Page 9 of The Enforcer's Revenge
Tino rolled his eyes again. He moved closer to Nova when Lola came over and straddled Carlo, sitting on his lap with a deliberate, sensual grace that was both her gift and her curse.
“This isn’t awkward,” Tino whispered to his brother.
Tino and Lola had a history—adark history—from their time on the sex market that no one, including them, talked about, but he would never once begrudge Lola and Carlo their relationship because of it. Carlo and Lola loved each other. Deeply. No onedeserved love more than Lola, but sometimes the fact that she was fucking Tino’s uncle got uncomfortable for him.
“Payback,” Nova said without looking up. “Do you hear the shit that leaves your mouth? Your whole life is one forced, awkward situation after another. You just don’t notice.”
“You’re a dick tonight,” Tino had to point out. “Worse than usual.”
“True.” Nova glanced up, and a look of longing crossed his face as he stared at Lola and Carlo.
That was enough to make Tino turn back.
No one avoided relationships more than Nova, so it wasn’t until Tino saw Carlo with his mouth open at Lola’s bidding and the small white pill on his tongue that Tino understood.
Ecstasy.
Nova’s first true love.
“How do you know it’s clean?” Tino barked at both of them because he spent enough time in the club scene to see a lot of bad molly. Hell, he used to sell the good stuff for his father before he was promoted to mafia assassin. Not that Tino would consider that a step up. He hit Carlo’s leg. “You just open your mouth and take what she’s giving you?”
“Most days,” Carlo said with a grin.
Lola huffed at Tino. “You think I’d give him bad shit?”
“I…” Tino started, because he supposed that could be considered an insult. “No. I don’t think you’dintentionallygive him bad shit.” He glanced to Nova for help, but Nova had looked back to his phone, so Tino had to ask Lola, “Did you at least test it?”
“Carina has testing kits at the door,” Lola said indignantly. “What do you think?”
“Yeah, Carina did that,” Nova muttered under his breath. “She thinks of everything.”
Tino turned back to Nova because if Nova had supplied them, Tino would have been more inclined to trust that the night wasn’t going to end with a tragedy. If anyone knew where to find solid MDMA testing kits, it was Nova.
“Did you set up the testing kits? Is it our shit they’re taking or something dirty from the cartel?”
Nova just lifted his head and gave Tino a look of annoyance, clearly insulted he’d even ask.
“Okay, whatever then.” Tino threw up his hands. “Have fun.”
Lola wasn’t heavy into drugs like so many Lost Girls who were trying to figure out how to survive the lifetime of emotional trauma being born a sex slave caused. Weed, sure, but not much more than that. Tino wasn’t sure what had her feeling so rebellious tonight, when she and Carlo usually never met in public, but who was Tino to deny her a night of fun?
She’d earned it.
Lola pushed off Carlo’s leather jacket because ecstasy caused body temperature to rise quickly. She tossed the jacket at Tino. Then she worked systematically at ridding Carlo of his weapons, making it obvious she’d done this routine a hundred times before. By the time she was done, Tino had a stack of guns and knives on his lap, and people were starting to notice.
Carlo and Lola didn’t seem to care as she jumped off him. She reached for Carlo’s hand, forcing him to his feet. Then, Lola turned back to Tino and flipped her curls over her shoulder before she gave him a wide, playful smile under the curves of her feathered mask.
“For you and your pretty girl.” She tossed a small plastic baggie on Tino’s lap that slipped past Carlo’s Beretta to be hidden somewhere in Carlo’s jacket. “Life’s too short, Tino.”
Tino nodded. “True that.”
“Take care of my shit,” Carlo warned him.
“Yeah, ’cause that’s why I’m here,” Tino said sarcastically. “As soon as my girl’s done with her set, I’m off duty, and I don’t give a fuck what happens to your shit.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Nova said, like it was second nature to make sure everything got handled. “We’ll put them in your room.”
“I have a room?” Carlo asked in surprise.
