“Yeah,” Nova said with an exhausted huff of frustration. “I’ll get Aldo to pull Frankie off our backs until the next fight. He doesn’t want me pissed off, does he? And letting Frankie kill my brother would certainly harm my loyalty.”
“How the fuck did we end up with Frankie as a father?” Tino asked bitterly.
“Bad fucking karma, who knows?” Nova shrugged. “But what does it serve to complain about it? Doesn’t change a damn thing, Tino. He is your father. You just gotta deal with it and play the hand you were dealt.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tino said tiredly, obviously bored with the same old speech. “I’ll walk you out.”
Nova leaned down to kiss the top of Romeo’s head endearingly despite his frustration. “I’ll fix it.”
Romeo knew Nova probably would fix it. One way or another, he made things work for him, and there was something nice about that, the dependability Nova offered.
He was easy to lean on—too easy.
Romeo caught his hand before he could walk off, clasping it firmly as he studied his younger brother. Flashes of their life together, of Nova as a toddler, curious about everything, eyes wide and bright, taking in everything so fast it was awe inspiring. A time before Nova absorbed the hurt, anger, and cynicism in the world as easily as he did all the beauty that had once made him a happy child.
“I love you,” Romeo whispered, the pain and exhaustion making him weak to the tears welling up in his eyes. “And I am proud of you. I want you to know that. The cards life dealt you were shit, but you did the best you could, and it’s better than most people would do—a lot better.”
“You’re not gonna die, Rome. I’ll fix it. I promise.” Nova patted Romeo’s cheek affectionately, giving him a grin. “Get some sleep. You look like shit. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Romeo squeezed his hand once more, reluctant to release him because a part of him would always see that enthusiastic little kid Nova used to be before life made him
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hard. It felt so final, but knowing it had to be done, Romeo did something he should have done years ago—he let Nova go.
After Tino and Nova stepped outside, Romeo decided he needed a nap. Grateful for the headache and the constant stab of pain in his side for distracting him from a far deeper hurt, he crawled into bed and closed his eyes.
* * * *
The need to hide from life must have put Romeo out almost instantly, but something woke him up. Now he had that heavy feeling of sleeping just long enough to feel worse than he had before he closed his eyes. He blinked into the darkness, his body still vibrating with exhaustion when someone curled up next to him in the bed.
Tino, smelling like soap, with his hair still wet from a shower, had crawled into Romeo’s bed like he had when he was little. The tears Romeo had fought earlier sprang up as if he’d never had the reprieve of sleep. He wrapped his arms around his baby brother, holding him tight.
“I’m proud of you too,” he whispered.
“Yeah?” Tino asked, clearly choked with emotion, making it obvious he saw what Nova was readily ignoring.
“Oh yeah,” Romeo said quickly. “But I want you to promise me you’ll get out.
Win every fight. Make something you can be proud of.”
“Why the fuck do you think I’m here? It’s not for the nightlife.” Romeo gave a broken laugh. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” Tino sighed. “Are you gonna wait till morning to leave?”
“Probably not.”
“I wanna go with you.” Tino’s voice quivered. “But what would it do to Nova if we both left?”
“Win a UFC championship belt instead.” Romeo squeezed him tighter. “Do what I never got a chance to do, okay?”
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“Okay.” Tino huffed, his body tight as he obviously fought with the tears. “You know Jules came to the hospital while you were in X-ray. Nova told her to fuck off, but I think she held her own against him. He doesn’t know country girls are hard-core.” Romeo couldn’t help but laugh despite the heartache. “That’s very true.”
“Maybe she’ll go with you. That way you won’t be alone.”
“She’s got a life here, Valentino. A real life.”
“I’m just saying. You should at least say good-bye. Maybe she’ll—” Romeo cut him off by leaning his forehead against Tino’s shoulder. He knew Tino could feel his tears, but what did he care? It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. This was a thousand times harder than going to prison. That time he knew he’d come back…this time he wasn’t so sure.