m an enforcer. I’m supposed to be rude,” Tony said dismissively. “That’s why I like this job so much.”
“Yeah, but now he thinks you’re mad at him because he brought up the trafficking thing.”
“Why would I care?” Tony shrugged as he kept walking. “You’re the one being all sneaky about it.”
“’Cause guys like him would be embarrassed by shit like that,” Tino explained to him. “And he thinks you should be too.”
“That sounds like a him problem.” Tony turned around and glared at Tino. “I’ve been doing this job without you for two fucking years. Now you’re gonna show up and tell me how it’s done? Kiss my ass.”
“Fair.” Tino tilted his head at that. “Have you been rude to everyone like that since I left? Even associates?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re complaining about. I was being nice. That was top-shelf, nice, normie Tony.”
“Is that really the best normie Tony you can do?” Tino asked him in concern.
“Is that how you are with Chu? Speaking of, what the fuck is the deal with the eyeliner and your hair slicked back like that? Are we back to old, bad habits? I haven’t seen this shit in years.
This is sixteen-year-old goth, emo Tony.
” He paused and had to admit, “It actually still looks really good on you, especially with your Matrix jacket.”
“Yeah, Brianna liked it too.” Tony smiled confidently. “She said I should be on stage.”
Tino snorted. “You were on stage.”
“That’s what I said. She didn’t think it was funny.”
“It’s probably not, but still very true.” Tino held up a hand to Tony. “Anyway, what is this? You never change your look unless Maria gets bored, and I don’t think she’d do this.”
“I did it at the theater to blend in when the heat came to drop the bomb on your girl about her husband being in the morgue.” Tony walked up to his car and went around to the driver’s side to open the door.
“Speaking of me doing a fantastic job at being a normie. They suspected nothing. I helped you kill that cunt last night, and then turned around and helped your girl deal with the cops today. Boom!” He tossed his binoculars into the backseat.
“Who’s the most badass enforcer? That’d be me, son. ”
“Yeah, I guess.” Tino pulled open the passenger side door and fell into the car next to Tony. “Some upstart from the government could’ve bugged the car while we were upstairs, though. We should be careful what we say.”
“Man, you’ve been outta the business too long. There’s no upstarts these days. We are the fucking government,” Tony assured him. “You’re paranoid for nothing. Let’s talk about the blow you so kindly got for your new Turkish best friend.”
“You better not fucking tell Maria, I’m not kidding.”
“I got news for you.” Tony turned on the car and gave him a dark look. “Maria was the one who told me. She’s been suspecting it for the past week. She was onto you before I was.”
“Fuck.” Tino dropped his head back against the seat and closed his eyes in frustration. “I think she’s psychic. I’m serious. I really think that. I have for a long time.”
“She’s not psychic. She just knows her business.” Tony sounded sure of it as he looked behind him and worked on pulling out of his parallel parking space. “She knows her people, and you act differently when you’re on blow.”
“How would you know?” Tino asked him sharply. “This could just be how I act when I’m working.”
“Maybe we should ask your buddy Garcia, since you fucking love being clean around him.” Tony’s voice got sharp, like he was actually hurt by it.
Tino leaned forward, studying him with a narrowed gaze. “Are you jealous?”
“Of Garcia?” Tony asked, as though considering it. “Why? Because he shows up out of nowhere in your life, and you instantly get clean and turn into this great, upstanding guy with no issues after I’ve had your back all these years.”
“Is that what you think?” Tino countered. “Do you want me to be the guy I am with him when I’m with you?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Tony growled impatiently. “But you’ve been clean with him all this time. Now, the second you come back home and start hanging with me, here we are again.”
“I’ve hung with you and stayed clean,” Tino reminded him. “We spent a lotta weekends partying in Nashville. I never did blow in all that time. I swear. I was testing for my fights. I didn’t do any drugs.”
“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 a really long 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 of reasons, 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 she actually sad? 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.”