The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3)(145)

He shook his head and met her gaze, his dark eyes reflecting so much pain. “Actually I wanted to talk to you about things before us.”

She frowned in confusion. “Oh.”

“Nova has this stupid idea about me talking about shit. Like it’ll help. It’s driving him crazy, and he has enough shit to worry about, so I just thought—” He shrugged again, looking very vulnerable all of a sudden, even with the way his leather jacket bulged at the sides with his guns. “I can’t talk to Nova. I definitely can’t talk to Carina. Romeo doesn’t even know, and Carlo goes sorta psycho whenever it comes up ’cause of Lola and—”

“Let’s go,” Brianna said before he could finish, even if a part of her was terrified to hear what he had to say. “Let’s go talk.”

“Maybe you’ll hate me.” Tino said it sort of hopefully, like telling her was a win-win situation for him. “Maybe it’ll turn you off. Disgust you so bad and—”

Brianna threaded her fingers into the hair at his nape and tugged his head down before he could finish. Then she kissed him outside in front of everyone. For one long moment, Tino moaned against her lips, taking over the kiss by cupping her face and thrusting his tongue into her mouth like he couldn’t help it. As if he’d been wound tight since last night like she’d been.

Then just as quickly, he jerked back. “There’s feds watching. You want pictures of you kissing me on the walls of the FBI?”

“I don’t care,” she told him honestly. “There’s probably pictures of me doing everything else. Not like they don’t know I’m affiliated.”

Tino looked away at that, because it wasn’t like he could argue it.

She’d basically announced it to the entire school too.

Welcome to New York, first years. Cosa Nostra is everywhere you least expect it.

Tino huffed in defeat and put his arm around her shoulders again. “Come on.”

When they got to his bike, she fought with the helmet that was still adjusted to fit him. He pulled out his keys and put his sunglasses back on. When he got on the Ducati and she crawled behind him, Tino looked over his shoulder and flicked his hand under his chin before he flipped off the other building with extra flair like he wanted to make sure someone saw it.

She craned her head and looked in the same direction, seeing the flicker of two men disappearing behind the parking wall.

“Fucking government,” Tino mumbled under his breath as he kicked his Ducati to life with a loud roar. “Hold on, baby.”

So she did, just held on and left the gossipy school and the nosy FBI in the dust, not caring at all what anyone thought about it.





Chapter Thirty-Eight


Brianna wouldn’t consider an old brownstone walk-up in the meatpacking district close, but she supposed in Tino’s world it was close enough. He took the Ducati to Brooklyn all the time like it was nothing.

The Ducati they’d abandoned four parking garages ago.

Now they were in an old black Mustang with white racing stripes and spinning rims, which Brianna thought was funny. Even when they were undercover and trying to blend in, Tino picked the most guido car ever.

Old-school guido, but still…

When she pointed it out, giggling as they parked, Tino laughed with her and admitted, “It’s one of Carlo’s ditch cars. He loves old Mustangs. He loves Camaros too. He bought Romeo’s old one off Nova. He still has it. Romeo would f*cking freak if he knew that.”

“Oh my God.” Brianna laughed harder as she fought with the door, which was sticking. “He’s the worst enforcer ever.”

“Really?” Tino leaned over her and did something to the handle, and then he cracked the door open. “You don’t think he blends in an ’81 Mustang? You don’t think he looks like every other guido going to the gym after getting off the construction site? You don’t think that’d make it hard to pick him outta a crowd?”

Brianna turned to look at Tino with her eyebrows raised in shock as she said, “Oh my God,” for a completely different reason.

“Right?” Tino laughed. “Yay for stereotypes.”

“That freaks me out,” she whispered when she realized not only how good Carlo was at what he did, but how much he had taught Tino in the past two years.

“Yeah, well, the best lies are the ones closest to the truth.” Tino shrugged. “Like Nova says, you gotta play the hand you’re dealt, but I told Carlo if he gets his ears pierced and starts wearing wifebeaters three sizes too small, we’re not related anymore. I’d rather bail him out.”

Brianna laughed at the joke but couldn’t help but notice the way his voice hitched over the word lies. She reached out and grabbed his hand like she had that first time on the train when they were twelve. She pulled it into her lap, keeping it there in a protective gesture that was mostly unconscious.

Tino let her, which seemed important, because she noticed that sometimes he flinched away from affections like that.

“Why did we change cars so many times?” she asked. “Is it the feds or—”

“It’s everyone. The feds. The Borgata. I just don’t wanna be found for a little while.” Tino let his head fall back against the headrest and looked to the roof of the car with his sunglasses still on. “That first time with you in my old bunk bed. Cazzo, Bri, I just wanted to hide with you forever. I still want that. I never stopped wanting it. I need you to know how much it meant to me to have that before I tell you this other shit. I’ve been living off it for two years. I didn’t think it could get any better until what you gave me last night. Now it’s taking everything I have not to grab you and run away so f*cking far that they’ll never find us. Any of them.”