Page 13 of Corrupted

"I'll see what I can find out," she said. "Anyone named Jase is going to be difficult, obviously. But most men don't have the level of insecurity you need to refer to themselves as Hammer."

I grinned at her assumption, which was probably correct. Why would you use a nickname like that unless you were trying to compensate?

"I doubt too many people with that nickname worked with Kurt," Damon said.

"Probably not," Martina agreed. "It sounds like a match made in heaven to me. A pair of gutless men."

"They are also associated with Leon Graves," Mina said.

"Sounds like the Triad of Tiny Dicks to me," Martina said. "Leon is as gutless as a jellyfish. Not as smart though. He does like to throw his cash around, I'll give him that."

“Can I ask what Kurt did to you?" Mina asked. "You seem to hate him as much as we do."

"Before or after I found out about the woman in the basement?" Martina asked. She exhaled loudly. "He's the kind of man who uses people until he doesn't find them useful anymore, then he'll give out our identity to people who shouldn't have it."

She pointed a finger at us again. "I know what you're thinking. A woman with bright pink hair isn't trying to hide. I don't mean that he told people about what I do for a living. I have people in my past I don't want in my present. Or my future. He thought it was wise to swap my whereabouts for money. Or favours, or… Whatever. They came after me and I had to deal with them. Because of him. He thinks he's above the rest of us. The truth is, he has his own agenda and he doesn't give a fuck who he steps on to get there."

"What agenda is that?" I asked.

"Fucked if I know." She shrugged. "He'll do anything to get ahead. Fuck over anyone. Apparently he was fixated on some woman who rejected him. He seemed to lose it after that. If he ever had it."

I looked sideways to Mina, whose gaze seemed to be locked on a spot on the floor.

This couldn't have been easy for her, listening to us talk about him. I wished I could erase every memory of him that resided in her head, to take away all the pain he'd inflicted on her. And, preferably, give it all to him.

"That sounds like Kurt," Damon agreed. "So, you'll get back to us on finding Jase and Hammer?"

"Oh, I already know where, or rather, who Hammer is," she said. She cocked her head at Damon. "And so do you."

CHAPTER 5

MINA

I stepped out the back door of Reuben's house and headed toward the cliff. The breeze whipped my hair around my face. I pushed it back and turned my face into the wind.

Damon stood at the edge of the cliff, arms crossed, staring out at the ocean. His back was dead straight, eyes glazed like he saw nothing.

"What he did wasn't your fault," I said once I was close enough for him to hear. "You know that, right? You're not responsible for the actions of anyone else."

Damon spoke without turning towards me, his expression unchanged. "He's my brother. I should have been keeping track of him better. Enzo was always a hothead. Always the one getting into trouble. I'm his older brother, I should have…" He trailed off.

"Do you blame my older brothers for not knowing what happened to me?" I asked.

He was determined to take responsibility, but as far as I was concerned, it wasn't his to take. From what I remembered of Hammer, or Enzo, he knew what he was doing.

"Honestly?" Damon said. "Yes I do. Dane in particular. He was the oldest son. He's ambitious. If anyone should have known what your father was up to, he should. And if he didn't know, then he shouldn't have believed what your father said about you running off and getting married. Fuck, Rose should have known. I should have known."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Is that what this is about? If you happened to be keeping track of your brother's whereabouts on one particular day, you might have stopped them from caging me?"

"I could have," he agreed.

"You could have tried," I said. "But it didn't get Gage Prior anything but dead."

I thought back to Caleb's reaction. I wouldn't have thought he was capable of being rattled until then. He must have had a close relationship with the other man.

Damon grunted. "I'm harder to kill. And I wouldn't have been alone."

"You might have gotten Gianni killed too," I said lightly.

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