Never Say Never (Vitale Brothers Book 4)

Chapter 26

”Paolo.”Nyra”s sweet voice pulled me out of my own thoughts.

I was in an endless loop of bullshit. We were no closer to ending the war and erasing the threat to York and the girls. My brothers were still being weird, and things between York and I were rockier with each passing day.

”What, gremlin?”

Her nose scrunched up, but she still came over to me. She looked pointedly at the paperwork I was pouring over. After years of sitting at a desk and reading files, I still wasn”t used to the shit. I pushed it to the side so she had room. Her smile was so light and refreshing, I couldn”t help but to mirror it. The girls were the only reason I was able to smile at all lately. I always thought being back home with my brothers, I”d be happy. Every day I was away from them, I thought about how great it was going to be when I returned. That was a pipe dream that I should have let go of a long time ago.

Nyra climbed into my lap, and I settled her on one leg, fully anticipating her twin joining. ”I”m bored.”

Oh. They”d already had lunch, and games had been exhausted. Even I was over Chutes and Ladders. Navy came in just like I”d expected her to.

”Can we go out? You know, outside.”

I shook my head. ”Not yet.”

Both girls groaned, and I felt bad I had to tell them no. How in the hell did York do it all the time?

”Please,” Navy whined.

”We will be really, really good. Pretty please.” Nyra was laying it on thick, cuddling up to me.

Someone save me.I glanced over my shoulder at York”s door, mentally calling for him to come save me. There wasn”t a single movement from his room, and I knew I was on my own as the girls pleaded for me to give in. I was only one man. How was I supposed to deny the two most important people in my life anything?

A knock at the door saved the day. I picked Nyra up and sat her on the couch next to her twin and went to open it. Whoever it was on the other side was either getting a raise or a kiss. I was good for either. One of the men who guarded our hallway nodded in respect to me. Everyone in Benito”s building knew I was back, but they didn”t know where I”d been this entire time. It was going to stay that way. As far as the rest of the family knew, I was out creating more connections for the betterment of the Vitales.

”Sir, sorry to disturb you, but there has been some news,” Mitchel said.

”Like?”

Two little heads popped up next to my legs.

”Hi.” Navy waved at him as Nyra made sure to stick close to me.

The guard smiled and waved back. ”Ma”am.”

The girls giggled at being called ma”am.

”Why don”t the two of you go do homework? Your school emailed packets that need to be filled out weekly. I know you two haven”t started on this week”s work.”

”Ah, but Paolo,” Navy started.

”We”re crawling up a wall. We need kid fun.”

”You know, like playing outside or something,” Navy added. ”You, Dad, and Shelly aren”t great friends.”

I gasped. ”I take offense to that.”

Both girls looked at each other before Nyra tugged me down to whisper in my ear.

”It”s a secret, but you”re the fun one.”

I smiled. They knew how to cheer me up without even trying. ”You”re trying to butter me up so I will say yes to your shenanigans.”

Navy nodded while Nyra shook her head.

”Um, sir, there is a pool on the third floor. There”s also two other families in the building currently. I”m not sure their kids” ages but I”m certain they will be available to potentially play.”

The twins’ eyes lit up like the fourth of July. There was no making them sit still after that news. They bounced around. ”Please, Paolo, pretty please.”

”Pretty please, what?” York asked. He stepped out of his room, and instantly, there was tension between us.

I wanted to go to him and drag him against me. Fighting with myself on a daily basis was becoming a norm.

”The girls want to do something other than be locked up.”

York shook his head but he couldn”t possibly keep them locked up.

”Daddy, please.” They ran over to him, pleading with him.

”They will be guarded and won”t go outside of this building.”

York stared at me, his brows dipping.

”Nothing will happen to them. Will it, Mitchel?” I asked.

The man jumped but shook his head. ”I”d risk my life for their safety, nothing will happen to them.”

”You can”t think that will be enough,” York grumbled.

”We both know how secure this place is. There will be three guards on them and Shelly.”

”Yeah, three guards, like we”re celebrities,” Navy said.

York”s lips dipped in a frown, but he looked down at his girls again. ”I can go with you for a little while.”

”Woohoo,” the girls shouted in unison.

”There should be swimsuits in your closet. I made sure to buy anything you could possibly need,” I said.

”Thanks, Daddy, thank you, Paolo.” The twins raced down the hall with an excitement they hadn”t had in a while after everything that happened.

“Glad you get to be the fun one,” York muttered.

I winced. Is that what I was doing? Shit. I guess I didn’t think about it like that. Sure, I wanted to be there for the girls, but did that leave York being the bad guy? The one that told them to brush their teeth, eat their vegetables, and do their homework while I swooped in and had all the fun?

York stayed standing there. I nearly dismissed Mitchel but I could tell by his face he wanted to tell me something.

I attempted to get York to leave for a second. ”You want to go get changed?”

”No.”

I didn”t argue with him. York was being stubborn but that was always him. As annoying as it was, I liked it about the old man.

”Go ahead, Mitchel.”

He gave York a cursory glance but spoke. ”Silver Dreams has been burned down.”

My back stiffened as his words hit me head-on. ”What? When?”

”Silver Dreams? The brothel?” York was next to me before I even realized he”d moved.

Heat radiated from his skin and everything in me said to lean back into his warmth.

”Do we know who did it?” York asked.

Mitchel, again, looked at me, but York didn”t give him a second to think. He snapped his fingers, the authority pouring off him in waves. Slap a suit on him and it would be like staring at my boss in the office all over again. My cock twitched, coming to life as I admired the man who had pieces of me no other person on this Earth had ever possessed.

As much as I thought I owned him, it was starting to feel like York owned me too. He just didn”t notice.

”There are rumors that it might have been the Acetos, but Benito is calling for a meeting.”

”Shit, you could have led with that.” I grabbed my wallet and cell from the coffee table.

”I”m coming.”

I placed my hand in the middle of York”s chest. ”No, you aren”t.”

He squinted at me. ”You think I”m going to leave it to a bunch of criminals to check over a crime scene? You”re more likely to bury evidence than actually get shit solved.”

I shoved York back. ”I said no.”

”I don”t take orders from you.”

He was used to running things, but here, he had no say so, especially when it came to his safety. I grabbed York by the throat. It was becoming familiar in the most intoxicating way. I flexed my fingers and squeezed just because I could.

”You”re staying.” Before he could say anything else, I kissed him, biting his lip until the taste of his blood hit my tongue. York”s pupils were blown so wide, they looked black. ”I need you somewhere safe. There is a hit out on your head, in case you’ve forgotten.”

”That”s my problem.”

”Egh! Wrong answer.” I pressed our bodies together firmly, not letting even a sliver of air between us. ”You”re my problem.”

York”s pulse picked up against my fingers. He stared at me as if I had two heads and couldn”t understand a word that was coming out of my mouth. I was starting to realize a few things about my boss. He was in charge every single day, and I didn”t mind letting him boss me around. I found it hot, but he didn”t need me to bend over backwards for him. The way York responded to my demanding touches and rough handling was telling.

”Paolo—”

”I mean it, sweet cheeks. I lose you, and I promise you right now every innocent person you vowed to save will be joining you in the afterlife.” My phone buzzed in my pocket and I knew it could only be one person. I was running late for the meeting. Knowing that, I still didn”t move. I needed York to understand how serious I was. If he thought I was a monster now, he had no idea what I would be like if I lost him or the girls.

”That isn”t—” He licked his lips, catching the last drop of blood. ”You wouldn”t.”

I smiled exactly the way I did when I got to bash someone”s head in with a bat. ”I would.” I kissed him a little softer, moving my leg between his and applying pressure against his hard cock. ”For you and for my girls.”

A full body shiver wrecked York”s large frame. Such a big man, and my words and touches were drawing out such delectable responses.

”I don”t want that. Not for myself or for them.”

At least he stopped saying the girls weren”t mine. We were moving forward. York was accepting that they all belonged to me.

I hummed as I rubbed against his hard cock. His mouth made a fine line as he fought his body. Too bad he couldn’t hide his reactions.

”It”s too late for that, sweet cheeks.” I took a step back but not before squeezing his throat harder and stealing one last kiss. York didn”t even bother fighting, his body sagged as I took what I wanted.

”What does that mean?”

I headed for the door. ”Think about it.” I opened it, spotting Mitchel and three other guys. ”Anything happens to them, and I will take my bat to your balls until they’re nothing more than mashed potatoes. Am I clear?”

”Yes, sir.”

”Be back soonish, you don”t have to wait up.”

”I won”t,” York shot back. He glared at me, and I decided to be nice.

”I”ll bring back anything we find out.”

York’s shoulders relaxed. If I expected a thank you, I sure as shit wasn”t getting one from him right now. How much longer is he going to be mad at me?

”You”re late,”Benito so helpfully pointed out.

”I had something important to handle.”

He looked me up and down before turning to the sight at hand. The brownstone was once a beautiful place, now it was nothing more than ashes and charred bricks. Silver Dreams was reduced to rubble. The firefighters were gone and all that was left was police tape and white blankets.

”They went too fucking far,” Gin growled. My twin stepped over piles of debris. He kicked something and it flew into the middle of the street. ”Benito, we can”t let this shit slide.”

Enzo came up on my right side. I watched him carefully but he was too busy staring ahead. We had men sweeping the area for the enemy, alerting us to any movement. This could have been a trap to pull us out here for all we knew, but regardless, we had to see it in person. Silver Dreams had been our first endeavor together. Dad had a few brothels but they hadn”t been anything like Silver Dreams.

I had my phone out and the team hadn”t messaged me about anything. Their little updates were mostly about how they were being overworked with York and me out. Good, they didn’t need to come down here and stop me from doing my job.

”The FBI doesn’t know anything,” I said as I pocketed my phone.

”No, one of our guys caught it first. Had the fire department put in a different address.” Benito”s voice was void of any emotion. It sounded flat and disinterested. Whenever he sounded like that, it always meant he was losing the grip he had on his sanity. Out of all of us, he had the most control, but when he lost it, there were going to be rivers of blood before he was satisfied.

I toed the line carefully, wary of Benito when he was like this. ”Everyone make it out okay?”

Please let the place have been cleared out.It was a random Thursday in the middle of the day, but there was no telling if it was a full house or not. It wasn”t like brothels were only ever used at night time.

Benito had a cigarette between his lips. Facial expression blank, he took in smoke like a damn chimney. The cherry lit up, burning to the middle of the cigarette before he ashed it.

”No,” Enzo answered. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. ”There were multiple casualties. They had the place already mapped out and knew when we”d be making our runs. Gin was here yesterday.”

The fine hairs on the back of my neck rose at the thought of them watching us so closely. It almost felt like they had an inside man. If I didn”t know Benito and how tedious he was about stuff like that, especially after Marinna, I”d suggest it.

”Fucking pussies. They won”t come at us head-on.” Gin picked up a charred brick and threw it. The damn thing hit one of the men in the back of the head and he went down. ”Get him the fuck out of here. Who the fuck passes out from a small ass brick?”

Emotions were everywhere, and I pulled on my years of FBI work. There was no use getting too worked up. Facts helped more than emotions. I let out a slow and controlled breath. ”Who did we lose? How many overall?”

”I estimate it to be fifteen of ours and ten customers,” Enzo said. He tilted his head back, staring up at the sky. ”Statistically, Thursday daytime shifts tended to be low budget clients. There”s a small special, and most of the workers took Thursday off to get affairs in order. Wednesdays are the busiest and Fridays follow second. If they wanted to devastate our pockets, those are the days they should have targeted. But security is also tripled during those times.”

I glanced at my brother. Leave it to Enzo to give all the facts. I missed that about him.

“I need a donut,” Benito muttered.

One of the guys ran up to us with a file in his hand. Benito dropped his cigarette and pulled out another. How many had he gone through already? Regardless of what he wanted to do, I was going to be at my brother”s side where I belonged.

Benito jerked his head at me and the guy looked between us.

”Are you a fucking idiot? Hand it here.”

”Sorry.” He passed it over before scampering away.

”Pussy,” Gin spat. He moved over toward us. ”What the fuck is that?”

”You”re talking to me now?” I asked.

He flipped me off, and I couldn”t help but laugh. ”Yeah, same to you.” I opened the file and froze at the report. ”Who collected this?”

”Tony. He gathered the workers who weren”t here. They”ve been moved to a secure location and have been given compensation for the next two months until we can get this fixed,” Benito said.

I took it, expecting maybe two workers” names regardless of Enzo”s estimation. I should have known not to doubt him. There were exactly twelve of our people accounted for.

”Police searched through the bodies?”

”Fuck no. Those greedy fucks took the pay and scrammed out of here,” Gin said. He lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. He offered it to me and I took it as something of a peace offering.

I inhaled the thick, rich smoke and let it fill my lungs.

”What’s your cop brain saying right now?” Gin asked.

”That my twin is still a dick.” I didn”t know the workers” names as they”d changed over time as expected. ”Grand Myah okay?”

Grand Myah. She was an older lady who”d taken us under wing. The moment we opened our doors, she”d been our top pick to run Silver Dreams. Wasn”t like any of us could have done it.

”We have a second location being built outside the Bronx. She was interviewing a new house mother,” Enzo said. He shrugged. “A coincidence, but a good one.”

I closed the folder, shoving down my emotions even further. Someone dared to hit us like this? Messing with a drug trade or even getting in the way of a few deals was understandable. It was annoying, but it happened. Burning down the brothel felt as if they were targeting our weak spots. On top of everything, there had been made men in there. That was a crime that could only be atoned for in blood.

”Gin, Enzo, you”re moving into the building,” Benito ordered.

I fully agreed. We were spread out too much right now.

”What the fuck? No.” Gin shook his head, but I shoved him back.

”Yes. Your address ain’t a fucking secret. The FBI has all that information, and I wasn”t the only man on the inside.”

”Oh, look at Fed Boy. What? When all this is over, are you gonna go running back to those fuckers?”

I punched Gin. He said the dumbest shit. I knew he was doing it to piss me off and it was working. ”Fuck off.”

Gin swung back at me, his fist cut right in front of my face.

”Don”t start that shit right now,” Benito growled.

Enzo was quiet but that was no surprise. A sudden move to a new place wasn”t going to go over well in his head. I just hoped his partner, Tex, could handle Enzo while he adjusted.

”Do we know which one attacked? Acetos or Triads?” I asked.

”Does it matter if they”re all dead?” Gin growled.

I couldn”t even argue with him. How I was feeling, they needed to all go. York wanted to put them in jail so they could pay for their crimes like any normal citizen. We wanted to wipe them off the face of the Earth. There would be a new family or gang ready to take their spot, but they”d know the ones before them were annihilated by the Vitales. We”d make sure everyone knew.

”We can”t make the wrong move, Gin. We miss a step and the war could get out of hand,” Enzo said as he fidgeted next to me. I handed over a knife and he instantly started playing with it, just like when we were kids.

Sometimes, I worried I didn”t know my brothers anymore. I”d been gone for so long and played as Paul for too many years that being back felt like a fever dream. But those small moments where we connected? They meant the world to me.

”They don”t care, so why are we busy giving a damn?” Gin argued. He moved in front of Benito. ”Say the word and we go bomb every single one of their places.”

Our older brother was oddly quiet, still staring at the pile of rubble and dead bodies that were buried underneath it. I couldn”t fathom what was going through his head. Gin looked at me, and for a second, I could picture us before I went away. Before there was a rift between us.

”How are we handling this, Benito?” I asked as I turned my attention back to him.

”I say we burn their fucking houses down,” Gin suggested.

”If we knew their addresses, don”t you think we would have done that?” Enzo stepped forward, still twirling his knife. ”Homes are the hardest to get to. We could storm them but we”d lose a lot of men doing it. The Triads have a lock on Chinatown but that doesn”t mean we take out the entire place. There will be too many casualties, too many eyes. At that point, it won’t matter who we have on the inside, we would all go down.” A serious look came over his face as he glared at each of us. ”And I’m not leaving Tex. Ever.”

Gin grunted. ”Ash would die without me, and we”re in the middle of trying to have a baby.”

My brows nearly kissed my hair line. ”You have a surrogate?”

”A what now?” Gin asked.

Enzo shook his head ”Don”t get him started, he”s an idiot who refuses to understand he cannot carry a baby.”

”It”s worth a damn try.”

I didn”t even know what to say to my twin. I turned to Benito as he finally put the cigarettes away. York and the girls came to mind. I couldn”t leave them after only just finding them.

”We each have something to lose now.” He met each of our gazes, even mine. There was a heavy pause between us before he spoke again. ”But it doesn”t mean we”re letting this shit slide. Get our men to clean this up. I’ll make sure the police report only gets the main facts and nothing else. Gin, work on the proposal to have it rebuilt. I want Silver Dreams double the size it was before.”

”Tonight?” I asked.

Benito let a crooked smile show. ”Yeah. We”re going to show them why they feared us in the first place.”

”Let me grab Silvy.” Gin whooped. ”I”ll send some guys to go pick Ash and Molly up.”

Enzo looked torn, but he nodded at Benito, confirming he understood.

The real war was just beginning.