Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

MINA

I stepped out the back door of Reuben's house and headed toward the cliff. The breeze whipped my hair around my face. I pushed it back and turned my face into the wind.

Damon stood at the edge of the cliff, arms crossed, staring out at the ocean. His back was dead straight, eyes glazed like he saw nothing.

"What he did wasn't your fault," I said once I was close enough for him to hear. "You know that, right? You're not responsible for the actions of anyone else."

Damon spoke without turning towards me, his expression unchanged. "He's my brother. I should have been keeping track of him better. Enzo was always a hothead. Always the one getting into trouble. I'm his older brother, I should have…" He trailed off.

"Do you blame my older brothers for not knowing what happened to me?" I asked.

He was determined to take responsibility, but as far as I was concerned, it wasn't his to take. From what I remembered of Hammer, or Enzo, he knew what he was doing.

"Honestly?" Damon said. "Yes I do. Dane in particular. He was the oldest son. He's ambitious. If anyone should have known what your father was up to, he should. And if he didn't know, then he shouldn't have believed what your father said about you running off and getting married. Fuck, Rose should have known. I should have known."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Is that what this is about? If you happened to be keeping track of your brother's whereabouts on one particular day, you might have stopped them from caging me?"

"I could have," he agreed.

"You could have tried," I said. "But it didn't get Gage Prior anything but dead."

I thought back to Caleb's reaction. I wouldn't have thought he was capable of being rattled until then. He must have had a close relationship with the other man.

Damon grunted. "I'm harder to kill. And I wouldn't have been alone."

"You might have gotten Gianni killed too," I said lightly.

"I'll deny ever having said this, but he's harder to kill than I am," Damon said grudgingly.

"Why do I think you know that because you tried?" I teased.

That drew a faint smile from him, which was about as much smile as anyone ever saw on him or Reuben. Gianni seemed to have enough for the three of them.

"I'll deny that too," Damon said before exhaling softly and turning back towards the view. "Enzo was the wild one in the family. He was always getting into trouble. He got suspended from school and thought it was hilarious. More time to run around with his friends and get up to shit. He was back for two days before he got expelled. He lasted a week or two at a new school before they kicked him out too. He was sixteen when Dad threw him out of the house. I let him live with me, but I couldn't control him either. In the end, I gave him two choices. Work for Reuben, or go to jail."

I slipped an arm around his waist. "I guess he chose to work for Reuben?"

"He did, and for a while he was…better. He seemed to enjoy what he was doing. He got paid to break the law, and beat the shit out of people. He always struggled when it came to taking orders, but I tried to be sure he was doing things that fit with his—for want of a better word—skillset."

"It sounds like you did everything you could," I said. "If he was determined to be an asshole, that's on him. That's his choice. There's only so much you can do for people who don't give a shit."

"Yeah, but I should have tried harder. I could have kicked his ass more often. I could have done more to make sure he didn't end up working for Kurt instead." He dug the tips of his fingers under his opposite armpits.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Reuben would only have put up with so much bullshit before he lost patience with Enzo. His father seemed to have even less than he does."

From what I remembered of Reuben's father, he had a short temper and a world class scowl. Reuben was a pussycat in comparison.

"That's right," Damon said grudgingly. "Enzo wouldn't have lasted unless someone got him under control. I should have been able to do that. He's my fucking brother."

"You're right," I said. "It's totally your fault. You should have fit him with a shock collar and an ankle monitor. Then, the moment he put a toe out of line, you would have known. Hell, you should have kept him on a leash. Maybe one of those backpack ones people use with kids who like to run off."

Damon glanced at me, blue eyes narrowed.

"There's nothing you could have done that would have stopped him from doing what he did," I insisted. "He made the choice. He woke up that morning and decided to work with Kurt. He went along with everything he was told to go along with. Him, not you. Just because you're related doesn't mean you have any control over him, or any obligation to blame yourself for his decisions. Even if you did, it's in the past. Nothing that happened back then can be changed now. The only thing we have any control over is ourselves and the future."

He regarded me, his expression softened. "You're going to want to kill him, aren't you?"

"For his part in that day, yes," I said simply. "Leon could have come to you and told you about me, and so could Enzo. But he didn't. That was another choice he made." I exhaled through my nose. "When was the last time you saw him?"

For a moment, I thought he might not tell me. Damon might have a brotherly need to protect his younger sibling. Even if that came between us.

"A few months ago," he said finally. "At our father's funeral. I didn't think he'd come, because they hated each other, but he turned up and stood at the edge of the crowd. He was only there for a few minutes, then he left. I think he just wanted to make sure Dad was gone."

"Were you close?" I asked gently.

Damon grunt-laughed, the closest to a sound of amusement I'd heard from him.

"No, he was an absolute prick. His idea of raising boys was to belt the shit out of us when he decided we did something wrong. That's also the kind of husband he was. It took years for me to ask Reuben to have him killed. He was dead the next day."

"Sounds like the world is a better place without him," I said.

"Accurate," he replied. "Enzo got his temper. I got his charm."

I leaned my head against his shoulder. "You're an asshole, but you're not as big an asshole as him."

"You sure about that?" He wrapped an arm around me. "Gianni might disagree with that."

"Gianni adores you and, as far as I can tell, he's a good judge of character," I said firmly. "But don't let that go to your head or anything."

"Not a chance," Damon said.

We stood in silence for a while, staring at the ocean as the wind whipped past us.

Finally, reluctantly I asked, "Do you know where he is now? Or his friend Jase? Would either of them know where to find Kurt?"

"I have no idea who Jase is," Damon said. "As for Enzo, I can think of a couple of places he might be. Places I prefer you not go."

"Because I might accidentally kill him?" I asked coolly. There'd be nothing accidental about it, but we both knew that.

"No, because I don't want to take you into the snakes’ den. There are far worse people out there than us. If he's where I think he is—The Vipers are a ruthless cartel. They receive drug and weapon shipments from us. Other things too, from time to time." He didn't elaborate on that and I didn't ask.

He continued, brow lightly creased. "They're just as likely to kill you on sight as to welcome you in the door."

"But they won't shoot you on sight?" I asked. "Surely they won't shoot anyone in your company?"

Okay, I wasn't that na?ve. People like that always had their own reasons for doing the things they did. They may kill me just to remind Damon not to bring anyone next time. Or for a lesser reason.

"I wouldn't take that bet. Their only allegiance is to themselves. They wouldn't kill me because we have an established network. If I was dead, that would inconvenience them. So much so, they'd probably kill whoever killed me. Like I said, they're ruthless."

"They don't sound like anything I can't handle," I said easily. "I'm also not easy to kill, remember?"

"I'm aware," he said softly. "I'll think about it. Reuben will also have an opinion. If he orders me not to take you anywhere near them, then I won't." The set of his jaw said that would be an end to the matter.

I nodded. That was as far as I'd get right now. Arguing the matter wouldn't change it.

Until now, I'd managed to stay clear of most of the known cartels, unless I was doing a job for them. Which was rare. They tended to do their own killing. The only time they needed an assassin was when they wanted to eradicate competition within their own cartel, and wanted to avoid all-out war.

In those circumstances, I had to make the hit look like an accident. That way, those who wanted to could pretend they didn't know anything. If anyone objected, they'd have a hard time proving who was actually behind it.

If I was honest with myself, proving it would be more than difficult. It would be impossible. I was good at what I did. Too good to make a mess with those jobs, or leave evidence. They were always a challenge, but I enjoyed them for exactly that reason. They gave me the chance to push myself to try new things.

"So, how brave are you?" he asked. He unwound his arm from around me, took my hand and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff.

I followed him carefully and peered down into the water below. "Depends. How deep is it?" I couldn't see sand or rocks, just relentless waves that struck the rocks over and over, wearing it down bit by bit.

"Deep enough." He dropped my hand and pulled his shirt off over his head. He tossed it aside on the grass. His shoes and pants followed, until he was down to his boxer briefs.

"You've jumped off here before?" It was a long way down, and if he was wrong about the depth of the water, the landing would suck. Only for a moment, because it would probably kill us.

Caleb hadn't threatened to throw the twins over for nothing.

"Nope," he said easily. "Never."

"You're not just an asshole, you're a crazy asshole," I told him. In spite of that, I stripped down to my underwear and walked right to the edge, until there was nothing under the tips of my toes.

"You know what they say. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." He actually seemed to be enjoying this.

"If I die, I will haunt you." I grabbed his hand and pulled him close to me. If I was going, he was definitely going with me.

"Deal." He actually smiled right before we both jumped off the cliff, plunged down and landed with a splash in the ocean.