Paid In Full (Vitale Brothers Book 2)

Chapter 6

I fucked up.Why did I have to let my mouth run like that? One night away from my father, and already I was messing up. I peeked at Giancarlo from the corner of my eyes. He hadn’t touched the coffee I packed for him, and his grip on the steering wheel was testing just how much the leather could take.

“Giancarlo, I’m so—”

“If you apologize again, know I will stop this car and toss your ass in the trunk.”

My mouth snapped shut, and I faced forward. I couldn’t help but want to right my wrong, but saying sorry was out of the question. I didn’t put it past Giancarlo to follow through on his threat.

I nibbled on my bottom lip as my mind went down every twisted route of unease. What if he goes back on our deal?

Throughout the entire drive, all I could think about was how I’d messed up. Any second now, Giancarlo would beat me or shoot me. Gangsters shot people for less, right? Ugh, how fucking stupid.

“Hey!” Giancarlo snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I jumped. I hit my head on the window as I attempted to move. The seatbelt choked me out, and I was left coughing and sputtering.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Giancarlo asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing.” My voice came out as nothing more than a wheeze. I internally groaned. I probably came off as a bigger idiot.

“We’re here. Get out.”

I looked around and stared at the brick building in confusion. He said the office, right? I’d pictured one of those huge skyscrapers. “Is this a bar?”

“Man, nothing gets past you, does it?”

Okay, he was still angry. I closed my mouth and followed him into the building. Light music played inside and over it, and I could make out conversations. A few people had to be downstairs.

We passed a couple of men, and I scrambled to get closer to Giancarlo. They glared at me as if I was nothing more than a bug. I grabbed the back of Giancarlo’s suit, and he stopped. Brown eyes bore into me.

I tightened my hold before I let him go. “Don’t want to get lost.”

Giancarlo said nothing as he reached around and moved me next to him. I shivered as he rested his hand on my lower back. His big hands. The ones that had stroked my cock.

Pleasure rushed through my veins and straight to my cock, making it twitch in the confines of my pants. His hand was like an IV of need steadily dripping into my body.

I sucked in a shuddering breath as I tried to think of anything but being inside of Giancarlo. One time and already I wanted more. To be fair it was like nothing I’d ever experienced.

“What is going through that little head of yours?” Giancarlo’s warm breath brushed against my ear, intensifying the fire wrapped around me.

A whimper was all the answer I could give, and I attempted to pull away from his hand. It was driving me insane. I’d never been so distracted in my life. It could lead to mistakes, and I couldn’t afford to fuck up in front of the man who could have me killed at the drop of a hat.

“I, um, nothing. We shouldn’t keep your boss waiting.”

Giancarlo’s hand dropped away from me instantly. “Brother.”

Still the boss.I kept that comment to myself. “Sor—”

“Don’t.” Giancarlo kept moving up a set of stairs and to a door.

“Stupid,” I whispered.

I stared at his back and hoped I didn’t continue to put my foot in my mouth. Normally I was quiet, listened, but for some reason, Giancarlo pulled out a side of me that shouldn’t exist.

He opened the door, and I stepped through. Soft blues music played in contrast to what was going on outside of the room. It was more relaxing. I looked at everything around me, but there was no avoiding the man behind the desk.

Giancarlo was terrifying, and his brother was equally as scary. Except I hadn’t been balls deep in his brother last night. I instinctively stepped back, and both of them looked my way. It was like I was faced with two tigers ready for the kill. One wrong move, and I’d be dead.

My knees knocked, and I wanted nothing more than to run out the door. But I’d be the dumbest man in New York to give the two of them my back. I locked my legs and stood up straight. Fuck it.

Benito’s gaze met mine, and my stomach dropped to my feet. I moved closer to Giancarlo on instinct. If I could, I’d hide behind him.

“Fuck, when you said kid, I didn’t think you meant—”

“He’s twenty-two. Don’t start your shit,” Giancarlo said.

The look that crossed Benito’s face sent icicles scraping down my spine. Before I knew it, I was behind Giancarlo, my heart firmly lodged in my throat.

Benito curled his fingers. “Come here.”

What did it say about me that I felt far safer behind Giancarlo, a man I didn’t know, than going toward the monster that sat behind the desk? Each step felt like I was getting closer and closer to my downfall. My lungs burned, and everything started to twist and turn.

A heavy hand landed on my shoulder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Breathe, Ash.”

I sucked in a desperate breath and blinked a few times. Did he just say my name? I peeked at Giancarlo, but he was too busy staring at his brother. My stomach knotted for a different reason.

A part of me wanted him to be looking at me, but I knew better; no one looked at me. He just didn’t want to deal with me if I passed out.

“Step back, Gin,” Benito said.

Giancarlo didn’t budge. His hand was like an anchor, and I desperately clung to it in the waves of panic that threatened to tip me over. Benito’s eyes lowered. If I was scared before, I was damn near ready to melt into the floor and disappear now. Giancarlo squeezed my shoulder, and for some reason, I remembered to breathe.

I sucked in another breath and exhaled slowly. It’s okay. It never was, but if I told myself enough times, I’d start to believe it. Mind over matter was the best way to live life, especially one like mine.

Benito sighed, and his gaze fell back on me. “He touch you?” he asked.

“What kind of fucking question is that? Do I look like a fucking Chester to you?” Giancarlo growled.

Unable to contain it, a bubble of laughter broke free. I hurriedly smacked my hand over my mouth. “Sorry.” I stared down at my feet. Why in the hell did I laugh?

To be fair Giancarlo as a Chester was hilarious.

“Well?” Benito asked.

I lifted my head and met his steely gaze. It was too much to stare him in the eyes, but I felt if I didn’t, he wouldn’t take anything I said seriously. “Yes.”

Benito groaned. “Against your will?”

“Again, not a Chester!” Giancarlo grumbled.

“No, I liked it… I mean, it was my suggestion.” I grabbed the back of my neck as my face heated with every word that spilled free. “I don’t have a lot going for me, and at the auction house, they made a big deal that I was a virgin. I thought it would mean something to Giancarlo if I sold it to him, but he said it didn’t. Which is okay because he’s super-hot, and I’m sure he’s had a lot of people in his bed. And—”

“That’s enough. The last fucking thing I need to hear is how my brother fucked you.”

“Oh, but I was the on—”

The look Benito gave me had me shutting my mouth so fast I bit my tongue. Pain pinpricked along my tongue and made my eyes water. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and I wanted to spit it out. It was like I had a mouth full of pennies.

Benito pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. “You’re a liability.”

My shoulders dropped. It was no different than my father telling me I was never wanted. Benito was saying the same thing. I wasn’t needed, let alone wanted. Most people in my position would be over the moon about a gangster not needing them, but it was another stab to the chest for me.

“You say that about everyone,” Giancarlo said.

Benito glared at him, and the air grew tense between them. “He’s a distraction, and you’re—”

“I’m what?”

Goosebumps broke out over my arms as I looked between the two of them. How should I fix this? Giancarlo looked as if he was seconds away from losing it, and Benito didn’t look any better.

Benito glanced my way, and my back stiffened even further. The damn thing would snap with how much tension I was placing on it.

“We will set you up—”

“The hell we are,” Giancarlo cut in. He didn’t look my way. “Go to the car, Ash.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Gin,” Benito said.

I looked between the two of them before I turned around and headed toward the door. I tentatively glanced over my shoulder. The tense way they both stared at each other sent chills down my spine. I picked up the pace. The last place I wanted to be was in an office with two mobsters fighting it out.