Page 16 of Cryptic Curse

“Great.It’s a date.Just come grab me when you’re ready.”

“I will.And Hawk?”

“Yeah?”

She beams.“I thought you’d never ask.”

I hope she’s not thinking this is more than what it is.I’m up for some casual dating, but I’m certainly not looking for a long-term relationship.After all, I’m the Bellamy fixer.The guy everyone depends on.If I get waylaid by a relationship—like Falcon and Raven have—everything will fall to Robin and Eagle.

Of all of us, Robin is the most dedicated to her career.She’s a veterinarian, and she oversees all of the veterinarians and techs at Bellamy Ranch.

And Eagle?

He can’t so much as scrape his knee without calling me up and crying about it.

He’s always been a fuck-up.

But he’s the baby, so he apologizes and gets away with everything.

If my mother only knew…

She knows about his original issues with drugs from when he was back in high school.At least, I think she does.I suppose it’s possible my dad handled that himself.They cut him off from his allowance when they found out he was using.

And what did he do?

He started selling to fund his own habit.

That’s how he got into trouble.

That’s how the drug lord he was dealing with found the barn on our property right at the Mexican border that they thought was perfect for a mule stop.

Fucking A.

So I do what I must.

I bail Eagle out every time he fucks up.I keep it to myself.I don’t tell my brother or my sisters, and especially not my parents.

If they only knew everything…

It would kill my mother.It would kill her to find those things out about her baby.She might deny it if I asked her to her face, but Eagle is her favorite.Followed by Raven.

And if she truly had to put her children in order, I would be dead last.

But I’m not bitter about it.

I stopped depending on my parents a long time ago.Right around the time Eagle shot that young cop and Falcon took the fall for it.

I watched it all play out, and I realized there’s only one person in the world I can depend on.

Myself.

My thoughts are interrupted when the elevator doors I’m walking past open.

Daniela, Vinnie’s eighteen-year-old wife, steps out, along with Belinda McAllister, Vinnie’s eleven-year-old foster daughter—and former betrothed.

The mafia world is sure fucked up.

Of course, so is the Bellamy world.