Page 130 of Never Say Never

Now that was laughable. I chuckled. The multitude of dead bodies we'd left behind said otherwise. Both the Triads and Aceto's were on the defensive now because of us.

"We aren't the ones who had to result in kidnapping kids like a bunch of bitches."

I expected the crack of the gun. It whipped across the back of my head. I stumbled forward, lost my footing, and slammed chest first onto the cold, unforgiving ground. Glass and rocks bit into my flesh.

"Get him the hell up. Ignore him." The Triad guy was close, yanking me off the ground. The blindfold covering my eyes came off and he stared into my gaze with empty soulless pits. "He's at our mercy." He pulled his gun out and aimed it at Nyra, all while never breaking eye contact. "This Vitale is a bitch. Isn't that right?"

Nyra trembled from head to toe. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She stared at me, pleading with her eyes. She didn't have to, I'd carve out my organs for her, for the both of them.

The Triad clicked off the safety and his finger rested on the trigger. It only took the slightest bit of pressure and she'd be taken away from me. Pride was beaten into us. It was a part of every Vitale but for them, I'd swallow mine down.

"Right," I said.

The piece of shit smiled and tapped my cheek with the gun. As long as it wasn't pointed Nyra's way anymore, I didn't give a damn.

"Glad we have an understanding. No more talking." He nodded at the others before we started moving again.

I didn't recognize where we were. It was an old-style-looking factory. The windows were boarded up with graffiti tagged all over the building. My back stiffened as we were pushed inside. It wasn't just a handful of guys there, it was a goddamn army. Aceto's and Triads alike. There were a few other small gangs amongst them that I recognized. None of them were even in the same league, but it was more bodies on the ground.

The pope himself could have been on their side. I'd still put them all in a shallow fucking grave.

Eyes stayed glued on every movement we made. A multitude of men watched with hands on their guns. This wasn't going to be easy but it wasn’t impossible. There was no doubt in my mind my brothers would be hunting us down.

We stopped in the middle of the room, and I came face-to-face with Qiang; the leader of the Triads, and Tasso, the current stand-in for the Aceto’s. Calling him the leader was being nice; he'd jumped into the spot without going through the proper channels. He had to be no more than six foot with a lean build. His light brown hair was gelled back with two wisps falling on his forehead on both sides. Brown eyes stared back at me, a bright smile on his mug.

"Let me guess. Gianpaolo, right?" Tasso snapped his fingers. "Man, it's uncanny how similar you look to Giancarlo."

"Glad to know you stalk my brother. What did he do? Fuck you on the side of the road and leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere?" Gin had been known to do it, so I wouldn't put it past him.

Tasso laughed. "Oh, you're ragazzo." He was in my face in seconds, his breath and spit hitting me all at once. "Parlate di nuovo a sproposito e consegnerò quei mocciosi al mio socio in affari." A sneer came over his face before he took a step back and walked over to the twins.

"Don't touch them," York shouted.

Three guns aimed his way at once. He was forced down on his knees, and I was left standing with four men keeping me in place.

Navy shook her head back and forth, the gag slipped down her chin, freeing her mouth. "Daddy. Paolo.”

Tasso picked up a few pieces of Navy's hair and rolled the curls over his dirty fingers. His eyes were on me, toying with me, daring me to act so he'd have a reason. "Così bella e così giovane. Si romperanno prima di arrivare a sedici anni.” He grinned. “I already killed their mother. Might as well make sure her girls are well taken care of.” That grin grew. “We’ve known who you were for a long time, Mr. Washington. Andre picked her out specifically. It was my greatest moment taking her out. After that, I was trusted even more. It just paved the way to me being where I am today.”

Bile burned the back of my throat, threatening to come up. My hands itched for his blood, for all of theirs.

"What is he saying?" York growled. He shook his head. “You… you killed Dawn?” He stared at the girls but I knew his question was for me.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him what Tasso said about them.

"Leave them out of this. Intende coinvolgere I bambini?" Morality wasn't something any of us had a strong sense of, but children were still off-limits for most. Except for maybe Qiang. But what he did with them had nothing to do with war and fighting. A shiver ran down my spine. “Ora avete me. Sono qui. Cosa? Vuoi sapere cosa faremo dopo?”

“English,” Qiang demanded.

Tasso held my gaze for another second before he dropped Navy's hair and took a step away from the twins. "Take them to the back office." He pointed to a few guys. "Go now."

"What did I miss? I hope you’re not making decisions on your own, Tasso," Qiang said.

Tasso shrugged. "Not at all. They were in the way."

Qiang cocked a single brow. "They keep him in line." He pointed my way as if I was some wild animal.

"It's nothing to have the kids killed if he does something stupid. Not to mention, this guy is also his weakness." Tasso shook his head. "Never understood that about the Vitales. You guys climbed to the top and became the boogie men of New York just for that all to fall away the moment you got weaknesses."