Agitation and annoyance filled me as Tex left with some woman under his arm. I’d watched him the moment he stepped in, facing the pounding music to lay eyes on him.
“Oh, what’s that face,” Gin asked.
His finger was poised to jam into my cheek. I gave him the barest of glances before I watched Tex’s retreat. He was gone the next second, and I couldn’t place the strange feeling stabbing me in the side.
“What’s wrong, Enzo?” Gin asked, his tone changing, coming off more serious.
“Nothing.”
He grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. Gin moved closer, his six-five height towering over me. “It’s not nothing.”
Drop it. I tilted my head back just a little to meet his gaze. He didn’t falter. I knew no matter if I were direct or not, Gin would keep pushing.
Bastard.
“You won’t tell me, will you? I can always guess.” He leaned over the railing, looking down at the crowd.
The one thing that had held my attention was no longer there. I turned away.
“I know it’s not the music bothering you.” Gin was right on my heels as I retreated toward the back of the club. I needed to leave. To hunt down Tex and see what he was up to.
Gin’s arm draped over my shoulder, and his mouth was near my ear. “Is it that cute cop?”
Cute? Every fiber of my being reacted to my brother’s words. I twisted toward him as I wrapped an arm around his wrist. I used his body weight against him as I flipped him over my back and onto the floor.
My knife was in my hand before I even thought about it and sliced through the air toward Gin’s chest.
“Fuck!” Gin’s hands wrapped around the steel blade stopping its descent. “Are you crazy?” He shook his head as blood dripped down, staining his white button-up. “Never mind. I know that fucking answer.”
I blinked slowly at him. Gin had said Tex was cute. It was clear my brother needed to go. I wouldn’t let him take my toy away.
“Enzo, I’m not going to fuck with your latest obsession,” Gin growled. “Now, back the fuck off.”
I stared into his eyes for another second before I eased back. He let my knife go, and I pulled out a cloth to clean it before putting it away.
“Fuck, my hands are ruined.” Gin glared my way, but I saw no issue.
We stood up, and Gin caught the eye of one of the men standing in the back. He had his hands wrapped in the next second as I contemplated what I should do to the woman who’d been too cozy with Tex.
They’d touched each other in a familiar way that grated on my nerves. Only I should be allowed to touch him, to draw out whatever reaction I wanted.
“You have crazy eyes right now,” Gin said, holding his cut hands together. “I have to get glued because of you.”
I stared at him for a long while, and he sighed.
“It was a bad thing to attack me, Enzo.” He shook his head, chastising me like I was a child. “Your new fixation is dangerous.”
My brows dipped. Was I truly fixated on Tex already? Had he grabbed so much of my attention before I knew it?
“You tried to kill me all because I said the man was cute.” Giancarlo raised his bandaged hands. “Don’t start your bullshit with me. Benito will have both of our asses.”
I didn’t put it past my brother. He’d lock us up and toss the key into the river if we went too far.
“You have this under control?”
“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth.
Gin looked skeptical, looking at his hands and then at me. “Yeah, I don’t believe that shit. Maybe someone else—” His words died off as he met my gaze.
Maybe it was the pure rage coursing through my veins or the need to kill, but Gin dropped the idea of switching me out as soon as he looked at me.
“You have to be careful. Benito isn’t going to like this.”
I knew that, and nothing would come of Tex. “I need to get him out of my system.”
Gin’s head tilted to the right as he stared at the ceiling. “You could kill him.”
I’d explained why that was a bad idea already, but now the thought of killing Tex made my stomach sour. I wouldn’t be opposed to having him on a table and cutting into him but killing him made my neck itch.
“I’m not done with him.”
“Of course not.” Gin shrugged and turned away from me. “Don’t fuck up.”
I never did, but I hadn’t fixated on someone in a long time, either. The last person was six feet in the ground and scattered all over Morningside park.
It won’t happen again. I was different, and Tex… was different.
“Sorry,” I blurted out.
I knew hurting family went against everything we stood for. Giancarlo and Benito were the only constants that I had. Even playing with Tex couldn’t come between us. My brother was annoying and knew how to get under my skin, but he was my brother. I’d do anything for him and Benito.
Gin turned and aimed a big dopey grin my way as if I hadn’t cut him at all. He marched back to my side and ruffled my hair like he’d done so many times when we were kids.
“Got a little closer than usual. Better luck next time.”
We might talk about killing each other and even inflict a few wounds, but deep down, nothing in this world could tear us apart. It was why we were one of the most formidable families in New York.
I grunted, slapping his bleeding hands away. “You’re getting me dirty.”
Gin laughed and let his hands drop. “You like blood.”
I shook my head. “Not yours. Make sure you go get it checked and properly cleaned.”
Gin waved me off. “They aren’t that deep.”
Our gazes locked as I contemplated taking him to the hospital myself. My brother was more likely to do the bare minimum wound care and would end up suffering for it later.
“Shouldn’t you go check on the cop?” Gin asked, knowing how to distract me.
I bit the inside of my cheek. “After we go to the clinic.”
Gin shook his head. “You know how I feel about those places. The smell of bleach and death in the air.” A visible shudder wrecked his tall, muscular frame. “Not going.”
“I’ll call the doc, and she will meet us at your place.”
Gin looked ready to argue with me, but I wasn’t letting him. I might be the youngest of the three of us, but I was far more responsible than Gin.
“Where are you two headed?” Benito’s voice cut through the club’s music.
Gin winked at me, and I shut my mouth as he answered for the both of us. “Cut myself, headed home.”
“You’re going to let a doctor look at it,” Benito said, leaving no room for Giancarlo to argue.
“Doctor this, doctor that. I’ll be fine,” Gin said.
“Enzo, make sure this idiot gets checked over and patched up.”
I nodded, glad Benito didn’t ask how it happened. He turned on his heels and headed toward his office.
“You know you owe me, right?” Gin said, knocking our shoulders together.
“I’m not doing your job for you.”
It wasn’t possible anyway. Where I felt odd and uncomfortable around crowds, Giancarlo thrived. He became the center of attention and drew people from all walks of life to him.
“Wouldn’t think of it. You’re more likely to creep everyone out.”
“Then what?” I asked as we walked out the backdoor. His black 1978 Monte Carlo was parked right outside the door. “Benito told you to stop parking here.”
Gin sighed and attempted to get behind the wheel. I snatched the keys away, and we had another silent standoff.
“I’m only letting you drive my baby because you’re careful, but one scratch and you will have bleeding hands.”
I nodded, knowing how serious my brother was about his car. He’d been working on it since we were teens. It had come a long way from scrap metal to a functioning car with fresh paint.
“And what Benito doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
I started the car and opened my mouth but shut it at Gin’s next words.
“Unless you want to tell him you’re fucking the cop he told you to keep watch over.”
“One time,” I grunted.
“Yeah, for now,” Gin joked.
I couldn’t find it in me to disagree, not when I’d been thinking about it on repeat. Seeing Tex tonight had only made me hungrier for him.
Getting Gin home was the easy part; his townhouse was still the same. I made a mental note to come back and clean. There was a layer of dust on his bookshelves and lampshades. The walls were painted in dark greens with burnt orange as an accent color. My brother lacked the ability to design or put colors together. Which was why he hadn’t changed the place after his last girlfriend left him.
“Stop looking around. You aren’t cleaning shit.”
“You aren’t doing it,” I said. My fingers twitched at my side, the need to organize the place gnawing at my psyche.
“No, thank you, I know where everything is. You come in here, and I won’t even know where the hell my underwear is.” He pointed at me. “Don’t touch my shit, Enzo. We’ve had this talk. Boundaries.”
My shoulders dropped as I forced my gaze to focus on him. “Fine, but you need to get someone in here.”
He shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”
The doorbell rang before I could point out every single thing that needed to be cleaned and why. I opened the door, and Melony stood on the other side. Her rich brown skin shimmered with painted-on glitter. Heavy pink and purple eyeshadow framed her big brown eyes. She smiled, and even her lips were covered in glitter.
“Can I come in, Mr. Vitale?”
“No, go away,” Gin shouted.
Melony rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a baby.”
I stepped aside, avoiding glitter like the plague it was, and let her in. She made her way up the three stairs and into the living room, where Gin was resting on the green sofa.
“What did you do this time?” She took her jacket off, and a bright tutu and glitter mesh shirt greeted us.
“Man, doc, did we interrupt a party?” Gin asked instead of answering her. He looked tense sitting on the couch. His shoulders practically touched his ears.
She nodded without hesitation. She’d been around us long enough she was relaxed and treated us like we were any other client.
“You did. My niece’s glitter ballerina ball.” Melony unwrapped Gin’s hands while still talking. “She was very excited, and it was going great till I got a text pulling me away.”
Melony kept Gin distracted. I knew me standing there was only going to make him even more nervous. It didn’t matter that Melony was only checking over a wound. Giancarlo didn’t do well with doctors.
“She turned fifteen today. You should send me back with a good gift,” Melony suggested.
Slowly my brother’s shoulders relaxed as she kept talking. I cleared my throat, and our eyes met briefly.
“I’ll leave you to it.”
Melony waved me off and continued to talk about the ridiculous theme of her niece’s birthday party. I stepped out of the townhouse and sucked in a deep breath. Now that I was no longer distracted by Gin my mind instantly raced to Tex. I ground my molars and pulled my phone out.
Fifteen minutes later, my car was dropped off. I was distracted the entire drive. Even through traffic, all I could think about was Tex and the way he’d laughed and hugged the woman at the club. He’d seen me, and I’d felt a spark the moment our eyes met but he’d turned away from me.
Remembering only made me angrier. I slammed the car into park in the parking lot of Tex’s apartment. I hadn’t planned on coming back, at least not this soon.
I was out of the car and at his front door in seconds. Gin’s words came crashing through my mind before I could break the lock. Boundaries. Did it still count if I’d already broken in? I was tempted to call Gin and ask him the rules on boundaries if one had already been crossed or if I’d already done it. My head hurt. Instead of entering, I leaned against the wall next to it.
Minutes turned to hours, and it was well past two in the morning when I heard Tex’s smooth voice. He was saying goodbye to the girl in the taxi. She waved at him, laughing as he stumbled toward the building. He didn’t notice me right away, but the moment he was close enough and I could smell the beer on him, he jumped.
“Fuck!”
I caught Tex before he could fall back. He blinked rapidly at me. “What the fuck are you doing here, asshole? Here to go through my shit again? Once wasn’t enough?”
My head tilted. I took in the anger in Tex’s eyes and the way his mouth dipped in a heavy frown. He is upset.
“You’re angry with me?”
“No, I love it when a guy who fucked me left me at a hotel alone comes back around randomly to clean my place and go through my shit. It’s the goddamn best feeling ever.”
“Then why are you frowning?” I asked.
“You…You can’t be fucking for real.” Tex shouldered me out of the way. He was still unsteady on his feet as he cursed under his breath, trying to get the key in the lock. “Motherfucking cocksucker,” he continued to mumble under his breath.
I moved closer, my body nearly touching his. He went still as I reached around him and took the keys. I slid it into the lock and turned it with ease. Tex leaned back toward me as if seeking me out before he shook his head and snatched the keys away.
“Thanks, now fuck off.”
He opened the door and stumbled inside. The fluffy orange cat greeted us at the door, and Tex scooped him up.
“Hey, Penelope. Ready for bed?”
I stepped in behind him and shut the door.
“You don’t understand English?” Tex asked.
“I do.”
He placed the cat back down. Penelope wove between my legs, but I stayed watching Tex as he headed for the kitchen.
“Where the fuck are my glasses?”
I opened the cabinet closest to the small white fridge. It made sense to have them close to where he stored his drinks. I handed it to him, and it slipped through his fingers and crashed to the laminate flooring. Glass scattered everywhere.
“Fuck my life.” He bent down to clean it, but I stopped him.
“Sit down. I will get it.”
“I don’t need you here. I can handle this.” Tex wavered, and I glared at him.
“Sit.” I pressed my fingers between his impressive pecs. I dreamt of fondling them too many times. Tex continued to stand there, and I got closer lowering my voice. “Sit, Tex, or I will make you, and we both know it will hurt.” My head tilted along with the corner of my mouth. “Maybe you want me to hurt you again.”
Tex’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his pupils dilated, eating at the gorgeous blue of his iris.
“No?” Tex said, licking his lips.
“Then sit down.” I directed him to the small living room.
He plopped down on the couch as I turned around. I made Penelope was locked away in his bedroom before fixing a cup of water.
“Drink this and take this.”
“Not a drug to knock me out, is it?”
I smirked. “I want you awake for anything I do to you. Your reactions are too good to miss out on. It’s ibuprofen.”
I placed the pill in one hand and the cup in the other. Turning away from Tex, I focused on cleaning up the mess on the floor.
