Page 41 of Corrupted

"Only if it's legit," Damon said.

"Considering the layers of encryption, we weren't meant to find this," Parker said. "I don't mean to toot my own horn, but someone less skilled than me wouldn't get in." He tapped the tip of his finger on the island, beside the laptop. "We definitely weren't meant to see this. I'd bet my trust fund on it."

"If you lose that bet, I'm not sharing," Hunter told him.

Parker flashed him a grin. "I won't lose." He turned back to the screen. "All of this goes back before Kurt took Mina." He squinted. "By the look of it, Kurt had all of that planned for weeks. Maybe even months." He frowned deeply.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It seems like Leon is the one who found out about your father's attempt to take down the Brantley family. There's messages in here of him telling Kurt all the details. He must have been pleased with himself, because he didn't delete what I’d consider to be fucking damning evidence. Smug prick. He was very sure no one was getting past his encryption. I love being underestimated. Especially when it helps to fuck people over. There's enough chain in here for him to hang himself."

"Yeah," I said vaguely.

I'd known Leon was a snake, but now I knew he was the one who gave Kurt the weapon to get to me. He was as much to blame as Kurt was. They were in all of it together. Right from the start.

"How did Leon find out?" I asked.

"It seems he stumbled upon some transactions that didn't add up. He looked into it and found evidence that pointed straight to Mina's father," Parker said. "I get the impression Leon and Kurt were pretty tight. Assholes of a feather and all that shit. He ran straight to his bestie to spill the tea. And Kurt used that information to his own advantage. Leon gave him an opportunity and he took it. Some close friend Kurt turned out to be. The first chance he got, he threw him right under the bus and into our basement. With friends like him, who needs enemies?" He turned to Hunter and they both shrugged.

"What do you want to do?" Gianni asked me.

I became aware of all of their eyes on me. My tongue slid across my lips. "I think we should let him go. Leon Graves, we should unchain him and let him out."

"Why would we do that?" Reuben asked.

"Because I think he can lead us to Kurt," I said.

CHAPTER 15

GIANNI

I leaned my shoulder against the wall and watched Leon eat his bowl of soup.

He stopped every now and again to dip in a chunk of bread, before stuffing it into his mouth. The whole time, he kept half an eye on us.

Unfortunately, his food wasn't poisoned. Not even with a handy laxative. I suggested it, but no one seemed to like the idea apart from me. I put it aside for potential future use on Caleb instead. It might help to get the stick out of his ass. Or on the twins, just for shits and giggles.

We all ate from the same pot of soup made by Terry. And the same loaf of freshly made bread. Personally, I would have given Leon stale bread and maybe a glass of dirty water. Between Terry's pride and Mina's insistence we treat him well, I held my peace.

For now.

I wouldn't have minded if he choked on that bread. We'd been too nice to him as far as I was concerned. We'd even stopped to treat the knife wound in his leg. And of course, slip in a tracking chip. Asshole wasn't getting off that easy.

"How long have you known Damon?" Mina asked Angelina. She was chewing on a piece of bread covered in a thin layer of butter. She still half closed her eyes while she ate, as though everything was pure heaven. Granted, Terry's bread was that good, but when you're virtually starved for so long, even substandard food would taste amazing.

I made a mental note to let Terry have a night off and make her my family's special carbonara recipe. I prepare it with a secret ingredient I don't share with anyone. If I did, I'd have to kill them. That's how secret it is.

Angelina shrugged and slurped her soup. "A few years, I guess. Ever since Reuben took over as head of the Brantley family. I used to have the biggest crush on him." She slid a sly glance toward Enzo and Damon.

Enzo glared at Damon like he might carve out his brother's heart out with the spoon in his hand.

"Me too," I said to break the tension.

Damon wouldn't have been interested in Angelina in that way anyway. Especially given her relation to Carlos. Carlos would have come after him instead. Nothing Damon couldn't handle, but a complication he neither needed nor wanted.

I got the impression he thought of her as something of a little sister. To be honest, I was starting to think of her in the same way myself. She had more balls than most of the men I knew. Enzo would certainly have his hands full with her. And vice versa. Their lives together wouldn't be boring.

Hopefully it wouldn't also be short.

---