Page 155 of The Enforcer's Revenge
Nova closed his eyes, took a few long, deep breaths, and then asked, “What about Romeo?”
“He’s probably better off without us.”
“Tino,” Maria barked at him. “What are you talking about?”
Tino looked over, seeing that Maria was still sitting on the floor next to the dining room table. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, but she looked very alert and suspicious, even though she didn’t speak a word of Italian.
He was starting to think that Maria might be a little bit psychic, that it was part of her Lost Girl magic that God gave her to survive all the bullshit, ’cause he believed it, what she told him about Carlo finding Lola.
It was very real to him.
The idea that God just shook his zio a little, and he woke up in a place with Lola in it, far away from the shitshow of their reality. Maybe Carlo found the real Neverland. The place where lost boys fly, and Tino wanted to go with him. He was done, but not without Nova.
Tino might be a little co-dependent, too.
“It’s okay, mama.” Tino held up a hand to Maria and then looked back to his brother as he switched to Italian. “Seriously, you want to give up?”
Nova blinked at him as he thought about it and then said something that surprised him, “It’s too late now. We’d be leaving Carmen behind.”
Tino shrugged. “So?”
“We would’ve put her through all that for nothing?” Nova gave him a long look. “That’s not cool.”
Tino raised his eyebrows at that because he had to admit it would be decidedly uncool to bounce on this life after she worked so fucking hard to keep Nova here.
“And we can’t let them win like that. Even if he took out their administration, there’s still plenty more Brambinos,” Nova whispered, looking past Tino to the ceiling above them. “Can you imagine how fucking happy they’d be if we made it easy for them and took each other out? I’m sure they’re already thrilled over…”He swallowed hard like he might be sick and closed his eyes against it. “Dio.”
More than anything else, that made Tino really think. What would the Brambinos be if there weren’t Morettis around to constantly fuck with their agenda? He couldn’t imagine the power they might have built without his Borgata constantly throwing down roadblocks because this shit had been going on for a hundred years or more, and it wasn’t just about the Brambinos. It was all of it, generations of Cosa Nostra bullshit.
Just like Tino believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Lola was there to catch Carlo on the other side, he had a renewed sense of knowing the world still needed Nova. Like maybe God made him a Moretti on purpose. He gave him that mind and made sure there was at least one guy on this planet who would always have his back—no matter what.
“Unfortunately, you’re not wrong,” Tino admitted softly, even if he was done. “Carlo wouldn’t want us to give up.”
It was way too soon.
Just saying Carlo’s name made Nova recoil.
Nova put a hand over his eyes as Tony came in through the front door and announced, “I got the weed.”
Tino leaned over and held out a hand. “Come on, Zu.”
Nova reached up, grabbed his hand, and let Tino pull him up. He was half dead weight, but Tino was pretty fucking strong and stable when he needed to be.
He hugged his brother once he got him to his feet and caressed Nova’s hair when he buried his face against Tino’s shoulder. “I love you, Casanova.”
“I love you too,” Nova whispered as he stood there, still shaking and hard to move, reminding Tino of their zio at the medical examiner’s office not that long ago.
And Tino got it.
Neverland represented something much different now that they lived in a world without Carlo, and moving forward meant leaving behind who they were before the end.
Tino tightened his hold on Nova and just said, “Let’s go smoke a little, and then we’ll take you back home. Carmen’s still there. She likes taking care of you. Maybe it’ll help a little.”
“No, she doesn’t need my bullshit. She’s already done too much. It would’ve been easier to drown in Tampa. Lola was all she had left, but she chose this instead,” Nova said in Italian and took a shuddering breath. “Just think about what she’s going through? This hurts worse than Ma.”
“I know.” Tino sighed because it was probably going to get worse before it got better. “But, I’m still here. You’re still here. That’s the deal, right? That’s what the boss decided. We’re treading water instead of going down.”
Nova swallowed hard. “I guess.”
