Page 23 of Star Crossed
The words were on the tip of his tongue, something cutting that’d probably get him into a fight, and Romeo welcomed it. He could take Gino and Carlo two on one with his right hand tied behind his back. Without a .45, those two weren’t nearly as tough as they looked, and he would have started in on them if their private conversation hadn’t stopped him cold.
Gino mumbled under his breath in broken Italian to Carlo something that essentially translated into the gruesome desire to watch Frankie finally take Romeo out, which in itself was a barbless threat because Nova and Tino’s father had been promising to kill Romeo since he was teenager. It was Carlo’s nervous glance back at Nova as they walked out the door, and the whispered reminder to Gino that made Romeo’s heart sink.
“Frankie’s notcapo bastoneanymore, and even if he was, Romeo’s a big earner now. I’d shut my mouth.”
The last bit was said over theclickof the bedroom door closing, leaving Romeo alone with Nova and Tino. He stood there in horror, digesting the information. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think past that one dreaded title—capo bastone.
Nova shook his head, looking disgusted. “Fucking idiots.”
“So tell me, Nova,” Romeo finally asked when he found his voice. “Who is capo bastoneif Frankie got demoted, and how the fuck does that happen if he’s not dead? What the hell sorta immoral, illegal shit did you do for the old man to makethatgo down?”
“Rome, come on—” Nova started, looking everywhere but where Romeo stood glaring at him. “What does it matter?”
“It matters to me.” Romeo gestured to himself wildly, the fury and heartbreak colliding inside his chest, making him desperate to lash out and break something. “God didn’t give you that brain to use it for this bullshit. You have a gift, a friggin’ God-given gift, and you’re using it for what? For Frankie? For Aldo? He demoted his own son. That’s insane! He’d stab you in the fucking back in a heartbeat.”
“That’s what you fucking think. He couldn’t if he wanted to and he knows it,” Tino interjected in Italian, and then seemed to pull back, as if he regretted the outburst. “He has to run everything by Nova. He depends on him. The old man’s been leaning on him too long. Every capo’s gotta go through Nova now.”
Nova groaned. “Don’t help, Tino.”
Romeo turned around to glare at Tino, who was sitting in the middle of the bed cross-legged, still looking like he wanted to start something on Nova’s behalf. “You’re not even real grandsons to him. In the eyes of the Catholic Church you’re both bastards, and nothing’s changing it now.”
“What the fuck are you?” Tino snapped. “At least our father knows if we’re still alive or not.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s such a fucking bonus,” Romeo said sarcastically before something close to a sob burst from the center of his chest as he stared down at his baby brother. “Why are you always hanging with goons like Gino and Carlo or whoever the hell else they’ve got guarding Nova for the week? I know you’re doing the dirty work with them now.”
Tino shook his head quickly, but the denial seemed trapped in his throat.
“Don’t lie to me,” Romeo whispered in anguish. “Have you killed for that bastard? He’s already taken Nova’s brain and my goddamn heart; has he stolen your innocence? Has he taken away everything that made you Tino?”
Tino’s shoulders slumped. “Why are you looking at me all of a sudden?”
“I already know he’s a lost cause.” Romeo pointed blindly to Nova. “But I still have hope for you. God gave you gifts too, and I would rather die than see you waste your life working for those bastards.”
“Gee, thanks, Rome,” Nova said drily. “And for your information, you don’t know shit about any of it. You have no idea how fucking ignorant you are about our lives.”
“Who’s capo bastone?” Romeo asked Nova again. “If the old man bites it, who’s supposed to take over?”
Nova looked away once more. “Both of you need to keep your voices down.”
“I don’t give a shit if they hear me,” Romeo said, not bothering to lower his voice. “They all know how I feel about them.”
“You ever think that’s not exactly good for your health?” Nova gave him a dark look. “You’re always making fucking waves.”
“That’s ’cause I refuse to bow down to them. I’m not letting them intimidate me. They can’t take my integrity. I won’t let ’em. It’s mine, and I’m gonna see Ma again with it intact. You think about that.”
Nova’s eyes narrowed, a look of fury crossing his handsome features as he stepped closer to Romeo and growled in Italian, “I got integrity. I got a shitload of it, and just ’cause you don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s not there. I got one priority in life, Rome. Just one. Protect my family, and if you think for one minute Ma’s gonna be disappointed about anything I’ve done to survive, then you never really knew her.”
“Oh, I knew her, and I’m telling you right now, she’s rolling over in her grave about the shit you’ve done to survive. Protect your family?” Romeo let out a bitter laugh. “Bullshit. You’ve been dragging Tino down with you for years, and the way it’s going, the only one whose gonna know my integrity is still intact is me. Who do I got to thank for that?”
“Throwing that fight made you valuable,” Nova whispered, his dark eyes looking wild and desperate for Romeo to understand. “Don’t you get it? They don’t kill people who are valuable.”
“I’d rather be dead than valuable to a bunch of bullies.”
Nova turned to look at him, and for one brief moment the pain on his face was so palpable it choked the air out of the room. Then he leaned in and asked in a horrified whisper, “You didn’t throw the fight, did you?”
“Nope.”
“Maledizione.” Nova took another shuddering breath as if searching for sanity. “Are you outta your fucking mind? You would’ve put a target on your back for one fight?”
