Page 152 of The Enforcer's Revenge
Nova didn’t say anything, he just stared at the television like he was watching a news report about the end of the world, and it was scaring the ever-loving fuck out of him.
“Casanova, you are freaking me the hell out.” Tino used his hardest voice because Nova wasn’t usually wrong about things, but still. “This time, you’re wrong. I know you’re wrong. I have worked with Carlo for years. I know what kinda criminal he is, and I promise he wouldn’t rob a bank for cash.”
“Oh my God,” Maria whispered and looked to Tony. “Daddy, you gotta do something. You gotta help them.”
“What the fuck am I supposed to do?” Tony whispered back at her. “I can’t get to Washington Heights. It’s an hour away. I’ll never make it in time.”
Maria stood up, shaking her hands, and said in a low, frantic voice, “No, no, you gotta help them!”
That wasn’t improving Tino’s fear problem at all. Maria had been through a lot of shit in her life. Half the reason Tony was so fucking ice cold was because of her. This was a woman who survived being a born-in victim of the underground sex market and was still pretty fucking sane on the other side. Maria was a real, honest-to-God Cosa Nostra Lost Girl.
Watching her freak out was worse than seeing Nova’s panic.
Tino reached over and grabbed Tony. He cupped his face with both his hands and stared straight into Tony’s wide, dark gaze, making him look very nervous.
“What am I not getting?” Tino barked because if Tony was scared of something, Tino was fucking terrified. “I’m a little strung out right now. I know I’m missing something.”
“I don’t think it’s the blow, Tino.” Tony tried to look at Maria, like he needed her to step in, but Tino wasn’t letting him go. “It’s probably, like, self-defense or something. ’Cause you’re sensitive, and?—”
“Where’s his blow?”
Tino looked to Maria like she was crazy. “I’m not telling you that.”
“It’s in my glove compartment,” Tony answered like Tino hadn’t said anything. “Go get it. My keys are on the hook.”
Maria took off, still wearing her robe, and that was it.
Tino couldn’t breathe.
He let go of Tony and put a hand to his chest. His heart rate was going crazy. The ringing in his ears that had been annoying before nearly deafened him. He had to physically remind himself to breathe, and still, he wasn’t sure why.
“My zio would not rob a bank…” Tino said each word slowly because talking was hard. It was like his brain froze, and he forgot how to do it. “He doesn’t need money. Even if the heat is tracking his credit cards and bank accounts, we have millions of dollars hidden in every borough. It’s crazy how much cash we have.”
He looked back to Nova, who was sitting on the ground in front of the television with his knees up. His body was shaking, and that was enough to put Tino’s whole world into slow motion.
Nova was an amazing problem solver.
Probably one of the best on the planet.
Tino suspected that when he ended up in a situation he couldn’t fix, it affected him physically, as if his body didn’t know how to handle not having a solution.
Most of the time, he just threw up.
Tino hadn’t seen Nova shake like that since their father had taken them down to his basement for the first time. Tino didn’t have Nova’s memory, but the image of his brother kneeling on the ground, shaking at their father’s feet, was burned into his brain so vividly he could see it in his mind’s eye like it was happening right now. Only, instead of their father’s hand in Nova’s hair, it was his own, tugging at the inky black strands,shoulders shaking like he knew something fucking horrible was about to happen.
Tino looked back to Tony, who was staring at the television again, and reminded him, “You’re supposed to have my back.”
Tony closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Then, he turned to Tino, grabbed his hand under the table, and held it tight. “You never thought about it?” he asked softly, looking at Tino straight on, his dark eyes wide and clear. “Like, what would you do if it was all over? If you were done with this hard life we’re all living?”
Of course, he thought about it.
He thought about it all the fucking time.
That was part of the reason he’d been snorting blow non-stop since breaking up with Brianna and seeing Carlo’s mug shot on the news. Tino couldn’t do anything but hide from the knowledge that there was no way to keep his zio from going down for the rest of his life for doing the world a favor and annihilating the Brambino Borgata.
Tino would probably end it all if it weren’t for Nova and his co-dependent bullshit. The world didn’t need Tino, but it definitely needed Nova.
Tino didn’t answer him, but Tony must have seen the answer on his face because he just asked, “How would you do it?”
