Page 35 of Corrupted

Reuben's fingers tightened around his glass, so tight it shattered in his hand, sending a spray of whiskey onto his sleeve and the floor.

"You'll moan when we're done with you," Damon said darkly. "You'll beg us to kill you." Before Kurt could respond, he leaned over and ended the call.

"Have I mentioned recently how much I really, really hate him?" Gianni said. "He's such a shithead. Actually, that's an insult to shitheads. He's worse than a shithead."

"He really is," Hunter said. He looked like he wanted to live up to his name and hunt Kurt down personally and drag him here by his balls.

Parker looked similarly furious. "He must have missed the part where pissing off a member of the Brantley family was a really, really bad idea. People who do it tend to live to regret it."

"Yes, they do," Hunter agreed. "What else can we do? It's not fair for this oxygen thief to keep living any longer than necessary. Another hour is too much."

"Short of knocking on every door in Dusk Bay…" Damon rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. "We're doing everything we can think of."

No one suggested actually going door-to-door. That would be time-consuming and ultimately pointless.

Kurt was likely moving around, and wasn't dumb enough to open a knock on the door. He'd have someone to do that for him. Someone to take the bullet if one was aimed at him. No, we'd have to be smarter than that.

"Mina, can I have your phone?" Parker asked. "I can at least try to trace wherever he called from. I couldn't last time, but it's worth a try."

I nodded and handed him my phone. "Just don't go poking around in the apps in there."

He grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it. And I won't look at your photos either, just in case there's a dick pic from Reuben." He stuck out his tongue in playful disgust, his eyes shining with amusement.

Reuben gave him a look that was drier than a martini, before raising his hand in front of him. His palm was red with blood from the imploding glass. Indifferent, he walked over to the wet bar on the side of the room and poured himself another drink, this time a double.

"She's more likely to get a dick pic from me," Gianni said.

Parker grimaced. "That's just as good a reason not to look in her photos. No offence. You're almost as much a big brother to me as Reuben is."

"How am I supposed to take offence when you finish with something like that?" Gianni stepped over to give Parker a hug.

Parker hugged him back. "I know what to say to avoid getting shot."

"So far," Damon said. He smirked at Parker.

Parker grinned. "I'm going to fuck up at some point and I know that, but in the meantime, I'll keep trying to be smooth. It's gotten me this far. I might even live to be as old as Reuben."

"Not if you call me old." Reuben downed the contents of his glass in one gulp and poured another.

Both twins chuckled and fist bumped at the expense of their oldest brother. If they weren't giving him hell, they wouldn't be themselves. Even if it scored them dark looks from time to time.

"I'll get this back to you as soon as I can." Parker nodded towards the phone in his hand. "And I'll change the number to one that'll be harder for him to get a hold of."

I shook my head. "Don't bother. The cockier he gets, the better chance he'll make a mistake. He already did by reminding us he was watching tonight. We know he's still in Dusk Bay. We know to look out for something. Something big."

"He could be trying to convince us he's doing something when he's not," Damon said.

He didn't look like he believed that any more than I did. Something was coming and, whatever it was, we had to be ready.

If not, I might have to take a leaf from Angelina's book and step out the front of the house before someone else paid the price for me.

CHAPTER 13

MINA

My hair still damp from the shower, I stepped out of Reuben's ensuite and into his bedroom.

All three of my guys stood beside the window, talking in hushed tones. They stopped the minute they saw me and stared with open hunger in their eyes, like three lions sizing up a delicious deer. Trying to decide which bit they'd feast on first.

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