Page 104 of Never Say Never

"Yeah, we need to get cleaned up and get out of here." He finished off his cigarette and tossed it to the ground. "Tony."

His right-hand man ran over to Benito's side. I hadn't seen him since he shot York, and I was still pissed off about it. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Yeah, boss?" Tony eyed me wearily, as he should. We still had to talk or duke it out, probably more the latter.

"They want to burn shit down? Torch every place we visited tonight. We'll show them how it's really done."

Enzo snapped at a few of the men standing by. "Change of clothes and the cleaning equipment."

"See, time will heal all wounds," Benito said, catching my attention. He smeared blood on his cheek. He was making more of a mess but he looked a lot happier.

"What philosophical bullshit are you spouting?" I pointed to the bodies that littered the ground. "Time ain’t healing them."

"I meant with you and Gin."

My twin stopped teasing a few of the men and turned to stare at us. His grin dropped as he really looked at me. "Not this either," Gin said. He stared at me, hurt in his brown eyes. He'd just been smiling at me like a loon. "Violence makes me happy, but don't think I forgot my twin abandoning me. I thought you were dead. We didn't even get to do a funeral for you back then. Mom was devastated." He looked at me. "Did she know?"

My heart felt as if it was crashing in on itself. "No. I wanted to tell you and her. I never meant to hurt you."

"Yeah, you keep saying that."

"Dad had a plan, and you know how?—"

"Paolo, stop!" Gin pointed his hammer my way, still dripping in blood. "Own your shit. We're fucking twins. If one of us decides to jump off a bridge, the other follows, no questions asked. You could have said something but you chose not to."

"It was hard for me too. Knowing everything you went through?—"

Gin was in my face, our noses practically touching. A bloody Silvy pressed against my temple. "You don't know shit about what I went through. You sure as hell weren't there."

"Gin," Benito warned.

I raised my hand, cutting our older brother off. I didn't break eye contact with Gin. "You're right, I don't know. What? You want me to hold your hand as you cry on my shoulder about everything I missed? I can't turn back time, Gin. I can't erase everything we went through. I'm here now. Fucking get over yourself."

"You fucking bastard."

"I missed shit, yeah. Guess what? You didn't spend a longer stint in that damn prison because I pulled every damn string I had. I was nothing more than a rookie. You think I had any pull? But I risked everything to get you out of there. Sorry I wasn't there to play Chutes and Ladders when you got out."

Gin's fist cracked against my cheek. Pain flared, but it was welcomed. Fuck it. I swung back. Words were no longer useful between us. How could they be when there was so much hurt and damage between us? We traded blows. No more talking. It wasn't what we knew and it sure as shit wasn't what we were good at. Gin kicked my ankle, nearly breaking that bitch. Searing hot pain flared up my leg, forcing me to take weight off it. I didn't let him be the only one to hand out pain. I slammed my elbow into his eye and swung with my left fist, hitting him square in the jaw. Spittal splashed over my face, joining the mess already there from our eventful night.

We both backed up after hitting each other a few more times. If I wasn't tired before, I was fucking exhausted now.

"You two idiots done?" Benito asked. He was already changed, pulling on the cufflinks of his suit. The blood that had been covering him was gone. His hair was wet and slicked back off his face.

Enzo was the same, cleaned up and looking more like himself than ever. He fidgeted before forcing himself to stop. He probably didn't feel clean enough.

Breathing heavily, I spat blood out of my mouth and worked my jaw. "Enzo, you need a turn to beat up on me too?"

He looked my way, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I took my frustrations out on someone else. You wouldn't be able to walk."

I nodded, knowing he was probably right. We were all crazy, but Enzo? He was missing the part of his brain that screamed he was going too far. I shoved my fingers through my hair and regretted it instantly. Dry blood flaked off and clung to my sticky hands.

"Gin, we good?" I asked.

My twin spat blood on the floor before standing up straight. I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes and it made my stomach tighten.

“We’re good enough for now,” he said.

I nodded. That was all I could expect at the moment. Gin still needed time and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t rush him.