Page 30 of Star Crossed
Chapter Six
New Year’s Eve
“Are you coming with us to Times Square tonight or not?”
“Been there, done that,” Romeo said dismissively. Dripping in sweat, he was practicing with his nunchakus rather than doing something more worthwhile because they helped him think. “Party without me.”
“Come on, Rome. How friggin’ lame is that?”
Tino kicked him in retaliation, his foot connecting with Romeo’s midsection just as Romeo had the nunchakus behind his back. Romeo grunted from the impact and brought his nunchakus around to hit Tino’s shin—on purpose.
“Cazzo!” Tino fell to the mat taking up two-thirds of Romeo’s living room. He rolled onto his back and pulled his karate pants up to examine his shin. “That’s gonna hurt for a month! You got me right on the bone!”
“Then stop fucking with me while I’m training.”
“I missed the nunchakus part of the cage fighting,” Nova said blandly. “You’re not training. You’re fucking around ’cause that Conner chick’s got you all distracted.”
Nova sat on the couch in front of the large, flat-screen television with his back to the mat and his computer in his lap. Like Tino and Romeo, he was bare-chested and barefoot, showing off his tattoos that were usually hidden under business suits. He was wearing only a pair of karate pants, but as usual he’d gotten a call and was forced to stop practicing in the name of work. Though Romeo was hesitant to call working on Aldo’s stock portfolio work, Nova did make an obnoxious amount of money being the mafia’s on-call financial genius.
“If it’s exercise, it’s technically training,” Romeo argued, going back to the nunchakus. “Why don’t you guys take off? You don’t have to sit here babysitting me.”
“Why do you want us to go?” Nova asked suspiciously. “Expecting a phone call?”
Tino rolled back into a handstand, palms flat against the mat and his body board straight. He did a handstand push-up and complained, “You can’t sit home jerking off on the phone all night when it’s New Year’s Eve.”
Romeo kicked Tino just to watch him fall back, but instead of crumpling, Tino flipped back and landed on his feet because he was still stunningly good at gymnastics. Then before Romeo could blink, Tino lashed out with a roundhouse kick that Romeo barely dodged. It was instinct more than anything that had Romeo kicking Tino in the stomach.
Tino grunted but stayed on his feet. Hands up, he bounced in a typical fighter stance. “A fight to the death, Romeo-san.”
Nova sighed from the couch. “He watches too much friggin’ anime.”
Romeo tossed his nunchakus onto the couch next to Nova and then bowed in response to Tino’s challenge. When Tino followed suit, bowing deeply, Romeo took the opportunity to knock his feet out from under him. He should’ve used Tino’s fall as a chance to attack; instead he laughed.
Undeterred, Tino rolled back and sprang to his feet, hands held once more in a fighter’s stance. “You have no honor in battle.”
“Very true,” Romeo agreed, still laughing. “In a fight to the death—fuck honor.”
“You are not my brother,” Tino announced, his handsome face contorted into a look of false disappointment. “You have abandoned your teachings and betrayed your family. For that you must die!”
Tino came at him, fast and furious, catching Romeo in the left eye before he could dodge him. He might have been playful, but in their family playful was dangerous and weakness was never an option. Mad that Tino had gotten such a solid hit in, Romeo punched back, catching his brother in the jaw and laughing when Tino shook his head from the force of Romeo’s hit. Since this was a mock fight to the death, Romeo went ahead and knocked Tino’s feet out from under him once more.
Tino hit the mat but didn’t take more than a second to sweep his right leg out, knocking Romeo onto the mat with him. Romeo landed hard on his back, and it was a very good thing Nova owned the apartment beneath them, because it was a sure bet the chandeliers were shaking.
Tino was on him in the blink of an eye, hitting Romeo hard enough he tasted blood. Deciding this was exactly what he needed to work off the excess frustration, he hit his brother back, using the full force of the strength that earned him more knockouts than any other fighter in UFC history.
Tino looked stunned by the pain before a slow smile tugged at his lips. He was a bloodthirsty bastard. The dirtier the fight the happier he was, which was obviously genetic.
“I’m playing,” Nova suddenly announced, closing his laptop and leaping over the back of the couch. He ran a hand through his short, dark hair and rolled his shoulders. “Two on one, winners get to choose what we do tonight.”
Two on one was hardly fair: Romeo might be bigger, but Tino and Nova were faster on their feet and neither of them could be considered small. They both tipped the scales at just over two hundred pounds of pure muscle and were extremely gifted black belts. Even still, there was always an element of nostalgia in fighting the two of them that he could never resist. It reminded Romeo of a time before his mother was sick, before prison and the mafia had ruined their perfect little family. Days when Romeo was constantly dodging two playful kids kicking at his heels, begging for a fight.
“You’re on.” Romeo shoved Tino off him and then rolled back and leaped to his feet. Held up his hands and faced both his brothers. “Bring it, Morettis. I face death smiling.”
Now standing next to Tino, his hands held in the same fighter’s stance, Nova glared. “I wish you wouldn’t joke about that.”
“I smile too, Romeo-san,” Tino said, still goofing around despite Nova’s dramatics. He kicked, but Romeo blocked him. “Burying you will be—” He gasped when Nova slammed his fist sideways into his solar plexus. Tino wheezed, his eyes wide as he turned and gave Nova a look of disbelief. “I’m on your team,stronzo!”
Nova kicked Tino’s feet out from under him in response. With Tino down, Nova jumped at Romeo, launching a kick that Romeo blocked. Then he was fighting with his fists, catching Romeo in the shoulder, before he started aiming his strikes at Romeo’s face, making Romeo realize he was fighting completely on the defensive with Nova. This wasn’t a playful fight; this was something vicious coming from a dark place in Nova’s soul, and that level of fury was hard to keep up with.
