Page 202 of The Slayer
“Yes,” Alaine whispered.
Nova leaned down and rested his hands on his knees as if he was on the verge of passing out. “Where did he say he was going?”
Alaine hesitated, because she didn’t really want to give the answer to that.
“Alaine—” Chuito urged. “We need to know where he went.”
She shrugged. “He said he was going to get Patrón.”
“Oh my God.” Nova sat down on the asphalt and buried his face against his knees. “It’s a trap.” Nova lifted his head and looked around the parking lot. “He’s going back to New York. We’ve got to try and catch him, ’cause if we don’t—” Nova shook his head and looked back to his sister. “I hate you, Carina. I need to just state that once and for all. I officially hate you.”
“Are y’all okay?”
They all turned to look toward the Cellar, seeing that Wyatt had walked out. None of them really had an answer for his question, so Alaine glanced from Carina to Nova, sitting on the pavement and looking so much alike they were like Italian versions of Wyatt and Jules…if they hated each other’s guts.
“We have to go,” Chuito said to Wyatt when he came walking up. “Right now.”
“No,” Wyatt growled as if he knew what that meant. “I’m not gonna let y’all take off again.”
“Wyatt—” Chuito let out a bark of laughter. “We just discussed this. You need to let it go. If you owe Nova, then you’ll help him.”
Nova turned to look back at Wyatt and then glared at Chuito. “Chu—”
“Hey, he said he owes you.” Chuito shrugged, giving Nova a cryptic look. “If that’s true, the least he can do is help with Jules.”
“I need more details,” Wyatt cut in. “Who is this?”
“Yeah, what the fuck are we gonna do with you?” Nova gestured to Carina as an afterthought, as if the fear over Tino made him forget about the issue of his sister. “The old man is gonna know you betrayed him and—”
“We’re leaving her with Romeo,” Alaine said.
“Oh, he’s gonna love you for that,” Nova said bitterly. “Good, you know what, leave her with Romeo. They can commiserate together about how much they both hate me. Great plan.”
“I don’t really know Romeo,” Carina argued. “Staying with him would be awkward.”
“We could always bury her instead,” Nova suggested.
“Who is she?” Wyatt repeated.
Alaine pointed to Carina. “This is Nova’s sister.”
Wyatt gaped. “You have a sister?”
“She’s gonna help Jules in the office while we go get Tino. She can take my place and—”
Nova burst out laughing.
“What?” Carina snapped at him.
“I’m just thinking that I would pay several million dollars to see you try to be Jules’s assistant,” Nova said with a dark smile. “Seriously, Carina, I’ll double your inheritance if you agree to set up a webcam in that office. Seeing the original mafia princess try to do that job would be the highlight of my life.”
Carina flipped him off in response, really enthusiastically.
“They got a place over the garage for you to stay too,” Nova added with a hard, ugly glare at his sister. “Tables turn so quickly. Hopefully they won’t beat you when they’re having a bad day.”
“I never wanted that,” Carina whispered with a catch in her voice. “He’s my brother too.”
“Is Tino in trouble?” Wyatt asked all of them.
