Page 15 of Corrupted

"Because I might accidentally kill him?" I asked coolly. There'd be nothing accidental about it, but we both knew that.

"No, because I don't want to take you into the snakes’ den. There are far worse people out there than us. If he's where I think he is—The Vipers are a ruthless cartel. They receive drug and weapon shipments from us. Other things too, from time to time." He didn't elaborate on that and I didn't ask.

He continued, brow lightly creased. "They're just as likely to kill you on sight as to welcome you in the door."

"But they won't shoot you on sight?" I asked. "Surely they won't shoot anyone in your company?"

Okay, I wasn't that naïve. People like that always had their own reasons for doing the things they did. They may kill me just to remind Damon not to bring anyone next time. Or for a lesser reason.

"I wouldn't take that bet. Their only allegiance is to themselves. They wouldn't kill me because we have an established network. If I was dead, that would inconvenience them. So much so, they'd probably kill whoever killed me. Like I said, they're ruthless."

"They don't sound like anything I can't handle," I said easily. "I'm also not easy to kill, remember?"

"I'm aware," he said softly. "I'll think about it. Reuben will also have an opinion. If he orders me not to take you anywhere near them, then I won't." The set of his jaw said that would be an end to the matter.

I nodded. That was as far as I'd get right now. Arguing the matter wouldn't change it.

Until now, I'd managed to stay clear of most of the known cartels, unless I was doing a job for them. Which was rare. They tended to do their own killing. The only time they needed an assassin was when they wanted to eradicate competition within their own cartel, and wanted to avoid all-out war.

In those circumstances, I had to make the hit look like an accident. That way, those who wanted to could pretend they didn't know anything. If anyone objected, they'd have a hard time proving who was actually behind it.

If I was honest with myself, proving it would be more than difficult. It would be impossible. I was good at what I did. Too good to make a mess with those jobs, or leave evidence. They were always a challenge, but I enjoyed them for exactly that reason. They gave me the chance to push myself to try new things.

"So, how brave are you?" he asked. He unwound his arm from around me, took my hand and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff.

I followed him carefully and peered down into the water below. "Depends. How deep is it?" I couldn't see sand or rocks, just relentless waves that struck the rocks over and over, wearing it down bit by bit.

"Deep enough." He dropped my hand and pulled his shirt off over his head. He tossed it aside on the grass. His shoes and pants followed, until he was down to his boxer briefs.

"You've jumped off here before?" It was a long way down, and if he was wrong about the depth of the water, the landing would suck. Only for a moment, because it would probably kill us.

Caleb hadn't threatened to throw the twins over for nothing.

"Nope," he said easily. "Never."

"You're not just an asshole, you're a crazy asshole," I told him. In spite of that, I stripped down to my underwear and walked right to the edge, until there was nothing under the tips of my toes.

"You know what they say. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." He actually seemed to be enjoying this.

"If I die, I will haunt you." I grabbed his hand and pulled him close to me. If I was going, he was definitely going with me.

"Deal." He actually smiled right before we both jumped off the cliff, plunged down and landed with a splash in the ocean.

CHAPTER 6

MINA

"That was exhilarating," I said as we walked up the track that led to the house.

After a moment of terror that we might actually die after all, the water was more than deep enough. I'd plunged in hard before swimming back to the surface and popping out between the waves.

My heart was still racing. I couldn't remember the last time I did something like that. Something that wasn't planned, that had my adrenaline spiking like crazy. The pure rush made me want to do it over and over.

That faded when we reached the top of the track and saw Reuben was waiting, his expression a cross between stone and thunder.

"What the fuck were you doing?" He didn't snap or snarl, he didn't need to. His icy tone was enough to chase the smile from my face.

"Just jumping off the cliff, boss." Damon draped an arm over my shoulder, as though he needed to protect me from Reuben's anger. He was more likely to need protection from it himself. The majority of Reuben's fury was directed at him. Especially when he added, "You should try it."