Never Say Never (Vitale Brothers Book 4)

Chapter 1

Tracy stormedinto the office kitchen, a cardboard box in her hands. Her charm bracelet jingled as her heels tapped across the floor. I looked at the expression on her face and I already knew what was coming. Leaning against the counter, I smiled at her.

“Hey, Trace.”

“Don’t ‘Hey, Trace’ me, you son of a bitch.” She dropped the box to the floor, my stuff spilling out of it. “We’re done. I mean it this time. Here’s the little bit of shit you ever bothered to bring over.”

I raised a brow. “Did I do something wrong?”

Tracy scoffed. “Let me think about it. You never call, you barely text, you don’t come over.” She ticked off each item on her fingers.

“Yes, I have a job,” I pointed out. “Just like you. Being an FBI agent is a busy job.”

“Bullshit. Konner caught you at the club the other night with your tongue down someone’s throat. Everyone around here knows you’d fuck anything with two legs.”

I hummed. “On occasion one.”

My boss snorted. Tracy turned to look at him, but his head was buried in his reports, a cup of coffee poised to his lips. When she whirled back on me, she jabbed a bony finger into my chest.

“We’re through,” she hissed. “I can’t believe I ever dated you.”

I pushed off the counter. “Yeah, we weren’t dating, baby. I don’t know what you heard, but I never said you were anything more than a mediocre lay.”

Tracy’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

I shrugged. “You’re the one that wanted me to stay over all those times, remember? As far as I’m concerned, it was nothing. Thanks for my stuff, though.” When she gaped at me, I grinned. “You’ll find somebody,” I said reassuringly. “I promise.”

“Goddamn pig!” she snapped.

I watched her storm out of the kitchen. Shaking my head, I went back to making myself coffee. That woman is going to key my car for sure. I groaned. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last.

York grunted, and I turned to look at him. “You know she’s going to key your car and complain to HR, right?”

I shrugged. “No laws against having a great cock.” I grinned.

He shook his head. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

I rolled my eyes while sipping the coffee. It was a shit brand. All the funding the FBI had and we couldn”t afford decent coffee. My nose scrunched up and I sat it down to add a little more cream.

”If you gave me a shot, you would know how good it is.”

York cocked a single brow placing his reports down on the table. His rich brown skin was free of any blemishes, his thick facial hair was groomed to regulation and made him look older than he was. His six-foot-six height made him only an inch taller than me but I swore he made me feel like I was five-foot-nothing somedays with his stare alone. York had wide shoulders and thick arms that filled out his suit, and I wondered if his cock fit his proportions.

The moment his dark brown eyes landed on me, the full weight of who I was talking to sent a rush down my spine. No one said I was sane in the head. There was something about breaking the rules or toeing the line that got me hard. Maybe it was in my genetics to be a menace.

”Do you need to do another stint at HR?”

No, but to have a chance at you? Fuck yes.

I lifted my hands. ”No, sir.”

York nodded, picking up his papers again. ”You need to stop screwing everyone in this office. Branch out.”

”Not everyone. I have standards.” York stared at me for a long while. His gaze penetrated through me forcing me to look away. ”What is this? Pick on Paul day?”

”You do this to yourself.” York lifted his coffee, taking a sip as the corners of his lips lifted in a smile.

Fuck, he was sexy. To say I wanted to bang my boss was an understatement. The entire department wanted in on York but he was upstanding and never once let any of us cross the line. It didn”t help that I”d seen York at The Apple last week while he was sitting at the bar. He was unapproachable but it hadn”t kept men from eyeing him like a steak.

”How”s the dating scene?” I asked.

”Not appropriate work talk.” York stood up, gathering his papers.

Way to fuck that up.I internally groaned but pushed off the counter to follow behind him. I wanted to ask why he was at a gay club that night. I should have approached him but I was meeting up with an informant, and above all else, my family business came first. Missed fucking opportunities. I moved next to him, nearly choking on the cashmere rain cologne that wafted off him. He looked good and smelled good too. Goddamn, now all I needed to do was see how he was in bed.

”So, outside of work, it”s cool to ask?”

York glanced my way for a brief second, his brown eyes scanning every inch of my face.

”What are you up to, Paul?”

I shrugged. ”Nothing, just making conversation. Nothing wrong with that.” I plastered on my friendliest smile. It worked on anything with a heartbeat. ”You did say we should be getting closer as a team.”

”Everyone else. You, on the other hand, they should stay clear of. You”re a walking PR disaster.”

I slapped my hand on my chest, gawking at my boss. ”That”s harsh, sir.”

York moved down the rows of cubicles heading toward his office. ”It”s not.”

I moved around him, opening his door like the good man I was. Tracy had the nerve to call out my character, but truth be told, I was honest with her from the start. She”d taken things to a new level in that pretty little head of hers. I was trying to have a good time and monitor what was being said about the Vitales. I worked hard and now my family had the same information the FBI had on them. She was a way in, nothing more. The fact she got to have sex with me was a win for her. If she wasn’t useful, I wouldn”t have so much as glanced her way.

Even though I was all about the family, however, didn’t mean I was without desires.

York Washington was my current craving and the only man I should be avoiding like an STD. I only needed information on him but therein lied the problem. I knew nothing about York Washington besides what I observed at work. Outside of it, he was a mystery. Last weekend was a fucking fluke, and I still beat myself up I hadn’t leapt at the chance.

He brushed past me, his wide shoulders swiping over my chest. The briefest contact was enough to turn me on. It was a serious problem. We Vitales were cursed, I swore it. If our father was anything to go off, none of us were safe. That man had a wandering eye and dick.

”Did you get the latest paperwork done?” York asked as he placed all his things on the large wooden desk that took up the backside of the office.

”Yes, we”re all set.”

”Paul, if you weren”t such a fine agent, I would have sent you away by now.”

”Was that a compliment from the grumpy York Washington?” I teased.

York glared at me and my smile faltered. Fuck, he was a hard man to crack. I wasn”t even looking at him to better my family, no, it was all about what I wanted. I knew I couldn”t have him, but if I could, I”d give up trying to screw him after one night. Honestly, I just needed a taste.

”Sorry, but you can”t blame me. You don”t compliment me enough. One of my love languages is words of affirmation. Also physical touch.”

York clasped his hands together, his fingers thick, but on his left hand the ring that had been there when I first joined him was nowhere in sight. The tan lines had faded and now it was as if he”d never been married.

”Get out of my office and round up the team for a briefing in thirty.”

I saluted him. ”Aye-aye, sir.”

York shook his head, but I caught the small smile before I headed out the door. It took some time but I was pretty certain I was wearing him down. I took it as a personal win. I headed down to check on the others. There was no showing up late or slacking off for too long here. York was a demanding boss. He was fair, but he was all about his work.

”Ay, Paul, what are you doing this weekend?” Jamie asked.

I stopped by his cubicle right across from my own. I”d known him for well over two years now. I knew his home life and the layout of his house. I knew his favorite restaurant and even how often he went to the gym. Jamie knew only Paul, the man I played to keep my family safe. Somedays it felt as if I was someone else, that my life before the car accident was nothing more than a dream. It was that accident that had sparked this idea, this mission to infiltrate the FBI and to make Gianpaolo die. The white picket fence, growing up with two older parents that doted on me and hoped for the best, was nothing more than a lie. However, some days it felt real.

”I don”t know, I was thinking about stopping by Linda”s house again,” I said.

His smile dropped and he groaned. ”I told you to stay away from my ma.”

”What can I say? She loves me. Not to mention she makes the best cookies.”

Hunter popped his head over his cubicle, pushing his glasses up over his nose. ”Oh man, are we talking about Jamie”s mom’s cookies? I”d rob a bank for those.”

I nodded. ”Agreed. They are hot and soft. Just like his mom.”

A fist flew my way and I easily dodged it. Laughter filled our small section of the office.

”Not cool,” Jamie groaned. He shook his head. ”I heard you and Tracy broke up so that means you”re free to chill this weekend.”

”Did she have the entire department thinking we were dating?”

I looked at the guys and they shrugged. Rumors spread like wildfire here. It didn”t matter that we were all grown adults; when it came to gossip, they weren”t any better than a bunch of teenage girls.

”I heard you”re going to be reported to HR again,” Summer said. She sauntered over to us, her arms full of paperwork. She tucked a braid behind her ear. Her light brown skin, almond shaped eyes, and oval shaped face made her look youthful. If I didn”t know everything about her already, I would have assumed she was only twenty. But at twenty-nine, she was one of the most skilled FBI agents. She was number one in behavioral analysis. She was high on my list of people to keep an eye on and stay the hell away from.

”No, that”s just talk. I did nothing wrong. We were two consenting adults. She just got lost in delusion land.”

Summer stared at me. ”You have issues.”

”You have no clue.” I winked at her knowing she wouldn”t touch me with a ten-foot pole.

Summer shook her head and headed toward the conference room.

”Right, York wants all of us in the room,” I said.

Jamie and Hunter both went from joking to serious. I watched them go, my eyes following them as they walked.

At the end of the day, regardless of how buddy-buddy we were with each other, they were the enemy wanting to take down my family. I”d kill every single one of them and sleep like a baby the next day. It wasn”t personal. Family always came first.

I headed down the cubicles, alerting the rest of the agents who”d been selected. I had a personal file at home on each of them. Knowledge was power. The years spent away from my twin and brothers was pure agony, but I didn”t waste a second of it. I soaked up everything the academy could teach me and then some. I made sure to use every tool at my disposal. And until now, my family was in the clear. The Vitale name was always in lights, and I’d seen the file on them. But for years, they had flown under the radar as my bosses were handed juicier names and easier cases. Ones that I helped orchestrate.

Now? That was no longer the case.

Thanks to my oldest brother”s husband, Harlow, they now had the FBI along with the Acetos and Triads breathing down their backs. There was a full-on war on the horizon, and I”d do my part to make sure my brothers came out on top.

I picked up the flash drive with my research on it and headed for the conference room.

”Good, everyone is here. Close the door, Agent Gallo,” York said. He was all business but his silky deep voice was enough to make me forget about work.

I plopped down next to Hunter. The entire room was silent, all eyes focused on our boss. He commanded a room like no man I”d seen before. If he wasn”t a law abiding citizen, he”d make one hell of a mafia boss.

The lights dimmed and the TV screen turned on which had images casted to it. York stood next to it with his phone in his palm. He tapped it once, the small phone dwarfed in his big hands.

”We”ve been called in to work with local law enforcement. Some of you may already know why you”ve been selected. You”ve all been handpicked by me and the director to work on this case.” His wide shoulders rolled back as he met every single one of our gazes. Another image came onto the screen.

My brothers faces appeared on the screen.

”We”re going to take down the Vitale family.”