Page 127 of The Enforcer's Revenge
Nova stopped talking when the Don’s voice echoed from downstairs. “Jesus fucking Christ! Look at my goddamn door! Nova!”
“Up here!” Nova turned to leave like any good lap dog would.
Gino and Monte walked out behind Nova, rushing to do the Don’s bidding, but Tino just stood there.
Still angry.
Thinking about Brianna, scared and dying, while he was here—being the Borgata’s whore—again.
Tony stayed behind too, like he wasn’t any more excited to see Don Moretti than Tino was. They both needed something to do to stay away from the accountants and the bullshit.
Tino’s first thought was all the bodies. He’d have to dump the dead Morettis somewhere easy for authorities to find quickly, since their families would want to bury them.
Taking care of the family was part of the job.
The Brambinos wouldn’t be so lucky.
He couldn’t take the boat out to dump the Brambinos because Mills Basin was probably still a crime scene. They’d have to use chemicals, which were still at Carlo’s house in Jersey, which meant Tino was going to have to drive all the way over there, grab the shit, and drag it down to the basement.
Mentally taking a tally of all the bodies scattered all over the fucking house, Tino remembered something and turned to Tony. “We forgot the guy in the basement. He’s still alive.”
He dashed back downstairs, worried that someone had forgotten he was there. The don and Nova were standing at the base of the stairs, talking amid the destruction of the blown-apart entryway.
“She went with Brianna to the hospital. I had her take the burner phone I called you from,” Nova explained as Tino walked past. “Tino, where are you going?”
Tino didn’t stop, but he did answer him. “The basement. We forgot the other guy down there.”
“It’s fine,” Nova said quickly. “Carmen’s still watching him. She stayed behind while I took Brianna to meet the ambulance.”
Tino stopped walking, feeling a wave of disappointment wash over him. It was over. There were no more Brambinos to get rid of, but Tino didn’t want it to end. Not like this. He didn’t want to stop working and deal with the real problems.
This he could do.
The rest was still too hard.
“You’re telling me you actually called 911, the motherfucking heat,” the Don’s anger cut through Tino’s adrenaline crash like a knife, “while we had a fuckton of dead bodies lying all over my house? Then you leftCarmen Brambinoto watch a guy from the Brambino Borgata? I’m standing here right now hearing you say we could all go down for Brianna motherfucking Darcy and Carmen fucking Brambino?” he repeated incredulously like he couldn’t believe his ears. “I like top-shelf pussy as much as the next guy, but how fucking high are you right now, Nova?”
Tino tightened his hand around his gun.
Maybe it wasn’t over yet.
“And who the fuck is this?” the Don barked as an afterthought.
Tino turned around and saw the Don glaring at Tony standing at Tino’s back.
For his part, Tony looked mostly unfazed as he stepped forward and held out his hand. “Tony.” When the Don didn’t move or say anything, Tony said the full name he hated and usually kept to himself unless he had to, “Tony De Luca.”
The Don still stared at Tony’s hand rather than shake it. Then he turned back to Nova, looking highly, irrevocably pissed off. “I have a lotta fucking questions.”
Nova gestured in the direction of the basement, like he was more than prepared to answer them, right after they relieved Carmen of soldier duty.
Tino didn’t follow them. He let the Don and Nova and all their henchmen walk past. When the last of them disappeared down the hallway toward the basement door, Tino took the magazine out of his gun and checked it curiously.
It was empty.
All he had left was the last bullet in the chamber. Usually, he kept good tabs on his ammunition, but he forgot about the shitshow in Tampa. He’d shot the other bouncer in the hand. Either Carmen or Nova must have used Tino’s gun to end him after Tino was knocked out.
That was okay.
