The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3)(61)



He couldn’t imagine hating her too.

Carina isn’t her mother.

He said it like a chant in his mind, knowing that like karate, if he practiced something enough, it became second nature. He wasn’t going to let Cosa Nostra ruin that too.

They didn’t get to ruin it.

“What song are you dancing to?” he asked Brianna on instinct, because he needed something to be f*cking excited about, but then just as he said it, he realized he didn’t want to know yet. “Never mind.”

She stopped walking and looked at him curiously.

“I don’t wanna know. I thought I did, but I don’t. I’ll wait.”

She frowned.

Carina did too.

“I want it to be a surprise,” he explained to both of them. “’Cause, you know, I don’t have cable.”

Brianna was still frowning, her cheeks pinker than usual. She got flustered easily. He thought it was cute in a way few girls had appealed to him before now. Plus, she had these amazing green eyes that glowed in the sunshine.

They were unique.

And her hair was too, this very dark red, not orange, but more copper. It almost didn’t look real, but he was sure it was.

She had on black stretch pants and one of those loose-fitting, very hip-hop-styled tank tops. The sleeves hung open down to her waist, showing off her sports bra. It almost worked; she almost fit in, except her hair was pulled into a tight, ballet-dancer-type bun.

“You should take your hair down,” he said as he started walking again. “I promise none of the girls in this crew wear their hair like that. It’s too stuck-up looking.”

“But it’ll get in my face,” she argued as she followed him.

“He’s right,” Carina agreed and pulled at one of the pins in Brianna’s hair as if she had already decided.

“Stop it!” Brianna snapped at her. “I can’t do it right if it’s in my face.”

Carina pulled out another pin.

Brianna pushed her, but Carina was unfazed.

By the time they got to the studio, Carina had a handful of pins, and Brianna’s hair was a mess of red waves that hung down to the middle of her back.

They stood outside the studio doors, and Brianna held up her hands at both of them. “This isn’t gonna work. It’ll be in my face the whole friggin’ time. If I screw up, it won’t matter how I look.”

Tino supposed that would be a problem, so he pulled off his hat and put it on her head. Carina reached over and messed with the sides of Brianna’s hair, making it fall right under the hat and pushing it out of her eyes.

Then Brianna stood there and shrugged. “Happy?”

Tino smiled, a real smile, one he felt because she looked really f*cking perfect to him right then. “Now I’m happy.”

She pulled back, her cheeks turned pink again, and she messed with the hat. “I guess this works.”

“Yeah, it does,” he agreed. “Rock it out. This is the only thing I’ve had to look forward to.”

“No cable,” Brianna whispered in understanding.

“No cable,” he agreed with another smile. “So make it good.”

She nodded, her cheeks pinker than ever. “I will.”

“It’s gonna be amazing,” Carina assured him as she pulled open the door.

They were three steps into the door when someone shouted, “Tino!”

Tino stopped and looked over to see one of his friends from the Harlem kids’ gym. Otis had moved over a year ago when his dad got a promotion and they lost touch.

“Holy shit!” Tino shouted in surprise and handed one crutch to Carina to give Otis a real hug when he came up. “I f*cking forgot you were in Brooklyn.”

“Did you move here?” Otis asked as he hugged him back. “I thought you guys were East Harlem forever.”

“Yeah, uh, my dad got custody.” Tino avoided his gaze rather than admit Romeo was in jail. He gestured to Carina. “This is my sister.”

“Sister?” Otis frowned and looked at Carina in surprise. “Oh.”

Carina covered the awkwardness by hugging Otis. A big, tight-armed hug that must have been developed by Carina to cover up the fact that her father was a sadistic murderer and her mother rented kids to truckers in rest-stop bathrooms.

“This is my best friend Brianna,” Carina introduced Brianna, who was standing next to her. “She’s auditioning.”

“Cool.” Otis nodded and grinned at Tino again. “You gonna audition too?”

Tino looked down at his cast and arched an eyebrow.

“What happened? Karate?”

“I jumped off the first-floor landing of my building. It was stupid.” Tino winced, because he was really tired of this cast.

“When do you get it off?” Otis asked and then turned to a tall black woman who walked up. Her braids were pulled away from her face, and she had a warm smile. “Jasmine, this is Tino Moretti. We used to hang in East Harlem. He does a front tuck that’s sick. Tino, this is Jasmine. She’s one of the choreographers.”

“You can do a front tuck?” Brianna asked in surprise.

Tino looked back at his cast. “Usually.”

“It’s awesome,” Otis confirmed. “Our coach at the gym even went to his house, trying to recruit him for the team.”

Kele Moon's Books