Never Say Never (Vitale Brothers Book 4)

Chapter 22

”Who the fuck is this?”

I stared at the man who uttered the words that I only knew from his pictures on my computer. Benito Vitale. He stood there, tattoos covering his hands and rings on his fingers. Someone should have told him he looked like a damn cliche. He stared at me, sizing me up as if he had a problem. The way I felt, I almost told him if he was feeling froggy to fucking leap. I”d never wanted to take out my aggression with my fists in my life.

”Jesus, Benito,” Paul said. ”Girls, go inside with Shelly. The rooms are fully furnished, but I”ll have to make some changes, of course. Unless you two don”t mind sharing a bed.”

The girls were quiet, staring up at him like he”d grown a second head. He”d attempted a smile, but it fell away now. Paul glanced up at Shelly.

”Please take them inside.”

She tightened her hands on the girls’ shoulders. ”I do not answer to you.”

Benito Vitale raised a brow. As much as I hated the man and wanted the whole family shoved into a tiny, dark cell, I wasn”t about to risk my daughter”s lives either. I quickly turned to my nanny.

”Take my daughter”s inside. Now. Thank you.”

”Of course, Mr. Washington.”

”Mr. Washington,” Benito muttered. ”You”re fucking joking, Gianpaolo.”

Gianpaolo.

I stared at Paul as the door to the suite shut. He stared back at me, a sheepish expression on his face. Benito stared between the two of us, but I was all out of words for Paul.

Gianpaolo.

Whoever the fuck he was.

I didn”t even know the name of the man that I had been screwing. The person I fell asleep with at night, his arms wrapped around my body. The guy that had made his way into my life and made my daughters fall in love. He was a stranger that I had touched, and kissed, and fucked, and thought about wanting more, and all this time, he was the person I was after. My enemy.

I really am a moron.

”Listen, I”ll explain later,” Paul, no, Gianpaolo, told Benito. ”I swear.”

”How are you two related?” I blurted out.

”We”re brothers,” Paul finally said.

I blinked at him. A brother. Shock slammed through me, stealing my breath. This was more than a distant cousin that had stepped up to take on the role of FBI mole. Paul was a brother, part of the head of the operation. He was right up there with them in terms of being a piece of shit.

And I”d slept with him.

”You”re fucking joking,” I muttered.

”Seriously,” Benito said. ”Your boss?”

”I”m guessing he knows all about me,” I snapped.

”Sure do,” Benito answered. ”I know you want us wiped out.”

”You have no idea,” I said between gritted teeth.

Paul stepped between us and shoved his hands into our chests. I hadn”t even realized that I had moved forward as soon as Benito did. As far as I was concerned, he was the one that started all of this.

”He wants me dead,” I growled at Paul.

”Oh, if I wanted you dead, you would be dead already,” Benito said.

”Stop it,” Paul snapped. ”It wasn”t him that sent those guys after you. It was the Acetos and Triads. They”ve been working together and they found out who I was. And who you were. I don”t know how. All I know is that they have people in the department who work for them too.”

”I don”t believe a damn thing you say,” I said as I slapped Paul”s hand off me. ”And I already told you not to touch me.”

Benito whistled. ”Wow, this is a fuck-up of epic proportions, Paolo. What the fuck are we supposed to do now? He”s going to run his damn mouth.”

”I really am,” I said.

”You know what happens to rats, right?” Benito asked. ”You heard about Marianna.”

Was it possible for your blood to run cold and boil at the exact same time, because mine was. I reached for my service pistol and realized that I didn”t have it. Right. I”d laid it down when I first entered my place and then I had forgotten it in the confusion. I needed to report it lost so if someone used it, I wouldn”t be implicated in whatever bullshit they wanted to frame me for.

”Both of you, knock it the fuck off!” Paul yelled. ”Jesus, this day has been screwed up enough without the two of you acting like pissed off children. I get it. You hate him because he”s a criminal,” he said to me. ”And you hate him because he”s made your life a living hell for the past few months,” he told Benito.

I grinned. ”Glad to know it wrecked a few good days and a couple million dollars.”

”Stop,” Paul said seriously. ”Why are you riling him up? You know who he is.”

”And he knows who I am,” I said, evenly. ”I haven”t changed. Paul practically kidnapped us, but that doesn”t mean I agree with any of this shit.”

”Noted,” Benito said, glaring.

Paul looked back and forth between the both of us, but Benito and I were clearly already on the same page. We detested each other and that wasn”t about to change. I turned on my heels and let myself into the apartment. The place was filled with generic furniture and plastic plants, the same setup as Paul”s place. I shivered as I realized they had probably decorated that place for him as well. I”d spent time in the home of a mobster, one where his family knew where he was the entire time.

The door to the apartment opened, and Paul stepped inside. He shut it behind him gently before he turned and stopped short. We stared at each other, unspoken words hanging in the air above our heads, ready to rain down and slash whatever tentative calm there was between us. Which was very little.

”York.”

I held up a hand. ”Trust me, you don”t need to say anything else, Paul. Gianpaolo,” I said, biting out the word harshly. ”That name is like bile on my tongue. We discussed that once, do you remember? Paolo, the dead twin? Do you remember that?”

”Yes,” he said quietly. ”You have no idea how badly it hurt to speak about myself as if I was gone. As if I didn’t exist. I”ve done this for years to protect my family. You have to understand that.”

”I don”t have to understand shit.”

Paul walked up to me slowly. ”I never planned on tricking or manipulating you, I swear on my mother”s grave, that was never something I wanted to do.”

”But you still pursued me. You told me you wanted me. You dragged me into your bed and made your way into my kids” lives as if you wanted to be there.”

”I do want to be there.”

”Don”t you fucking lie to me one more time,” I hissed. ”Don”t you dare. I am this close to calling someone and having your ass hauled in. The only thing that is keeping me from losing my shit on you is the fact that you seem to be the only one holding all the cards. I know how secure this building is. We can”t even get into it with all the legal red tape and extra security. I know my children will be safe here, and that is the only reason I”m staying.”

”I wish you could trust me.”

I laughed. The sound was raw, ripping out of my chest and making my throat ache. I had to swallow hard, shoving down the sea of emotions that threatened to tear free. For so long, I had been numb, lonely, but numb. Paul had cut me open, exposed me to the world, and now I was sensitive and exposed.

God, I hate this. Why can”t I stop shaking?

”Hey, it”s okay,” Paul said cautiously as he took my hands in his. ”It”s the adrenaline wearing off, you”re probably going into some mild form of shock. Sit down.”

I shoved him away from me. ”This is the last time I”m going to tell you this,” I said as I straightened up, feeling every inch of my six-foot-six height. ”Do not touch me. The next time you put your filthy fingers on me, I”ll break them.”

”You don”t mean that.”

I laughed. ”Yeah, I do.” I glanced around the place. ”Do you think that doing this will save you? I want you to know that the moment all of this is said and done, I plan to resume my job. You and your brothers will rot in a tiny little cell, and not even the same one. I will have your goddamn lives crushed into nothing but powder.”

The look on his face changed. ”I can”t let you do that.”

”You don”t have a choice.”

”I promise you that I do,” he said. ”I get that you”re pissed off and hurt?—”

”Never that,” I said, echoing words he”d once spoken to me.

”But it wasn”t my intention to hurt you. My family still means everything to me. I will do whatever it takes to protect them, York.” His eyes narrowed on me. ”Whatever it takes.”

That expression sent fear rattling up my spine. In those blue eyes, I saw the killer that I knew the Vitales were. All of them seemed like such charming, philosophical sons of bitches, but I”d read the reports. Their calmness and sense of rightness dissipated if you got between them.

”I”m sorry,” Paul said.

I laughed. ”You don”t know the meaning of that word, Paul.” I grimaced. ”Gianpaolo.”

Paul flinched so hard it was as if I”d hit him. He took a step back. ”All right, I”ll let you be angry.”

”Get out,” I said, evenly, ignoring the way my throat tightened, trying to choke me. ”Get the fuck out of here. Don”t come back.”

Paul stared. ”No. I”m not leaving your side.”

I turned on my heels and marched over to the kitchen. Yanking open one of the drawers, I grabbed a big, black knife and made my way back to Paul. I shoved it out in front of me, the point of the blade directed at his throat.

”I won”t ask again. Get away from me and my family.”

The hurt that crossed his face was quickly replaced with coldness. I watched him change in front of my eyes, Paul to Gianpaolo. The man in his place was one that I didn”t know. One that I hadn”t started to develop feelings for. It made me hate Paul that much more.

”I”m not leaving,” he said casually as he shoved his hands into his pockets, ignoring the fact that I had a knife trained on him. ”There”s a room down the hall that I will be taking as my own. Yours is across from it. I gave the master bedroom to the girls so they would have more space. I hope that”s okay.”

”Don”t talk as if I haven”t told you I hate your fucking guts,” I spat.

”You hate my guts. Noted. Groceries will be delivered soon, as well as some essentials. I even have someone bringing pictures of Dawn from the apartment and any important memorabilia.”

I stared at him in shock and disgust. ”You have those... thugs in my home?”

”Those thugs are cutting up and disposing of two bodies,” he said as he shifted around in his pocket and produced a pack of cigarettes. He put one between his lips and lit it with a lighter that he dragged out next. ”And cleaning it up to look like they were never there. I told you I”d protect you, York. I mean that. Every word.”

Benito stepped into the apartment and shook his head. ”Paolo, we need to talk.” When he saw the knife in my hand, he drew a gun. ”Put it down.”

”No,” I said, my voice shaking despite me trying so hard to make it stop.

”I will shoot you.”

”I don”t doubt that,” I answered.

Paul moved, stepping in front of me as he stared at his brother. ”I already told both of you to knock this shit off. I don”t need you to check on me, Benito.”

He scoffed. ”As soon as this thing with the Triads is done, he”s going to come for you. You have to know that.”

”Yeah, I do,” he said. ”He just said as much. Doesn”t matter.”

”It matters to me,” he snapped. ”He”s going to try to burn us all, and I won”t have that. Why the hell should I offer them protection?”

Paul took a step forward. ”I gave you decades of my life, Benito. Don”t forget that. I might be this family”s whipping boy, but remember that I haven”t had a life in years. This is the one thing I”m asking. Protect them.”

”They should be running far away from here.” Benito”s eyes fell on me. ”They should be running from me.”

I wanted to laugh in his face. Big, bold man, so sure with a gun in his hand. Maybe I was losing my mind, because I wanted to close the space between us and stab him, to erase his miserable existence from this Earth.

”No one gets to decide what happens to York and my girls,” Paul said tightly. ”This is the first and only time I”m going to say this.”

Benito shook his head, lowering his gun. ”If he keeps threatening my family, we”ll have a problem.”

”I get it.”

He left, slamming the door after him. Paul turned, walked into the kitchen, and ashed into the sink. He put out the cigarette before he wet his hands and wiped them over his face and hair. When he straightened up to look at me, I stared at him.

York and my girls.

At one point, that would have meant the world to me, that he loved them just as much as he cared for me. Now, it felt like the knife in my hand had been rammed into my chest. I felt the tears before they started and turned on my heels. I wanted to check on the girls, but I had to collect myself first. As I closed myself into a bathroom, I sucked in a deep breath. I had to be strong for them, to show them a calm face through all of this.

As pain laced through my body, I stared at myself in the mirror. Who would choose to fall in love?

I never wanted to hear that word again.