He rolled his eyes, hearing the whiny sound in Tino’s voice. They’d been working their asses off since they’d gotten to Garnet, and he had been separated from all his friends and family. Not to mention Nova; they both missed him after the long separation. With the exception of prison, this was the longest Romeo had been away from Nova. Tino had
never
been away from him. If Tino took off to party at the beach, Nova usually went with him and just worked out of his bags with his laptop.
Romeo couldn’t resist turning to Tino and then wrapping his arms around him.
He hugged him through the thick comforter. “Betcha wish you had Nova on this trip with you instead.”
“Yup,” Tino said without hesitation. “He’s nicer.” The irony of Nova being the kinder, more paternal older brother wasn’t lost on Romeo. The day he was considered crueler than an acting underboss for one of the biggest crime families in the United States was a sad day.
198
“How about if I make you something?” Romeo suggested, even if his body screamed in protest. He wanted to roll up in a comforter like Tino and sleep until his eyes stopped burning from exhaustion, but he just squeezed his brother tighter. “I think I got all the stuff for baked ziti in the fridge.”
“You’ll use Ma’s recipe?”
“I’m not making the sauce from scratch,” Romeo said, because that was going way too far. “But yeah, I’ll make it like Ma made it. Lotsa garlic.” Tino pushed the comforter down, giving him a triumphant smile. “Okay.” Feeling a bit like he’d just been played, Romeo dragged his tired ass into the kitchen and started making baked ziti. Now properly distracted, Tino followed him and started self-medicating his aches and pains with imported beer.
He was on his second one by the time Romeo was straining the pasta. The three months out of the party scene was starting to fuck with his tolerance because Tino was running his mouth like he’d had four tequila shots instead of two beers.
“And man, I’m not even kidding you, she was riding me like I was the horse and she just knocked over a bank, okay? The girls around here are hard-core, but they got skills. I definitely get why you fell in love with that Conner chick after Vegas. Nova doesn’t get it, but I get it. Cowgirls, they do it better,” Tino said enthusiastically. “Did I tell you Danielle’s father owns a farm? Like a real friggin’ farm that grows shit.”
“That’s cool.” Romeo dumped the strained pasta back into the pot to add the other ingredients.
“He’s gotta barn. Turns out doing it in the hay isn’t as hot as you’d think it is. That shit hurts. Stabbing you in the ass while she’s riding your—”
“Come on, man.” Romeo turned around from the stove to glare at his youngest brother. “I used to change your diapers. Hearing this shit disturbs me.”
“So tell me about your girl. You love her now? Fine. Where the fuck’s the details?”
“I’m not giving you details.”
199
“That’s bullshit. Nova gives me details.”
“Then call Nova,” Romeo said dismissively.
“Fine.” Tino grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket, then put his feet up on the table. He took a long drink of his beer while he waited for the phone to ring and then said, “
Mio fratello!
”
He got the jab because Tino did it often, claimed one or the other of them was his
real brother
, depending on who he was pissed off with for the moment. Romeo put the food in the oven, listening to Tino trying to make conversation with Nova.
“Where are you? Sounds like you’re in the car.”
“You driving somewhere? This late? What the fuck’s the matter with you?” Then Tino switched to Italian, his voice low and worried as he asked him once again what was wrong. Romeo turned around in concern, seeing Tino frowning, his feet on the ground, his beer forgotten as he held the phone closer to his ear and said, “At least gimme a friggin’ hint.”
Tino’s frown deepened, and he finally hung up the phone, announcing, “Fucking government.”
“What?” Romeo asked, the dishes forgotten.
Tino threw up his hands. “The fuck if I know? He won’t say it over the phone. Just plays it cool, but I can tell it’s something. Where the hell’s he driving to that he can’t take a friggin’ cab?”
“What does he own a car for? To drive it, genius. I think
your job
has made you paranoid,” Romeo announced, turning around to arch an eyebrow at Tino.
“Sometimes I’m nervous being here. I just don’t think the rest of the crew’s got his back like I got his back,” Tino said, looking twitchy and suspicious. “I’m his brother. If I gotta clip someone, it doesn’t matter
who it is
, I’m not gonna hesitate to—” 200
“Valentino!” Romeo threw up his hands as he turned around to look at his brother once more. “I’d rather go back to hearing about the barn than listen to you talk about business,
capiche
?”
“Fine,” Tino said distractedly as he picked up his beer and took a long drink.
“Whatever.”
Their late-night dinner ended up being tense. Romeo was technically off carbohydrates, but then so was Tino and both of them completely obliterated their diets. Each of them had upcoming fights, Tino’s was his first in the professional circuit, and the weigh-in had been important until the stress about Nova superseded a few cage matches.
“Maybe I should just fight light heavyweight,” Tino mused as he worked on polishing off his second plate of baked ziti. “Easier to gain weight than lose it.”
“Chuito fights light heavyweight,” Romeo reminded him. “I thought you didn’t want to end up fighting him.”
“Yeah, he’s a real stand-up guy. I’d hate to take that title from him.” Romeo gave Tino a look because that was certainly debatable. Tino and Chuito had become training partners, and there was no question, Chuito was the more seasoned fighter. Tino beat him fifty percent of the time, but in an actual match Chuito might be the one to go the extra mile. He had a killer drive that was intimidating. He trained constantly, even in the middle of the night.
“Did I tell you he caught Jules and me doing it at the Cellar?” Romeo asked, hoping to distract Tino from his worry over Nova.
Tino coughed into his beer, giving Romeo a wide-eyed look.
“There we are, bare-assed naked on the mat, and Chuito just walks in. Who the fuck works out at one in the morning?” Romeo asked, shaking his head at the memory.
“You should’ve seen his face.”
201
“That’s fucking awesome!” Tino laughed. “And he didn’t say anything to me.
Asshole.”
“Yeah, well, like you said, he’s a stand-up guy.” Romeo shrugged. “Jules asked him to keep it quiet.”
“I think he’s doing your girlfriend’s little secretary. You just mention her and Chuito gets tense,” Tino said, a wide smile still on his handsome face. “They live right next door over that office, and there’s no one around at night. He’s gotta be doing her.”
“Maybe,” Romeo said, more interested in distracting Tino than Chuito’s sex life.
“But if he was doing her, why was he ruining my night to sweat it out at the Cellar?”
“That’s true.” Tino snorted. “If I was fucking her, I’d be working out in
her bed
, not at the friggin’ Cellar. Seriously, how hot is that girl?” A knock on the door distracted Romeo from answering. He turned to look toward the front of the house, frowning.
“Was Jules coming over?” Tino asked, the paranoia heavy in his voice once more.
“No, she’s catching up on work.”
Tino jumped up and ran toward his bedroom without another word as Romeo pushed away from the table. He walked to the front door cautiously. Tino’s nervousness was catching, and even if it wasn’t, an unexpected visit at eleven thirty at night was enough to make him jumpy.
He leaned against the wall by the front window, staying hidden while attempting to spot who was standing by the front door, but it was so dark and the porch light wasn’t on. He squinted into the night, trying to see the car parked behind the Ferrari in the driveway, but it was impossible.
Tino bumped into Romeo’s back, his arm raised, his 9mm pointed toward the door, and Romeo’s stomach clenched as his brother whispered in his ear, “Ask who it is.”
202
As if hearing their plan, a voice from the other side of the door called out, “It’s me.”
Romeo and Tino exchanged confused looks.
“Can you just open the fucking door?”
He walked to the front door, Tino still at his back. Romeo cracked the door, peeking past the small space to see Nova looking unamused as he said sardonically,
“Really?”
“Are you alone?” Tino asked as he forced Romeo out of the way, pushing the door fully open and peering outside as if expecting Nova to be held hostage.
“Yeah, I’m alone.” Nova walked into the house, closed the door, and shoved Tino’s gun away dismissively. “Get this thing outta my face. You gotta stop drinking those energy drinks, Valentino. I told you that shit makes you paranoid. It’s like coffee on amphetamines.”
Romeo and Tino stood shoulder to shoulder staring at the brother they hadn’t seen in three months with their jaws hanging open in stunned disbelief. A smile quirked at the corner of Nova’s mouth, as if shocking them speechless had secretly been his reason for driving all night.
When neither of them said anything, Nova held up his hands and said, “What? No love?”
“You scared the shit outta us.” Tino put his gun on the side table by the door and then jumped on Nova, hanging on him like a six-year-old. “Man, I missed the fuck outta you!” He kissed his cheek and ruffled Nova’s hair. “I guess you missed us too? Driving all night just to get a little love.”
When Tino stopped hanging on him, Nova turned to Romeo and hugged him. His hold was clingier than usual, and Romeo kissed his cheek and put an arm around him.
“I made baked ziti.” Romeo pulled him tighter into the crook of his arm and placed another kiss on Nova’s forehead. “You hungry?”
203
“Starving. I should’ve stopped before I got off the exit, ’cause there’s nothing around here.”
“You know what I’d give for some Chinese takeout,” Tino told Nova as all three of them walked back into the kitchen. “Thank God I got Rome cooking for me or I’d starve to death.”
“Didja make the sauce from scratch?” Nova asked, eyeing the pan on the stove.
“No, it’s outta a friggin’ jar, and you’ll deal with it ’cause guys who show up unannounced in the middle of the night don’t get to be picky.” Romeo shoved at the back of Nova’s head for good measure before pushing him toward the kitchen table.
“You want something to drink?”
“Yeah, whatever you got.” Nova sat down and stretched out his legs as if trying to shake off the long drive.
“We got beer,” Tino suggested. “It’s good. Imported. I picked it up at the liquor store on the edge of town.”
“Water’s fine.”
Tino paused at the open door to the refrigerator. “You driving back tonight?”
“Nah, I thought I’d stay a couple of days.”
“Then why no beer?”
“Is it a requirement?” Nova asked in annoyance. “Does your dying liver need company?”
“Hey, man, I haven’t had a drink in over a week,” Tino snapped. “You know I’m on this diet.”
“What’s this then?” Nova held up the empty bottle on the table as evidence.
“’Cause I know it’s not Rome’s.”
“That’s the first one.”
Nova snorted. “Sure it is.”
Tino came back to the table and set the beer in front of Nova forcefully. “Drink it.” 204
“No, I don’t wanna fucking drink it!”
“I told you”—Tino sat next to Nova and then turned to arch a knowing eyebrow at Romeo—“something’s wrong. Wait for it, ’cause the shit’s about to get deep.” Romeo agreed with Tino’s assessment, Nova showing up in the middle of the night with a strong determination to keep a clear head. Red flags were going up everywhere.
Romeo put a plate in front of Nova and then sat on his other side. “Spill it, Casanova.”
“Can I eat?” Nova asked, not bothering to deny their assumptions.
Romeo leaned his elbow on the table and leveled an expectant look at Nova. “You can talk and eat.”
Nova appeared unnerved by the combined attention as he dug into the baked ziti, taking a few bites before he said, “This is good. Can’t hardly tell it’s from a jar.”
“Of course it’s good.
I made it,
” Romeo said slowly. “Are you gonna tell us what’s going on? Unless, of course, it’s business and you’d like me to leave ’cause I have no problem—”
“No, don’t leave,” Nova cut him off, his gaze darting to Romeo for one brief moment. The guilt showed in his dark eyes before the mask fell again, making him appear cool under pressure. “You need to stay.”
“Fuck.” Romeo groaned and rubbed a hand over his face, already knowing it was something he didn’t want to deal with.
Nova took another bite and then, with his attention focused on the plate, said,