The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3) (43 page)

Nova gestured to the stacks of printed e-mails as proof.

“You can read them, but the CliffsNotes version was they were going to kidnap our don’s only granddaughter and sell her to the highest bidder. We would never have known what happened to her, and maybe they would’ve succeeded, because fuck knows they got a whole shitload of kids enslaved by them who’ve somehow disappeared from society.”

Nova reached into his suitcase again and tossed a handful of pictures onto the table.

“I want you to look at these pictures.” Nova slammed his hand on top of them. “These are some of the children being sold by the Brambinos.” He picked up a picture of a boy with dark, curly hair. “This is Jorge Brambino.” He tossed the picture aside and picked up another one. “This is Helga Brambino.” He picked up another picture, this one of a girl who was six on her last birthday. “This is Jamie Brambino.” He leaned over and put the little girl’s picture in front of Enzo pointedly. “Her father made her to sell her!”

Enzo shrugged without shame. “She came from my balls. I can sell her if I want.”

Nova couldn’t help it; he grabbed the picture and shoved it in Enzo’s face, slamming his palm against Enzo’s nose so hard a crack sounded. Maso, the Brambino enforcer, pulled his gun out and pointed it out Nova.

“I don’t think so,” Carlo said from behind him, and Nova turned to see Carlo had his gun out too.

So did Sergio, the De Luca enforcer next to him.

“There are more.” Nova sat back as Enzo wiped blood from his face and glared at Nova furiously. Nova pulled out another stack of pictures. “The Brambinos work in very highline circles. They cater to clients who have a fetish for interesting last names.” Nova set a picture in front of the Viteris. And another in front of the Lombardis. Then he set four in front of the Savios and pulled the one on the bottom out and put it on top so Marcell could see it. “I guess Mazza isn’t quite as interesting as Savio, but it’s good enough. My brother wore a unique leather band on his wrist that was clasped with a lion head. That is the Brambino marker for their sex slaves. The slaves will use them to find one another and have a tendency to randomly go up and hug one another.”

“And tell them they matter,” Marcell said as he looked at Enzo furiously. “You motherfucker. You’ve been selling my daughter. You’re the reason she’s strung out on drugs.”

Enzo looked pale. “There is no proof. He’s bullshitting you.”

“I used the information I got off Mary’s computer to hack into Carmine’s system. These pictures were on his computer along with encrypted files that detailed their value and client list.”

Nova looked away from the horrified commission members and stared at the last picture in his briefcase, one he pulled out of the stack twenty seconds before he tossed them on the table. He saw Dante De Luca glance at it and frown, but Nova closed his briefcase.

“How the fuck would you be able to read the files if they were encrypted?” Enzo asked, still surprisingly cool under pressure. “I call bullshit.”

Nova held up his hands and looked around at all of them. “Really? You don’t think I can crack an encrypted file? Motherfuckers like me are the reason Carmine’s not supposed to keep this shit on his computer. It’s the reason he’s not supposed to be e-mailing about it either. I could’ve been the feds. He broke the oath. He exposed all of us.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Nova glared at Enzo. “I want the Brambinos disbanded.”

“You can’t fucking disband us.”

“You broke the oath. You used our children,” Nova started. “You can either be disbanded, or this war starts to get real interesting, because I assure you the Morettis take a huge fucking issue with this.”

“They’re not your children. They’re bastardi. There’s nothing that says they were included in the agreement,” Enzo argued.

“These are kids!” Nova pointed at the pictures on the table again, looking at Enzo. “Some of them are your fucking kids!”

“You taking it personal?” Enzo laughed. “This is a bastardo vendetta.”

“You bet your ass it’s a vendetta. I take it personal as fuck,” Nova growled at him and then looked to rest of the council members. “We want the Brambinos disbanded.”

“Disbanding us for this is just like disbanding the De Lucas for loan-sharking or the Morettis for drugs. This is Cosa Nostra. You don’t get to pick and choose who has the best racket. We all know where the Morettis sell their shit. They’re not any better than us,” Enzo said sharply. “Been to any raves lately, Moretti?”

“We can’t disband them,” Dante agreed, but he narrowed his eyes at Enzo. “But I think financial restitution is fair. They broke the oath. The entire Borgata should be punished. Anyone have an issue with that?”

Enzo threw up his hands. “I have a fucking issue with it.”

“Fine.” Nova nodded in agreement. “Ten million isn’t fair, but it’ll stop a war.”

“Fuck you,” Enzo growled. “Your brother wasn’t worth that!”

“Ten million
for every kid
with an interesting last name.” Nova arched an eyebrow when he finished. “Including yours. I want the money made out directly to each victim. I wanna be listed as the conservator for all the accounts—”

“Why do you get to be conservator on our kids’ accounts?” Marcell growled at him.

“’Cause I’m the bastardo who gives a shit,” Nova said as he held up his hands. “Some of them have drug problems. Some of them have mothers who gave birth to them as sex slaves and have absolutely no idea how to manage finances. Some of them have fathers who have a proven track record of using them for cash.” Nova glared at Enzo again. “If they’re competent and over eighteen, I’ll turn it over to them, but either way I will offer total transparency to the commission on everything. Ten million to each kid; everyone walks out feeling a little better about their absolute fuckup as fathers and brothers, me included. I’m not taking any less blame than anyone else here.”

“You’re trying to bankrupt us,” Enzo growled at him.

“No, I was trying to disband you and wipe your disgusting Borgata from history. The restitution was De Luca’s idea, and trust me, it’s a painful compromise,” Nova assured him.

“I think it’s more than fair,” Dante agreed. “I obviously don’t have kids, legitimate or otherwise—” Dante glanced at Nova. “No offense.”

Nova shook his head. “None taken.”

“But if someone sold a De Luca for their last name…” Dante snorted and looked at the rest of the council members. “Yeah—” He shook his head. “I’m not sure if I’d settle for the cash, but lucky for you, I know how to keep my shit handled. I vote for the ten-million compensation for each victim. I’m fine with Moretti handling the accounts as long as we have transparency.”

“I agree.” Marcell nodded and turned to glare at Enzo sitting next to him. “And I want a ban on dealing flesh in Cosa Nostra. You’re putting a bad fucking name on our organization. Let the yakuza and the cartel sell their souls for that shit.”

“You bankrupt us. Now you’re gonna fucking take away our largest source of income?”

“No one’s comfortable with it,” Lombardis agreed. “I vote disbanding, but I’ll reluctantly accept the restitution. Moretti can handle it, but I want total fucking transparency.” He looked at Nova from the other side of the table and pointed. “I’ll be watching, motherfucker. I don’t trust you, and if you ever hack into my computer—”

Nova arched an eyebrow. “Don’t fuck with my brother or my Borgata, and I won’t hack into your computer.”

“We don’t have that much.” Enzo threw up his hands again when he realized he was outvoted. “You’re taking about hundreds of millions of dollars.”

“Better start selling some shit, then,” Nova snapped at him. “If your Borgata banded together, you have enough assets to keep your spot on the commission.”

“And if we don’t?”

Nova shrugged. “We annihilate you.”

“And we’ll help,” Dante agreed.

Enzo didn’t say anything else; he couldn’t. They’d rendered him speechless, and Nova began picking up his pictures.

“We’re going to the house.” Enzo finally found his voice as Nova started putting everything back in his suitcase. “I don’t believe he’s gonna hold up his agreement. You’re all
cretini
to trust this kid.”

“I’ll hold it up,” Nova said, though he choked on the words. It was like being back in that basement. He wanted to scream and rail against the unfairness of it, but at this point it would just make everything worse. Maybe, with a huge amount of luck, Tino would make the right decision. “I don’t want to. Just like the Brambinos don’t wanna pay restitution, but I will because I respect this commission and what it stands for.”

“We’re all going,” Enzo warned him.

Nova nodded. “Fine.”

He packed up the rest of his stuff, and then Marcell said, “Moretti.”

“Yeah?” Nova asked as he stood.

“He’s not fine.” Marcell said it with a wince. “Your brother.”

Nova paused. His heart started beating faster, which was amazing when he was already strung tight with fear. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Lorenzo shot him.” When Nova sucked in a hard gasp, Marcell held up his hands. “In his thigh. It’s survivable, but—”

Nova turned and ran out the door, knowing Tino was probably bleeding in Lorenzo’s fucking basement and wishing for death. He wasn’t going to let Carlo show up and give him that option.

Unfortunately Carlo had enforcer friends who caught Nova and tried to hold him back because he’d made the fucking agreement. Nova slammed his palm into Sergio’s shoulder, knocking him off his feet. They obviously weren’t expecting that from someone on the commission, who had others to fight their battles for them.

Nova liked fighting his own battles.

He fought all the enforcers minus Carlo, who watched on the sidelines. Except he hadn’t had sleep in days, and there were too many of them. He put up a good fight, but eventually they pinned Nova in the hallway, all of them breathing hard.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Carlo,” Sergio growled. “What the hell are the Morettis feeding your accountants?”

Nova screamed, because this was exactly like the fucking basement, and he fought their hold again.

Fuck the commission.

Fuck any sort of grand idea Nova had about paying Tino back by saving his friends and all those other Lost Boys and Girls who’d been hurt by the system.

“I need your bike,” Carlo said to Sergio and caught the keys deftly when Sergio tossed them to him, even though he was still fighting to keep Nova pinned. “I
will
be honest with him, Nova. I owe him that, okay?”

“You better be fucking honest with him!” Nova yelled at him. “You remind him what I’ll turn into if he fucking dies! You remind him, Carlo!”

He wanted to scream that if Tino died, Carlo would be dead to him forever.

But Carlo wasn’t supposed to have friends. He wasn’t supposed to give a shit. Nova wasn’t either. They both knew better, but they’d broken the rules, and they could end up paying for it in the worst way possible.

Carlo was gone anyway, disappeared down the hallway too fast, and Nova’s breathing was harsh and irregular. He couldn’t lose Tino, not for this.

Not because of the fucking Brambinos.

He started fighting again.

“Moretti, I get it, but you made an agreement,” Dante said in warning as he got down on his knees next to Nova. “We’ve all been here. You got the pass, but enforcers are intense about this shit. It’s like a fucking religion to them. If your brother doesn’t want that life, it’s his choice. Respect that.”

Nova elbowed Sergio and fought to turn his head. He looked up at the other commission members. They had all jumped up and followed him down the hallway when Nova lost his shit. It wasn’t the best first impression he could make, but Nova didn’t give a fuck. He stared at Lorenzo Campelli, who was looking down at him with wide eyes.

Nova broke his arm out the enforcers’ hold and pointed at Lorenzo. “You kept my brother, injured, knowing we were looking for him! Knowing
why
we were looking for him! Knowing that these fuckers sold him to your wife because you couldn’t get the fucking job done! Now his life’s on the line. You owe me, and I don’t want fucking money! I’m done taking cash for this merda! Cash is easy! I want something
else
!”

“We’ll agree to that.” Marcell nodded for the Savios. “No one wants a war.”

“What?” Lorenzo turned back to Marcell with a look of horror. “Is that why you brought me?”

“Sacrificial lamb,” Dante repeated his words from earlier. He got back to his feet, making him hugely imposing over the rest of the commission, because he was unusually tall for an Italian, with a thick, powerful build to match. “And I get to watch.”

Suddenly Nova was breathing a little easier. The pressure of four enforcers holding him down got less intense. He kept his gaze on Lorenzo and said, “You better fucking run, puttana.”

Nova let him get halfway down the hallway before he elbowed Carlo’s buddy Sergio just because he fucking felt like it, making him curse, but Nova didn’t turn to see the damage.

He slipped out of the enforcers’ hold and took off after Lorenzo, who went for the stairs down to the restaurant, which was open. They wouldn’t close it for a meeting, that would be too suspicious, but they did come through the back entrance.

Lorenzo was hoping for a scene.

For cops to be called.

In that one moment, it was obvious to everyone in that room that he would flip in a fucking heartbeat to save himself. The enforcers cursed behind Nova, but Nova still got to Lorenzo first, catching him two steps down the restaurant stairway.

Nova sensed the scream before it happened. He slammed Lorenzo’s head against the wall, but the fucking drywall gave way, leaving a huge dent. The restaurant was noisy downstairs, and it helped muffle Lorenzo’s shout. The drywall helped too, but Nova couldn’t risk it. He pushed him against the stairs and fisted his hair despite Lorenzo flailing.

Nova used his hold on Lorenzo’s hair to slam his head against the floor at the top of the stairs. The dull thud of flesh against marble echoed over the restaurant buzz from downstairs. No one upstairs was saying anything. They were barely breathing when Nova started slamming Lorenzo’s head against the marble over and over. The blood splattered on the walls, the pool of red growing bigger and dripping down the stairs, because it was about so much more than losing Tino now.