Page 29 of Corrupted

Gianni went one further with, "Who is the real Hammer? And can he sing ‘Can't Touch This’?"

"And why send us after my brother?" Damon leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.

"To stop Carlos from getting to him?" I suggested. "Why would Martina give a shit?"

Damon shook his head. "I have no idea." He turned his head towards the bedroom. "Enzo, why would she?"

Enzo strutted out, fully dressed in torn jeans and the T-shirt Angelina was wearing a few moments before. He gave me a wink before turning to his brother. "Because I'm smoking hot and awesome?"

Damon snorted. "That's a matter of opinion and doesn't answer the question. Why would someone like Martina get involved? Stepping in between you and Carlos, I mean."

Enzo looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet. "I might have done her some favours in the past."

"Must have been some hell of a favour," Gianni said. "We might have shot you before checking that you were who we thought you were."

Enzo looked up and gave Gianni a lopsided smile. "The favours didn't always go the way they should have. I never said she was looking out for me."

"She set you up?" Angelina emerged from the bedroom, dressed in leggings and a crop top, her dark hair wound in a messy bun.

I envied the way she looked, comfortable in her own skin. I was getting more confident in myself, but some days I still wanted to peel off mine and step out of it.

She had an effortless beauty, and an attitude that gave absolutely no fucks. She was exactly the kind of person I wanted to keep away from men like Kurt. If Salvador was anything like him, the further away she was from him, the better.

Right now, Angelina looked ready to tear Martina apart, if she tried to get Enzo killed. It was easy to see why Carlos described her as a wildcat. She was all of that and more.

"Can you blame her?" Enzo shrugged. "If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be on Carlos' radar. She was doing good at lying low and dealing out her information. Now…" He didn't elaborate on what he did to piss her off. He didn't need to. Revealing someone like that to anyone else was a good reason for that someone to want you dead. We'd be doing Martina a favour if we killed him, but we wouldn't. We owed her absolutely nothing. Less than nothing, since she'd given us information that was completely useless and self-serving. Clearly she had no idea who or where Jase or Hammer were.

"I see you haven't changed," Damon said dryly. "Still causing trouble."

Enzo rolled his eyes. "I see you haven't changed either, big brother. Still being a judgemental prick."

"We could always inform Carlos of your whereabouts," Reuben said. His gaze slid from Enzo to Angelina and back again. He wasn't bluffing. He had neither time nor patience for their bullshit.

Enzo looked like he was ready to lunge at Reuben, but Angelina grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Don't be a fucking idiot. Attacking Reuben Brantley will get you dead. Did you hear their offer to help us, or do you need your ears cleaned?" She let go of his arm and grabbed his earlobe to pull him closer to her. Speaking loudly she said, "Don't. Do. Anything. To. Get. Killed."

He winced. "Okay, okay. I'll be nice. As long as they are."

"We're always nice," Gianni said. "But I think we should get out of here before someone else shows up."

Reuben nodded. "Let's go."

I slipped into the lead as we headed to the front of the house. No one said a word. No one complained when I held my hand to stop them.

"What is it?" Reuben whispered.

"Someone else has already shown up," I whispered back.

CHAPTER 11

GIANNI

"It's party time," I said under my breath.

Damon glanced at me like I lost my mind.

I grinned back. We both knew he enjoyed this shit as much as I did.