Page 111 of Worth of Waste

And bugged the hell out of him the whole time.

It just felt … off.

Dino wasn’t one to ignore intuition.

In their life, it saved lives.

“Something is going on there,” Dino said, looking to his brother.

Theo cocked a brow. “You think Dean is planning something?”

“Him, his father; what fucking difference does it make? I don’t trust them.”

“They don’t give us a lot of reasons to,” Theo admitted.

Dino decided to wave it off, if only because he had the wedding to deal with, and then a busy week after. His attention was going to focusing on his plan to get the hell out of the country with Karen as soon as humanly possible.

Theo could deal with the Artino bunch.

He was smart enough.

“Dig into that for me?” Dino asked.

Theo nodded. “Sure, man.”

Dino watched the week pass by with a slowness he hadn’t experienced in years. His sister’s wedding had gone off without a hitch, for the most part.

Church had become a near constant in Dino’s life. He could remember being a young child, and sitting beside his mother in a pew as she clutched her rosary and sang along with the hymns. Those happened to be some of his sweetest memories, and ones he shared with no one but himself, if only because they were so untainted by the realities of life.

That was probably why, when in church, Dino was the most relaxed he had ever been.

Church was his safe place—bad things didn’t happen here.

Or so he thought.

“DeLuca, a word?” Tommas asked.

Dino turned to face Tommas Rossi, a cousin and close friend to Damian, his sister’s new husband, less than impressed to be bothered just as he was readying to find a pew. He didn’t plan on visiting his mother’s grave today, as Karen was waiting on him—she’d asked him to come over. He promised to be there on time. He was late earlier in the week.

Lily had also invited him for supper, but he figured he could make that, too. He owed it to his sister, as it might be one of the very last suppers they had together.

“What, Tommas?” Dino asked.

Tommas nodded his head to the side, directing Dino away from the people. He followed, but his disinterest was clear. Once they were safely away from prying eyes and ears, Tommas shoved his hands in his pocket, a clear sign of the man’s nervousness.

For the most part, Tommas was good.

A Rossi, sure, but good.

The Outfit people were still fighting. They still clawed at one another’s throats every chance they could. Dino had taken a wide step back from it all. It seemed like, for the moment, Tommas was another man who removed himself.

Dino could appreciate that.

“Did you know the Artinos have been cozying up to the Trentinis lately?” Tommas asked.

Dino hadn’t. “No, but I’m not concerned. They’re snakes, they’re going to slither into whatever grass feels warmest to them at the time.”

Tommas nodded. “Sure, sure.”