Page 69 of Star Crossed
“That’s bullshit. Nova gives me details.”
“Then call Nova,” Romeo said dismissively.
“Fine.” Tino grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket, then put his feet up on the table. He took a long drink of his beer while he waited for the phone to ring and then said, “Fratello mio!”
He got the jab because Tino did it often, claimed one or the other of them was hisreal brother, depending on who he was pissed off with for the moment. Romeo put the food in the oven, listening to Tino trying to make conversation with Nova.
“Where are you? Sounds like you’re in the car.”
“You driving somewhere? This late? What the fuck’s the matter with you?”
Then Tino switched to Italian, his voice low and worried as he asked him once again what was wrong. Romeo turned around in concern, seeing Tino frowning, his feet on the ground, his beer forgotten as he held the phone closer to his ear and said, “At least gimme a friggin’ hint.”
Tino’s frown deepened, and he finally hung up the phone, announcing, “Fucking government.”
“What?” Romeo asked, the dishes forgotten.
Tino threw up his hands. “The fuck if I know? He won’t say it over the phone. Just plays it cool, but I can tell it’s something. Where the hell’s he driving to that he can’t take a friggin’ cab?”
“What does he own a car for? To drive it, genius. I thinkyour jobhas made you paranoid,” Romeo announced, turning around to arch an eyebrow at Tino.
“Sometimes I’m nervous being here. I just don’t think the rest of the crew’s got his back like I got his back,” Tino said, looking twitchy and suspicious. “I’m his brother. If I gotta clip someone, it doesn’t matterwho it is, I’m not gonna hesitate to—”
“Valentino!” Romeo threw up his hands as he turned around to look at his brother once more. “I’d rather go back to hearing about the barn than listen to you talk about business,capisce?”
“Fine,” Tino said distractedly as he picked up his beer and took a long drink. “Whatever.”
Their late-night dinner ended up being tense. Romeo was technically off carbohydrates, but then so was Tino and both of them completely obliterated their diets. Each of them had upcoming fights, Tino’s was his first in the professional circuit, and the weigh-in had been important until the stress about Nova superseded a few cage matches.
“Maybe I should just fight light heavyweight,” Tino mused as he worked on polishing off his second plate of baked ziti. “Easier to gain weight than lose it.”
“Chuito fights light heavyweight,” Romeo reminded him. “I thought you didn’t want to end up fighting him.”
“Yeah, he’s a real stand-up guy. I’d hate to take that title from him.”
Romeo gave Tino a look because that was certainly debatable. Tino and Chuito had become training partners, and there was no question, Chuito was the more seasoned fighter. Tino beat him fifty percent of the time, but in an actual match Chuito might be the one to go the extra mile. He had a killer drive that was intimidating. He trained constantly, even in the middle of the night.
“Did I tell you he caught Jules and me doing it at the Cellar?” Romeo asked, hoping to distract Tino from his worry over Nova.
Tino coughed into his beer, giving Romeo a wide-eyed look.
“There we are, bare-assed naked on the mat, and Chuito just walks in. Who the fuck works out at one in the morning?” Romeo asked, shaking his head at the memory. “You should’ve seen his face.”
“That’s fucking awesome!” Tino laughed. “And he didn’t say anything to me. Stronzo.”
“Yeah, well, like you said, he’s a stand-up guy.” Romeo shrugged. “Jules asked him to keep it quiet.”
“I think he’s doing your girlfriend’s little secretary. You just mention her and Chuito gets tense,” Tino said, a wide smile still on his handsome face. “They live right next door over that office, and there’s no one around at night. He’s gotta be doing her.”
“Maybe,” Romeo said, more interested in distracting Tino than Chuito’s sex life. “But if he was doing her, why was he ruining my night to sweat it out at the Cellar?”
“That’s true.” Tino snorted. “If I was fucking her, I’d be working out inher bed, not at the friggin’ Cellar. Seriously, how hot is that girl? I like redheads. They’re always my favorite.”
A knock on the door distracted Romeo from answering. He turned to look toward the front of the house, frowning.
“Was Jules coming over?” Tino asked, the paranoia heavy in his voice once more.
“No, she’s catching up on work.”
