Page 101 of Never Say Never

"Fucking pussies. They won't come at us head-on." Gin picked up a charred brick and threw it. The damn thing hit one of the men in the back of the head and he went down. "Get him the fuck out of here. Who the fuck passes out from a small ass brick?"

Emotions were everywhere, and I pulled on my years of FBI work. There was no use getting too worked up. Facts helped more than emotions. I let out a slow and controlled breath. "Who did we lose? How many overall?"

"I estimate it to be fifteen of ours and ten customers," Enzo said. He tilted his head back, staring up at the sky. "Statistically, Thursday daytime shifts tended to be low budget clients. There's a small special, and most of the workers took Thursday off to get affairs in order. Wednesdays are the busiest and Fridays follow second. If they wanted to devastate our pockets, those are the days they should have targeted. But security is also tripled during those times."

I glanced at my brother. Leave it to Enzo to give all the facts. I missed that about him.

“I need a donut,” Benito muttered.

One of the guys ran up to us with a file in his hand. Benito dropped his cigarette and pulled out another. How many had he gone through already? Regardless of what he wanted to do, I was going to be at my brother's side where I belonged.

Benito jerked his head at me and the guy looked between us.

"Are you a fucking idiot? Hand it here."

"Sorry." He passed it over before scampering away.

"Pussy," Gin spat. He moved over toward us. "What the fuck is that?"

"You're talking to me now?" I asked.

He flipped me off, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, same to you." I opened the file and froze at the report. "Who collected this?"

"Tony. He gathered the workers who weren't here. They've been moved to a secure location and have been given compensation for the next two months until we can get this fixed," Benito said.

I took it, expecting maybe two workers' names regardless of Enzo's estimation. I should have known not to doubt him. There were exactly twelve of our people accounted for.

"Police searched through the bodies?"

"Fuck no. Those greedy fucks took the pay and scrammed out of here," Gin said. He lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. He offered it to me and I took it as something of a peace offering.

I inhaled the thick, rich smoke and let it fill my lungs.

"What’s your cop brain saying right now?" Gin asked.

"That my twin is still a dick." I didn't know the workers' names as they'd changed over time as expected. "Grand Myah okay?"

Grand Myah. She was an older lady who'd taken us under wing. The moment we opened our doors, she'd been our top pick to run Silver Dreams. Wasn't like any of us could have done it.

"We have a second location being built outside the Bronx. She was interviewing a new house mother," Enzo said. He shrugged. “A coincidence, but a good one."

I closed the folder, shoving down my emotions even further. Someone dared to hit us like this? Messing with a drug trade or even getting in the way of a few deals was understandable. It was annoying, but it happened. Burning down the brothel felt as if they were targeting our weak spots. On top of everything, there had been made men in there. That was a crime that could only be atoned for in blood.

"Gin, Enzo, you're moving into the building," Benito ordered.

I fully agreed. We were spread out too much right now.

"What the fuck? No." Gin shook his head, but I shoved him back.

"Yes. Your address ain’t a fucking secret. The FBI has all that information, and I wasn't the only man on the inside."

"Oh, look at Fed Boy. What? When all this is over, are you gonna go running back to those fuckers?"

I punched Gin. He said the dumbest shit. I knew he was doing it to piss me off and it was working. "Fuck off."

Gin swung back at me, his fist cut right in front of my face.

"Don't start that shit right now," Benito growled.

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