D-Boy = Nickname for Alejandro – because he was a Seal sniper chosen for Delta Force
Date = 13 April
Place = San Francisco (Inferno) (Grimms)
POV Enrique
Frustrated; angry; cocked-up; horny; agitated; lost; confused; on the edge … that’s just some of the feelings raging through me right now … or more like the last couple of days all the time.
I’m fucking hooked. Fell flat on my face. Name it as you will, but the truth is I lost my heart. Not that I would ever acknowledge it … not even to myself; I still can’t utter those famous 3 words …
And to top it up, Brian fucking Cruise and his new besties have to throw themselves into the equation. I watch the foursome seated at one of the tables … Brian, Amanda, Chloe, and Graham. The last one still has the stitches on his temple from where Aria smacked him with the bottle 3 nights ago.
I’m sure they’re trying to drive me nuts … and I’m probably not too far from that either. What the fuck else are they doing here this early? As if there are not countless alternative places to go for breakfast instead.
Fortunately, Aria and Mel are still recovering at my house, under the supervision of poor Jesse, since devil-boy has not arrived from Italy yet. A storm derailed his flight, forcing them to land in Casablanca, Morocco. Hopefully, the poor bastard is back on track and somewhere over the Atlantic at the moment.
“What are they doing here so early?” As he reaches for the JWB bottle, Jackson gestures with his head in the direction of the small group I would just love to see vanish from my life forever.
“Trying to drive me insane …” I cast a glimpse at my twin; all sweaty and dressed in a tracksuit; his face bruised. He’s been staying with me here at the club, and last night he came back late. I can take a wild guess as to what he’s been up to … but I know better than to ask.
Jackson is not the type to divulge huge loads of information to anybody … he tends to address his problems on his own … and not necessarily in a positive way. But I must admit, I’ve never seen him this bad … not even as a kid. It seems the whole Harry debacle unscrewed another bolt in his messed-up brain. No one knows what they did to him, but I’m sure it was not pleasant.
“Where do you come from?” I try my luck, watching him pour the whiskey into two glasses.
“I went for a jog,” his voice sounds exactly how I feel – bothered. He hands me one glass and downs his drink, pouring a new one almost immediately. Great … it’s going to be one of those days … a sober Jackson is scary enough … a drunk one … well, let me just say I better get the guys together fast. Luckily most of them are back in town, so we can try and handle the situation.
I take out my phone and send a message on our boys-group chat, assembling the men together. It’s nothing new … everyone knows by now what to expect if one of us is in need we all pitch up to sort it out … one way or the other.
Although Mel threw a tamper in our activities by sitting on Damion’s head, forcing him and subsequentially all of us, to scale back the riskiness of our stunts a few notches … let’s just say we’re currently doing things a little differently.
We still do the same stuff, but we pay more attention to all safety precautions beforehand, thus reducing the probability of injuries. And we never disclose anything to them – and by them, I mean the girls. It’s not that we intentionally lie, we just don’t tell them all the details. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.
“So what’s up with the dark mood?” I throw down the gauntlet and dare to ask Satan; expecting either to be beaten or to be shoved off … not an answer. But life does have its surprises. And what a surprise it is.
“Lee went to visit his brother,” Jackson clears another glass down his throat. I blink a few times … I’m not sure I understand … my twin is getting belligerently drunk because his roommate went to see his brother … what the fuck? Maybe I misheard.
“Eh, sorry … ”
“He just left me,” Jackson looks into his glass … as if he’s talking to himself. Then he lifts his head and looks at me, “Didn’t even ask if I want to go with him. And now he’s just leaving my messages on read. No reply. What the fuck is that about?”
I’ve never seen Jackson like this. And because of some guy. If Lee was a girl I would guess that my brother is currently stuck in the same situation as me … struggling to accept that he fell in love. Shit, could Jackson be gay? Nope … no way, he’s way too into girls. I would know if my brother bats for the other team, wouldn’t I? I’m sure I would.
But then why is he acting so sullenly? Could he be hiding in the closet all this time? Well, if that’s the case … he’s for sure hiding fucking deep. Jackson is the one in our group that’s elevated sex to a whole new level of kinky … like ’50-shades of black’ … if you catch my drift.
“Let me get this straight … you’re sulking because Lee is not around? Is there something I’m missing here? Something I should know?” He frowns. I know that frown. It’s not a good one.
“What?” he grumbles, a vein beating in his neck.
“Do you like Lee?” I ask carefully.
“Yes, I like Lee … he’s my teammate.” Not exactly what I meant.
“But … do you like like Lee … ” I try again, knowing I’m walking on thin ice.
I can see by the look he gives me that I probably went too far this time. He doesn’t answer but swallows another glass of scotch … he’s on a roll.
“I’m not fucking gay, bro.” I’m sure by the sound of his voice that the alcohol has the opposite effect of calming him down.
“He just drives me fucking insane, ALL THE TIME!” He hits the bar with a fist.
“You know when you have this irritating little itch, but you can’t scratch it?” I nod. “Well, that little itch is Lee. And it’s fucking fiercely annoying.” We have to leave asap, knowing my brother’s unstable intolerance, he’s not far from doing something Jacksonish. I hope the guys are at the destined location by now.
“Hey, baby, did you miss me?” Amanda suddenly grabs me from behind into a tight unexpected hug. I give a step forward, to remove myself from her clutches, and turn to face her. She falls forward. Instinctively I catch her, and she moves closer, pressing her body into me, her tits squashed against my chest, while she looks up with a big smile, fluttering her eyes. I think she’s going for seductive, but she really just looks bent. And I seriously want to gag or something.
“Seems that old love never dies,” Brian observes from the other side of the bar, standing next to Chloe. What love? There’s never been any love between me and this bitch. She was just a hole I could cum into. Like all the others. Yeah, I’m not proud about that part of my life … but I am finished with it. For good. I want something different now. Something more serious. With Aria.
I shove Amanda away and she goes to stand next to Chloe. Only Graham is missing and I don’t see him around. Probably shit-ass scared of my brother.
“Where’s Aria?” Brian asks as if he has every right to do so. Fuck him solid. He better stay far away from my girlfriend. We’ve kept the girls’ latest encounter out of the news, so he probably doesn’t know that she’s been hurt. Unless he’s the one that hurt her.
“She’s doing stuff,” Jackson puts his glass on the counter and stares at him. I know that look. Either he’s looking for trouble, or he’s figuring something out. Shit, now is not the time for anybody to get in his face … cause they’re gonna get it six-love. My brother is not in a good mood and with all the Johnnies he downed, he’s unstable at best.
“And what’s that?” Brian is too stupid to read the warning signs in Jackson’s blue eyes.
“Oh, the stuff she’s doing … well, it’s definitely stuff that needs to be done, and none of your fucking business,” Jackson mocks and I roll my eyes. Brian pulls an unhappy face.
“I just thought she would be here since she has a shift today.” Jackson leans over the counter, closer to Brian, who in turn moves back. But Jackson grabs his shirt and holds him in place. I smile. The fucker is scared. But he doesn’t seem to know that Aria’s been hurt. Or he’s a better actor than I thought.
“I’m warning you, Cruise, you better stay away from my brother, his girlfriend, and the rest of my family.” My brother lets him go and wipes some dirt from his shoulder before he pats it gently a few times. Brian immediately gives two steps back and Jackson straightens himself with a wicked smile.
“How’s the baby?” Chloe asks with some fake happiness plastered on her face. She reminds me of a snake and suddenly I feel sick again. Amanda has the same serpent look as her friend.
“The baby is just great … thanks for asking,” Jackson answers before me. Is it just my imagination or did the bitches suddenly go pale? Could they be behind the attack? I peer over the counter to look at their shoes. Sneakers. Ug, what was expecting? Some red Pradas. I must be too tired to think straight … these girls are way too dumb to be some kind of criminal masterminds.
Then Graham appears from the side, but he keeps his distance. He looks chuffed as if he just sucked on a milk-producing nipple, and winks at Brian. What are they up to now? And where has he been this whole time?
“Ah, Graham … how’re the ribs?” My brother is looking for trouble … he usually is. Graham shoots him a fowl glare, laced with a tinge of fear. Well, it’s not as if he didn’t learn the hard way that you can’t get away with sucker-punching my brother. In fact, Jackson has never taken a blow without retaliating in kind … not ever. Jackson pulls this joker’s face and that’s our cue to go.
“As nice as it is to talk to you guys,” I say sarcastically, “We have someplace to be. Come, bro, the guys are waiting for us,” I try to lead Jackson away before he strips his nuts. Luckily he comes without any complaint, and we reach the parking area minus any hiccups.