Page 14 of Corrupted

"I'll deny ever having said this, but he's harder to kill than I am," Damon said grudgingly.

"Why do I think you know that because you tried?" I teased.

That drew a faint smile from him, which was about as much smile as anyone ever saw on him or Reuben. Gianni seemed to have enough for the three of them.

"I'll deny that too," Damon said before exhaling softly and turning back towards the view. "Enzo was the wild one in the family. He was always getting into trouble. He got suspended from school and thought it was hilarious. More time to run around with his friends and get up to shit. He was back for two days before he got expelled. He lasted a week or two at a new school before they kicked him out too. He was sixteen when Dad threw him out of the house. I let him live with me, but I couldn't control him either. In the end, I gave him two choices. Work for Reuben, or go to jail."

I slipped an arm around his waist. "I guess he chose to work for Reuben?"

"He did, and for a while he was…better. He seemed to enjoy what he was doing. He got paid to break the law, and beat the shit out of people. He always struggled when it came to taking orders, but I tried to be sure he was doing things that fit with his—for want of a better word—skillset."

"It sounds like you did everything you could," I said. "If he was determined to be an asshole, that's on him. That's his choice. There's only so much you can do for people who don't give a shit."

"Yeah, but I should have tried harder. I could have kicked his ass more often. I could have done more to make sure he didn't end up working for Kurt instead." He dug the tips of his fingers under his opposite armpits.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Reuben would only have put up with so much bullshit before he lost patience with Enzo. His father seemed to have even less than he does."

From what I remembered of Reuben's father, he had a short temper and a world class scowl. Reuben was a pussycat in comparison.

"That's right," Damon said grudgingly. "Enzo wouldn't have lasted unless someone got him under control. I should have been able to do that. He's my fucking brother."

"You're right," I said. "It's totally your fault. You should have fit him with a shock collar and an ankle monitor. Then, the moment he put a toe out of line, you would have known. Hell, you should have kept him on a leash. Maybe one of those backpack ones people use with kids who like to run off."

Damon glanced at me, blue eyes narrowed.

"There's nothing you could have done that would have stopped him from doing what he did," I insisted. "He made the choice. He woke up that morning and decided to work with Kurt. He went along with everything he was told to go along with. Him, not you. Just because you're related doesn't mean you have any control over him, or any obligation to blame yourself for his decisions. Even if you did, it's in the past. Nothing that happened back then can be changed now. The only thing we have any control over is ourselves and the future."

He regarded me, his expression softened. "You're going to want to kill him, aren't you?"

"For his part in that day, yes," I said simply. "Leon could have come to you and told you about me, and so could Enzo. But he didn't. That was another choice he made." I exhaled through my nose. "When was the last time you saw him?"

For a moment, I thought he might not tell me. Damon might have a brotherly need to protect his younger sibling. Even if that came between us.

"A few months ago," he said finally. "At our father's funeral. I didn't think he'd come, because they hated each other, but he turned up and stood at the edge of the crowd. He was only there for a few minutes, then he left. I think he just wanted to make sure Dad was gone."

"Were you close?" I asked gently.

Damon grunt-laughed, the closest to a sound of amusement I'd heard from him.

"No, he was an absolute prick. His idea of raising boys was to belt the shit out of us when he decided we did something wrong. That's also the kind of husband he was. It took years for me to ask Reuben to have him killed. He was dead the next day."

"Sounds like the world is a better place without him," I said.

"Accurate," he replied. "Enzo got his temper. I got his charm."

I leaned my head against his shoulder. "You're an asshole, but you're not as big an asshole as him."

"You sure about that?" He wrapped an arm around me. "Gianni might disagree with that."

"Gianni adores you and, as far as I can tell, he's a good judge of character," I said firmly. "But don't let that go to your head or anything."

"Not a chance," Damon said.

We stood in silence for a while, staring at the ocean as the wind whipped past us.

Finally, reluctantly I asked, "Do you know where he is now? Or his friend Jase? Would either of them know where to find Kurt?"

"I have no idea who Jase is," Damon said. "As for Enzo, I can think of a couple of places he might be. Places I prefer you not go."