Chapter 5

REUBEN

I glanced up from my glass of whiskey as Damon stepped into the room. As always, his expression was guarded, closed. I trusted him more than most, but I gave up trying to read him a long time ago. He got the job done, that was what mattered.

He lowered himself into the leather chair opposite me and sat with his ankle resting on his opposite thigh.

"She wasn't what we were expecting to find," I said.

"No," Damon agreed. "Should we have?"

"I don't know." I scrubbed a hand over my face. "We've kept close track of all the members of the DiMarco family. Not close enough, apparently."

It wasn't guilt I was feeling, but rather irritation at not knowing something I should have known.

Men like Kurt Lasalle shouldn't be able to keep a woman chained up in their basements without my knowledge. Especially one I'd known all her life. What was that ridiculous nickname her family gave her? Mina Sunshine, because she was always happy and smiling. When was the last time she was either of those things?

I struggled to reconcile the girl I once knew, with the woman we found only a handful of hours ago.

"Wild guess the DiMarcos had no idea," Damon remarked. "Not unless there was something in it for them."

"What?" It was a pointless question, he had no more answers than I did.

"Are we going to tell them?" he asked.

"Not yet." I sipped my whiskey, savouring the way it burned down my throat. "I want to talk to her first. She may be able to shed some light on the situation. If any of the DiMarcos knew she was there, they may try to act against us if they learn we have her here."

Damon made an indeterminate sound in the back of his throat. He wasn't scared of them either.

"What are you planning to do with her?"

That was the question I'd had running through my head since I recognised the filthy woman with the big, blue-green eyes. Leaving her there wasn't an option, but I hadn't decided what happened next.

I'd speak to her and make my decision based on that conversation. No doubt Gianni would try to influence me. He was treating her like an abandoned kitten, in need of food and attention to nurse it back to health. But kittens grew into cats and cats had claws. Especially ones with the last name DiMarco.

"I'll decide that when the time is right." I didn't have to explain myself to him or anyone else. I hadn't had to for a long time. That was how I liked it.

"The boss is probably in his library." Gianni's voice came from just outside the doorway. That was followed by him looking in and smiling. "Here he is."

He stepped into the room. My breath caught in my throat as Mina followed him in.

She'd never been tall, but she was all but swallowed by the grey track pants and T-shirt she wore. Clothes that used to belong to the twins, if I had to guess. Neither Hunter nor Parker fit into them since they were ten or twelve, but they'd remained stashed away in a box somewhere until now.

Even in old, borrowed clothes, she was stunning. Even with the wary, on-edge look in her eyes. No one would blame her for that, least of all me.

"Sit down." Gianni waved towards a chair. "I'll see how Terry is going, heating up some food for you." He actually gave me a warning look before slipping back out the door. He was protective of our little stray. That better not cause a problem.

Damon looked at me questioningly, but I nodded for him to stay.

Mina stepped carefully into the room, looking around the shelves of books that covered the walls. Some of the shelves weren't filled yet, leaving spaces here and there that I tried to avoid looking at. They looked untidy. If there was anything I hated, it was mess.

She finally slid into a chair and tucked her feet up beside her. She wrapped her arms around herself in a classic, protective pose.

"You're looking better already," I said.

"It's good to be clean." She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

I usually preferred longer hair on women, but it suited her better that way than tangled and matted.

"How did you end up with Kurt Lasalle?" I didn't believe in beating around the bush. I had questions and I wanted answers to them.

"My father gave me to him to settle a debt," she said softly. Did she always speak like that, or was she holding back because she was scared?

"What debt?" I asked.

She shook her head slightly. "I don't know. Just that there was a debt. I guess it didn't help, since my father was killed shortly after that."

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Kurt told me." A frown furrowed her brow. "He told me when each of my parents and siblings were killed."

I ignored the strangled sound Damon made, and placed my whiskey glass on the table beside me. I leaned towards Mina, my elbows on my thighs.

"He told you your siblings were dead?"

She blinked a couple of times, those long lashes brushing her cheeks. "He said I didn't deserve to know, but he told me anyway."

I sat back. "He told the truth about your parents. Your father had mine killed, so I had them killed. But your siblings are very much alive." I watched as my words slowly sunk in.

She recoiled slightly, but then sat forward again. "Dane, Rose and Asher?"

"All alive," Damon said.

Mina turned towards him. She didn't look like she was sure she should believe a word we'd said.

"Dane teaches history at Brutham Academy," I said. "Rose is down in Melbourne doing whatever Rose does." She was good at solving problems, like disposing of unwanted corpses.

"Asher is…" I sighed. "A drummer in a band with my brother, Zeke." I hadn't given up on the idea of my brother quitting the band to come back to join the family business. One way or another, I'd convince him to stop wasting his time singing rock songs to sold out arenas all over the world.

Mina looked back and forth between us, her pretty mouth slightly open, plush lips quivering.

"It's true." Damon pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen for a minute or two before passing it over to her.

She took it from his hand and looked at the photo on the screen. Her blonde haired brother stood beside my younger brother, with the rest of the band.

"It says this photo was posted three days ago," she said. "He's really alive." She stared at the photo for the longest time, not moving, barely breathing.

"We can contact them if you like," I offered.

"No." She surprised me with her quick response. "I don't want any of them to see me like this. Not yet. They'd… I can't." She pushed the phone back toward Damon.

"You don't have to," I told her. "You can hide out here for as long as you need to."

Had those words come out of my mouth? Judging by the raised eyebrow, Damon was surprised to hear it as much as I was. We never took in strays. But now she was here, I couldn't bring myself to let her leave. Didn't want her to.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know what to think."

"About what?" Damon asked.

She looked down in the direction of her knees, then back up again slowly. "I thought the reason they didn't come for me was because they were dead. But they weren't. Why would they leave me there? Why would they let him do the things he did to me if they were alive to stop it?" She closed her eyelids over her shining eyes and bit her lip.

"Why didn't they come for me?"

"My guess is they didn't know," I said, my voice quiet, even for me. "Asher, in particular, would have done anything to get you out of there if he was aware. Rose too."

Dane was a self-serving son of a bitch, who knew what his agenda might be?

"They didn't know," she echoed. "My father must have lied to them too."

"As far as anyone knows, you ran off to marry some nice boy and live in the suburbs," Damon said. "They say you kept in contact for a while before you didn't. They must have thought you were happier away from this life."

"I never contacted them," she said. "I couldn't. Kurt… Kurt had my phone. He must have sent messages, pretending to be me, and they never thought to question it. No one ever thought to try to find me."

"They might have tried," I said. "They wouldn't have been successful. If I had to guess, I'd say the only one who knew about the connection between you and Kurt was your father. Once he was dead, only you and Kurt knew, and he wasn't saying anything."

"And I couldn't." She chewed on her lip. "If you hadn't had my father killed?—"

"I doubt he would have told anyone," I said. "I can't imagine your siblings would have taken it well if they knew. If I hadn't had him killed, they would have. Or someone else would have. He was good at making enemies." And giving his innocent daughter to a monster. My only regret was that he didn't die slower.

"He was," she agreed. "I'm glad he's dead. I don't believe in hell, but if it exists, I hope he's there. And I hope Kurt goes there soon."

"He will," I assured her. "I have a lot of resources on finding him. The twins have assured me they are on his trail." Hunter and Parker were both pains in my ass, but they were useful in their own way.

"The twins are… I guess they grew up," she said.

"My youngest brothers got older, but I don't know about growing up," I said dryly. There were twenty years between me and them, so they had time. If they didn't get themselves killed first.

"I feel like I got left behind," she said. "Everything has changed. I don't know where to start to catch up."

"I recommend you start with pizza." Gianni stepped into the room and handed Mina a plate.

Her eyes huge, she started to eat.

"Don't eat too fast," Gianni warned. He crouched down beside her like he might snatch the food away again at any moment.

She moved the plate away from him, as though that might stop him from taking it, and bit into the pizza, a look of bliss on her face. Terry made the best pizza I'd ever had, but it must be just this side of heaven for her.

Watching her eat, the urge to keep her here grew stronger. I wanted to see her experience all of the things she'd missed out on in the last five years. Fresh air, sunshine and good food. Safety, security and stability.

Usually I wouldn't give a shit whether anyone enjoyed those things or not. But with her, things were different. I was drawn to her. The need to protect her was overwhelming.

Maybe I was getting soft, but I didn't give a fuck. If anyone lay a hand on her, they'd lose it.

I snapped out of my thoughts as she made a gagging sound. She pushed the plate towards Gianni, clapped a hand over her mouth and staggered towards the door.