Page 21 of Bound By You

"Fuck's sake, Alexandr, can you not keep it in your fucking pants?" Damian snaps at me to save his hide, and I swallow my chuckle.

Sofia grins. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it, Damian?" I swear her mood swings give me whiplash.

I hear a chuckle from behind. We all turn to see Sergi leaning against the wall with an envelope in his hand and amusement in his eyes. I scowl at him.

"Where have you been? I have fucking things to do, Sergi."

He rolls his eyes at me, then stands straight, walking over to the armchair under the window to my right, and he takes a seat.

"Well, to be fair, Al, your first job is to go get tested, then preferably kill your mistress. Seems she's been going through your phone when you are passed out, getting our account details for our businesses. Three million was transferred to an offshore account; I've just spent an hour getting it all back. And if you're considering going after Phoebe Pie, don't bother; she's already gone," he states, passing us some paperwork but keeping other documents in the envelope.

What the fuck? I look through it, and all the evidence proves what that fucking bitch has been doing. I've been so intent on making Phoebe pay and enjoying the distraction with Candy that I let my guard down. This, right here, is fucking why I'm not Pahkan, and Damian is. I'm a fuckup. I sigh and put my head in my hands. It's a good thing my parents are on a cruise with Sofia’s, or I'd be fucking chopped up and fed to the animals I bought Mila, who I am really glad is asleep right now!

Damian sighs. "I can do it if you can't, brother." I snort and shake my head. He's acting like I'm in love with her when, in reality, she was my distraction.

"I'll do it; this is my fault." Then, the last part of what Sergi said comes back, and I stand up.

"What do you mean she's gone? Gone where, and how the fuck would you know?" I growl out.

He sighs. "Sit down, Al; I have a story to tell you all."

I sit reluctantly; he may be my pseudo-brother, but he is also second and higher up than me. He leans his elbows on his knees, linking his hands, with the envelope dangling between them.

"You all know I've been close with Phoebe for years, right?" We all nod. Sofia has made herself comfortable on the biggest armchair in the room, drinking her fruit smoothie. I shake my head. Her pregnancies are crazy.

I look back at Sergi. When I saw her for the first time, I hated how close he and Phoebe were. Every time they would meet up, he wouldn't let us come despite my being engaged to her. Only Mila was allowed to go with him. He'd been meeting up with Phoebe since she was just a small girl, once a month, and would talk to her once a week on the phone. When they met up, it was the only time we didn't see him for a whole day. Well, until the last five months, that is. He seems to disappear on Sunday mornings and some evenings, but he has yet to tell us where. He will when he's ready.

I sigh. We only met Selene because of the contract, but he never got along with her despite his close friendship with Phoebe.

"Well, when Phoebe left, it devastated me, and when I found out why…." He shakes his head, looks at me, and says, "As with Damian, when he hurt Sofia, I did not kill you because you're my family, and I love you like a brother. You both hurt two women who mean the world to me, who I would die for, but Phoebe, I struggled not to hurt you, Al; she's not just like a little sister to me, she's my blood. " This time, Damian stands up in shock while Sofia's mouth drops open, smoothie dripping down her chin. If his bombshell didn't shock me, I would have laughed. "Juan Garcia is my biological father."

And there is the fucking bomb! He drops his head.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell us? We are your family!" Damian growls out with pain in his voice. I shake my head and look down, hurt that he felt we couldn't be trusted. He sighs again, and I look at him as he looks back at us.

"I've known all my life, Damian; my mother never kept it from me, and your parents and in-laws know, too. I am the rightful heir to the Spanish Mafia, but I don't fucking want it;he didn't want me!" I can hear the pain in his voice.

He heaves a heavy breath. "He didn't want me, so I didn't want him! My mother told me about Selene and Phoebe, how they don't know they are related to Juan, and that their father doesn't know. When I was fourteen, my mother thought it would be good to get to know my cousins, but I was dead set against it. I didn't want to know the, but we were all supposed to go to the shooting range together, then to the club. I didn't want to go and meet some spoiled princesses," he growls.

Damian sits back down while I lean forward, giving him my attention. "I was only half right. They introduced me as a family friend, and Selene was eight at the time, already a complete bitch; she would shove Phoebe and pull her hair, cry when she didn't get her own way, and refuse to go anywhere near me. But Phoebe…." A ghost of a smile appears on his lips, and the love of a brother shines through his eyes as he stares ahead, making my eyes water. He got part of a family he always wanted, but jealousy builds in my chest because he spent all that time with her. "She walked right up to me and grabbed hold of my hand while she sucked her thumb. She was only five. Her hair was in pigtails, looking innocent and adorable, and she asked me if I liked chocolate pie, hence her nickname." He chuckles, then looks at us again. "We have been inseparable since. Selene didn't like that I had all her sister's attention, so after a couple of months, her mother stopped bringing her and only brought Phoebe."

I jump in because I have to know. "Did she know then? That you were related?"

He chuckles again and shakes his head. "Not until she came back at sixteen. When she left, we spoke daily on the phone forsix years. I'd fly out to see her several times, and you all thought it was a family vacation. Juan knew we were close, and I don't know why, but he decided to tell her that I was her cousin the day she was boarding the plane back home, and made sure to explain how no one knows." He lets out a small laugh, still in the memories. "She confronted me, asked me if it was true, and when I told her yes, she slapped me!" Sofia snorts "Fucking slaps me across the face, threatening me, that if I ever lied to her again, she would disown me, and then she hugged me tight and told me she was glad I was her blood." He smiles.

"I get why you didn't tell us, brother. I wish you had; we could have supported you, but it was your decision. We need to know, though, how did you come across this information on Candy?" Damian questions, and Sergi smiles, handing him the rest of the paperwork in the envelope. I look over to see what it is, and my brows shoot high. "It's the same way I got this information. Phoebe," he replies. I look at him as he continues, "There are three men; she didn't know two of their names, but she knew Grigoriy. The other two are Boris and Leonid. Those are the three who didn't like you taking over. Grigoriy is the frontrunner for finding the young girls or boys in group homes, and the other two pick them up, and then take them to the meeting point for the Mexican Cartel or the Romanians to pick up." Damian curses up a storm while I feel my rage boiling over.

I look at Sergi and ask, "How did you get this out of Phoebe?"

He sighs again.

"I knew she'd be staying at Juan's Mansion in Brooklyn, so I went to talk to her. Well, first, I had a go at her for answering the door without a weapon in her hand; I could have been a serial killer."

Sofia chuckle, "Youarea serial killer, Serg."

He laughs out loud. "That's what she said," making Sofia smile wide. He looks back at me and says, "Anyway, I knew I'dbe the one person she would give the information to; she doesn't like to lie to me, even if she kept quiet about what she'd been learning over the years." I rub my hands down my face, and he continues, "I've assured her we'd sort them out."

Damian nods. "Too fucking right, we will."

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