Never Say Never (Vitale Brothers Book 4)

Chapter 12

”Morning, Agent Washington.”

”Good morning!” I called. I moved through the office building, my coffee cup clutched in my hand, but I had barely drank any of it.

Everything felt lighter this morning, as if the coming war, the coldness of winter, and the shit that had been dumped into my lap didn”t exist. I knew it wasn”t true, there was always something else right around the corner. But for now, I wanted to enjoy the fact that some things in my life were going well.

The girls were great, I was in a good mood, and Paul...

”Morning, sir,” Paul said as he stepped in the direction of me heading to my office. ”How was your weekend?”

I raised a brow at him, trying to contain the smile that threatened to tug at my lips. ”It was fine, Agent Gallo. Yours?”

”I had a fantastic time.” He chuckled as he fell in line beside me. ”I”m a bit sore, but I think I can still manage to do my job.”

I groaned. ”Why are you this way?”

He smirked. ”Fantastic in every way? I don”t know. It”s a god-given gift.”

Yep, that was the Paul I knew and lo?—

Fuck, what are you thinking, York? We”re good just the way we are. This doesn”t need to be anything more.

Even though part of me really couldn”t stop thinking about him. Paul was a mess, but he was smart, he was supportive, and he was someone that I had started to rely on. Hell, he”d even become closer to me with this investigation. Even if we didn”t agree on everything, I knew he wanted justice just as much as I did.

”Stop flirting and focus,” I said as I stepped into the office and shut the door after us. ”We have a lot of things to go over with this Vitale case and I—Mmh. Paul. Stop.”

”I can”t.” He moaned as he deepened the kiss. ”Sit at your desk and let me blow you under it. I want to wrap my lips around that big dick and choke on it while you read your emails.”

My cock twitched with desire. ”Fuck.”

”I know.” He laughed. ”You want it too.”

Pleasure flooded my body as he crouched down in his suit and tie. He opened my slacks and I stared, knowing that I should put a stop to this nonsense. We were at work, a place where we were supposed to be on our best behavior.

”Stop,” I whispered. ”Someone could come in.”

”The door”s locked,” he said.

”Paul.”

”I love when you say my name, boss.”

Before I could utter another word, his lips wrapped around my shaft. I expected him to take his time, to tease and toy with me as he always did, but now? He swallowed me down the back of his throat and gagged. The feeling vibrated up my length sending little zaps of electricity over my body. I grabbed a fistful of his blond hair and used it to fuck myself with his tight, wet throat. I could get used to this. No, I had gotten used to this. I didn”t want it to stop, didn”t want to let go of this man that made me feel pleasure in ways that I had never experienced before. I knew who he was, how he treated previous conquests, but that logic didn”t seem to work in my brain anymore. All I saw was Paul. The one that listened to me vent, who was up and available whenever I texted him, and the one that adored and was a total pushover for my kids.

If we were different people, he would be perfect. We could be perfect together. However, both of us shared careers and neither of us wanted to lose them.

”Paul, stop.” I panted as I slapped his shoulder. ”This is stupid.”

”Be a little stupid every once in a while,” Paul said as he came up for air. ”It”s fun.”

I gave in. My head leaned against the door as his hands moved over my body along with his tongue. I was transported to heaven as I spilled hot cum down Paul”s throat. He came up gasping, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he panted.

”See? A quickie.” He smiled as he continued to taste me from his fingertips. ”Mmm, you taste so damn good.”

”Stop that,” I chastised as I walked over to the desk and snatched up a few tissues. I cleaned up quickly before I adjusted my clothes and made sure I was appropriate. ”Will you get to work? We”ve got things to do.”

Paul stood up and licked his lips. ”Yes, sir. I”ll see you later.” He winked.

I shivered as the door closed behind him. The man was the devil. Just when I thought I had found the depths of my own depravities, there he was showing me new ones I never thought I”d crave. Now all I could think about was him under my desk, my legs spread as he bobbed his head up and down my cock while I tended to my emails. I wanted it so badly, my chest ached. As I rubbed at it, I sat behind my computer and booted it up.

I have got to get him out of my head. That man is driving me insane.

My legs still didn”t work, so I didn”t bother getting up to lock the door. It would have to wait. Instead, I got started on my day. It wasn”t long before I regretted not locking that damn door.

”York, we”ve got a problem,” Hunter said as he burst inside.

”Sure, let yourself in,” I said. ”I wasn”t doing anything at all.”

”I”m serious, sir.” He locked the door before he moved to my desk swiftly, the look on his face filled with so much concern that I paused. ”Marianna is dead, along with her husband, Diego.”

I stiffened. ”What?”

”Benito Vitale”s housekeeper? They just found her and her husband executed. The husband was tortured on the floor of their home.”

My body bristled. Shit. I”d just had that feeling that something was wrong. It had been a niggling little thing, some twinge in the back of my brain that she had been acting differently. She”d pulled away a bit. Maybe she felt like she was in danger too.

I tried to think about who I had talked to. I analyzed the visits I”d had with her. Each one I had felt as if we were as safe as we were going to be. I”d wanted witness protection for her and her family, but my bosses said no, not until she gave more than crumbs. They wanted to make her squirm. I knew she was trying to remain loyal to them, to keep quiet. Whether it was because she felt she owed Benito or she was terrified of the Vitales altogether, I wasn”t sure. However, she had been my lifeline.

”Boss?”

I glanced up at Hunter. ”Yeah?”

”There”s something else.”

Heat swept through my body. ”What?”

”Some of the information that we”ve been gathering on the Vitales, Acetos, and Triads have been leaked. We”re noticing them pulling back from some of their favorite places and disengaging from certain people.”

”All of them?”

”All of them.”

I shot out of my seat. ”Shit!” I slammed my fists onto my desk as anger coursed through my veins. Just like that, I was fucked. My boss wouldn”t hear me out about this, it would be on me. And on top of that, it meant somewhere, somehow, we had a mole. Whether they were doing it intentionally or not, that remained to be seen. I sank into my chair. ”Give me, uh... give me a minute to think about this before we move forward.”

Hunter searched my face. ”Yes, sir. If there”s anything I can do...”

”There isn”t.”

Hunter nodded, excused himself, and exited. I watched him go before I leaned against my chair and sagged into it. There was no way around the colossal mess that I had started during this investigation. A botched raid, my informant was dead, and we had a mole. I shouldn”t have been surprised, each of the families we were after were ruthless and capable of anything, but I”d gone into the job with so much ego just knowing that I could do it. That I could be half the man my father was.

”Shit!” I snapped.

Every bit of calm, coolness that I usually possessed was gone. I wanted to punch something until my knuckles bled and all of the frustration poured out of me. Instead, I pinched the bridge of my nose and blew out a deep breath. Slowly, my resolve returned. I opened my eyes, staring at my computer in disbelief.

I had to start over from square one.

The sun disappeared long ago,but I still plugged away behind my computer. I”d searched every file, made possible new contacts for informants, and had developed several plans that still didn”t feel right. More raids, more operations, more information to be gathered. Every step-by-step process felt like a mental slog. Like it was never going to be good enough. If I kept failing, how would that look? My career would be ruined and that was just the small things. If this war was allowed to continue, innocent lives would be lost.

And it would be on me.

”York.”

I looked up. Paul stood in the doorway, a frown on his face. I wasn”t used to seeing that. His smile was gone for once and I wished it would come back just so that I felt a little bit better.

”Yeah?” I asked, clearing my throat as I clicked off of the files on my computer.

”Why don”t you go home? I can give you a ride. I”m sure the girls are waiting for you,” he insisted when I shook my head.

”No, I have more work to do. I already told Shelly to get them ready for bed.”

His frown deepened. ”Are you sure? You haven”t eaten all day. Let”s grab dinner and talk about the case.”

”No, thank you,” I said again. ”Sorry, but I need time to think. Alone.”

Slowly, Paul nodded. ”Okay, well let me know, all right? I”m a text message away.”

”Paul,” I called as he started to walk away. He turned back to me. ”Thank you. Really. I appreciate you looking out for me. For us.” I cleared my throat. “It means a lot.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. ”Of course.”

When he exited, I was left alone with the sound of silence. There were other people on other floors still working, but mostly everyone on mine was gone. They were off with their families, friends, and lovers while I was stuck trying to figure out what the hell to do next.

Maybe I need a walk. Something to clear my head.

Paul was right, I hadn”t eaten all day. My coffee had grown cold long ago. I needed at least a sandwich and some fuel to keep going. Hopefully, if I pushed hard enough and long enough something would become clear to me.

I snatched my keys off the desk and stuffed my wallet into the back pocket of my slacks. This morning”s brand of fun was long gone, but the urge remained. Paul helped me to forget things, to relax when my head was always full of noise. But I knew I couldn”t have him, not tonight.

My mind stayed on the situation as I made my way to the bodega. I had gone to Marianna’s house to look around, but of course, there was no evidence. No fingerprints, no video footage, nothing. These assholes were always careful. There was one singular black hair, but that would have to be run through the database to see if it belonged to someone in the house or someone they knew. The whole time, all I could think about was that I had failed Marianna’s children. I had promised her that we would keep them safe if she just cooperated and now? They were alone in the world.

I sucked in a deep breath as I made my way to the stand and paused. A familiar sight caught my eye, a man that I was used to seeing in the dark now. Maybe I wouldn”t have recognized him before, but we had spent entirely too many nights together for me not to make out Paul among the throng of people. I”d thought that he”d gone home, but as his eyes darted back and forth, I saw him dip down an alley and disappear from view.

Where the hell is he going?

I abandoned my search for food and found my feet carrying me in his direction. It was probably nothing, I knew that, but I still couldn’t stop. Paul was probably doing something that was his own business, but I still couldn”t reason with myself to stop following him. His eyes had been too shifty. He had to be up to something, right?

Maybe he’s meeting someone?

That thought made my stomach tighten. I moved through people, tucking my wallet away again as I reached the entryway of the alley. I stuck my head around the corner, peering down it until I caught sight of Paul moving around a corner.

”Where are you going?” I whispered under my breath.

I moved through the alleyway as well until I reached the end. Around the corner was the sound of talking. I followed them, hearing Paul”s distinct voice until it changed. I wasn”t even sure if it was him, but I made my way there and peeked around the corner. There. Paul stood with a man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a beard and mustache. He looked familiar, but I couldn”t quite place him, not in the darkness that we were shrouded in.

”What”s going on?” Paul asked.

”Things are rough right now. They can”t even call you anymore without fear that someone is listening in. We”re trying to work around this shit, but we”re stuck.”

”What am I supposed to do?”

”Get your shit together. No one can make a move with that man breathing down our backs!”

I stiffened. What the hell was Paul talking about? Whoever the man was with him, he seemed serious. Dangerous. I heard them speak again, but this time it was in a different language. I caught a few words, enough to identify it was Italian, but that was it.

Paul knows Italian?

I didn”t think about it, hadn”t even realized that he had a background in Italian. Of course, it might just be a language he picked up in highschool or college. However, it felt more fluid than that. Choppy, but known, as if he spoke it more than sparingly. My stomach tightened, a ball sitting in the pit of it as I sucked in a sharp breath. What the hell is he doing? There has to be some explanation for this.

”Listen, I”m trying my best,” Paul snapped. ”Why don”t you?—”

His words faded as my ringtone cut through the air. Navy. Her ringtone was always from a video game while Nyra”s was from her favorite cartoon. They had set it up themselves and no matter how many times I changed it back, they found a way to fix it. They were smart like that. My intelligent, beautiful girls.

They would have no one when I died.

That was all I could think as I heard the click of a gun and felt fire as it ripped through my shoulder. My eyes widened. I reached for my gun, but my hand wouldn”t function as the pain stole my breath away. Paul rushed to my side as I collapsed.

”York? York! What the fuck are you doing here?”

The other man fled. I watched as he disappeared into the shadows while my hot, metallic blood hung in the air. My heart raced, pumping my blood even harder, and I knew it was just quickening my death.

”Hey, don”t close your fucking eyes,” Paul snapped. When my eyes fluttered, I gasped as a sharp, stinging pain connected with my cheek. ”Don”t you dare.” Paul pulled his phone out, blood covering it as he dialed for an ambulance. ”Stay awake, York.”

”M—My girls,” I choked out.

”You”re not dying, so shut the fuck up!”

The pain flared all over again as he pressed down on my wound. It stole my senses, making my head dizzy as I blinked up at Paul. He faded in and out of view as my brain became foggy. I couldn”t think straight.

Please, let me get out of this alive.