Romeo couldn’t resist turning to Tino and then wrapping his arms around him.
He hugged him through the thick comforter. “Betcha wish you had Nova on this trip with you instead.”
“Yup,” Tino said without hesitation. “He’s nicer.” The irony of Nova being the kinder, more paternal older brother wasn’t lost on Romeo. The day he was considered crueler than an acting underboss for one of the biggest crime families in the United States was a sad day.
198
“How about if I make you something?” Romeo suggested, even if his body screamed in protest. He wanted to roll up in a comforter like Tino and sleep until his eyes stopped burning from exhaustion, but he just squeezed his brother tighter. “I think I got all the stuff for baked ziti in the fridge.”
“You’ll use Ma’s recipe?”
“I’m not making the sauce from scratch,” Romeo said, because that was going way too far. “But yeah, I’ll make it like Ma made it. Lotsa garlic.” Tino pushed the comforter down, giving him a triumphant smile. “Okay.” Feeling a bit like he’d just been played, Romeo dragged his tired ass into the kitchen and started making baked ziti. Now properly distracted, Tino followed him and started self-medicating his aches and pains with imported beer.
He was on his second one by the time Romeo was straining the pasta. The three months out of the party scene was starting to fuck with his tolerance because Tino was running his mouth like he’d had four tequila shots instead of two beers.
“And man, I’m not even kidding you, she was riding me like I was the horse and she just knocked over a bank, okay? The girls around here are hard-core, but they got skills. I definitely get why you fell in love with that Conner chick after Vegas. Nova doesn’t get it, but I get it. Cowgirls, they do it better,” Tino said enthusiastically. “Did I tell you Danielle’s father owns a farm? Like a real friggin’ farm that grows shit.”
“That’s cool.” Romeo dumped the strained pasta back into the pot to add the other ingredients.
“He’s gotta barn. Turns out doing it in the hay isn’t as hot as you’d think it is. That shit hurts. Stabbing you in the ass while she’s riding your—”
“Come on, man.” Romeo turned around from the stove to glare at his youngest brother. “I used to change your diapers. Hearing this shit disturbs me.”
“So tell me about your girl. You love her now? Fine. Where the fuck’s the details?”
“I’m not giving you details.”
199
“That’s bullshit. Nova gives me details.”
“Then call Nova,” Romeo said dismissively.
“Fine.” Tino grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket, then put his feet up on the table. He took a long drink of his beer while he waited for the phone to ring and then said, “Mio fratello! ”
He got the jab because Tino did it often, claimed one or the other of them was his real brother, depending on who he was pissed off with for the moment. Romeo put the food in the oven, listening to Tino trying to make conversation with Nova.
“Where are you? Sounds like you’re in the car.”
“You driving somewhere? This late? What the fuck’s the matter with you?” Then Tino switched to Italian, his voice low and worried as he asked him once again what was wrong. Romeo turned around in concern, seeing Tino frowning, his feet on the ground, his beer forgotten as he held the phone closer to his ear and said, “At least gimme a friggin’ hint.”
Tino’s frown deepened, and he finally hung up the phone, announcing, “Fucking government.”
“What?” Romeo asked, the dishes forgotten.
Tino threw up his hands. “The fuck if I know? He won’t say it over the phone. Just plays it cool, but I can tell it’s something. Where the hell’s he driving to that he can’t take a friggin’ cab?”
“What does he own a car for? To drive it, genius. I think your job has made you paranoid,” Romeo announced, turning around to arch an eyebrow at Tino.
“Sometimes I’m nervous being here. I just don’t think the rest of the crew’s got his back like I got his back,” Tino said, looking twitchy and suspicious. “I’m his brother. If I gotta clip someone, it doesn’t matter who it is, I’m not gonna hesitate to—” 200
“Valentino!” Romeo threw up his hands as he turned around to look at his brother once more. “I’d rather go back to hearing about the barn than listen to you talk about business, capiche?”
“Fine,” Tino said distractedly as he picked up his beer and took a long drink.