Page 69 of The Enforcer's Revenge
Tino licked his lips and nodded. “Sì. Yes, of course.”
He bought Heather a drink and listened to her talk about the possibility of taking classes since Tino had mentioned he was in college. He honestly knew jackshit about college and even less about going to a university in Sicily, but he was good at letting women talk and pretending to be interested.
He kept glancing at the hallway Nova and Carmen disappeared behind, wishing the music wasn’t so loud. He noticed the bouncer went into a different door and knew he must watch what happened in the rooms on a feed. Tino casually kept his hand behind his back in case he needed his gun. He was second-guessing this entire plan now that Nova was unreachable, with no backup and no weapons.
“Why do you keep looking over there?” Heather whispered conspiratorially. “Are you jealous of your brother? You want a dance too?”
“Can you?” Tino asked quickly, his hopeful look totally genuine. “Would you?”
“Yeah.” She nodded with a smile. “You might have to pay for it, though. Using a room means someone else can’t.”
“I’ll pay for it,” Tino promised, because that meant he would be that much closer to Nova and Carmen. “I’ll pay double.”
“Okay, then.” Heather looked unabashedly pleased and slid out of the booth. “It’s two-fifty. We’ll get the other VIP room.”
Tino was starting to feel like an asshole over Heather, who was obviously taking lessons from Carmen. No one should be this fucking excited about giving a lap dance.
“Ready?” She grabbed his hand before he could answer. “I’ve been practicing. Sammy said I could take some shifts during the day when it’s slow until I get better at it.”
Tino followed her, inwardly cringing at the idea of this sweet, pretty, if not extremely naive, and trusting girl getting sucked into the sex market because of a little money.
He paid for the room.
He bought Heather a drink but passed on one himself.
There was no alcohol anyway.
He would’ve paid ten grand for blow because this shit was all way too intense to be sober for. He was about to crawl out of his skin from anxiety, and he could’ve used a massive dose of false invincibility right about now.
The light in the hallway was deep red, erotic, and sexual, reminding him of Carina’s birthday party at the Mills Basin mansion. That was such a good memory, one of his favorites. It felt like a million years ago that they all danced and drank and partied their asses off in the ruby-colored mist on the water.
Nice of the Brambinos to pick Mills Basin as a dumping spot.
They had such a gift for taking beauty and twisting it.
“You know, the management doesn’t check on these rooms,” Heather explained. “The other ones, they peek in, but in a VIP, they’ll leave us alone.” She turned in his arms and placed both hands on Tino’s chest when they stopped in front of a curtained-off room. “We can do whatever we want, and they’ll never know.”
Tino swallowed hard, most of his thoughts on cocaine and how desperately he needed it. This would be so much easier blitzed. With his luck, this would be what he went down for, and he’d end up sitting in a courtroom with Brianna behind him, listening to the details.
A scream echoed down the hall.
“Stop it!” Carmen’s voice was shrill, the fury of it nearly shaking the walls. She was speaking English now as she yelled, “I was protecting you! Now you’re lying! You’re lyingto me?”
Tino heard it, that crazed Brambino female entitlement that scared the ever-loving fuck out of him. He seriously hoped Carmen had the colder, more calculated Mary and Lola version. The Carina variation just went fuck nuts on everyone.
Tino pulled his gun out of his holster and looked toward the entrance to the hallway, waiting for Carmen’s bouncer to show up.
“What is going on?” Heather sounded stunned. “Why do you have a gun?”
“Listen, sweetheart, don’t start dancing on weekdays. Go to college instead.” Tino reached into his pocket and grabbed his entire roll of cash. He handed it to Heather, eighteen-karat gold money clip and all. “Take off.”
Maybe Heather wasn’t as naive as he thought.
She took the money and ran just as Carmen fell past the curtain. Tino could tell Carmen was trying to get away from Nova but tripped. She ended up tangled in the curtain on her hands and knees, still wearing her blue dress. Nova pushed thecurtain away and tried to help her up. His shirt hung open and unbuttoned, but other than that, he was fully dressed.
Tino wasn’t surprised Nova didn’t let it get too far.
Carmen slapped Nova’s hands away, hard, violently, like she wanted to hurt him as she shouted, “LIAR!” Then her voice cracked, part of the fury fading into something much more sinister. “Tell me you’re a liar! Tell me!” She grabbed his wrist this time rather than pushing him away, clinging to it, clearly desperate as she begged, “Please, Nova, tell me. I want you to tell me. I trust you to tell me.” She switched back to Italian and begged him, “Be the one to tell me it’s okay.”
