Date = 13 June
Place = San Francisco (Grimms)
POV – Enrique
“Hi, sis,” I try to sooth the situation with my dear sister. Kiara throws her unruly curls back and folds her arms. The both of them must have entered unseen while we were a little preoccupied.
And just like that the fight is over. Done. The other three remain riveted to their spots, Lee squashed in a tight grip against Jackson and Axel standing rigid, fists frozen in the air. With the support of my elbows I hoist my top portion from the ground, making an effort to smile with my broken face.
“What the ship is going on here?” Mel is still firmly seated on my lower body. Axel hurriedly shoves his hands in his pockets. Lee’s eyes grow wide and Jackson looks at the ground. Honestly, of all my siblings, my sister scares me the most, but don’t tell her that. She has some serious bitch-crazy unrestricted Jackson vibes when she’s upset – and at that stage she can dominate all four of us with just one look. She can literally do anything to you. ANYTHING. Most of it very painful.
“Well?” She looks from one to the other.
“Ask the shithead under you, he started it,” Axel blurbs out, pointing a guilty finger my way. Guess she scares him too. He walks away and Mel puts all of her attention on me.
“Eh … so you know that Aria almost died last night and I don’t know what I would do if something happens to her, not because I care that much, but maybe I do … care that is … but the point is she’s my responsibility and these three were there so I came here to talk to them about it but Lee kicked my shin and he hit my brother so I punched Axel and Jackson hit me with his head and a minor altercation broke out due to a serious misunderstanding because I need the pain to feel better and it worked and now we’re done and it’s SO good to see you cause I missed you so much …” I don’t really know what to say, so I babble some long confusing nonsense sentences without pausing. Mel hates it, and it always works to get her of my case. I know this whole fight was stupid … but it was necessary. The problem is, how do you explain that to a girl?
“Just shove it!” Mel repeatedly pops me in the middle of my forehead with the tip of her index finger while speaking, “I don’t care if you kill yourselves, but if you shitheads hurt my baby … I will fucking murder you. And I can promise you it will hurt.” A shiver runs down my back. The baby. For a moment I forgot about little Xamos.
Mel almost never swears for real so she must be upset. She puts her hand on my groin and pushes down hard as she gets up. I clench my teeth to keep from writhing in agony while some of my sperm dies. Is it deliberate? Knowing Mel … definitely.
Once she’s standing straight, I do a quick recon to make sure she’s okay. If anything happens to her or the baby, we will end up in hell, one way or the other. Mel, Damion, or guilt will put us there. Luckily, she looks pain-free. No contractions, no water breaking, no broken bones, no blood. Thank goodness. She dusts off her pants before speaking again.
“You can be glad that I’m in a good mood because Damion is coming home. It’s strange because it’s BEFORE his race … but I’m not complaining.” She cast a scathing gaze down at me. “By the way, what do I get for not telling him how you knocked over his pregnant fiance?” Bitch. I roll my eyes.
“Aw, sis, don’t be like that. It was just a tiny accident. I know you love me. I am your favorite brother after all,” I try to soften her up, but should have known better.
“Nope, these days Ilkay is my favorite.”
“But he’s not even in the States,” I debate.
“Precisely.” She throws me a middle finger and walks with Kiara to the bar. How can Damion be in love with THAT? I get up and look at the motionless still-hugging two-some.
“Are you two gonna get a room, or are you gonna join us for a drink?”
Jackson looks at Lee, then let him quickly go as if he got burned. Lee blushes a vivid pink, giving him an even more girly appearance than usual. He stuffs his hands awkwardly into his pockets and slowly walks to join the girls at the bar. Jackson has this odd look in his eyes as he stares after him. Something definitely strange is going on with them. This must be the first time in history that someone who punched Jackson walks away from him unscathed. Mostly they’re not even ABLE to walk.
“I’m gonna wash off the blood,” I blurb moving to the bathroom, Jackson following close behind. We find Axel there, drying his face with a towel. I splash some water over mine and blow the blood from my nose. Axel throws the towel on the counter and unzips his pants, pulling his junk out to relieve himself in the urinal.
“I’m sorry,” Jackson says looking at me through the mirror. I take the towel and tap it against my nose.
“What for?” I look back … two identical reflections gawking side-by-side.
“Last night … I don’t know why … but I got a little distracted when that guy started harassing Lee … I wanted to kill someone.”
“Why are you so protective over that guy?” I interrupt.
“I … eh … ” He quickly glares at Axel, both looking guilty. My gut feeling is back – something strange is going on. And Axel is in on it. Is he in love with that guy? Could he be gay or bi or something? My inside feeling tells me – no. But there is something. And to confirm this he changes the subject.
“The point is … you know I would always have your back, bro. And I would not let anything happen to Aria or any of the girls.” I know.
“I’m sorry too. I just got so angry at myself thinking about what might have happened.”
“Anytime. I know you needed this fight.”
Axel shakes it off and washes his hands. Jackson leans forward and inspects the damage to his lip.
“Lee sure did a number on you,” I snicker, “Why didn’t you teach him a lesson?” I try another angle. Curiosity is killing me.
His reflection smiles at me. “Oh, I will.” His eyes twinkle mischievously. What does that mean?
“That squirt sure has heart,” Axel smirks. The way he looks at my brother, I just know his words have a double meaning. But what? I would love to know, but these two are both so tight-lipped that not even a cat would get anything from the bag if they don’t want it to.
“Yep, a real treasure,” Jackson taunts, fixing his hair as if he’s getting ready for a date.
A sudden ear-piercing scream rips through the air and shocks us all into a moment of frozen consternation.
“Mel!” we call in chorus, turning pale-gray. Hastily, we flee from the bathroom, just to catch the brat jumping into Damion’s arms, her lips immediately finding his, smooching like teenagers. Jackson pulls a shitty face at me and I shake my head in disbelief. The biker and his brother are back, with Logan, who probably fetched them from the airport.
Damion walks towards us, my sister still clinging to him like a nut, her legs tightly wrapped around his hips. When my sister, at last, lets him go, we greet them, asking about their fishing trip while each grabbing something to drink. We get seated at one of the tables.
“I’m fucking tired so let’s get straight to the point,” Damion looks at my twin, “do we know whom we’re up against this time? You didn’t say much on the phone.”
“They say they’re working for The Old Man,” Jackson starts, “but I’m not so sure. None the less, they’re serious … and dangerous. Much more dangerous than Harry ever was. We know Chloe works with them, but I think Brian and Amanda are also somehow involved.”
“Maybe Chloe just hired them to get rid of Mel,” Axel says, “She’s crazy enough.”
“It’s very possible.” I was thinking the same thing.
“Are you sure Mel is the one they want?” Damion asks, his voice tight. Both Jackson and Lee nod.
“Why is it always me?” Mel takes a sip from her ginger ale. Great question.
“Oh, I know … I know.” Lee sticks his finger in the air like a kid in class that knows the answer. “It’s because you’re surrounded by stupid morons who can’t keep out of trouble. I bet you one of them fucked some angry bastard’s wife … or even better, a mafia boss’s virgin daughter.”
Mel points at him with a big smile. “Morons. Exactly,” she looks at Damion, “And I’m about to marry the biggest dimwit of them all.”
“Hey, what did I do?” Damion ask confused. “I promise I haven’t nailed anybody’s wife.” He holds up his hands defensively when Mel holds up her finger.
“And the only virgin I had sex with is you.” He quickly corrects his stupid mistake in an even more stupid manner.
“For fuck sake, spare us the details … PLEASE, ” Logan cries. My sister ignores his plea.
“Well, I better be the only ONE you have sex with, period!”
“You are. I’ll never touch another booty, cross my heart and hope to die!” He does a Hail Mary. My sister’s face goes soft, a loving look in her eyes. How does he do that?
“But it’s still your fault that Chloe whore is in our lives,” she spits poking his shoulder with her finger. But in an almost affectionate manner.
“I can’t help it if my attractive features make women crazy, just look at you,” he teases and I can only guess he didn’t think that through. And just like that the bitch is back.
“Wow, you just keep on walking into them with open eyes,” Lee chortles. Hell, he should have stopped while he was ahead.
Mel’s eyes twinkle and then she grabs the bottom of his right bicep and twist. Nasty.
“Ouch! Ouch! OUCH!” he screams, jiggling in his chair. We all laugh. Maybe next time he’ll know when to keep his mouth shut.
“Guys, enough” we all heed to the faint hint of distress in Jackson’s voice that makes him sound like Ilkay. Jackson being the worried one … yeah, that doesn’t happen much. “I went through everything that happened last night in my mind and I don’t think it’s JUST about Chloe wanting Mel out of the way,” he says seriously. He now has all our attention. “I can’t put my finger on it … there was just something sinister in the way that meat-man spoke. Even the way he looked at me and Lee. It’s as if he realized something I was missing.”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Axel moans. Makes two of us.
“I’m not sure as well, but my gut is telling me we’re missing something major. He talked to his boss on the phone,” Jackson pulls his face in a frown, “so Chloe is definitely not in charge … she didn’t hire them, she just found a unanimous conspirator with the same plan. She wants Mel out of the way … he wants revenge for something through Mel.”
“Seriously, who did you guys piss off this time?” Mel asks looking straight at my twin.
“Why do you just assume it’s me?”
“Oh, maybe because whenever someone is pissed, you’re usually the one that did all the peeing.” Jackson throws his hands in the air dismissively.
“Granted. I’m working on it, but the list is rather long,” he answers, “I don’t bang virgins, but I don’t check for rings. Problem is, if we have to go through the list of all the chicks we ever fucked between us, it’s gonna take a while,” he smirks. Shit, a while is underestimating it … and where would I begin … I can’t even remember most of their names … or faces for that matter.
His whole demeanor changes back to concern. “But what troubles me is that he said the best way to get revenge on someone is not to kill HIM, but to torture his most important person. I’m guessing it means the person he loves the most.”
“That actually makes sense,” Damion says, “Seeing Darren touching and hurting Mel like that was worse than anything that could ever happen to me. I would rather die than experience anything like that again.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” my sister coons and kisses her man on the cheek. It’s nauseating, but he’s right.
“Definitely one of the most terrible experiences in my life as well,” I agree. Those feelings of helplessness and heart-stopping fear I felt that day was worse than any of the torture I experienced as a child. And she’s just my sister. If something like that should happen to Aria I’m not sure I can take it.
“Exactly. Harry used this same principle, but this time they won’t catch us off guard. We’ll protect all our loved ones.” After hearing all this I’m thinking my brother has a point. Like usual.
“Luckily for us, it seems all villains use the same handbook. Maybe we could use Harry’s way of thinking to predict what this Old Man is planning.” I look around the table, their expressions telling me that they’re all pondering about this.
For a moment there’s silence, each one busy with his or her own thoughts.
“Could there be a connection between Harry and what’s happening now?” Alejandro breaks the silence.
“It is possible … we should dig into Harry’s past … see if there’s a brother or sister that might want revenge. Maybe this Old Man is a relative, who the fuck knows.” Jackson’s brain is clearly way ahead again. “But I’m still thinking that this has nothing to do with the Old Man. It’s just too easy. I think someone is trying to hide their identity.” Jackson downs the last of his beer.
“Ug, this is so confusing!” Kiara screams, rolling her fingers against her temples.
“The lawyer mentioned someone named Romano. He sounded truly scared of them,” Mel says. She told us about the man they met at the club and what he said about the Old Man.
“I’ll ask Uncle John to look into that, but I don’t know anybody with that surname. What about you guys?” None of us seem to know that name. “Anyway, in the meantime, before we try to figure out who’s behind all this, we first need to make sure all the VIP persons are safe and out of reach,” Jackson says looking at Damion, “Starting with Mel.”
Damion scratches the back of his neck. “I’ll let my team know that I’m going to miss a few races. I’ll take Mel, Kiara and my family somewhere safe.” It’s a huge issue for him to miss races … it will cost him the crown. I guess he loves Mel more than I thought.
“Okay, that’s one. Enrique,” I look at my twin, “we can’t take Aria anywhere … not with Leyla getting that transplant. We will put guards around them, but you’ll need to keep your distance. Nobody can know that she’s your VIP.” That’s not going to be a problem since I’ve already canceled the contract. And with this whole baby-on-the-way stuff, chances are she actually hates me.
“She’s anyway not talking to me.” I’ll just need to get her out of my head. And heart.
“Keep it like that for now. I’ll warn Garcia and Uncle John to up their protection details just in case. The rest of you boys don’t have anyone special that we don’t know of?” Jackson looks around. They all shake their heads.
“We should talk to Amanda and Brian … maybe they know something,” Axel says.
I stand up. Speaking of Amanda, she has an appointment with Dr. Burden. I need to go.
“Well, Brian is not going to tell us anything soon … he’s in a coma. But I’m on my way to the hospital now so I’ll talk to Amanda. I’m not sure the bitch will tell me the truth, but I’ll try.” I should probably not talk to my future kid’s mother like that, but I still haven’t forgiven her for what she’s done. I don’t think I ever will. She took away the only good thing I had going for me.
Mel’s phone pings on the table. She reads the message and turns ghost-white. The phone drops from her hand and lands on the floor. She grabs onto Damion’s leg, knuckles turning white. Judging by the way he jolts and wiggles, the grip must be painful. He then bends to pick up the phone and reads the message out loud.
Ren: Mayday, mayday, a war is starting.
“He’s back,” Mel gasps with huge panic-stricken petrified eyes.