The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3)(6)

“Is anyone following you?” Brianna asked as she turned to look out the back, because more often than not, Carina’s grandfather had someone watching her. “Are you stuck with babysitters this week?”

“I ditched the babysitters. Faked going to the bathroom and snuck out the back.” Carina gave Brianna another glare. “What is going on?”

Brianna felt the first tears of the night sting her eyes as she looked at her best friend. Then she tugged down her turtleneck, showing off the marks she was sure were still there. “I have so many issues that require a sweep.”

Carina sucked in a hard breath as she stared at Brianna’s neck. Carina reached out and grabbed Brianna’s face when they stopped at a light. Her dark gaze narrowed in fury.

“Figlio di puttana,” she cursed as she studied Brianna’s cheek that probably looked horrible. “Broccoli did that?”

Brianna nodded and covered her mouth with her hand, feeling herself wanting to unravel and just sob now that some of the adrenaline was draining out of her. “But that’s not the worst of it. There was a reason I used aiuto, and it wasn’t because of Broccoli.”

Carina looked back to the road when the light turned green. She kept her gaze straight ahead, but there was a tic in her jaw that showed the fear in a way her face wouldn’t.

“You’re tired. Sleep. I’ll get us somewhere, and you can tell me,” Carina finally decided, not leaving any room for argument.

Brianna just looked out the window rather than respond. She didn’t trust herself to speak. There were a million things on the tip of her tongue, number one being the question Brianna never wanted to ask.

Did Carina know her grandfather had been playing Brianna and Tino all along? Did she know he told David to marry Brianna? Did Carina know her nonno was a man who could have Brianna killed just to get back at Tino for whatever he did to piss their grandfather off this week?

Yet even as she thought it, she wasn’t as shocked as she should be.

Look at what Tino had endured at the hands of the mafia. Was she really surprised they would consider her an easy pawn in the game? If they hurt their own blood that severely, one Irish Catholic girl from Dyker Heights wasn’t such a big loss.

Carina could make a new friend.

Brianna kept staring out the window, the lights blurring red and white through the rain as her eyes got heavy, and her heart finally stopped its constant pounding against her chest.

Simon and Garfunkel played on the radio, soft and melodic, lulling her into a false sense of security as if a bridge over troubled water was really something girls like her could still dream about.

She couldn’t talk about what happened, not until Carina swept the car for bugs, so as they approached the Lincoln Tunnel, Brianna gave up thinking about it and slept instead.



Brianna had a kink in her neck, but she was warm and still so very tired she wanted to keep ignoring it. Instead, she shifted and blinked, surprised by the early-morning sunshine. She blinked a few more times, and it wasn’t until they drove past an old-fashioned horse and buggy that she woke up fully.

“What the f*ck?” Brianna looked out the window, seeing nothing but farmland, miles of it, broken up with the occasional house, barn, or silo. “Where are we?”

“Good morning, starshine,” Carina said in response as she took a sip of coffee out of a Styrofoam cup. “Lancaster, PA. Quaint, right?”

“We’re in Pennsylvania?” Brianna gaped at her for one long moment before she asked, “Why?”

“I figured distance might be good.”

“Distance?” Brianna repeated as she gestured to another barn. “No shit, distance. When did you plan on stopping?”

Carina shrugged noncommittally, which sent up a million red flags. As if she sensed the suspicion, she took another sip of coffee and said, “It’s merda. This coffee. You wanna try and find breakfast?”

Brianna ran a hand over her face and winced at the sting in her cheek. She pulled down the visor to stare at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t help but grimace at what she saw. “I look like merda.”

“Mmm,” Carina hummed in agreement. “Like a drowned rat. A little ginger rat who has very bad taste in vegetables.”

Brianna just arched an eyebrow at her, deciding that only a true friend would be that honest. “Did you sweep the car when you stopped for coffee?”

“Yes, I did. Thanks to our taxpayer dollars, I found not one, not two, but three bugs. That never stops being annoying. That’s why I let Tony do it. He’s so sweet. He lies to me every time, and he does it so believably. Enforcers are, by far, the best liars in the Borgata.”

“No kidding,” Brianna said sullenly, wishing she wasn’t stuck on thoughts of Tino. “Why are we in PA? Where are we going, Carina?”

“Are you gonna tell me what happened?” Carina countered.

Brianna pulled up the jacket that had somehow found its way over her, and snuggled into the seat that was nice and warm thanks to Carina’s fine taste in luxury vehicles. “Did you sweep my side?”

“Yes, I did.”

“How did I not hear you?” Brianna asked in surprise. “How did I sleep all the way to PA?”

“Overworked, overstressed. Who knows? I was starting to worry you had a concussion.” Carina took another sip of coffee. “Maybe a part of you knew I’d get you somewhere safe.”