Page 49 of Ruined

Gianni still didn't flinch. "It didn't. Everything went exactly as it was supposed to. She got to see him and the world is none the wiser."

Reuben's gaze slid to me. His expression softened. "Too much could have gone wrong. Risks like that aren't ones I'm willing to take. Not when it comes to Mina." He propped his elbow on the desk and rested his head on the palms of his hands. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Potential information on Kurt arriving in town tomorrow, and a guitar," I said. "You could say I did. And I got to see my brother."

Reuben was right, so much could have gone wrong, but it hadn't. Seeing Asher was soothing in a way I hadn't expected. Knowing he was doing well and seeing it with my own eyes were two different things.

"See, everything worked out perfectly," Gianni said. "Tomorrow we'll get to pin down Lasalle and deal with his ass. For all we know, Asher will still be in town and we can invite him over for a few beers. Or go and see them live. I'm sure they'd have a few tickets left for us."

Reuben grimaced. "Let's deal with one thing at a time. Kurt first."

"I have everyone organised," Damon said. "We'll have people in place hours before the pickup time. If anything looks suspicious, they'll deal with it. When the time comes, we'll be right there. Clarissa will let us know if anything changes."

"Good." Reuben nodded. "I don't want any unexpected surprises tomorrow. No one goes off on their own and does anything rash." He looked directly at Gianni.

"Me, do something rash?" Gianni smiled. "You're thinking of the twins."

"Hey, what did we do?" Hunter protested. He and Parker reclined on the couch, coffees in their hands. "We had no idea what Gianni planned. We didn't even run off and say hi to Zeke."

"No, we didn't," Parker agreed. "We got the hell out of there when Mina said she wasn't ready to talk to Asher. No one ever knew we were there."

"This time," Reuben said. "Which I appreciate. Otherwise we'd be having a different conversation. Tomorrow, I want everyone on the same page. Follow Damon's plan to the letter. If anyone steps a toe out of line, we could be screwed. We could lose this chance at Kurt. I won't allow that to happen because someone feels the need to be a loose cannon."

"My cannon is never loose," Gianni said. He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes, shook my head and smiled back at him. Nothing ever kept him down for long. Not even been chewed out by Reuben.

"I feel like one of us should have said that," Hunter said. "If Gianni is going to start stealing our one-liners, we might have a problem."

"Not my fault if I'm quicker than you are," Gianni said.

"Being too quick isn't a good thing," Parker pointed out. He grinned and offered Hunter a fist bump.

"Ha fucking ha," Gianni said sarcastically. "I'm never too quick when it matters."

The twins smiled unapologetically.

"That's what they all say," Hunter teased.

"As fascinating as this conversation is," Damon said slowly but meaningfully, "can we get back to the matter at hand? In case you need a reminder, Kurt fucking Lasalle. Remember him?"

I shuddered. I wished I didn't. Remembering him was one of the worst things about waking up in the morning. I wished there was a way I could forget. He still haunted my dreams and nightmares. When I closed my eyes, I could picture him leering at me through the bars of the cage. Looking down at me as he…

"We all remember him," Gianni said as he stepped closer to me. "He's the prick who brought us all together here today. If he was right in front of me, I'd thank him by punching him in the face. Or stabbing him in the dick. Maybe one, then the other." He mimed doing that.

He had a way of making a situation lighter, even when we were talking about someone who, to me, embodied pure evil. People thought of Reuben that way, but he was a pussycat compared to Kurt. Hell, I'd rather be alone with Samuel Bell than Kurt. He was an asshole, but he could be reasoned with. Sort of.

"We all feel that way," Damon said. "But let's not allow our need for revenge to cloud our judgment. The best thing we can do right now, is focus and be cool and calm. Rational. Not rash. If we let our anger guide us, he has a better chance of getting to us. We can't let that happen."

"You missed your calling," Hunter said. "You should have been a motivational speaker."

Damon smirked at him. "I'm not saying anything that isn't accurate. We've all done things in the heat of the moment that could have made a situation worse, or gotten us killed."

"Like driving an SUV into a couple of other cars?" Parker asked.

"That was a completely rational thing to do," Damon said. "I'm sure you'll recall I saved your asses."

"I don't know, it sounds like a heat of the moment thing to me," Hunter said. "Sometimes you have to be flexible, especially when the stakes are high."

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