“See. He’ll just take himself.”
“You’re gonna let a twelve-year-old take the bus by himself with a broken leg? Have you looked at him? He’s too pretty. Someone will grab him for sure,” Miss Laura said in disbelief. “Come on, Frankie, no. I’m gonna lose my job.”
“He’s fine. He can take care of himself.” Frankie waved off the concern. When she huffed in annoyance, he sighed. “I’ll have his brother take him. Grab your shit, Tino.”
Tino suspected his father was nailing Miss Laura. Frankie stayed there, hovering with his hand on the driver’s-side door as Tino fought with getting out of the car.
Tino hopped on his good foot while he pulled the crutches out of the back. Then he stood there, staring at the house that was more like a fucking castle for mafia royalty. All fenced in and hidden, but the top of it rose out of the trees like a gray-bricked monster.
“I can’t meet you later. The wife’s not exactly pleased with me right now,” Frankie whispered under his breath. “She’s been on one since last night.”
Tino rolled his eyes. He should probably warn Nova about Miss Bad Touch. If Frankie was her flavor, she’d have her hands all over Nova with her comfort and concern.
Nova looked so much like their father it always gave Tino whiplash.
Tino studied Frankie again, noticing he hadn’t walked away from the social worker, despite the wife. Nova might look like him, but Nova’s brain hadn’t come from Frankie, because this assholewas notsmart. He was not slick. He might have a big pair of stugots, but that was about it.
“Where are the boys staying if she’s so pissed off they’re here?” Miss Laura asked.
“They have their own place over the garage. A bachelor pad. That sounds good, doesn’t it, pal?”
Tino wouldn’t even acknowledge that.Pal?He was gonna pull a Nova and puke on someone’s shoes. Instead he just worked on lifting his feet and staying balanced on the crutches for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, he had both his feet up when he saw the face hovering above the high gate, hidden by long hair that was inky black and shiny in the rays of sunlight filtering in through the trees and vines.
The fence had to be fifteen feet high. He had no idea what that girl was standing on or how she’d crawled up on the other side to be hanging there, but that wasn’t what had him busting his ass on the driveway.
Even from a distance, he got that same weird whiplash feeling of seeing his brother’s face on another person.
“What the fuck?” Frankie sighed as Tino rolled over, now sprawled out and hurting on the cement. “I think their mother smoked too much with this one.”
“It’s very possible. He’s got a raging case of ADHD. It’s all over his file.”
“And I got another one in the house who’s worse. Head’s always in the clouds,” Frankie said sadly. “These friggin’ broads. You’d think they’d eat their spinach when they’re pregnant to save themselves the headache. Mary’s always nagging on Carina about it. Gets herself worked up for nothing. She’s a girl. What the hell does she need to pay attention for? The only career she’s gotta worry about is fucking her husband. But you, pal.” His father sighed. “You better get your shit together.”
Tino tilted his head, looking back to the fence, but the girl had disappeared. All he could do was lie there and wonder why someone hadn’t bothered to mention he had a sister.
Chapter Ten
Truth.
Tino was still pissed off with Nova.
He wanted to see him, but he was mad as hell at him. First, Nova threw Tino under the bus over the ADHD and jumping off the landing. Then he puked all over Miss Laura’s shoes, which freaked Tino the hell out because Nova never lost his cool.
Now there was a fuckload of stairs, a broken leg, his elbows scraped up and bleeding from biting it on the driveway, and no one to give a shit. Just his father gesturing to the building over in the corner of the property behind the pool.
Yeah, a fucking pool.
In his next life, Tino was going to be a legitimate mafia brat instead of a bastard. Inthislife, it’d be nice for Nova to show up and be a brother sometime in this century. If Tino had broken his leg two days ago, he’d have both his brothers fussing over him. Today, he was tired as hell and trying to take the stairs with crutches all by his lonesome.
Though he supposed out of the three of them, Tino wasn’t the one who should be bitching. Romeo was in jail for attempted murder, and Tino was almost positive it was some sort of setup.
He kicked the door open to the place above the garage.
“Ehi, stronzo,” he called out to Nova and then looked around at all the boxes stacked in the room. “Jesus, what a shithole.”
So much for living it up.
