Tino left before Brianna woke up.
He knew it made him an asshole, but he’d spent most of the night staring at her ceiling, feeling her naked against him save one tiny pair of pink panties. Tino was one of the few people who knew what real torture felt like, and he would’ve honestly taken his father’s belt or the Savios’ basement over spending the night with Brianna naked and not actually fucking her.
He ended up back home, taking a shower until the water ran cold, and still he stood there, trying to find some reason to stay in this apartment with his brothers rather than go back to Carina’s place to finish what he started with Brianna.
“I heard La Bomba got raided last night.”
Tino turned and looked through the glass of the shower door in disbelief. Not just because privacy was still at less than zero around Nova when Tino was an adult and should be able to take a fucking shower without his brother walking in, but also because Nova still had his hands into everything.
“How did you hear about the raid?”
“Mateo called me and told me he saw you going out the back with the princess and the BFF.”
Tino stiffened. “She has a name, you know?”
“Who has a name?” Nova asked like he didn’t know, as he leaned over and rubbed at the mirror.
He messed with his hair while Tino glared at him.
“She never did anything to you, Casanova,” Tino growled as all the fury and tension jumped to the surface. “You keep giving her shit and—”
Nova laughed. “And what?”
“And I’ll—” Tino started, keeping his voice low on purpose until Nova stepped closer to the shower.
For that one small period in time, Tino let himself be the enforcer, even though everything about his life was carefully portioned out, and he didn’t let one Tino blend into the other.
He was just so sick of Nova’s shit in regard to Carina, and it felt like a lifetime of anger chose that moment to rise up.
Tino used all his strength to push open the shower door when Nova got close enough, catching Nova hard, knocking him down so violently he smacked his head against the marble floor in Romeo’s bathroom.
Nova shouted on the way down, but then he sort of had that dazed look someone in the octagon had when they got knocked out. Tino was still standing there staring at him with water pooling out onto the floor when Romeo jerked open the bathroom door.
“Deficiente!” Romeo fell down on his knees next to Nova and asked in Italian, “What’d you do to him?”
“He never gives me any privacy,” Tino mumbled, also speaking Italian as Romeo sat Nova up with practiced ease, because now that Romeo was fighting professionally, this was part of his everyday gig.
“So you just knock him the fuck out?” Romeo asked in disbelief and then grabbed Nova’s face, staring at him. Then he looked back to Tino in shock, because Nova wasn’t the easiest guy to knock out. “Actually, how’d you do it?”
“Shower door.” Tino winced. “And he sort of hit his head on the tile.”
“Merda.” Romeo patted Nova’s face as Nova blinked heavy-lidded eyes, shaking off the shock of the fall. “Casanova?”
“Fuck both of yous.” Nova’s voice was raspy, but he sounded fairly alert as he jerked his face out of Romeo’s grasp.
“He’s okay. He’s got a thick skull.” Romeo patted Nova’s cheek once more. “Last time you walk in on him in the shower, huh? I’m sort of impressed right now. Maybe I need to get rid of the dumbass I’m working with and make Tino my training partner if he can knock Nova Moretti out cold.”
Nova was awake enough to flick his hand under his chin and flip them both off. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against his knees, like the room was spinning.
“Get outta of the heat. It’ll make it worse. I’ll make you breakfast. You’ll be fine,” Romeo decided for him as he stood and winced when he looked to Tino. “Speaking of privacy.” He grabbed the towel off the rack and tossed it at Tino. “I’m going friggin’ blind, Valentino.”
Tino caught it and turned off the shower, but still he couldn’t help but point out, “This is my shower. You’re both in here when this is my time. What if I was jerking off? I could have my hand on my fucking dick, and he’d walk in and—”
Romeo held up his palms in surrender. “I’m out.”
He closed the bathroom door on the way out as Tino tied the towel around his waist. Nova was still sitting there, but as he woke up, his features went from mad to hurt. He glanced up at Tino, looking genuinely horrified. “You didn’t even have to try to do that.”