The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(101)

Tino tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, seeming deep in thought. “Then I guess we’ll never have to find out what I’d do if you sold him out.”

“I would still like to know,” Alaine pressed as she looked to him again. “Considering I’m trapped in the car with you for the foreseeable future.”

“No.” He shook his head at that. “You wouldn’t. I wouldn’t either. I don’t even want to think about it. I’m just gonna trust that life is not that f*cking mean to put us in a situation like that.”

“I don’t know who you are at all, do I?” Alaine whispered as she studied Tino again. “Everything you’ve been in Garnet is a lie.”

“Yeah.” He gave her another hard look. “A huge f*cking lie.”

“You’re saying you’d kill to protect Chuito,” she whispered, looking at her lap again. “You’d kill me to protect him.”

“Yeah, I probably would.” He choked even as he said it. “But I wouldn’t want to, if that makes you feel better.”

“So much better.” She closed her eyes and fell back against the seat. “What did you do in the mafia when you lived in New York?”

“Do you really need more secrets?” Tino asked her with a look of disbelief. “Don’t you think Chu’s secrets have gotten you in enough trouble?”

“Does it make a difference?” She laughed manically. “You already said you’d have to kill me if I said anything. Is there anything worse than that?”

Tino was quiet for a moment before he admitted, “I was an enforcer.”

“What does an enforcer do?”

“Enforces things,” he said softly, his eyes still on the road, though his handsome face looked haunted. “Justice. Mafia justice.”

“Was it fair? Justified?”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t the f*cking judge. I just carried out the sentence.”

“Why?”

“To protect the Borgata. The family,” he said as if it was obvious. “To protect the administration. To protect my brother, because if the Borgata goes down, my brother goes down, and I was not going to let that happen. I’d f*cking lose my soul before I’d let that happen.”

“And now you’re Chuito’s enforcer,” she said in understanding. “You’re protecting him.”

“That’s right.” Tino nodded as if it made perfect sense to him. “These motherf*ckers in Miami should be really f*cking scared, because I have stolen one brother’s car, kidnapped a woman, and now I’m trying to figure out how to lie to the other brother who knows me better than anyone in this world. I have no idea how I’m going to pull that off. I am pissed off right now.”

“Well,” she started as she considered that. “Maybe you should tell me what you know, and we can formulate an alibi together.”

“You think I’m going to tell you what I know?” He laughed in disbelief. “I already told you too much.”

“I’m a lawyer. I’ve passed the bar,” she reminded him. “Attorney-client privilege.”

“You’re not my lawyer.”

She shrugged. “But I could be. I could bill you.”

“You’re gonna f*cking bill me?”

“Sure.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “How much?”

“Well.” She looked ahead to the road and thought about it. “Two hundred dollars an hour. Fourteen-hour drive. Twenty-five hundred. Family discount.”

“Are you shitting me right now?” He laughed. “You’re fresh outta law school. You think you’re worth twenty-five hundred?”

“Yes, I am.” She grinned at him. “I’m actually really smart, Tino. I specialized in criminal law because Jules couldn’t practice it.”

“You specialized in criminal law?” He sounded shocked now. “Are you a criminal defense attorney? Is that what you want to be now that you’re out of school?”

She nodded. “Yup. I can do just about anything, but I focused on criminal law because it was the one thing Jules can’t do.”

“Holy shit.” He sounded stunned as he considered that for a moment and then turned to her, giving her a wide, dazzling smile. “Do you take cash?”

“I love cash.”

“You better,” he said with a laugh. “’Cause criminals pay with cash.”

“I’ll e-mail you a bill,” she said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “So it’ll be on record.”

She e-mailed Tino a bill as he drove; then she set down her phone and said, “Tell me everything.”

“I can trust you,” he asked her uncertainly. “You’re not going to sell me out? You’re my lawyer now. You can’t sell me out.”

She nodded, though it wasn’t wholly true. Legally, she could sell him out, but she wouldn’t, not if it hurt Chuito. “I won’t sell you out. If you’re Chuito’s enforcer, I want to help you. He’s my love story, Tino.”

“How’s that working out for you?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t know.” She sighed as she looked at the road. “But I guess I’m gonna find out, because there’s no turning back now.”