19. Vito

19

VITO

W hen I got to my seat I was shocked to see Pops there along with Valentino. Val had told me he’d take one of our family’s seats, but he hadn’t mentioned Pops was coming too. I never thought I’d see him out an event like this. He rarely even left his house.

I made my way past the group seated on the aisle and took my seat. Val clasped my hand, and I leaned over and placed my other hand on my father’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you here.”

“I wanted to keep an eye on things.”

There had been plenty of times when it would have been great for Pops to come and observe what we were doing. There was more to his presence than that, but I wasn’t about to question him. “Seen anything of note yet?”

Val nodded. “Three rows back and two sections over are two men we know Benito has worked with before. We saw them do a loop of the arena before coming and taking their seats.”

Fuck. “You know what happened on the way here, right?”

“We got the word from the cleanup crew. That’s part of what motivated Pops to join us instead of me bringing my own security.”

“No sign of Benito?” I asked.

“No, but with tens of thousands of people here, it would be easy for him to hide.”

“True, but the others aren’t trying to hide, and it’s not hard to figure out where our family has seats.”

Val nodded. “Especially since we have them exactly where you’d expect us to: in a prime location.”

“Right. How many men do we have around the place?”

“Ten in the most strategic spots.”

I nodded. “And they’ll let us know if there’s any sign of Benito or any of his other potential allies?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I don’t want Zeke out of our sight. Someone needs eyes on him at all times. They’re going to use him to get to us.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Pops said.

Once the players came out, I focused on the ice. I loved watching Zeke show off as he warmed up, and I couldn’t have been happier when he scored the first goal, but when the first period ended, the goons two sections over stood up and started to head out.

Val rose. “I got this. You stay put.”

I glanced at my father, and he nodded. “We’ve got your back.”

My chest tightened and my throat constricted. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to speak. “Thank you.”

He nodded, then focused his attention toward where Val had just exited, following Benito’s associates.

A few minutes into the second period I got a message from Val saying the men were in our custody, and they would be waiting for me to question them after the game. I watched Zeke take a shot before I responded. I wanted to take him home as soon as the game was over, but I also wanted to question these assholes myself.

“Can you hold them until I’ve had time to celebrate?”

“Sure. They got nothing to do but sit here. They’ll wait as long as you need them to. I’m going to see if I can get them talking about where to find Benito, but I’ll be sure to keep them alive for you.”

Before the game ended, Val returned and let us know he had the information we needed to track down Benito. He’d learned that Benito was part of a crew that had taken over a criminal enterprise in Las Vegas. We’d been right that he chose to deal with Zeke personally because he wanted a chance to gather a few more allies and get revenge on our family.

“We are going to bring this problem to an end as quickly as possible. Pops said he could have everything ready by tomorrow night. Take this time with Zeke.”

“What?”

“Take your man home,” Pops said. “Those assholes aren’t worth your time. Let your brother do away with them.” I looked at my father in shock. “I’ve seen the way you watch him. It’s the same way Val watches Liam. You two are as stubborn as I’ve ever been, and it’s useless to try to stop you. You’re always telling me you get what you want when you try hard enough, so go give it a shot.”

“You’re really telling me to go after Zeke?”

“Yes. Tell him how you feel about him.”

Was this really my father? “I’m not sure he’s ready to hear that.”

“Some people are never going to be ready. Some people are never going to be able to say it either.”

I looked at him. Was he trying to tell me he cared about me but didn’t know how to say it? He’d always just done things for me. He didn’t express himself in words very often. I hadn’t thought I needed that, but maybe I did.

“Thanks, Pops.” I leaned over to hug him, but he held up his hands.

“Don’t go too far.”

I just smiled. “Yes, sir.”