Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

MINA

"Do you believe him?" I asked Damon as we stepped out of the warehouse and toward the ocean. Reuben and Gianni walked ahead of us, both quietly furious on my behalf. How did I feel about being robbed of my revenge? In some ways, this was easier. If Enzo was already dead, Damon couldn't blame me for killing him.

If he was dead.

"Not for a minute," Damon said. "Either he doesn't know where Enzo is and doesn't want to admit it, or he's expecting a bigger payday than we can offer." He looked ready to chew rocks.

"Who from?" Gianni asked over his shoulder. "You don't think Kurt would bother, do you?"

"I don't know," Damon admitted. "It might be that he doesn't know, but I can't see him giving up triple the shipment unless the stakes were really high."

"Maybe Enzo ran off with his sister," I said dryly.

Damon snorted. "She might be better off away from Carlos, but with Enzo…"

"Do you know her?" I asked. I was in no way jealous, but I was curious.

"Angelina Jones? Yeah, I've met her a couple of times," he said. "Wildcat is accurate. She doesn't take shit from him or anyone. If he'd suggested he'd sell her, she probably would run off. If he survived the night. She's as headstrong as they come."

"It sounds like you admire her," I remarked. Maybe there was a little jealousy there, but they all had a life before me, I knew that. Relationships, lovers. That was the past. It couldn't hurt me now, except to remind me of everything I'd missed out on. That would always sting, no matter how much time passed.

"He's scared of her," Gianni said.

"Fuck off," Damon told him. "I'm not scared of Angie. She's more likely to get a man killed than kill them."

"Carlos would kill Enzo if he ran off with her," I said.

"Very likely," Damon agreed. "He's probably planning to have Enzo meet the wrong end of a bullet as we speak."

I put a hand on his bicep. "I know this isn't how you want things to go."

"He was going to end up dead either way." He shrugged. "At least, this way, I don't have to kill him. And neither do you."

"I would have killed him to save you from doing that," I said.

I'd hesitate, because he was Damon's brother, but when it came down to it, I'd spill his blood if necessary. If it helped me to put the worst of my demons to bed.

"Doesn't she say the sweetest things?" Gianni said. "For the record, I'd kill him for you too."

Damon nodded in response to his offer. "I thought you might."

"I'm sweet that way too," Gianni said. He dropped back to walk on the other side of Mina.

"You want to find him, don't you?" Mina asked softly. "You want to find Enzo."

Damon hesitated. "If I don't, I'll never know the truth of what happened. Why did he work for Kurt? Why didn't he try to stop him? He could have convinced Gage Prior, Leon Graves, and Jase to overpower him. Lasalle wasn't a match for four other people. Five if you were conscious." Regret flashed through his eyes. "He also might know where Kurt is."

"Is there any chance he ran because he was scared he'd be associated with Kurt after the rumours we spread?" I asked. "When people hear what Kurt did, they'll start pointing fingers at anyone who worked with him. Especially those who worked for him. Or, they might go after Enzo because they want to hunt down the Sparrow."

"Both are possible," Damon said. "That being the case?—"

"Carlos is trying to put us off his trail so he can find Kurt himself," Reuben said. "He must know Enzo worked for Kurt and how to get to him. Once he has Kurt, he can make more money than triple the shipments."

"He's a crafty bastard," Gianni said. "Smarter than I gave him credit for."

"Never underestimate Carlos Jones," Damon advised him. "He didn't get where he was by being stupid and making mistakes. He got there by being smart and ruthless."

"We need to find Enzo before Carlos does," I concluded. "I know we're only guessing about Angelina Jones, but?—"

"She'd be a good place to start," Damon said. "I have a feeling if we find her, we'll find him."

"I have the same feeling," Gianni said. "If you were a cartel princess, where would you be?"

"Probably as far away from the cartel as I could get," I said. "Before my brother could sell me."

What was it with men? When Carlos said that, I had to resist the strong urge to kick him in the balls. I didn't give a fuck if the cartel did things differently, there was nothing I hated more than men thinking women were possessions. Angelina could end up the same way I had.

"Neither of your brothers would have dared," Gianni said.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "You really think Dane would have hesitated if it was worth it to him?"

"I think you, Rose and Asher would have torn him a new one," Gianni said. "I would have helped them.”

"So would I," Reuben said. He paused for a moment. "I would have outbid everyone else. I wouldn't have let anyone else buy you."

"If it was you, I would have gone along with it," I told him.

If only that was what happened. I would have preferred to be sold to him than given away like a used doll. I might even have insisted Dane take whatever offer he made. He would have had money and I would have had a completely different life.

"That might be the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Gianni said. "Would you buy me too, Reuben? Or Damon?"

"I pay you," Reuben pointed out. "I don't need to buy either of you."

"Good point," Gianni said. "I think I prefer that to being bought and sold. So, where do we find Angelina Jones?"

"We start by speaking to her mother," Damon said.

"What is my son up to now?" Bianca Ramirez looked unimpressed. She was even shorter than me, but very much the kind of woman you would never underestimate. Her side eye alone would make the average man think twice about fucking with her. Her full on glare almost intimidated me.

Almost.

"Probably a fuck ton," Damon said. "Including trying to sell Angie."

Bianca swore under her breath in Spanish.

I expected her to curse out her son, but instead she said, "That girl will be the death of us all. I said to her, if she doesn't behave, no man would want her and you know what she did? She laughed and said no man could handle her anyway." She threw her hands up in the air. "It would take an army to control her."

"Just like her mother," Gianni said, unflinching.

She said a few more words in Spanish. None of them sounded flattering.

Gianni grinned and replied in Spanish. Whatever he said had her cheeks turning red.

She waved a finger at him. "You, you're trouble. No sensible woman would let you near her daughter." She turned the waving finger on me. "Are you with this man?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'm with all of them."

"Madre dio!" she exclaimed. "Loco."

Now that I understood. Sometimes I agreed that I might be crazy. "Do you know where your daughter is, by any chance?"

Bianca grunted with annoyance. "Probably off with that boy. I told her, Angelina-Maria Marguerite-Rosa Ramirez-Jones, you stay away from that boy! Did she do what I said? Of course not? I should have told her to go with him. She would have done the opposite, like she always does."

Bianca crossed her arms and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

"If I recall correctly," Reuben said slowly, "your father was trying to negotiate a marriage for you and you ran off with Anthony Jones instead."

Bianca sniffed. "That's right. Tony had more brains in his little finger than the man my father was trying to sell me to. He was bad. No bueno. We would have killed each other. No, let me correct myself. I would have killed him. Before I let him put his greasy fingers on me." She shuddered.

"So you think women should be free to choose who they're with," I stated.

As I expected, she saw right through what I was trying to imply. "Unless they are a no good, two-bit troublemaker like Enzo."

I grabbed Damon's wrist before he could respond too strongly.

"Where is he?" he asked, his voice barely contained. "When did you see him last?"

"This morning," she replied. "Climbing out the window of Angie's bedroom. As if I wouldn't notice." She scoffed.

"Carlos said he was shot last night," Reuben said.

"He might have been shot, but it wasn't last night," she said. "I chased him away and Angelina left maybe an hour later. Wherever they are, they're together."

"If Carlos tries to kill him, he might accidentally hurt her," I pointed out. "If you can tell us where you think they might be, we can stop that from happening."

I wasn't sure if Carlos wanted Enzo dead, but if Bianca thought that, she might help us. At this point, it was all we had to go on.

Bianca looked reluctant, but sighed. "I can give you an address. If they aren't there, then that's all I have." She grabbed a notepad from a side table beside an ancient couch and scribbled with a blunt pencil.

She tore off the paper and handed it to Reuben. "If you weren't with her, I'd insist you take me out. I've been lonely since Tony passed away."

Reuben carefully folded the page and tucked it into his pocket. "Thank you."

I suspected he was thanking her for the address, not the flirtation. I couldn't remember having seen him with another woman other than Daze and some of the staff, but he wasn't the flirtatious type. That was Gianni's wheelhouse.

"You could always ask Carlos to find you someone," Gianni said. "I bet a woman like you would go for a shit ton."

She gave him the stink eye. "If you don't get out of my house, I'm going to put a curse on you."

He grinned. "You wouldn't do that. You secretly like me. I can tell."

"So secret I don't even know," she said dryly. "Did you hit your head too many times?"

"Probably." Gianni chuckled. "That would explain a lot."

"Pretty much everything," Damon agreed. "I should have thought of it."

"You really should," Gianni agreed. "How did you miss something like that?"

Damon rolled his eyes at him.

"I'm starting to think you're all trouble," Bianca said. "Except Reuben. If she ditches your fine ass, you know where to find me." She winked at him.

He looked back at her, clearly uncomfortable.

"I don't plan to ditch his ass," I said. "Sorry, his fine ass." I put an arm around him. "But if I do, I'll remind him of your offer."

He gave me the same look he'd been giving her. If things didn't work out between us, he was not coming back here for her. He looked as though he'd prefer to swallow a whole echidna. Spines and all.

Lucky for everyone, I couldn't imagine life without him and I knew he wouldn't let me go without one hell of a fight. Unfortunately for Bianca, she was out of luck when it came to him. I doubted they'd be a good match anyway. Although, a woman her age might teach him a thing or two.

"If you find my daughter, tell her that if she takes off again, I'll let Carlos choose a husband for her," Bianca said. She led us to the door and opened it before hanging on to it as though she wanted to be certain we actually left.

"Will do," Gianni said. He made kissing faces at her before leading the way out the door.

My arm still around Reuben, I shook my head and followed him out.

If Angelina was anything like her mother, she'd marry Enzo today if we gave her that message. I had a feeling I'd like her, but she wouldn't like me if she knew I'd leave her a widow.