Page 30 of Cryptic Curse (Bellamy Brothers #7)

HAWK

D riving home, I’m constantly shifting in my seat.

Fuck.

I should get a medal for this.

I’ve got a boner like I’ve never had before.

But damn…

Making her come…

It was the most exciting thing I’ve done in…

Maybe forever.

I’ve had a lot of sex with a lot of women.

Strange that not having sex with one is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.

Daniela…

Not only is she the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, but she’s also the most special, the most…intriguing.

She’s too young for me, of course, but that ship has sailed.

Once her divorce from Vinnie is final, if she decides she still wants me… I’m going to sink my cock into her so hard that she’ll scream.

Leaving her was difficult.

Damned near impossible.

But after a chaste kiss on the lips—not even any tongue—I knew I had to get out of there before I did something I would regret.

My self-control is hanging on by a thread.

But now that I’m driving out of Austin, back to the ranch, I have to think of other things.

I didn’t tell Daniela anything about the barn. About the body not being there. She doesn’t know anything about that, and there’s no reason to bring her into it.

Raven and Vinnie have already been brought into it, and I don’t want to burden anyone else with the information.

Besides… Someone else already knows. Because someone dug up that body.

Fuck.

It’s late, but I have to call Falcon.

I should’ve called him as soon as Eagle and I discovered the body was missing. For all I know, Eagle has already called him.

No. If that were the case, my phone would be blowing up with texts and messages from Falcon. I’d have to deal with derisive voicemails asking why he heard this from Eagle of all people.

Still driving, I call Falcon and put my phone on speaker.

“Hey, Hawk,” he says. “What’s going on?”

“I need to see you,” I say.

“At this time of night? What for?”

“I’m on my way back from Austin, and this isn’t something I want to talk to you about over the phone.” I instinctively look over my shoulder, even though I know I’m alone in my car.

“Damn. You don’t sound like yourself.”

“It’s serious. If you’re still awake, I can be there in an hour plus.”

“Yeah, sure. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. At least physically. I’ll tell you about it when I get there.”

The highway stretches out in front of me like a dark ribbon, the kind that could unravel if I let my grip on the wheel slip even a little. The stars are out but the sky doesn’t offer much comfort tonight.

I’ve made this drive a hundred times. From Austin to the ranch. An hour and a half if I push it, which I always do. It used to feel like going home. Now it feels like I’m headed straight into a storm.

I crack the window, let the cool night air hit my face. It doesn’t help. My mind’s too loud—spinning with everything I didn’t want to think about until now. But there’s no running from it. Not anymore.

The ranch comes into view just past the ridge. Down several roads.

Then Falcon’s place peeks over the horizon.

I slow down as I turn into the gravel drive. Dust kicks up behind me like a ghost.

And I brace myself.

Because tonight, the truth is coming with me.

I’m just not exactly sure what the truth is.

The front lights are on at Falcon’s place. I park my truck in his large driveway and walk to the door.

I knock, and Falcon and Savannah’s two dogs, Sydney and Sammy, wag their tails through the window on the side of the door.

A moment later, Falcon opens it, shooing the dogs away.

“Hey,” he says, holding the door open for me. “Give me a second while I put them outside.”

“Is Savannah up?” I ask.

He glances up the main staircase. “She’s in bed reading. You need her?”

“No.” I frown. “I mean, I know you don’t have any secrets from her, but I think it might be better if I just talk to you for the moment.”

I follow him into the kitchen where he opens large French doors and lets his two mongrels outside. Sydney and Sammy are mother and son. Falcon and Savannah adopted them together not long after they first met.

Once the dogs are running outside in the back, Falcon turns to me. “It’s a nice night. You want to sit out there?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Sitting outside makes sense. Something about the dark of the night, the stars shining overhead on the ranch, strips everything down to what’s real. No walls, no distractions—just the hum of crickets and the weight of what I haven’t said yet sitting heavy in my chest.

Out here, there’s nowhere to hide. The land doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve done. It just is . Honest in a way people rarely are. Maybe that’s why I always end up out here when the truth gets too big to carry.

I look out past the fence line, where the land fades into shadows, and I wonder how I’m going to start.

How I tell my brother something that might change everything.

Out here, it feels like the stars are listening.

Maybe that’s good. Maybe I need someone else to hear it before I can say it out loud.

“You look like you could use a drink,” Falcon says.

I nod.

Falcon walks back inside and returns less than a minute later with two bourbons. He hands me one. I take a sip, hold the liquid on my tongue for a moment, absorbing its heat. It’s smooth, expensive, and aged to perfection.

I nod, more to myself than to him, and lower the glass. He doesn’t say anything, just watches me from over the rim of his own drink, waiting.

Waiting for the truth he knows I didn’t drive all this way to keep.

Sammy runs up to me, panting. He’s larger than Sydney now, but still a pup. He wags his tail, and I lean down to let him lick my face. He reminds me of Jimmy when he was a pup.

I love dogs. Always have. Something about them cuts through all the noise. They don’t pretend, don’t lie, don’t play games. They either trust you or they don’t. And if they do, it’s all in. No hesitation. No conditions. Just loyalty, raw and honest. The kind you don’t find often in people.

They don’t care what you’ve done, who you’ve disappointed, or how much of a mess you are inside. If you show up—really show up—they’ll meet you there, tail wagging like it’s the only truth that matters.

And sometimes, that kind of love feels like the only thing that’s ever made any sense.

Not that I didn’t get love from my parents.

It may have been problematic, and it came with a slew of conditions, but it was there in some form or another.

And of course I always felt love from my sisters and brothers. Even from Eagle, despite all the hell I give him.

But nothing matches the unconditional love from dogs. When a dog looks at you with its big brown eyes, somewhere inside you know that everything’s going to be okay.

At least usually.

Even Sammy’s frisky dogginess isn’t helping me at the moment.

Falcon takes a sip of his drink. “So I know you didn’t come all this way just to pet the dog.”

“Nope.” I shoot the rest of my drink, letting it burn my throat.

The burn isn’t fiery, but smooth. Falcon only drinks the good stuff.

He was a wine drinker before he went away to prison.

Not sure I’ve seen him drink wine since he’s been home.

That’s another story.

I slowly sink into a bench on Falcon’s deck. “Eagle and I went to the old barn earlier today.”

Falcon’s eyebrows nearly fly off his face. “What?”

“Yeah. I suppose we should have told you.”

He crosses his arms. “Damned right you should’ve told me.”

“I would have, if I’d known we were going to find… Well, what we found.”

He sits down next to me, his eyes wide. “You’re freaking me out a little, Hawk.”

“I’m going to need a refill,” I say, lifting my empty glass.

Falcon walks back inside and returns with the bottle. He pours me two fingers. “That enough?”

I shake my head. “Not even fucking close.”

I lift the glass to my lips, but I don’t shoot it. Two fingers is a lot to shoot, though I could easily do it. Instead I take a long sip. Let it burn my throat again.

“Spill it,” Falcon says.

“Eagle came to me, and he was a mess.”

Falcon rolls his eyes. “So what else is new?”

Man, if Falcon only knew. The secrets I’ve kept from him over the last eight years. Secrets I’ve kept from everyone about my little brother.

Our little brother.

“The other night at Mom and Dad’s house, after we all got back from seeing Dad and Mom, Eagle overheard Vinnie and Raven talking.”

He raises an eyebrow. “So he’s an eavesdropper now?”

I lift a hand. “Hear me out.”

Falcon nods.

“He heard the name Diego Vega.”

And again, Falcon with his eyebrows. “Diego Vega?”

“Yeah. Apparently Vinnie was telling Raven that Diego Vega had been killed in Colombia. That he was waiting for photographic confirmation.”

Falcon drops his jaw. “What the fuck?”

“Yeah. As you can imagine, Eagle’s ears perked up at that.”

He takes a slow sip of his bourbon. “Diego Vega’s dead.”

“He is. Supposedly buried under our barn. But of course, Diego Vega is not an uncommon name in Spanish-speaking countries. I figured there must be some kind of explanation as to what was going on.”

“True…”

“So Eagle and I decided to go to the barn.”

“To do what exactly?”

I take another drink. “What do you think? To exhume the fucking body, Fal.”

“Fuck.” Falcon pours himself another drink. “How’d that go?”

I bite my lip. “The good news is the drugs were all still there.”

“That’s the good news?”

“Yeah. All those drugs, and Eagle always knew they were there. He could’ve gotten them anytime.”

“But Eagle’s been clean—” he stops abruptly. “What are you not telling me?”

I swallow as I recalibrate. I’m not thinking straight. “Yeah, Eagle’s been clean.”

Falcon cocks his head at me. “You know, of all my siblings, Hawk, you’ve always been the hardest to read.

Because you’re the good son. The one who never does anything wrong.

You don’t lie. You don’t steal. You were never brought home by the cops in the dead of night for raising hell with your friends. ”