Page 135 of Never Say Never

A man walked up to us, and I recognized him immediately. He was the person that had shot me in the alleyway. When our eyes locked, he blinked.

"This is Tony, Benito's right-hand. He literally lives for him. It's kind of gay, but your kids will be safe. You should stay and fight. We need the hands."

I pulled my daughter's close. "You shot me."

Tony grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. In my defense, you weren't supposed to be there. You freaked me out."

I continued to stare. That wasn't the best defense in the world at all. My grip tightened on my gun.

"Daddy, it's loud," Navy cried. "I want to leave."

Right, father first. Putting a bullet in this man's head? That would have to wait.

"If anything happens to them..."

Tony nodded. "Death. Trust me, I get it. Hey, come on, you two. We're leaving."

Nyra held onto my hand. "Don't go."

"I have to get Paolo," I told her. "Is that okay?"

They both exchanged a look. In less than a minute, they turned back to me and nodded in unison. Paolo was just as important to them as he was to me, I wouldn't be able to return without him.

"Go with this nice man. Remember your training," I said.

As soon as they were gone, I straightened up and put my agent face back on. Giancarlo shuddered dramatically.

"Seeing a pig become a pig is truly terrifying. My brother might be sick."

"Let's get Paolo," I said, knowing better than to get into a conversation with him.

"Lead the way."

We made our way back out into the chaos, dropping people as we went. I went for blunt force, knocking them out, and stepping over them. Giancarlo went for brute force, smashing in heads and breaking bones as he followed.

"There he is!" Gin said.

I stopped short. Someone had given my insane man a baseball bat. He twisted with all his might, knocking the guy out that had held my daughter a little too tightly. Paolo slammed his foot on his arm, raised the bat, and brought it down on the man's hand. His scream sent a slice of cold through my veins as he picked the bat up and brought it down again.

When he was done, he turned and dropped to the ground. The thinnest part of the bat was shoved against the man's neck and Paolo pressed.

"I told you I would break every bone in your hand. Die, you son of a bitch. No one fucks with my family!" he growled.

To my dismay, heat swept through my body.

"Paolo, your boyfriend's getting a boner. Hurry up so we can keep going! You might get laid."

Gianpaolo stood up and turned to face me. His eyes ran down my body and back up again, before he grinned.

"I guess I better work hard, huh, sweet cheeks?"

Yeah, I was in love with a psycho.

Lungs burning, every muscle in my body ready to give out, I kept moving with the onslaught of the fuckers who thought they could usurp the Vitales from their current position at the top. I grabbed the back of York's shirt and pulled him back just as a few bullets cut through the air. I was dragged down into a fit of coughs, blood spraying out of my mouth.

"Uh, that's not sexy at all."

"Shit, shit! Paolo, we need to get you out of here," York said. He cupped my face, staring at me with his lips tilted down in a frown.