Star-Crossed(133)

“He’ll never fight again,” Tino said sadly. “Something about his kidney.”

“He lost one,” Nova added.

Wyatt groaned, thinking about how hard Romeo had trained. He couldn’t help but feel guilty over being responsible for Romeo missing his last fight. “I’m sorry.”

“Why? He’s got another one,” Nova asked, misunderstanding. “You can live with one kidney easily.”

“No, ’bout the fighting.”

“Shit.” Nova laughed, shaking his head. “Who gives a fuck about the fighting?

That one bullet missed his heart by an inch. The other bounced around his insides, and the worst of it was taking out a kidney when it could have been so much more extensive.”

“That’s true. Who gives a shit ’bout the dang fighting? I retired without a championship belt, and I ain’t any worse for the wear.” Wyatt smiled and took his first clear breath since hearing about the shooting over the police scanner. The fear had been choking him for two days. “There are more important things in life.”

“Can Tino come watch the next time they do the sonogram?” Nova asked. “I know it’s sorta a private thing.”





345

“Nah. Jules ain’t shy, and they just rub that thing over her stomach. Both of you can come and see it. The babies look like little people already. It’s weird. Little hands and feet.”

Tino’s smile became wide and bright. “That’s cool!”

“It is cool,” Wyatt agreed. “But, twins! Christ! They’re a nightmare. My dad was gray before forty.”

“Do they know if they’re identical yet?” Tino asked curiously.

Wyatt shook his head. “They don’t know. They’re in their own little sacks and everything, which they say is good. Makes things easier, but they can still be identical.”

“They’ll just do a DNA test after they’re born,” Nova offered. “If they’re the same sex, you won’t know for sure until then.”

“Why do you know the answer to everything?” Wyatt asked because it was something he’d noticed about Nova. There wasn’t a question you could ask him that he didn’t have an immediate, correct response for. “And how the fuck do you know what my shoes sound like? Who does that?”

“’Cause I’m smart, Conner.” Nova sighed. “Unless I’m letting Gino stare at Romeo’s GPS tracking information on my laptop. That was pretty fucking stupid. I’m sorry. I can’t let you leave without saying that. I was tired. I wasn’t thinking. I know not to trust anyone, but—”

“You don’t trust anyone? Ever?” Wyatt asked sadly.

“Aside from my brothers? No, I don’t. Look at what happened when I did trust someone. Gino was my cousin. He was always around. I eventually let my guard down, and he betrayed my brother to Frankie when I did.” Nova’s face contorted in fury as if reliving a terrible memory. “He got Romeo’s location off my laptop, and he was texting the entire trip. He kept needing to stop. Gino was holding me back the whole way, making sure they made the hit before we got there. I fucked up by not seeing it, and we nearly lost Romeo and Jules because of it. I wish I could kill that fucker all over again just to see his face when he knew I figured it out.” 346



Yeah, Wyatt had to agree, Nova had fucked up, but knowing they were going to make it out of this mostly unscathed, he wasn’t going to give him hell about it. It didn’t look like Nova needed any help beating himself up over everything.

“You didn’t hurt Jules and Romeo,” Wyatt reminded him softly. “You didn’t pull the trigger.”

Nova gave Wyatt a haunted look. “That’s what you think.” Wyatt didn’t know how to respond to that; it was an ominous, open-ended statement that led Wyatt’s mind in a thousand dark directions until finally he asked,

“Am I supposed to say sorry ’bout your father? I know he was one of the fellas who died.”

“I’m not sorry.” Nova shrugged and reminded him, “I’m the one who killed him.”

“I’m not sorry either,” Tino added and looked over at Romeo. “Frankie wasn’t our real father.”

“Well, I guess that makes three of us ’cause I ain’t sorry either,” Wyatt admitted as he looked away, trying to imagine what it was like for Nova to kill his own father. “I’m gonna go tell Jules ’bout Romeo. She’s making herself sick worrying.” Wyatt turned to leave, but Nova called out, “The cops told me you called up and gave your statement. That you were the reason I got released so fast.”