Meilei looked from Tino to Lola and then nodded. “Sure. I’ll come.”
“This is gonna be awesome,” Tino decided for all of them. “Like a band reunion.”
“Figlio di puttana,” Lola whispered under her breath.
The music mostly covered it, but Tino heard it anyway and leaned in to her, maybe a little too close, because he’d learned to be comfortable with her a long time ago. “Wow, you said that really well for a Dominican.”
“I’ve corrupted her.” Carlo shrugged and then gave Tino a devious smile. “In more ways than one.”
“Oh yeah, I’m sure.” Tino nodded in disbelief, because he knew for a fucking fact there wasn’t a damn thing in the world Carlo could do to corrupt Lola. “Let’s have breakfast.”
They landed at a place that served midnight brunch until after the sun came up and had a little bit of everything.
Since Carlo was there, Tino sat in the booth with his back facing the door, between Bobby and Meilei. Nova was across from them in the corner next to Lola, who was also a Cosa Nostra brat and liked to see the door. The two of them gave Carlo the prime seat on the end so he could get out the fastest.
He was the enforcer.
It was his automatically.
They all knew the rules, Lola included, so Tino watched her with a critical eye when she ended up between Nova, a known capo in the Moretti Borgata, and Carlo, whom she supposedly believed was a personal trainer until an hour ago.
A personal trainer who packed heat every time he left the house.
Okay.
She unrolled her silverware and arranged it, her light eyes darting to Carlo sitting on the end instead of Nova.
“Have an issue?” Tino asked, because the two of them faced each other across the table.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Maybe you wanna switch seats?” Tino shrugged and looked to Meilei sitting next to him. “Sometimes girls like to sit on the end.”
“Valentino.” Nova glared at him and then asked in Italian, “Are you very high right now?”
“Sorta. Yeah.” He nodded, because he was very high, but not nearly high enough for this shit. “I was just wondering if she wanted to sit on the end.”
“No, thank you,” Lola said with another one of those dazzling smiles. “I’m fine.”
“She knows I like to sit on the end,” Carlo added.
“Does she?” Tino unrolled his silverware too. “That’s interesting.”
“Lots of people like to sit on the end,” Lola argued with him. “It’s not unusual.”
Tino gave her a look of disbelief, but then the waitress showed up and took their order. Considering the fuckton of weed he’d smoked at the rave, Tino ordered a lot of food.
Plus, he kind of wanted to sit there across from Lola and watch her squirm as much as possible.
Bobby and Meilei were broke most of the time since they didn’t get to keep much of what they made. Tino didn’t either, but he had other sources of income. So he told the waitress to put them on his check, and they ordered a lot too.
“It’s amazing you stay as fit as you do,” Lola mumbled as she watched Tino pour syrup over his French toast. “Do you always eat like this?”
“I’m wearing a jacket,” Tino said in Italian to no one in particular. “How the fuck does she know if I’m fit?”
“Vafanculu,” Carlo growled from across the table and then went on in Italian, “What is your fucking problem? I’ve been telling her nice things about you, and you’re making me look like an asshole.”
“Yeah, I’m the one making you look like an asshole.” Tino snorted and gave Lola another glare before he asked in English, “Where did you go to school?”
Lola pulled back. “Excuse me?”
“He said you were from East Harlem,” Tino went on and then took a bite of his French toast. He gestured to Nova. “We are too.”
“I, um—” She stabbed at her fruit salad distractedly. “I was homeschooled.”
“Ah.” Tino nodded. “That’s funny. Meilei was too. Weren’t you?”
Meilei looked up from her food with a knowing smile. “I was.”
“You’re not still in school?” Nova asked Meilei in surprise.
“No.” Meilei looked back to her pancakes. “I dropped out.”
“Hey, no judgment. I dropped out too,” Nova said earnestly. “If you wanted to take your GED, I could help you, and there’s plenty of financial aid for community college. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Mei’s not available,” Tino cut his brother off with a glare. “And she’s not interested in Nova Moretti’s financial-aid program.”
“You’re a dickhead tonight,” Nova said sharply in Italian. “Care to share with the table why?”
“Sure.” Tino looked back to Lola and arched an eyebrow despite the fact that he was speaking Italian. “I’m in a sharing mood.”
“If you’ll excuse me.” Lola pushed at Carlo’s shoulder. “I need to use the ladies’ room.”
Carlo let her out, and Tino watched her walk to the back of the room before he decided, “I need to take a leak too.”
“Classy, Valentino,” Nova chastised him and then looked to Meilei pointedly.