Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

MINA

I almost dropped the phone, but managed to hold on in spite of trembling fingers.

Hearing Kurt's voice again brought everything back in a flood that threatened to swamp me harder than the photos had.

His voice haunted my sleep and waking hours for so long, it was stamped in an endless round of nightmares.

He continued before I could formulate a response.

"You're so fucking predictable, Mina," he said. "Did you think I wouldn't have this number? That I wouldn't know the moment the Sparrow was reactivated? The second that happened, I was notified. You think I don't keep track of my property?"

He emphasised my codename, probably hoping someone was in the room with me and didn't already know. He'd be more than happy to expose me. Whatever it took to drag me down. To get under my skin.

Gianni fumbled with his phone and sent off a message. I was vaguely aware of it in the corner of my eye.

I didn't know who he was messaging, or why, until Reuben and Damon all but thundered into the library.

"Did you want something, prick?" I asked coldly.

He laughed. "Is that the best you can do, bitch?"

"I don't know, it's more original than 'bitch,'" I replied.

How I managed to keep my voice even, I didn't know. I drew strength from the three men around me. Every single one of them would have torn Kurt apart if he was here.

They'd hold me if I wanted to lose my cool and cry for a while. They'd also hand me knives if I wanted to carve my initials into Kurt's forehead.

If it wasn't for them, I might well have unravelled on the spot.

"Bitch is appropriate," Kurt said. "Like a female dog, you belong in a cage." He chuckled. "That was why I kept you in one. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy being on all fours in front of me while I?—"

Reuben growled. A literal growl. His face was red, eyes flashing with pure fury, as though he might rip Kurt's throat out through the phone.

Silence came through the line, followed by another laugh. "Sounds like the bitch found another dog. I heard a rumour about you being seen with Reuben Brantley. I'm surprised he'd want anyone's sloppy seconds. Then again, he's a Brantley. None of them are known for being discerning."

"I'm going to enjoy rearranging his face," Gianni whispered.

"If I don't do it first," Damon snapped.

"I don't mind sharing," Gianni told him.

"I bet you don't," Kurt said. "Mina has three holes. I'm sure she's told you all about how I've had all of them."

"Did. You. Want. Something?" I ground out. "If you called to remind me what a piece of shit you are, you could have saved us both some time. I have better things to do than think about you."

"Right," he drew the word out. "Like getting back to being an assassin. Does Reuben know about that?"

"Yes, he does," I replied. "He knows what happened to that girl. He's seen the photos of what you did to me. They were on the phone I found at Stefan's place before I killed him."

The silence on the other end suggested Kurt hadn't known his associate was dead. Good, it was about time I got the better of him.

"He was very helpful," I continued. "He gave me all sorts of interesting information about you. It's funny how much people like to talk when they have a knife to their throat."

"You never were a good liar." He sounded uneasy.

I clearly hit a nerve. He wasn't sure what I knew. I could be right outside his door, waiting to step inside and slice him open. Like all cowards, he went on the defensive.

"That's bullshit, and you know it," I said. "Like everything else that comes out of your mouth. Let me tell you, you will regret everything you did to me. We will find you and?—"

"Fuck you up," Gianni said helpfully.

"Yes, that," I said.

Kurt chuckled, his ego back in place. "That's where you're wrong, bitch. You won't find me before I find you. Then we'll see who fucks whom up. I know you. You can't and won't hide behind Reuben Brantley forever. The minute you step out, I'll have you. In every sense of the word. I'm going to make that cage look like a holiday. When I'm finished with you, you'll beg for forgiveness and for my cock. Just like you used to."

Before I could respond, he ended the call.

"I hate telemarketers," Gianni said, his expression perfectly serious.

I managed a faint smile before turning off the phone. "Looks like I need a new phone number." Although, he'd likely find a way to get that too.

"These days, most people don't answer their phones," Damon said. "It saves talking to someone they don't want to talk to."

I gave him a funny look. "What's the point of phones then? Don't tell me, people are still watching funny cat videos on social media."

"Exactly," Gianni said. "They also come in useful for texting and letting the boss and Damon know that prick was on the line."

"I should have realised he'd try to contact me when I switched my status back to active." The rest of the conversation played on my mind, going around and around on repeat. Most of it made my stomach turn.

"Unless he was dead, there was no way to keep that information from him." Reuben lowered himself down into a chair opposite me. "He's smart enough to keep an eye out for any sign of you."

"How did he know I was here with you?" I asked. That was at the forefront of my mind, more than Kurt's threats and reminders. "He said someone told him. The only people who have seen us together work for you or they're dead."

"It wasn't me," Gianni said immediately.

"It wasn't anyone in this room," Reuben said. "It better not be anyone who works for me." The fury hadn't completely evaporated from his expression. He looked like a bomb about to explode.

"What would any of them have to gain by telling him?" Damon asked slowly. "We know Rose wouldn't say anything. Neither would Daze. She'd skin her boyfriends alive if they did. That leaves the twins and Caleb."

"The twins wouldn't," Gianni said. "They may be as morally grey as the rest of us, but they also don't like men who abuse women. Which narrows it down to…"

"Caleb," Reuben said darkly. "If he's working with Kurt, against me, it will be the last thing he does."

I didn't know Caleb well, but I remembered Daze warning me about him. That he was ambitious and would grab any opportunity that arose. How loyal was he to his oldest brother?

"I'll tell Caleb to come here for a little chat," Damon said.

Reuben nodded. "Do it. Better yet, send the jet to pick him up. I don't want to give him an opportunity to run, and if he's done nothing wrong, sweating for a while won't hurt him."

Damon pulled out his phone and stepped out of the room.

Reuben scrubbed a hand over his face. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know," I admitted. I let Gianni take the phone from my hand and look through it.

He tapped on the number Kurt used to call me, but it was already disconnected, if it wasn't fake to begin with. "I suspect it might be impossible to trace him through this, but we can ask the twins to try."

"It can't hurt, but he'll probably be long gone from wherever he is now by the time they figure it out," I said. He was proving to be slipperier than a snake.

"We know one thing for sure," Gianni said. "He's still alive. And while he's still alive, we can find him and remedy that."

"That was a mistake," I said slowly. "If he really was smart, he'd find a way to convince us he was dead, so we'd stop looking for him."

"I wouldn't stop," Reuben said darkly. "But you're right, he let his arrogance and his obsession for you do the talking. That will be to his detriment."

"We also know he's still in the country," I said.

They both looked over at me sharply.

Reuben frowned. "How do you?—"

"I recognise the bird in the background. It's some kind of cockatoo. I only heard it once, and only briefly, but it was clear enough." I shrugged.

Gianni's lips dropped apart. "Not gonna lie, I'm impressed."

"When you have to rely on being stealthy and observant, you tend to notice even the smallest thing," I said. Anything you miss could get you dead, or worse.

"Anything else?" Reuben asked, his eyes intent on me.

I frowned and thought back. "Maybe a car. It was in the background though. Like… He was outside, some distance from the road. Everything else was just him and his bullshit. I wish I could narrow it down further."

"Still in the country is narrower than we had before," Reuben said. "Judging by the way he sounded, he wouldn't have travelled far from Mina. He might well be on the outskirts of Sydney."

"If he is, we will find his sorry ass," Gianni said. "And we'll make it even sorrier."

"You have any idea if there was anywhere he liked to go?" Reuben asked.

I ran everything I knew about Kurt from before through my mind. "He frequented a gym. He was obsessive about fitness. He taught self defence classes there too. And boxing. He also liked to go camping. A couple of times, he wanted me to go with him, but I refused."

"Who trained you to become an assassin?" Gianni asked. "Was it Kurt?"

"No. It was Zara Levin and her sister, Paola. My father wanted me to learn from the best."

"Ohhh, the Sisters of Death," Gianni said in appreciation. "I've always wanted to meet them, but you know what they say. You only meet them once and they're the only ones to survive the experience."

"Only if someone hires them to take you out," I said. "Then your chances of survival are approximately zero percent." If I was scared of anyone in my life, it was the Levin sisters. They were card-carrying badass bitches, if they ever were any.

"They're almost as deadly as the Sparrow," Gianni said. "And now I'm as hard as hell." He made a face and adjusted the front of his pants. "There's something about women who know how to kill that just gets me going every time."

"Is there any chance the Levin sisters are working with Kurt?" Reuben asked softly.

"I doubt it," I said. "They didn't like him and he didn't like them. I think he was concerned they'd influence me against him." Not that I needed any convincing.

"They were quick to take me up on my request to hunt him down. For a fee, of course." They did nothing for free. Including getting out of bed in the morning. Why should they when they could ask anything they wanted in return for a job?

"That answers the age-old question," Gianni mused. When we both turned to look at him he said, "I'd always wondered who the assassins hire to assassinate someone the assassin wants assassinated. Now I know. The Levin sisters. I bet they hire you too."

"I think people are too scared of them to piss them off. So they wouldn't need to hire someone to kill them," I said. "But that's a job I'd accept."

I owed them everything for all they'd taught me. They'd kept me from losing myself. That was a debt I doubted I could ever repay.