Page 151 of The Enforcer's Revenge
“Shut up.” Tino laughed. “You don’t give a fuck.”
“Yeah, I don’t.” Tony laughed with him. “But he probably does.” He gestured to Nova with his fork. “It’s not that big of a deal, Zu. Don’t look so sad about it.”
“I’m grateful to you, Tony. It’s not that, I promise.” Nova sounded distant as he looked at the television. “I have a lot of other things to be sad about.”
Tino turned around and looked at the television, seeing Carlo’s picture and the notice to call the number on the screen with any tips on his whereabouts.
“Your uncle’s a hero, you know that, right? I’m not sure if it helps, but it’s very true.” Tony sounded sincere. “I heard he killed Alesso yesterday.”
“Yeah, and he took out Enzo today.” Nova swallowed hard like he was fighting tears. “He got their whole administration. Wiped ’em out. That hasn’t happened for over eighty years, a Borgata losing their entire upper level of management—just like that—in less than a week.”
“Alesso’s gone too?” Maria walked over with two plates and put one in front of Tino. “No shit?”
“No shit,” Nova confirmed. “He got another guy at Alesso’s house. They haven’t released the name, but I think it was one of their enforcers. It had to be. They wouldn’t have regular muscle protecting him after what happened at Carmine’s place.”
Maria gave Tino silverware and then sat between Tony and Nova with her plate. After a moment of getting herself settled, she started twirling the long spaghetti noodles on her fork, looking at it in a daze like her mind was somewhere else completely. “God, I hated Alesso. I used to dread him on my schedule. He was horrible.”
“He was one of the bad ones, for sure,” Tony agreed.
“He was so terrible, twisted, just a mean, mean person. That whole family was awful. No kidding.” Maria kept twirling her pasta. “He was almost as bad as Mary.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Tony worked on his own pasta. “No one’s as bad as Mary. You never spent as much time with her as we did. We made sure of it because that cunt was next level. Poor Tino fucking took it for all of us ninety-five percent of the time.” He reached over and squeezed Tino’s knee under the table. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t a team player. You always brought her back around when she had her eye on one of us.”
“Well, I was used to her. I lived in her house, and I had the right disposition for her,” Tino mumbled, even though the back of his neck burned and his stomach knotted just talking about it. “You did a lot for me, too.”
“Whew, still, I’d take Alesso any day over that sadistic bitch, but Maria’s not wrong. That whole family’s fucked. He was top five for sure. Fuck Alesso. I’m glad he’s gone, and I hope he suffered on the way out. A lot of people are appreciating the hell out of your uncle today, Zu. I promise.”
Tino met Nova’s gaze across the table at the mention of Mary, seeing the pained, knowing look on his brother’s face. The two of them didn’t say anything. Tino would never tell Maria or Tony to hide their trauma on his account—it was their trauma, too—and he knew it was good to talk about.
At least, that was what everyone kept telling him.
Maybe it did help.
Brianna knowing had helped him—while it lasted.
And worrying over what Nova found out about Mary seemed like a small problem when, for a long time, it was a very real fear for Tino. Now, everything was so much harder, darker, and more painful than it had been before Lola died. It made the problems before the Fourth of July seem microscopic.
Tino was struck by what they took for granted. He would love to go back to stressing about little things like that. This war wiped out all their once-big worries. Just swept them away likethey never existed to begin with. Tino would tell the whole world every single detail about Mary if he could get his zio back in the exchange.
Nova suddenly turned and looked at the television, and Tino could see something was wrong. It showed on his face so potently that, for a moment, all the oxygen seemed to suck out of Tino.
It felt like he couldn’t breathe.
Or he was having a heart attack.
On a very cellular level, Tino knew a look like that on Nova’s face meant something awful was happening.
Tino turned around on instinct, looking at the television. He expected to see Carlo’s picture, but it was breaking news instead. The ticker on the bottom announced:
Bank robbery in progress at East National Bank in Washington Heights.
Tino turned back around and frowned at Nova. “That’s not him.”
Nova didn’t listen. He jumped up and went to the living room, Maria’s late lunch completely forgotten. He didn’t even sit on the couch. He sat down on the floor right in front of the television.
Tino looked to Tony, who was also turned in his chair and watching the television like it was concerning. Maria was biting her lip, watching too.
“My uncle doesn’t need money,” he assured them and then said louder for Nova to hear, “He has cash stashed everywhere. In safety deposit boxes. In safe houses. He has a lot, I promise. There’s no fucking way he would rob a bank for money.”
