The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3)(7)
“Ominous,” Brianna whispered, though she was afraid she already knew the reason they were heading west through Amish country. “Did you know your nonno told David to marry me?”
Carina whipped her head around so fast the car swerved. “What?”
Brianna stared at her for a long time. Carina was as good an actress as just about anyone, but that was a genuine reaction. Brianna wasn’t sure what was worse, thinking her friend had somehow been involved with the attempted assignation or having to break the news that Brianna probably had a price on her head thanks to Carina’s family.
“When David was choking me, he told me your grandfather had him marry me to keep me and Tino apart,” Brianna explained simply. “I’m pretty sure he was telling the truth.”
Carina shook her head. “No. Bri—”
“Carina.” She cut her off. “Your grandfather’s guys were waiting for me in the lobby. I recognized one. They were coming up to either finish the job or to make sure I was dead and hide my body. Maybe take pictures and text them in typical f*cked-up Cosa Nostra fashion. It has to do with Tino. Have you talked to him?”
“Yeah, he’s”—Carina held up her hand to the windshield—“living the good life in Bumf*ck. He was in Miami for his friend’s wedding. He’s fine. He’s outta trouble. David’s gotta be full of shit.”
Brianna could hear the denial in Carina’s voice, because her grandfather spoiled her rotten. She was willing to overlook a lot of things for her nonno, but the facts were pretty hard to deny.
So Brianna told her everything. In detail. When she got to the part where she was describing the hit men in the lobby, Carina pulled into a gas station and got out without another word.
The car rattled with the force Carina used to slam the door.
Brianna watched her best friend storm across the parking lot. The sound of high-heeled boots clicking against the pavement echoed until Carina jerked open the door to the convenience store so hard she probably had the poor guy behind the counter scared to death of the five-foot-nothing ball of Italian fury that had invaded his store.
She reappeared a few minutes later, furiously pulling the wrapper off a pack of cigarettes.
“Shit!” Brianna cursed as she jumped out of the car, bringing the jacket with her. She slipped her arms into the sleeves as she ran across the parking lot. “Carina Maria Moretti! No!”
“I will cut you,” Carina warned, grasping at the box like a lifeline. “I swear to God, Bri. I don’t like to kick a girl when she’s down, but—”
Considering she had seven inches on her, Brianna decided she was willing to risk it and swiped for the box of cigarettes. She got it too, and was diving for the garbage can when Carina jumped on her back. For the second time in less than twelve hours, someone was trying to choke her. Brianna fell back against the wall to the convenience store, keeping Carina trapped there and relieving some of the pressure on her neck.
Carina just hung on to her, breathing heavily, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. “I need one.”
Brianna stared ahead in annoyance. “I’m the one who should be falling apart. I probably have a price on my head and—”
“I have guilt. I feel like this is my fault.” Carina let out a low moan of agony. “I have too much already and—”
“You are a drama queen,” Brianna reminded her, though she supposed Carina had a point. She looked down, nearly choking herself in the process because she was supporting all of Carina’s weight. She pulled out one cigarette and held it up as a peace offering. “I’m throwing away the pack.”
“Fine.” Carina snatched it and slid to her feet behind Brianna.
Carina’s hands shook as she lit the cigarette, but when she tilted her head back and blew out the smoke, she looked so wholly pleased Brianna almost felt guilty throwing away the pack.
Almost.
They stood there in silence as Carina had a moment with her cigarette, and Brianna watched her. She had a unique, distinctive way of smoking that always intrigued Brianna, like something out of a black-and-white movie, making Carina look like a starlet preserved in time, but that wasn’t what was intriguing to Brianna.
“You smoke just like Nova,” she observed not for the first time, even knowing Carina hated to be compared to her other brother almost as much as Nova did. That alone wasn’t weird, but the fact that Nova could look like such a badass doing it, and Carina could look like a starlet, yet watching them side by side was like staring at mirror images. “It’s so strange.”
“Please.” Carina turned her head and blew out the smoke. “I’m already nauseated over my family.”
“Do you think he knows about this whole thing?” Brianna asked suspiciously. “Do you think he’s in on it?”
“No.” Carina said it almost instantly. “Nova wouldn’t do anything to hurt Tino.”
Brianna snorted in disbelief over that.
“He wouldn’t have you killed,” Carina corrected with a wince. “He does love Tino.”
“I know,” Brianna whispered, because she did, very much so. “Why are we in Pennsylvania?”
Carina looked down and flicked ashes onto the cement. “Tino told me the promise you made him before the wedding.”