Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

MINA

Damon entered the kitchen, his eyes on his phone. He managed to navigate his way around the chairs and over to the electric kettle, without looking up.

"I know that face," Gianni remarked. He sat beside me, eating fruit loops and sipping coffee.

Damon glanced at him and frowned. "Yeah, it's the same handsome-as-fuck face I've always had."

Gianni grinned. "I meant the expression on your face, but that's true too."

"That he's a fuck face?" I said, deadpan.

Damon scowled at me, but looked over to where Reuben sat watching us while chewing on toast. "You're not going to believe this, boss."

Reuben lowered his toast. "You'd be surprised what I might believe."

Damon shrugged one shoulder to concede the point. "This might be an exception. The Sparrow is active again."

My heart skipped a beat. I'd expected this conversation. Anticipated it. I was ready with my mask in place.

Sweat still broke out on my hands.

Reuben placed his toast back on his plate. "I believe you, but you're right, I'm not surprised. Just like that?"

"Just like that," Damon agreed. "The notification popped up on my phone sometime in the middle of the night. I've spent the last hour confirming that it's legit. As far as anyone can tell, it is. The Sparrow is operating again."

"Cool," Gianni said around a mouthful of cereal. "Maybe I can meet them this time."

Damon looked over at me, slightly smug. "The Sparrow is?—"

"An assassin," I interrupted. Clearly he'd expected I wouldn't know that. "I've heard of them from before."

"Not just any assassin," Gianni said. "One of the best. They could get in anywhere, anytime. If anyone could get in here and take out Reuben, it would be them."

Reuben arched an eyebrow. "You might be overstating slightly. However, that's reasonably accurate. The Sparrow had impressive skills." He turned to Damon. "Is there any chance it's someone else stepping into the role?"

Damon placed his phone down on the kitchen island and poured himself a coffee.

"After all this time? Why now? It's been years. If someone was going to take on their persona, wouldn't they have done it by now?"

"They might have been honing their skills," Gianni suggested. "It would take a lot of work and practice to be that good."

"I'm still not convinced it's one person." Damon leaned back against the kitchen counter top, his long fingers curled around his mug.

"What makes you think that?" I asked. "Maybe they were just that good." I was, apart from that one major fuck up, but I was interested in his theory.

"It would take more than one person to break in here," he reasoned. "They couldn't just walk through the door."

I'd done exactly that, because they brought me here after they found me in Kurt's basement. Of course, that wasn't what he meant, but still. Knowing how wrong he was gave me a certain, possibly petty, satisfaction.

"Some people suggested the Sparrow was dead," Gianni said, but his tone was dismissive. Clearly he didn't think so. "If that's the case, maybe one died and it took this long to find someone else good enough."

"You don't believe that," I said. "What do you think happened?" How well had Kurt and my father covered my mistake? Well enough to avoid rumours?

Gianni shrugged. "They could have gone on a really long holiday."

"It's possible their cover was compromised," Reuben said. "Or they thought it was going to be. They might have thought it wise to step back and let things blow over. And now, apparently, they have."

Damon was watching me intently over his coffee mug. "What do you think happened?"

I tapped the tip of my finger on the table top and frowned while I thought. "If I was an assassin, why would I disappear for years?"

"You don't have to—" Gianni started.

"It's okay." I couldn't avoid talking about it forever. "Kurt ran when he was found out, before you could get to him. It's possible that happened to the Sparrow too. They thought someone was coming after them. Or maybe someone turned on them. Forced them to hide out. Or they made a mistake."

I tried not to look as if I was searching for information in their responses. Some sign of what they knew, or thought they knew.

"This is all conjecture," Reuben said. "Whatever the reason, they're active and we can make use of them. If anyone can find Kurt, it's the Sparrow. I prefer he be found alive, but if that isn't possible, dead will have to do." He nodded to Damon, who picked up his phone and tapped on the screen.

"I've sent the message," Damon said after a minute or two. He lowered his phone back down again. "I'll let you know when I hear back."

Reuben picked up his toast and went back to eating. "Gianni, in two days time I want you and Mina to go to Dusk Bay to see Daisy Lasalle. Try to find out if Kurt has made contact in any way. If he has, I want to know. And see if he has a twin named Frank."

"You don't think she's working with him behind our back?" Gianni asked.

"No, I don't," Reuben agreed. "But someone who works for her might be. Keep your eyes peeled. Someone out there knows where he is. Sooner or later, they'll make a mistake and we'll be there to deal with them. In the meantime, keep reminding everyone I don't tolerate people operating behind my back. If any of them think they can get away with it, we'll remind them they can't. Painfully or fatally, whichever is appropriate."

I loved it when he got authoritative like that. My clit throbbed in appreciation.

"Got it, boss," Gianni said. "Consider everyone threatened. If I was working against you, I'd be shaking in my shoes right now."

"If you were working against me, you'd have a bullet in your brain," Reuben said.

"Courtesy of me," Damon said.

"Lucky for all of us I'm not," Gianni said. "Especially Damon. He'd really, really hate to have to kill me." He winked at me.

"I'd hate to have to use up a perfectly good bullet," Damon said dryly.

"He'd cry over my grave." Gianni grinned.

"You said 'dance' wrong," Damon said.

"You dance?" I asked.

"No, but I'd make an exception for his grave." The sides of Damon's mouth twitched up in a hint of a smile. As far as I could tell, that was his equivalent of a grin.

"He really does adore me," Gianni said. "We'll probably be buried in adjoining graves. Side-by-side. In death as we were in life."

Damon grimaced. "Remind me to change my will so it says I have to be buried on the other side of Sydney."

"That's still close enough for me to haunt your dead ass," Gianni said.

I exchanged glances with Reuben, who looked amused at their banter.

"It's like having the twins around, but they're older," he said wryly.

I choked back a laugh.

"I think I'll have it revised to say I need to be buried on the other side of the world from all of you," Damon said, smirking at us.

"That sounds lonely," I said.

"It sounds quiet," he insisted.

"Quiet is overrated," Gianni remarked.

"No, it's not," Reuben said. "Damon might have a point."

"Says the man who has a family mausoleum that's nice and quiet," Gianni said.

Reuben shrugged, but looked smug.

I didn't much care what happened to me after I was dead, as long as no one haunted me. Then I'd be pissed off. Honestly, my life was haunted enough now as it was. By Kurt and by that girl.

"Where are my parents buried?" I asked. It hadn't occurred to me to wonder until now.

"On the other side of the city," Reuben said. "Did you want to pay them a visit?"

"We could dance on your father's grave," Gianni offered.

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "No. I was just curious. My brothers and sister, how did they react? Were they upset? Did they know what happened?"

"All three of your siblings know your parents killed my parents," Reuben said softly. "I told them myself. They had the option of joining your parents or staying the hell out of my way. Rose works for me once in a while, but otherwise they took the second option. I didn't want to have to kill any of them."

"Why?" I asked. He didn't seem reluctant to kill, when and wherever necessary.

He gave me a lingering look in response.

"You thought someday I'd come back and I wouldn't forgive you for killing them?" I guessed.

He really had thought of me a lot more than I would have expected him to. Thinking he was out of my league seemed silly, now I was looking back at the past. What would have happened if I'd gone to him when I had the chance? He might have saved me from going through hell.

No, there was no 'might' about it. He would have.

"I hoped you'd come back. If what your father said about you being married and living in the suburbs was true, I would have kept my peace, but this is your place."

He gestured around himself and the house. "If your siblings chose to make trouble, I would have done what I had to. But not without considering the potential consequences."

"The only one who looks like he has any potential of causing trouble is Dane," Damon said. "He's ambitious and he's always looking for a way in. He'd be right here at the table, if he could, but none of us would turn our backs on him."

"I wouldn't turn my back on him either," I said. For a while, I'd wondered if Dane knew what I was. It was possible he did and thought the Sparrow was inactive because I was living life as a suburban wife and mother.

That thought gave me a moment of panic. If he knew I was active again, he might wonder why. He might come looking for me.

Let him try. He probably wouldn't think to look for me here. If he did, he wouldn't get past the front door without me knowing. I'd have plenty of time to make myself scarce. No one would enlighten him unless I wanted them to. Someday I would, but not yet. Not until Kurt was dealt with.

"Family are the people you choose," Gianni said, his eyes intent on me.

"That's deep," Damon said.

"It's true though." Gianni was unruffled. "You three are family to me. More than anyone I'm related to by blood. The twins too. They're more like my younger brothers. Except my actual younger brothers are assholes."

"Does that mean I'm like a sister?" I teased.

I remembered the way his cock felt in my hand, running my fingers up and down his length and over his Jacob's ladder. The way he came in my hand. The way his cum tasted when I licked my fingers clean. Yeah, there was nothing sisterly about it.

"I hope not," Gianni said. "Because if we're related, I'm in all kinds of trouble. There's nothing brotherly about the things I want to do to you." In a loud whisper he added, "I don't want to do brotherly things to Damon either."

I glanced over to see Damon's reaction. His face was as tightly masked as ever, but his eyes darkened slightly.

In the corner of my eye, I caught Reuben watching us, his whole body rigid. I knew he wanted me, but he spent a lot of time with these guys. Did it go beyond work and brotherhood? If it hadn't, could it?

A shiver of heat passed through me at the idea of these men kissing each other, touching each other. For a few moments, I let my imagination run wild.

Finally, Reuben cleared his throat. "Gianni, make the arrangements to travel to Dusk Bay. Don't let Daisy know you're coming, or anyone else there. I'd rather catch them unaware. If they have anything to hide, we'll find out sooner if they're not expecting you."

"Got it, boss," Gianni said. "If they're up to something, we'll bust it wide open."