Page 64 of The Enforcer's Revenge
“I’ll go back,” Tino whispered in Italian.
Nova held up his hand in response, silently telling Tino he didn’t want to discuss it, and then turned to look at the seating section.
Instead of sittingat the stage, the two of them slipped into one of the booths at the back of the room. They were both uncomfortable, horribly so. Tino could barely sit still. Nova rested his head on his hand and looked toward the wall, completely ruining their cover.
“Why do some of them have those little coin purses on their wrists?” Nova asked Tino in hushed Italian, still looking away from the stage as the song changed. “Do you know?”
Carmen pulled off her dress, revealing nothing but smooth, tan skin and a black g-string.
Tino didn’t want to be looking, but one of them had to. Trying to ignore the rest, he glanced at Carmen’s wrist and saw one of those coin purses Nova was talking about.
“They carry condoms in them.” Tino choked when he said it. “That’s how you tell which ones do more than dance.”
“Motherfucker,” Nova said vehemently, speaking English, going one step further in destroying their cover. “How do we get her the fuck out of here? Right now.”
Tino glanced back to the guy in the corner he’d spotted when they first came in. Tino didn’t recognize him as a Brambino, and clearly, Nova didn’t either, but it was blatant that he worked for them. Their Borgata had this strange presence, very ice cold, never wrinkled, and always fit, which was weird. Most of the Moretti Borgata gave up at about thirty and went thick. The old man was after young comares, so he worked at it, but the rest of them, including Tino’s father, liked to eat and party too much.
Tino could tell right away that this floor manager didn’t party. Thirty-something, he was Brambino intense. His dark brown hair was shaved short, and even under the fine Italian suit, Tino could see he was packing.
Luckily, the guy wasn’t paying them any attention.
Why should he?
Heather in the front hadn’t clued him in, and thus far, the bouncer had no reason to believe they were there to spend major cash. They just looked like a couple of horny, cheesy tourists.
Or that was the plan, but Nova complicated things.
Tonight was the first time Tino realized Nova didn’t know how to stop being Zu. Even to save his own fucking life, hecouldn’t turn it off. It just bled out everywhere, and it was a huge liability.
It was like finding out Carina couldn’t aim.
And Tino hadn’t done so great with that.
“First, you have to stop looking away from the stage.” Tino kept speaking Italian. “You have to pretend to be interested.”
“Pretend?” Nova snorted. “This is the most fucked up situation I’ve ever been in. I have to tell that poor girl her sister is dead, and she’ll know I’m never forgetting this shit. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
That was no idle threat from Nova.
“I’m not sure if you noticed, but she knows she’s hot,” Tino assured him as he tried to take his own long, deep breaths to stop the panic. “She wouldn’t be able to sell it like that if she didn’t. She’s not going to hold it against you for noticing, Casanova, I promise.”
Nova took a shuddering breath, making it obvious it was deeply disturbing him. He had his own issues with the sex market. The guilt over what Tino went through still tormented Nova, and it was obvious it was all blending together for him.
It took a few more deep breaths, but Nova looked back to the stage just as Carmen pushed the g-string over her hips. Nova shifted in his seat, but he didn’t look away.
Tino wanted to get out of the club, too.
His trigger finger was itchy.
A part of him wanted to blow their way out, and he knew Nova felt the same.
Tino raised his hand and gestured to the waitress instead. She was dressed in a bikini that left very little to the imagination. Tino fell back on old habits, flirting appropriately as he ordered them both sodas because they didn’t serve alcohol in the all-nude clubs in Tampa.
It fucking figured.
After the waitress left, Tino leaned into Nova and said, “Her set’s almost done. We’ll give the waitress a tip to take to Carmen. She’ll make sure Carmen knows where it came from. The guys who tip big get the most attention. When she comes over, we’ll figure out a way to get her out of here. Worst-case scenario, I’ll go back with her.”
“No.” Nova shook his head. “I’ll do it.”
