The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(78)

Chuito put it on speaker.

“Valentino—”

“Cazzo! Vai via, stronzo.” Tino moaned and then put the pillow over his head.

“I’m trying to help you,” Nova said in English. “You are in a stranger’s house for this shit.”

“He’s a friend of mine,” Tino said and then lifted his pillow and glared at Chuito. “Or I thought he was.”

“Are you joking?” Chuito told him with a laugh. “He threatened to get creative. We’re not that good of friends.”

“The accountant.” Tino pointed at his phone and snorted. “The paper pusher. He’s not the creative one, motherf*cker. Wake me up again, and I’m gonna get creative.“

Nova let loose in Italian before Chuito could respond.

Chuito caught very small fragments of what he was saying because some of their words were close to Spanish, but for the most part it was lost on him. He only understood the agitation and hurt in Nova’s voice.

Tino responded by yanking his phone out of Chuito’s hand and tossing it across the room.

Then he rolled over, showing Chuito his bare back, dismissing both of them. Chuito stared at him for a few seconds, realizing that he had fallen asleep that quickly.

Chuito walked around and picked up the phone. Seeing that it was still on, he said in Spanish, “He’s asleep.”

“Fuck.” Nova groaned. “Do I need to come down there? I will if I have to. It doesn’t matter how deep the shit here is. I only got two brothers.”

“No. Let him sleep it off. If he can sleep without nightmares, you should let him. I wish I could’ve done that.”

“I guess.” Nova sounded tired and exasperated. “I knew this was why he went with Romeo to Garnet, but I didn’t realize how bad it was going to be. He must have been lying to me about how many girls he’s been dating.”

“The breakup makes him confrontational,” Chuito said, hoping to ease his feelings a little bit. “It’s not personal.”

“I know.” Nova sighed. “Look, Garcia, give me your bank account information.”

“Why?” Chuito asked him curiously.

“To compensate you.”

“For what?”

“For taking care of my brother,” Nova said as if it was obvious. “He says you’re a friend of his, so I guess I’m good with that. Tino doesn’t say that often.”

Chuito got the impression that even crashing his ass off, Tino had somehow communicated that he was in a safe place. Still, Chuito didn’t feel the need to be compensated for it. “You don’t—”

“I don’t like being indebted to someone,” Nova cut him off. “Give it to me.”

Chuito didn’t know his bank account numbers off the top of his head, but he sat down and grabbed his laptop and looked them up. He gave all the information to Nova but then added, “That’s really not why I did this. I do okay, Moretti. I make quite a bit of money fighting.”

“I’m not just an accountant, despite what my brother has to say about it,” Nova said cryptically. “I can’t afford to owe people favors. Push Refresh on your account.”

Chuito did it and stared at the screen for several heartbeats as he looked at the pending transaction. He leaned in closer, because he honestly thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

“Are we good?” Nova asked.

Chuito was fairly certain not accepting would be perceived as an insult. “Sure, we’re good.”

“This whole situation doesn’t go any further than us. Ever. There are only two people in this world who aren’t expendable to me. Right now you’re protecting one of them. Do you understand what I’m paying for?”

“I understand. The secret is safe,” Chuito whispered as he stared at his bank account in shock. “Your brother’s safe too.”

“Okay, give me your number. I’m going to call back every few hours and check in. Even at night.”

“I don’t sleep much. Call as much as you want.” He gave Nova his number and then asked, “Did you live in Puerto Rico?”

“No.” Nova sounded amused, as if he had been waiting for it.

“But you don’t have an accent. You sound Boricua,” Chuito said, because that more than anything was freaking him the f*ck out. “How?”

“’Cause I’m boss, cabrón,” Nova said with a laugh.

It was casual, but as Chuito looked at his bank account once more, he understood what Nova was really telling him.

“Yeah, I guess you are,” he agreed.

Nova wasn’t just boss.

He was the boss.

And Chuito had his brother crashed on his bed and a quarter of a million dollars in mafia money in his bank account for his silence.

It turned out the blow was his downfall after all.

It put him in bed with the Italians.





Chapter Twenty-Nine


Garnet County


May 2012

Getting off the blow had mellowed Chuito a lot.

He’d been short-tempered and wired when he was in Miami. Always looking for the next fight. The next car to steal. The next dangerous thing to help him forget that his sins left his brother and aunt in early graves and his cousin with a criminal record.