Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

MINA

Damon turned slowly to stare at me. "You've never?—"

"I've never seen him before," I repeated. "Whoever Hammer is, it's not him."

"That's a matter of opinion." Enzo placed his hands behind his head and grinned at us, completely shameless. "I've been called very similar. Damon, what the fuck are you doing here?"

Angelina slid off him and onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed to scoop up a shirt and pull it over her head. Enzo's shirt, by the look of it. It fell to her knees, the sleeves down to her elbows.

"What the hell?" she demanded. She placed her fists on her ample hips and glared at us. She was a younger version of her mother. Dark hair, dark eyes and a pissed off expression on her face.

Damon ignored them for a moment. "You're absolutely certain? Think back carefully. You were drugged at the time."

I frowned and thought, but ultimately shook my head. "It's definitely not him."

For one thing, Hammer was blonde and Enzo had dark hair, like his brother. Hammer had a slim build and Enzo was muscular. Even if he'd dyed his hair and bulked up, Enzo looked nothing like Hammer. Even his face shape was different. His voice wasn't one of the ones that haunted my nightmares.

Thank fuck, because I really hadn't wanted to kill Damon’s brother.

Damon closed his eyes in relief and turned back to the pair, arms crossed over his chest as he lounged against the door frame. "Do you want to put that away?" He nodded at Enzo's still erect cock, which was in full view.

"Nope," Enzo said easily. "How about you fuck off so we can finish what we started?"

"Nope," Damon repeated. "If we can find you, then Carlos can. He wants you killed for some reason." He nodded toward Angelina.

She groaned in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell my brother to fuck off? I am not marrying Salvador! I am not marrying any man my brother chooses for me. Especially Salvador. I'd rather marry Hades."

Enzo glanced over at her. "Hey!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't want to marry Hades either, fuckwit. I'm just saying he's better than Salvador." She shook her head at his apparent obtuseness.

"Everyone is better than Salvador," Gianni said, although he clearly had no idea who Salvador was.

Neither did I, but I could make some assumptions. Anyone who wanted to buy a woman, or marry her against her will, was immediately on my shit list. Even after a handful of minutes, I knew it would take a certain type of man to fulfil her needs. Someone with balls of steel.

Angelina turned to Gianni and raised her hands. "Right? Tell my asshole brother that. And tell him I'm not coming back. He and my mother can go right to hell. I'm staying with Enzo." She nodded like that settled the matter, once and for all, although she must have known it wouldn't make the situation go away. Nothing about her suggested she was na?ve, just frustrated and determined to get her way.

Enzo finally rose from the bed and moved to stand beside her. His cock had finally softened enough to hang heavy between his thighs. "Exactly. Angie and I are getting married and there's not a fucking thing Carlos can do about it."

"He can have you killed, fuckwit ," Damon said. "Do you really think someone like Carlos is going to let her go that easily? Because he won't. He'll keep coming after you until you're dead."

Enzo lifted his chin. "Then we'll go somewhere no one can find us."

"Like here?" Damon gestured around with one hand, without unfolding his arms. "It wasn't that difficult to find you."

Considering how easy it was, both of them should be more worried than they were. What must it be like to be so carefree and sure of yourself? It would be nice until it got them both killed. Or worse.

"My mother told you I was here, didn't she?" Angelina's eyes snapped with anger.

"Yes, and if she told us, then who knows who else she's told," Damon said. "There could be people right behind us." He jerked his thumb towards the road.

"We should get out of here," Angelina said. She started to gather up her clothes.

Enzo didn't move. He nodded towards me. "Who's she? Why was she supposed to know me? Who the fuck is Hammer?"

He didn't look worried, but he also looked as though he wouldn't move until he got some answers. In that, he reminded me of his brother. They also had the same firm jaw and blue eyes, the same fierce independence. No wonder they clashed, they were a lot alike.

"Mina DiMarco," I replied. "We were given the wrong information. We were told you were someone else. We came to kill him." I saw no reason to pull punches. People like this heard worse on an hourly basis, they wouldn't flinch.

"You're not going to kill him?" Angelina stopped, still crouched behind the bed.

I would have bet anything she had a gun. She'd use it, depending on what I said next. Assuming she could aim before I embedded a blade between her eyes. Which was unlikely, so I replied calmly and honestly.

"Not unless you gave us a reason to, then no. I think we can help you instead."

"With a threesome?" Enzo's gaze grazed up and down my body. "Sounds good to me."

Angelina threw a shoe at his head. It bounced off his cheek and fell back to the floor.

She swore at him in Spanish while he chuckled.

He spread his hands and shrugged. "Sorry, baby, another time maybe."

Reuben shot daggers at him with his eyes. For a moment I thought he may order one of us to kill Enzo after all.

I put a hand on his bicep to remind him I wouldn't have taken up the offer, and Enzo was joking around. I doubted Angelina would share anyway, even if I was interested.

"We can help by getting you out of here," Damon said. "We'll take you back to the house and sort something out from there. You'll be safe from Carlos, and Angelina's mother."

Enzo clenched his jaw. For a moment I thought he'd refuse. He glanced at Angelina who nodded.

He exhaled and nodded. "Fine. We'll go with you. For now. Only for Angie's sake. I know what Salvador would do to her if he got his hands on her. He's a fucking slug."

"He's a fucking slug who'd get me pregnant and keep me that way," she said bitterly. "Then fuck around with whoever he could get his dick into."

"He sounds charming," Gianni said sarcastically.

I murmured my agreement. It sounded to me like Carlos was trying to kill the wrong man. "Maybe we should let them get dressed." I stepped away from the doorway.

"I don't mind who sees me naked," Enzo said pleasantly. "But if you keep looking at my woman, I'm going to have to shoot your eyes out."

As if any of my men were leering at her in any way. I knew all of them better than to even glance at them to check. They weren't interested in another woman. They wouldn't stare at one.

"Bro, none of us wants to see you naked," Gianni said. "No offence or anything."

Enzo grinned. "None taken, bro." He turned around and bent over, baring his ass to all of us.

I grimaced and stepped into the darker part of the corridor so I couldn't see him anymore.

"This all begs more questions than it answers," Reuben said. He slipped an arm around me.

"It does," I agreed. "Why did Martina think Enzo was Hammer? And if she knew he wasn't, why tell us he was?"

"Where is the real Hammer?" he added to the list of questions.

Gianni went one further with, " Who is the real Hammer? And can he sing ‘Can't Touch This’?"

"And why send us after my brother?" Damon leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.

"To stop Carlos from getting to him?" I suggested. "Why would Martina give a shit?"

Damon shook his head. "I have no idea." He turned his head towards the bedroom. "Enzo, why would she?"

Enzo strutted out, fully dressed in torn jeans and the T-shirt Angelina was wearing a few moments before. He gave me a wink before turning to his brother. "Because I'm smoking hot and awesome?"

Damon snorted. "That's a matter of opinion and doesn't answer the question. Why would someone like Martina get involved? Stepping in between you and Carlos, I mean."

Enzo looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet. "I might have done her some favours in the past."

"Must have been some hell of a favour," Gianni said. "We might have shot you before checking that you were who we thought you were."

Enzo looked up and gave Gianni a lopsided smile. "The favours didn't always go the way they should have. I never said she was looking out for me."

"She set you up?" Angelina emerged from the bedroom, dressed in leggings and a crop top, her dark hair wound in a messy bun.

I envied the way she looked, comfortable in her own skin. I was getting more confident in myself, but some days I still wanted to peel off mine and step out of it.

She had an effortless beauty, and an attitude that gave absolutely no fucks. She was exactly the kind of person I wanted to keep away from men like Kurt. If Salvador was anything like him, the further away she was from him, the better.

Right now, Angelina looked ready to tear Martina apart, if she tried to get Enzo killed. It was easy to see why Carlos described her as a wildcat. She was all of that and more.

"Can you blame her?" Enzo shrugged. "If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be on Carlos' radar. She was doing good at lying low and dealing out her information. Now…" He didn't elaborate on what he did to piss her off. He didn't need to. Revealing someone like that to anyone else was a good reason for that someone to want you dead. We'd be doing Martina a favour if we killed him, but we wouldn't. We owed her absolutely nothing. Less than nothing, since she'd given us information that was completely useless and self-serving. Clearly she had no idea who or where Jase or Hammer were.

"I see you haven't changed," Damon said dryly. "Still causing trouble."

Enzo rolled his eyes. "I see you haven't changed either, big brother. Still being a judgemental prick."

"We could always inform Carlos of your whereabouts," Reuben said. His gaze slid from Enzo to Angelina and back again. He wasn't bluffing. He had neither time nor patience for their bullshit.

Enzo looked like he was ready to lunge at Reuben, but Angelina grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Don't be a fucking idiot. Attacking Reuben Brantley will get you dead. Did you hear their offer to help us, or do you need your ears cleaned?" She let go of his arm and grabbed his earlobe to pull him closer to her. Speaking loudly she said, " Don't . Do . Anything . To . Get . Killed ."

He winced. "Okay, okay. I'll be nice. As long as they are."

"We're always nice," Gianni said. "But I think we should get out of here before someone else shows up."

Reuben nodded. "Let's go."

I slipped into the lead as we headed to the front of the house. No one said a word. No one complained when I held my hand to stop them.

"What is it?" Reuben whispered.

"Someone else has already shown up," I whispered back.