Paid In Full (Vitale Brothers Book 2)

Chapter 16

Gran Myah’spipe smoke always made me choke. A cigarette I could handle, but there was something about the smell of pipe smoke that reminded me of prison and some of the people I fucking hated most in there.

“What do you need, hon?” she asked.

“I just want some more info on Able Hollister.” I chewed my lip. “And while we’re at it, Roger Callahan. I know he’s been here.”

She clicked on her computer. “Yes, I have both men here. Able stopped coming a few months back, probably when he realized who owned it,” she said, staring over her glasses at me. “As for Roger, well, he was in here a few nights ago.”

I stiffened. “What?”

“Yep, he gravitated toward Sweetie. Stayed for a while, paid, left quietly. Drunk as a skunk, though. I almost tossed his ass out, but you know Sweetie. She said she could handle it.”

I grunted. “Yeah, she can handle just about anything.” I slumped in my chair. “Damn, I would love some information on Abel. Who was he with the most?”

She looked through her files. “Jasper, but he hasn’t been back in for a while.”

I raised a brow. “Didn’t think that was cause for concern, huh?”

“No,” she said pointedly. “You know how it is around here. People come and go like there are revolving doors in every hallway. That’s just the nature of the business. I’m the babysitter, but I’m not a stalker.”

I groaned as I swallowed my irritation. “You got an address for him? Or a phone number?”

“Both.” She scribbled everything down before she passed the paper over to me. “You’re going to check up on him?”

“I might,” I said. “No promises.”

“Now, why would I ever expect you to keep your promises?”

“See!” I grinned. “You know me so well.”

She shook her head. “Why are you in such a mood?”

“I’m fine.”

“Bullshit,” she said. “I can see it on your face. You always try to act like you’re so laid back when you’re a damn mess.”

I huffed. “I ain’t a mess.”

“Bullshit.”

“Will you stop saying bullshit?” I threw up my hands. “Everyone’s a fucking psychologist these days or what?”

“Or are you just aware that you’re fucked up?”

“You’re lucky I don’t strangle old ladies,” I said.

“I’ll thank God tonight before bed.” She grinned. “That little thing with you… he got anything to do with your crappy mood?”

I shrugged. “No.” Yes.

“Ah, whatever you say.” Her eyes sparkled. “He’s very handsome.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Oh, you don’t have eyes now?”

I groaned again. “Why do I come here? It’s like my mom’s still alive.”

“She was a wonderful woman.” Gran Myah stood up. “Take care of him. He looks like a lost animal. Like a little gerbil.”

I snorted. “I was thinking more of a hamster. So small and defenseless.”

She chuckled as the door slammed open. Jess stood in the entryway, panting as her blue eyes darted between the two of us.

“We’re in a meeting,” Gran Myah pointed out.

“Gin, come quick. That guy you brought with you? He’s freaking the fuck out.”

I shot out of my chair. “Where is he?”

She blinked up at me. “I told him he could come downstairs with us and—”

“Who the fuck told you to do that?”

Jess shrank away from me. “No one.”

“Where is he?”

She turned on her heels and scurried away. I was right after her, following her lead to the floor below.

“What happened?”

“This guy talked to him and was kind of rude. He said something about your friend being a whore and to do his job, and then he just freaked out.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. I stepped out of the elevator and looked around. “Who fucked with him?”

Sweetie pointed down the bar to a guy flirting with another escort. My eyes flashed to him.

“Keep an eye on him, don’t let him leave. Where’s Ash?”

“Over there behind the curtains. Please, don’t be mad, Gin. I was being nice to him.”

I grabbed a fistful of her hair, dragging her forward. “You were being stupid. I told him to stay where the fuck he was, and you just had to open your mouth.”

Sweetie swallowed hard. “Shit, you’re right. I fucked up. I just didn’t think he would—”

“You’re right. You didn’t fucking think.”

I released her as I moved over to the curtain. Ash was crouched behind the curtain, his hands over his ears as tears rushed down his cheeks. I dragged him upright, shook him and forced him to look at me.

“You’re okay,” I growled. “Look at me. You’re fine.” My heart raced as I tried to break him from his daze. When he finally looked at me, he frowned. “Yeah, I’m right here.”

“Gin?”

“Yeah.” I cradled his cheeks in my palms. “What the fuck happened? Who hurt you?”

Ash sucked in a shuddering breath. “I-I don’t wanna be passed around. I can’t. Please, don’t make me. Don’t make me.”

I grabbed him even harder. “Shit,” I muttered. “Ash, it’s okay. No one’s going to do that. I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

It was my fucking fault for saying that crap and then bringing him to the same place I’d threatened to take him. My fault that I did whatever the hell I wanted when he’d clearly been upset. I never thought it would turn Ash into a ball of horrified sadness.

“Let’s get you home.”

Ash shook his head. “Can’t move,” he muttered. “I can’t.”

“I’ll carry you then.”

“No!” Ash shouted, his hand shoving against my chest as he sniffled. “You said you’d send me here. That you would make me pay off my fucking debt in a place like this. Don’t touch me, you goddamn asshole. Don’t touch me! No one touch me.”

My chest tightened until I could barely draw in a breath. What was I supposed to do with him? Every time I reached out to touch Ash, he drew away from me as if I had hit him. I straightened up before I walked down the bar to the man who had set him off.

I grabbed the back of the man’s neck and slammed his face into the bar. Everyone cleared out, moving away as quickly as possible as he babbled and tried to speak.

“When you look around this room, what do the whores have in common?” I asked, turning his head left and right. “Can you spot the fucking difference?”

He sucked in a breath as blood dripped onto the chipped wood of the bar. “I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? They’re all dressed for the job,” I pointed out, waving a hand toward everyone. “And the one guy you bother, he’s dressed like a normal ass dude. That didn’t make you realize that maybe you were barking up the wrong fucking tree?”

“I was just—”

“You were just fucking up.” I slammed his head into the bar again. When he sat up, he wavered as if he was dizzy. “What’s the matter? Can’t feel your face?” I grinned. “Shit, is that a tooth?”

One of his teeth lay on the bar, strings of tissue still inside it. I glanced up in time to see Gran Myah looking on. She didn’t say anything, but I saw the irritated look on her face. As I glanced around the bar, I knew why; I was fucking up her business.

My hand tightened around the stranger’s neck. “Let’s take this somewhere more private.”

I dragged him out to the alley, shoving him against a wall where he bounced off, groaning. Shrugging my jacket off, I tossed it to the side before I stretched and then cracked my fingers. He slid down, landing on his ass.

“It was a mistake,” he said, his voice shaky. “I didn’t know who he was or who he was with.”

“So you know me?” I chuckled. “Seems like you still have a few brain cells rattling around in that shitty head of yours.” I crouched down and flicked his already broken nose. He howled. “But even if it wasn’t me, even if it wasn’t him, you walking into someplace and thinking you can treat anyone you want like shit is gravely offensive.”

“No one’s complained about it before!” he shouted.

“Well, I am.”

I balled up my fist and slammed it into his face. Pain shot up my arm and made my fingers throb. That did nothing to stop me.

“Don’t fucking touch what’s mine!” I growled.

“I didn’t know he was yours!” he shouted.

“You know now, don’t you? Huh? Don’t you?” My fist crashed into his face with every question, his head bouncing off the brick wall. “Next time, act like you have some common goddamn sense!”

“Giancarlo, stop. Stop!”

I panted, my fist pulled back, ready to deliver another blow. My head whipped in the direction of that voice. Ash stood there, Sweetie behind him as they stared at me. The cloud that had been wrapped around me slowly pulled back. I stood up.

The man who had been in my grasp slumped to the ground again. I didn’t give a damn if he was dead or not. I walked over to Ash instead. Reaching out, I touched his cheek. This time, he didn’t pull away from me. He stared into my eyes as my stomach churned, waiting for him to tell me to leave him the hell alone again.

“I want to go home,” he whispered.

My stomach twisted. I nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

I took his hand in mine. Even though they were stained with slick, hot blood, Ash didn’t pull away. As we moved through the brothel, weaving our way through the slowly returning crowd, I pulled him closer, scooped him up, and held Ash against my chest. He still didn’t pull away. I let out a relieved sigh. I didn’t even realize I was so worried about him rejecting my touch again. Warm arms wrapped around my neck, and he buried his face against my throat.

We stepped out into the quickly fading sun, but I still didn’t want to let him go. Someone had hurt him, and I wasn’t there to stop it. And then he’d witnessed me beating a man. I didn’t know what to do, what to feel, what to think. My stomach churned as I staggered forward, fighting the feeling of cement blocks wrapped around my feet and weighing me down.

“Ash,” I muttered. “About that—”

“I’m okay,” Ash whispered. “Please, I want to go back home.”

That small voice pushed me forward. I sucked down the panic that climbed up my throat and made it to Baby. Carefully, I put him inside before I leaned over his body to click the seatbelt into place.

“Are you hurt?” Ash asked.

I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”

“Your fist is all… messed up.”

I glanced down at it. Sure enough, my knuckles had split open. I couldn’t even feel it, but I could see the white meat of my flesh peeking through and the fresh blood that continued to flow.

“It’s fine.”

“You’re not fine,” Ash said, his eyes welling up with tears again. “And it’s my fault. I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Shit! Will you calm down?” I snapped, shoving down the panic that rose in my chest. “If I call the doc to meet us at the house, will you stop the waterworks?”

“Yes!” he sobbed.

I groaned. “Okay, okay, here.” I shakily took out my phone and dialed Melony before I passed it to Ash. “Just ask her to meet us at the house with her bag. That’s all you need to say. I gotta focus on driving.”

Ash nodded, but the tears didn’t stop. Whatever had made him curl up into a feeble little ball was still affecting him. It shocked me. Since the night we met, he hadn’t cried. I expected that stupid smile, but it was nowhere to be seen. Glancing over, I wanted to drag him back into my arms and throw my body over his, ask him what was wrong, and then tear the throat out of anyone who hurt him with my teeth.

Instead, I shoved my body further into the leather seat and started the car. My knuckles started to throb, the burning setting in as I turned the corner and headed for home. Fingertips touched my leg. I looked over again.

Ash stared at me, those big, brown eyes staring into my soul as my phone stayed pressed against his ear. Something in me stirred. I tried to shove it down, but I couldn’t. I wanted to pull Ash into my arms, hold him close, and never let him go until the impending weight of panic disappeared.

I have to take care of him first. Something fucked him up. I’ll focus on that.

Thinking about Ash pushed my panic behind a wall. I could breathe and think as I drove back to our place.

Our place? What the fuck? My hand throbbed too badly, my heart racing too quickly to figure out why the word our had even entered my thoughts.

“Hi, I’m calling for Giancarlo Vitale. He wants you to meet us at his house.” He swallowed hard. “Bring your bag.”

“Don’t you start sobbing,” I warned him.

Ash’s eyes watered more. “I can’t help it! Please, hurry,” he begged.

I groaned. The amount of emotion in Ash’s voice was a red flag. If I knew Melony, and I knew that goddamn woman well, she would call my brothers. I would be lucky if just Enzo showed up. Even that wasn’t really luck, though. I didn’t need my brothers hovering over me as I got my knuckles sewn up.

And a shot. You know there’s going to be a shot involved.

I shivered. I hated the hell out of needles. As I glanced over at Ash, I laid my messed-up hand on top of his and squeezed, ignoring the rush of blood that gushed out and poured over our joined fingers.

Worth it.