Chapter 2
The smell of blood and dirt perfumed the chilly air. The ground was soft and thankfully lacking snow. Digging was a bitch, but I wasn’t the one who had to do it. However, the longer I had to stand outside freezing my balls off, the angrier I was bound to get. Mud flew over the edge on both sides of the steep hole. Peeking over, I saw they'd made decent progress. We'd been here since four in the morning and now, by late afternoon, they'd completed an eight-by-ten foot deep hole.
"Good enough, you two can stop. Toss up the shovels." I fixed the brass knuckles on one hand and held out a blade with my other.
Time ticked slowly, none of us moving. The wait was half the fun, watching them war with themselves on if they'd have the balls to face me or give in to their fate.
"The money?—"
I shook my head, stopping twin A in his tracks. He talked the most, the only difference between the two being one had brown eyes when the other had green.
"You both know it's not about the money you stole but who you stole it from."
Westly or was his name Winsten? One or the other shook his head.
"We didn't know?—"
I hopped down into the pit and swung before either of them knew what was happening. The brass knuckles slammed into his jaw. His head whipped to the side before he stumbled back and fell to the ground. The shovel fell out of his grasp.
"A thief is all fine and dandy. We all do shit to survive; but what I won't tolerate is lies." I glared at the other brother. "Want to try and say you didn't know who you were stealing from?"
His fingers trembled around the shovel and he took a small step back. Dirt covered him from head to toe and one of his eyes was already puffy and black from our earlier encounter.
"We're sorry. We can give it all back."
I shook my head. "Should have thought about that before stealing from one of Denji Hayashi's sons. It’s no better than stealing from the crypt keeper. That old fart doesn’t let shit slide.”
Two months was all it took me to hunt the idiots down. If it wasn’t for the war that had just ended and my other jobs, I would have gotten to them sooner. They were stupid enough to stay in New York. Thank God. I was finally going to get paid. My baby sitting job was gone. Kei was sent back to Japan along with a few others. And without Harlow, there wasn't much use for me.
Anyone loyal to Harlow had mostly been shipped back to Japan, and because I had no desire to leave New York, I was in a state of limbo. Dealing with this little problem was my way of showing Mr. Hayashi that he could leave Harlow's old division to me. I was more than capable. Even if Kei, Harlow's younger brother, had tried to run it into the ground.
Twin A on the ground reached for his discarded shovel.
"Don't even try it. I was waiting to see what the fuck you two would do, but instead of teaming up and coming at me, you went for the pussy route." Sighing, I couldn’t help but be disgusted by them. I snatched the other shovel from the quivering man. His blond hair much like his brothers was mostly caked in mud.
The twin still standing dropped to his knees and went to grab for my pants. My slacks were already ruined, it was a brand-new pair at that. Still I had no desire for him to cling to me like I was some lifeline. I was his executioner and nothing more.
It was another day and the same shit. He'd plead for his life or trade for someone else's. It happened all the time. Before his dirt-covered hands could touch me, I kicked him away. My foot connected with the middle of his chest. He sprawled out on his back, quick to get back up and try again. They were like roaches.
“Please.”
“Please please please. Is that all you two got? You had a better chance asking to suck my dick before you meet your end.” Poor things would never know the pleasures of having my cock rammed down their throats, but hey, they could have offered.
Hopping out of the pit, I dusted the dirt off my clothes and hands the best I could. The two men looked pitiful in the hole. Hope slipping away from them. I'd seen it a million times and would probably see it a million more.
“Whatever you want, we can get it for you,” twin A said.
Twin B nodded like a good yes man. “Money, girls, drugs. Anything. Please, we’ll disappear. You’ll never see us again.”
“You could promise me all the male hookers in the state of New York and enough blow to plow my way through a few times, and I still wouldn’t agree.” I smiled down at them. “You made your grave, now lie in it.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket before I could say anymore. Harlow's name flashed on the screen. He'd been my best friend since we were kids. Once upon a time, we clawed our way out of hell together. Two lost children clung to each other out of desperation and survival, but it was never a recipe for more. I’d always assumed we’d stay together and one day become more, but that wasn’t in our plans and never would be. He was far happier with Benito Vitale now, and I was happy for my friend.
I pressed a finger to my lips before answering. "Talk and I’ll come back down there and show you what I can really do with a shovel.” I put the phone against my ear. “What's up?"
"Where… shit… insane." The line crackled, cutting off Harlow’s words. The reception out here was spotty at best. I got maybe three and some garbled up mess that couldn't be counted as any language.
"What?” More gargled words. “Har, I got a shit signal.” I had no idea if he heard me or not. It was more static through the line making it impossible to decipher what he needed.
"Come… now."
The twins inched closer to the walls of the pit. I shook my head with a smile stretching my lips. Don’t even think about it , I mouthed.
More crackling over the line grabbed my attention once more. "No can do, I’m doing work for?—"
"Quincy." The way Harlow called out my name sent unease down my spine. There were a handful of times Harlow ever reached out to me once we became adults. He was the kind of man to take on everything himself instead of leaning on those who were there for him.
I leaned on the shovel, closing my eyes for a brief second. My orders were to make them pay. That normally meant copious amounts of pain. I had a whole thing planned out. A little buried alive action, watch them claw their way out, even pretend to help. Then do it all over again until they gave up and either suffocated or begged for death. Even so, I knew what I was going to do before the thought fully settled in my head.
"On my way." I hung the phone up and sent the same words in a text before putting my knife away along with the brass knuckles.
Both brother's faces lit up. They were certain they'd just gotten off with what they'd done. Fortunately for them, I had other places to be. I pulled out my gun and without hesitation pulled the trigger twice placing a single bullet in each of their heads. There wasn’t time for their screams or fear to truly strike their hearts. All that was left in the air was the echo of the bullet leaving the chamber and the smell of wet earth.
Shovel in hand, I made quick work of burying them. I was needed elsewhere.
The hole filled faster than I thought but it was closer to midnight by the time I made it to Harlow and Benito's place. Freshly showered, I headed right over to the elevator and rode it up. I leaned back, relaxing and checking my phone, although I knew Harlow hadn't texted me back yet. Whatever it was, I just hoped it wasn't another war. As much fun as I had, it only had law enforcement trying to crack down even harder on organized crime.
A soft ding resonated around me as the elevator doors opened into a luxury hallway. I headed for the single door on the top floor and nodded at Tony the moment our eyes met.
"Finally."
"Were you waiting on me?" I winked at Benito’s personal bodyguard. “Let me guess, they asked for you to join in and you got some performance anxiety.”
Tony flipped me off. “They wouldn’t call you to replace me. A dead fish would do better.”
I laughed. Tony and I had an understanding. He was Benito’s right-hand, I used to be Harlow’s. “How bad is it? Please tell me I'm not walking into something?”
Tony grunted, reaching for the door. "It’s not them naked again, so there’s that. I’ve only been wanting to go home for the past few hours. Caleb is probably asleep by now."
“You’re still with the sexy biker?” My head tilted to the side as I thought about the guy. “He did a race recently, he’s badass?—”
The look that came over Tony’s face had me raising my hands.
“Calm down, I have no interest in you or your biker. It's a friendly conversation.”
“Stay away from what’s mine,” Tony said flatly.
I often forgot how insane everyone was about their significant other. Much like his employer, he’d kill for what he considered his. At least he had someone to go home to. "My bad. Why don’t you get out of here? Go tap that."
"A little too late for that." Tony opened the door, and instead of going in, Harlow came out.
"Tony," Benito called only a few steps behind his husband.
"I'll keep an eye on him,” Tony said.
Who?
Before I could ask anything, Benito closed the door behind him, leaving the three of us in the hallway. As if they couldn't stand any distance from each other, they moved closer together until not even a sliver of air could pass between them. Benito's arm wrapped around Harlow's waist.
"We had a little incident come up today," Benito said.
The small nick on his throat said it might have been a bit more than little, but I kept my mouth shut for now. I was too intent on listening to whatever they had to say.
"My youngest brother showed up," Benito said.
"Enzo?"
"No, some unknown. Cesare can't wrap it up apparently," Harlow added.
Benito rolled his eyes. "Don't start. I heard enough cum jokes from Gin to last me a lifetime." He pinched the bridge of his nose as if to ease the tension.
"Damn, sounds like I missed a good time."
Harlow fixed me with a glare. "If you'd come when I called?—"
"Hey, I'm here, don't start." I ran my hand over my blond buzz cut. "Har, you called, and although I was shoulder deep in dirt, I came."
Harlow flipped me off. "Is my brother handling things right?"
Right, Harlow knew nothing. His father made sure to cut him out the moment he became a Vitale.
“We'll talk about it later. Now, what about your father dicking down anything with a womb?” I was with Harlow on this one. The world didn't need another Vitale in it. The ones we had were a pain in the ass already.
Benito groaned. “He’s not in town right now which leaves this newest brother my responsibility.”
"Okay, so what? I’m not seeing why I was called.”
"The thing is, we don't know him," Benito started.
"And Benito is a paranoid freak and I don't like strangers near my daughter."
I nodded, understanding that Harlow wasn't trusting. He could talk about Benito being the paranoid one but he was no better. And ever since they officially adopted Emica, he'd gotten worse.
"We need you to watch over him, for a while," Harlow said.
Nope. There was no way in hell I was watching a Vitale. I just got out of babysitting duty and now they wanted to strap another charge on me. "I didn't know my new job title was babysitter."
"Come on, Quincy. Remember when I took care of the biker gang thing?" Harlow batted his eyes at me like he used to do when we were kids.
It would work, except I knew what kind of people the Vitales were, and they weren't my kind of people. Sure, I could be friends, even bash a few skulls together, but that was about as much as any sane person could handle.
I nodded. "And do you remember me stripping in the middle of Chinatown so you could jack my clothes?”
"You did what?" Benito twisted his husband around.
Harlow groaned. "Nice." He kissed Benito's cheek while whispering to him.
The mafia boss glared at me, my immediate death shimmering in the dark pools of his eyes. I waved it off. If I folded every single time one of them glared at me, I’d be six feet under by now.
"Har, taking on a Vitale bastard is a lot." I shrugged at Benito. "Full offense, your whole bloodline is a chaotic mess."
Benito didn’t argue with my fully valid observation. "You dealt with Harlow. I've heard how you kept him from going off the deep end plenty of times."
"Hey, I'm a calm individual," Harlow argued.
I laughed because there hasn't been a single time when my childhood friend has ever been the calm one in a room. His fist came at me and I skipped back with a smile on my face.
"What the fuck are you laughing at? I’m goddamn calm.” Harlow hit Benito with the back of his hand. “Right?”
I looked at Benito and Harlow. There was no way in hell the man was going to be able to pull off that lie.
“Right, Benito?” The glint of a knife appeared out of nowhere and pressed against Benito’s abdomen.
Harlow’s husband didn’t so much as bat an eye at the threat. His focus was on me as he spoke. “This issue is foreign for both of us. I met my brothers at a young age. This one is more than ten years younger than me and his mother isn’t someone I know.”
But he’s still a Vitale.
“Okay, but just to be clear about the Harlow being calm thing, you’re agreeing with me, right?”
The man shook his head. "Are you trying to get me stabbed?"
I touched the side of my neck, just where the small cut on Benito's was. "Something tells me you like it."
"Will you take the job?" Benito asked. He let out a heavy sigh. "Gin can't. He brought home a baby and refuses to return it."
"Wait, a what now?" I shook my head, certain I hadn't heard the oldest Vitale right. I cleaned out my ears, checking to see if I hadn't gotten all the mud out of it. "Giancarlo, the one who fucks his hammer, has a baby?"
Benito's face scrunched up in disgust. "He doesn't fuc?—"
Harlow nodded. "Yeah, that one." He looked at his husband with all the seriousness in the world. The knife was put back away. "Can you say without a doubt Gin doesn't do things with that hammer?"
Benito's mouth opened and closed without another word. He shook it off. "Yeah, he came by today with a baby. No clue where he got it from, but he's intent on keeping it."
This was what I meant. The Vitales were a lot, and I didn't expect the newest addition to be any different.
"The other twin. What about him, Paolo? He and his boyfriend can't?"
Benito shook his head. "We know nothing about my youngest brother and things in Paolo’s home are a bit more secretive."
"Right, the boyfriend is a fed." I whistled. "Damn, what about?—"
"No."
I didn't even get to ask before Benito was shooting it down.
"Enzo is a no go. He doesn't do well with change of any kind. He'd let Gin, Paolo, or I stay in his home for a single night. Probably won't even sleep the entire night."
I met Harlow's gaze.
"兄弟はみんな狂っている。" The brothers are all fucking insane .
"君は知らないだろうけど、彼らは家族なんだ。あなたが私の家族であるようにね," Harlow said. You have no idea, but they are family. Like you're mine.
Fucker knew what to say to me. Since we were kids we had each other's backs. Even after Harlow's dad took him away for a few years, he came back, and without hesitation he'd held a place for me at his side.
I miss those times, when I was sure of where I stood.
"If you two are done conversing about me and my brothers, will you take the job?" Benito asked. "Of course, I'll pay until I can figure out what to do with him."
Pay. I hadn't had any of that in a while. The job I just finished was bound to give me enough for rent and maybe some late night pizza. Things had been a little tight since Harlow was given to the Vitales. Not that I would ever tell him that.
"Do you know for certain he's one of you?" I asked. Not that I cared.
"Pretty certain." Benito pushed his fingers through his hair. "My father has a knack for leaving something valuable behind and Blake showed up with it."
"So he does this often?"
Benito nodded, not really saying much else. A soft cry came from Harlow's pants pocket and he pulled out the small baby monitor.
"She's a bit fussy but still asleep.” Harlow took a step toward the door, but stopped to look at me. “Quincy, you’re the only one I can trust with this.”
I heard him, but there were others. There had to be.
“頼むよ。あなたの助けが必要です.” Please. I need your help.
Shit. That bastard never said please. "All right, I'll watch over him. Where is he staying?"
Harlow smiled at me, but it was the kind I knew meant bad news. "He doesn't have one. So at your place."
"I stay in a one bedroom."
"Since when?" Harlow asked.
"Good, then you shouldn't lose track of him," Benito said.
Damn it . Ignoring Harlow's question, I moved on. The last thing I needed was for him to notice how things had changed for me. "Fine, anything else I need to know?"
They both shrugged. "He's here to look for my dad but he's out of town still. I'd like to say when Cesare's back in town you can ditch him, but?—"
"I don't trust the old fuck any more then I trust my dad. Which means we don't know if we can trust this mysterious new brother," Harlow added.
"Got it. You want him coming around?" I asked.
Benito opened the door. "Yeah, I need to know who Blake is. And as his older brother, it's only right I find a place for him."
"How noble of you," I said with every ounce of sarcasm.
We made our way inside. Tony stood right outside the living room, his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the man sitting on the blush couch with his foot bouncing.
"Tony, you can head home," Benito said.
"Good luck," was all Tony said before he headed for the elevator inside the penthouse and was gone.
"Blake, this is Quincy. You're going to go stay at his place for the time being until I can get some things in order," Benito said.
The man was shorter than me, and way younger. His black hair kissed his shoulders, his delicate features were a stark contrast to the varying tattoos he had scattered all over his neck and hands. He flipped the top of a lighter on and off as he looked between us. Unlike his brothers, his eyes were a startling blue that only made him seem softer.
"Who the fuck is this?"
"You didn’t tell me he was deaf, Benito,” I said.
Blake flipped me off. "I don't know you, asshole. Are you another brother?"
"Fuck no.” Like hell I’d ever be a Vitale.
“Watch it,” Benito warned.
I ignored Benito in favor of glaring back at the pint-size Vitale. I thought Enzo was short, but the newest one had him beat by an inch or three.
“Not a brother. I'm more like your fairy godfather. Except I'm not here to grant you wishes or take you to a ball.”
Blake shot up and turned to Benito. “Look, I told you I’d figure my own shit out. I came here looking for my old man. Since he’s not here, I’ll split until he’s back.”
“Not happening,” I informed him.
Blake glared at me, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?”
Benito got between us before Blake could get any closer. The little spit fire had a whole lot of spunk. I could already tell he was going to be trouble, and not the fun kind.
“Enough, he’s here to help, and right now, and I need you to cooperate. This is sudden for all of us. You’re Vitale. The city is crawling with plenty of people who’d want to get back at us for one thing or another. You’ll be safer with Quincy.”
“Yeah, princess. Time to be locked away in your tower.”
A red hue rushed up Blake’s throat to his face. His brows dipped as his lips formed a thin line. “Fuck you.”
I whistled. “You’d have to pay, and unfortunately for you, I'm no longer in that business. So, you’re shit out of luck.”
"Fuck this. I don't need to be here." Blake grabbed his ratty looking bag and slammed his shoulder into my chest as he headed for the door.
I lifted a single brow at Harlow. "まさか." You cannot be serious.
Fucking Vitales.
The door slammed behind him, and right on cue, Emica let out an ear-piercing scream. Benito and Harlow both let out a sigh.
"We'll talk more about this later." I headed for the door.
"Quincy," Benito called. Harlow was already headed down the hall to their daughter.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. Outside of my brothers and Tony, you were the only other man we trusted to do this."
I grinned. "You mean he's a handful, and you figured if I dealt with Harlow’s shit for years, I could handle this."
Benito shrugged. "That too."
I headed out, checking the elevator first and seeing it move. This was going to be a pain. I took the emergency staircase and rushed down. Had to do all the work with shoveling the mud and now I was running after a damn brat. Great, my luck just kept getting better and better. I jumped a few flights of stairs and was more than happy when I made it to the last set. Every single man who stood at the varying floors nodded their heads in acknowledgement.
The lobby was still lit up, looking more like an upscale hotel. One glance around and it was easy to find the person that didn't fit the room. I caught up to Blake before he could make it outside, and grabbed him. He twisted around, a fist coming my way. I caught it and shoved it back down.
"You’re a cute little feisty thing, huh?"
Blake stopped moving for all of a second. "Fuck you. Look, I don't need you. Coming here was a mistake."
"Maybe, but you don't really have a say-so anymore." I grabbed the back of his leather jacket and led us both outside. "The moment you admitted to being a Vitale, things changed. There is nothing you can do about it now."
"Let go." Blake kicked my shin, and I swore under my breath.
I let his jacket go in favor of grabbing the back of his neck. I lowered down making sure he heard every word. "Try that again and I'll hurt you back. We can play my favorite game of how much pain can you take until you cum."
"What?" Blake attempted to get away, but my hold was tight.
"Come on, we're going to my place, and now yours, until further notice."
"What are you going to do, throw me in your car?
"It's New York, who the fuck would drive everywhere all the time?" I asked as I flagged down a taxi. "Nah, you're going to get in the taxi all on your own. We’re going to my place and then we're going to bed."
Blake rolled his shoulders, looking around, and no doubt planning an escape.
"Look, you can either come with me and have somewhere to sleep, or camp out on a bench in the park."
"I don't need your help."
I shrugged. "Good, ’cause I wasn't offering it to you. I got asked to do a job, and I plan to do it. Now, you can either get in the goddamn taxi or we can walk. Either way, I'm staying with you."
Blake's glare would be deadly if I wasn't glared at for the majority of the day. "You just said I could sleep on a bench in the park."
"Never said I wouldn't be there staring at you."
"Fucking weirdo. Should have stayed home."
"Get in."
"Fine." Blake's shoulders sagged.
"So glad you decided to cooperate." I shut the taxi door and gave him my address. The ride was fairly quick, but if it bothered Blake that it went from high rises to a less luxurious area, he said nothing. If anything, his demeanor seemed to relax. I watched him, trying to figure him out. Besides him being difficult, and new, what kind of man was he?
The taxi slowed down, and I paid the fare before exiting. "Let's go."
Blake was behind me as we headed up the three flights of stairs to my place. The apartment was recently renovated but it was nothing like the Vitale building. It was home, though, and that was all that mattered to me.
"Make yourself at home."
"What the fuck is that smell?" Blake covered his nose. The further he walked into my place, the bigger his eyes got. "The fuck happened here? Do you work for a pizza company?"
"No, why?" I headed for the couch that was buried under a mountain of trash. I dusted it off. The thing was old, and honestly, I never sat on it anymore. "You can sleep here. Just don't sit on the right side. The cushion is no good and falls out the bottom."
"The fuck I am." Blake shook his head, his dark strands whipping across his face.
He'd be my type if he wasn't a Vitale.
"Oh really, then you plan on sleeping with me?" I grinned, checking him out. "I'll have you know, I sleep naked, and I don't plan on changing that fact."
"I'm not sleeping on that. It's probably ground zero for Ebola or something."
He was being dramatic. I shrugged. "Suit yourself."
I headed for the bedroom, opening the door, and Blake was right behind me.
"So you're a slob but not in here?"
I looked around my apartment. It felt like home to me. "No idea what you're talking about."
"You sleep on the couch then, and I'll take the bed."
He couldn't be serious. I laughed because what else was I supposed to do with something so stupid? I shoved him further in the bedroom.
"If you're sleeping in here, take a shower. I don't do outside stench in the bed."
Blake looked back behind him at the living room and then at me again. "I?—"
"Oh, and if you try to run, I'll break your ankles. Benito asked me to watch you; he didn't say I had to protect you. Am I clear?" I gripped his chin.
Blake leaned into my touch, becoming softer. "Please, this is all new for me. I just need a good night's rest." He licked his lips, the ball of his tongue ring making an appearance just for a second. His blue eyes pleaded with me to give in. “This is hard.” The damn things glistened with unshed tears. “I came here looking for my family, and now I'm forced to stay with a stranger. You have to understand I’m under a lot of stress.”
"Get on your knees and beg me."
Blake stared at me a long while before he slapped my hand away. The sting only made it funnier.
I stood up to my full six-foot-four height. "Flirt all you want, even try and have sex with me. I'll end up breaking someone like you."
Blake's cheeks reddened as his fists opened and closed at his sides.
"Go shower, or do you need my help with that too?"