Page 25 of Corrupted

"Is it far?" I asked to fill the silence.

"Nope." Damon started the engine.

Gianni scooted over closer to me and fastened his seatbelt. He took my hand and squeezed.

"No one will blame you for what you have to do." His tattooed fingers were warm around mine, reassuring.

I looked over at him and pressed my lips together. "I might. Damon will."

Nothing quite says 'I love you' like killing his brother. Even if he understood, some part of him would always resent what I did. He'd always wonder if maybe he could have found a way for Enzo to make up for the past.

But this wasn't a romance novel, and no amount of grovelling from Enzo could undo his part in everything. His death wouldn't take away the pain either, but it would help to give me some peace.

Was it worth the risk of starting a war with Damon? I didn't want to lose him, especially not like this.

I tried, but I couldn't remember a time when I was more conflicted than I was right now. I might have been about to rip us all apart, just for revenge.

What did that say about me? Was I as bad as Kurt for wanting to burn down everyone who burnt me? I reminded myself that if I didn't, and another person suffered because of it, that would be my fault. Their blood, their suffering, would be on my hands.

That, I couldn't, wouldn't tolerate. If I could help it, they wouldn't touch another person. I owed that little girl that. I owed younger Mina that. I owed it to Daze's daughter, to make her safer.

No matter the price.

"Damon understands what's at stake here," Gianni assured me. "So does his brother. You can't be responsible for his actions. That would be like blaming Damon for them."

He raised his voice to make sure everyone in the car could hear. "And anything Enzo did is not Damon's fault."

Damon tensed, but didn't glance back or respond. He was clearly not finished blaming himself. What would it take?

I spent five years hating myself for something I didn't even do. I blamed myself for her death, but I was starting to accept that everything which happened was Kurt's fault. Not mine.

Someday I may forgive myself and hopefully, so would Damon. Otherwise, we'd spend the rest of our lives eating ourselves up from the inside out, with remorse for things we didn't do.

"Give him time," Gianni said. "He knows the score, even if he's busy beating himself up right now." His tone was soft, gentle with affection for Damon.

At some point, they'd gone from working together to being something more. At least, as far as Gianni was concerned. I was almost certain it was reciprocated. They weren't rushing into anything, but the feelings were there, like they were between Damon and Reuben.

I remembered the way they kissed and my blood suddenly became hot. Being fucked by two guys at the same time wasn't something I would have dreamt of, but it was incredible and I wanted to do it again. Next time, with Gianni present too, and taking part. What would it be like to be with all three of them at the same time?

Fuck, now my panties were wet. Good. I deserved to enjoy intimacy with my three incredible mafia kings. Sparrow and the mafia kings, who would have thought? Certainly not me, but here we were. If I didn't break us all apart, we could be together forever.

Plenty of time for us to explore each other and all the possibilities.

All I could do in response to Gianni’s words, was nod and lean against him while we wound through the streets of Dusk Bay.

The address on the piece of paper Bianca gave to Reuben, led to a large house a block or so from Demons' Arena, where the ice hockey team played their home games.

"They're actually a front for a lot of Caleb's smuggling operations," Gianni said. "As a team, they kinda suck. In a loveable losers kind of way." He nodded towards the arena.

I’d watched a game or two on TV with Gianni and he wasn't wrong about that. I didn't know much about ice hockey, but they lost both times I watched. Their goalie was my cousin, Phoenix. As far as I could tell, he was good at what he did, saving more goals than letting them through, but the team still lost. What would Phoenix think if he knew I watched him play?

I hadn't seen Ric's brother since the guys found me, but I would eventually. He was on the list of people who weren't allowed to know about me yet. Although, he was lower on the list, because we were never close. Not in the past, anyway. In the future, I hoped we could form a bond of some kind. The frustration he showed every time the puck got past him was pure DiMarco. We hated losing. He must be irritated as hell at doing it all the time.

I couldn't imagine Caleb giving a shit about the team's performance on the ice, although he technically owned them. Honestly, I felt sorry for them. Professional athletes worked hard and deserved better than to be an afterthought in the life of Caleb Brantley. Just another part of the business.

I made a note to suggest to the twins that maybe they could take over the team. Between them, they'd run it better than he did. Without a doubt, if I suggested it to Caleb, he'd tell me it was none of my business. This was a handy sidestep, and the twins would, if nothing else, get a hoot out of it. Anything to get under Caleb's skin.

I turned my attention to the house, and shivered. It reminded me of the last job I did.

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