Page 67 of The Enforcer's Revenge
“Cute.” Carmen reached over once more, leaning into him like she couldn’t resist, this time grabbing Nova’s face and studying him. She ran a thumb over his lips, and Nova grunted in a way that made Carmen smile as she confessed, “Too bad for me, I’m off gangsters, and my sister knows that. There is no way in hell she would send candy like you to me. So, who really sent you? Carlo? Is he hiding in the car? Scared enough to hide, not scared enough to stay away. That’sunfortunate.”
“You want me to buy you a drink? Fine, let’s get out of here. I’ll buy you dinner, and we’ll talk,” Nova said evenly. “Anywhere you want.”
“No way. Lola told me one of you might try to come get me, that you were worried about me, and I’ll admit, that’s very compelling, Casanova. I dig it, but I’ll tell you what I told her. That’s a bad idea. Morettis need to stay in their own lane.” She gave him an icy look of warning. “So, if you have something to say, then do it and get lost. I didn’t blow your cover, but I will. Considering you aren’t strapped, that could put you in an uncomfortable situation.”
Tino arched an eyebrow at her. “Who says we aren’t strapped?”
“Oh, I see how it is. Give the gun to the charming, unsuspecting one. I heard about Heather, and I’m not impressed with that. My sister says nicer things about you, Tino.” She stayed curled into Nova, which left all three of them blending in perfectly. She turned her attention back on Nova and asked, “What bet did you win to be the bait for this little endeavor?”
“I didn’t win anything.” Nova’s voice ached when he said it. “I’m actually here as a friend.”
“Yeah, I know what kind of friend men like you are. Yummy, dangerous friends,” Carmen said it like a woman who knew. “Unfortunately, I don’t get to have friends like you. I’ve been on a diet for a long time now. It’s here or nothing.”
“This isn’t a negotiation. You need to leave with us. Right now,” Nova said in a hard, firm voice. “It’s important.”
“Not leavingwith you is even more important.”
“It’s a safety issue,” Tino cut in since Nova looked so fucking uncomfortable. “We wouldn’t be here,in Tampa, unless it was an emergency.”
“Staying where I am, away from you, is a much larger safety issue.” Carmen sounded confident about it. “And sadly, I can’t explain why. So, you’re just going to have to put your macho bullshit in your back pocket and take my word for it.”
Nova huffed in frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. He leaned forward, resting his elbows against the table, and buried his face in his hands. To all the world, he looked as absolutely exasperated as he was—again, completely ruining their cover.
Tino glanced over to the bouncer, seeing that he was frowning. More so, he saw Carmen glance at him, too. The two of them spoke the same language—one that Nova was clearly oblivious to.
“Hey,” Tino snapped at him in a low voice. “Look alive.”
Nova just grunted and fell back against the booth. “We’re at a stalemate ’cause I’m not leaving without you. There’s zero possibility of me walking out of this building unless you’re with me. What’re we going to do about that?”
“Oh,bello. It’s not fair.” She caressed his face again, seeming to really study him. “I know you live in a man’s world, and no one’s taught you to trust a woman. We’ll try something else. I’ll tell you a secret. You want to hear it?”
“I trust women,” Nova said sharply.
“Obviously not.” She held up her hands. “Do you want to hear my secret or not? You’ve come all this way. The least you could do is listen.”
Nova took a long, cooling breath and looked away from her. It was clear he didn’t want to be playing Carmen’s game. It was just very unfortunate that she was as good at it as she was.
“Sure, Carmen, tell me your secret.” Nova’s voice was a growl of frustration before he looked back to her. “And then we’re going to get you out of here, okay?”
She smiled like she didn’t think it was okay at all. Then, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I like you.” Her voice was sensual and breathy. Nova flinched like the sound of it affected him as she confessed, “I like you a lot.”
“Look, you don’t have to do this act with me.” Nova seemed unconvinced. “Not that you’re not good at it, but no one can understand us anyway. You can just be authentic.”
“It’s not an act.” She let out a laugh as if insulted. “This is me being authentic.”
“We all know how much you hate Carlo.” Nova raised his eyebrows at her. “He still believes you cursed him.”
“Are you Carlo?” She cozied up to him again and ran a hand down his chest, slipping her fingers beneath his shirt. She glanced once to her bouncer, who was still watching, and then allowed herself to lean in closer. She closed her eyes and breathed Nova in, clearly smelling his cologne as she said in a soft voice, “I know what you’ve been doing all this time. I know you didn’t stop with my father. The rumor is you’ve bought out hundreds. From the Yakuza. The Cartel. All over. How many have you saved? I want a number. With that very interesting memory of yours, I know you have it.”
“Okay, come on.” Nova’s entire body tensed, and he looked away once more, clearly surprised that that was where the conversation landed. “That’s not?—”
“I like you as much as any of the others you tried to save. Maybe I like you more, saving all my circle brothers and sisters like that, and you have such nice energy because of it. I admire you very much,” she cut him off, making it clear she didn’t care how awkward her gratitude made him feel. “He let me keep the money, you know? I can’t spend it, but I’ve still got all these pretty little dollars in a bank account to look at. I get to log into it and think about you. Now here you are, all warm and spicy. I don’t want you to get hurt. You matter.” She touched his bottom lip again and said with a stunning amount of sincerity, “You matter to all of us very much.”
“If I matter so much, you should believe me and leave with me right now,” he whispered, not fighting her touch, even ifit was clearly leaving him on edge. “And what do you mean by ‘he let you keep it’? Who’s he? Why can’t you spend it? Is someone trying to take your money away from you? Is someone controlling you? Threatening you? That’s against the agreement. You shouldn’t even be here. I have every right to drag you out of this club.”
“Well, my goodness.” Carmen’s smile grew broader, making her face light up. Like Lola, when her smile was genuine, it made her almost too beautiful to be real. “Yummy.”
“It’s not yummy, Carmen. It pisses me off,” Nova warned her in a low growl. “According to the commission, you’re mine to protect.”
