Identity Pt. 03

"That's alright." She leaned in and kissed him on his cheek. "You'll just have to make it up to me." Josiah watched her ass while she walked the short distance to the cab, winking at him before getting in and pulling off. Immediately his demeanor changed from relaxed and lustful to tense and serious.

Gabriella found herself sitting by the window in her studio apartment simply trying to process the strange feelings she had been having lately. A large part of her had rejoiced when Josiah had been called away thankful she would not have to touch him again, but it was more than just odd. These feelings of revulsion were the exact opposite of anything she'd ever felt for him before. Josiah was a very handsome man. He had a strong chin that was always cleanly shaven and dark brown hair that fell to his ears and curled just a bit on the ends. His brown eyes were so innocent, but his devious smile and forceful demeanor painted a perplexingly complicated contradiction.

Brielle had been attracted to him from the first time she'd met him and as much as she hated pimping out her own body to complete a job, she hadn't much minded with him. She had spent the past hour simply sitting, wondering what had changed in her, or in him. The feeling she'd gotten when he'd bitten her had been more than just dislike or discomfort, but she felt like he had violated her. After that any contact with him, even something as easy as holding his hand just felt wrong.

A knock at her door forced her out of her own thoughts. Not many people knew who she was or where she lived. She paid her rent on time every month and made sure not to make friends with any of the neighbors. So when she approached the door, Gabriella grabbed the machete she kept in the umbrella bucket just next to the apartment's entrance anticipating a threat.

She pulled the door open holding the blade tightly to her side so that it was still concealed behind the door. To her surprise, Gabriella found the corridor empty. Perplexed, she stuck her head out the entrance to look up and down the hall. Still there was no one to be found, so she closed the door and placed the long, jagged blade back where she normally stashed it.

"That was even easier than I thought it'd be." Brielle turned around to find her mother sitting in the very spot she had just been in. She was dressed in pants yet again and Brielle found herself still trying to adjust to this new look on her. Her bright blue eyes were shimmering under those long dark lashes with the sweater she wore only bringing them out further.

"Do you ever wear clothing?" Reina asked looking over her daughter . With the heat constantly on the fritz in her building, Gabriella often found herself in shorts that just barely touched her thighs and a crop top. "Isn't it bad enough that you take them off for a living?"

She let out a sigh and rolled her blue eyes. "What are you doing here, mother?"

"I hear you made some progress... and then proceeded to screw it all up."

"What are you talking about?"

Reina stood her high heels allowing her to tower over her daughter. "I basically hand the Cruz boy over to you on a silver platter, and you run off?"

"How did you—" Gabriella began but realization took over before she even made it to the end of her question. "You set that up. What'd you do, mother, pay him to kick me? Thanks to you I can't work for a week!"

"Oh please. Stop being dramatic." Reina waved her off as she tended to do when her daughter got hurt. She had constantly preached "mind over matter" to Gabriella while she was young. Reina had never babied or nursed any of her daughter's injuries as a child and she would be no different now that her daughter was a grown woman. "This job is a means to an end, not your main focus. You are there to get close to Vicente Cruz and in turn, the rest of his family."

"Well maybe I don't exactly agree with your tactics."

"I don't care what you agree with, dammit! Have you forgotten what they did to us? Has it slipped your mind how they ripped your brother from you and turned your father into a drunk?"

"No, of course not!"

Reina's voice became low and menacing as she strode across the room to her daughter. "Then the next time the opportunity presents itself to you, you'd better damn well take it."

"Yes, mother." Gabriella hung her head feeling like she was 8 years old again and her mother had come across the vase she'd broken running through the house.

"Now, even though you screwed up last time, I've taken the liberty of making another arrangement." Reina sliced through her daughter's self esteem once again making Gabriella feel like a child. "I have good intel that the he will be at the opening of that fancy new hotel they built downtown. Word is the new owner is a long time business partner and Cruz has agreed to make an appearance."

Gabriel's face turned up into a scowl. "I heard about that. It's invitation only."

Reina rolled her eyes, "please, if you know that do you really think I didn't? I've already arranged for Brielle Ortega to be placed on the list." Gabriella started to ask how, but she figured she probably didn't want to know the details of her mother's interactions. The cold woman would just as likely sleep with someone for information as slit their throat. At least she wasn't a hypocrite.

"Even if I do get in, how do we know your source is reliable? How can we be sure he'll show?"

"Oh he'll be there. The owner of the hotel handles all of the phony businesses that front for his drug cartel. The successful operation of the Cruz's main source of income depends on maintaining this relationship." Reina's face suddenly became deathly serious-- as if it could have become any more stern. "This time, don't fuck it up."

"Jabriel took the news better than I had expected." Vicente told his brother now fully dressed and back in his human form.

"Well how were you expecting him to take it? You know those missing wolves aren't apart of your pack, Vinny. They aren't your responsibility." Rico tossed his brother the spray bottle of Vintage Black after he'd fixed his bowtie in the full length mirror.

"I still feel like I failed him and his Alpha. Carmen brought those hunters here and I've granted her hospitality. Maybe if I had sent her away, or just gotten it over with and killed her..."

"That's never been you, hermano. You aren't a murderer."

"I've killed plenty of people in the past."

"When they attack you first or pose an immediate threat to your pack or family. You would never kill in cold blood. There's nothing wrong with that." This was a rare occasion, seeing Rico this serious. Those cool blue eyes always became lighter when he was being sincere. His short wavy hair had grown out over the past few weeks so that it was long enough for him to slick back with that greasy hair gel he insisted on buying. With his fairer complexion, he looked more like an Italian mobster than a Columbian gangster sometimes.

"Tell that to our father," Vicente snorted.

At that, Rico frowned, "I have. And it was the last time I did. He nearly beat me to a pulp when I wouldn't let you kill our dog."

Vicente frowned along with his brother remembering the day as the first of several cruel tests as brothers. Vincenzo had allowed his sons to pick out a pet in an effort to pacify Rico about a year after he had been taken from his family. He had been putting up a much stronger fight than expected, and so when the boys had insisted on getting a puppy, Vincenzo finally caved and allowed them to get one. Little had they known, the entire thing had been a preplanned test for Vicente. Vincenzo had allowed the dog to grow for about a year after that, and once the boys had formed a strong attachment, he had ordered the eldest boy to shoot the dog in the backyard.

Rico had chosen to stand up to the man he now called father and defend the dog, but Vincenzo had planned for that as well. He had been cruel when disciplining the young boy, beating him all the while telling Vicente that for every second that he hesitated, Rico would receive another blow. No matter how much he screamed not to do it, Vicente couldn't bare to watch his little brother suffer another hit from his heavy handed father, and so he shot the dog in an effort to spare his baby brother.

"You cried for nearly a week straight. I felt horrible about it all." Vin hung his head remembering the anguish he had caused his brother.

"It wasn't your fault, hermano." Rico walked over to his brother looking their reflection over and placing a hand on Vicente's shoulder. "You remember what you told me that night?"

Vicente watched his tuxedo-clad brother standing next to him feeling bad for the ladies he ran into tonight. "Sorry?"

"Well yeah, you wouldn't stop the apologies." He told him. "But you also told me something else. You told me that I could either make this easier or harder for myself. That it was our father's ultimate goal to break me and make me accept my position in our family. That day I realized that I would have to play this role whether I liked it or not, but it was my choice to dwell in the negative things I couldn't control. So I chose not to, and once I did my entire life changed. Even the way papa treated me changed."

"So what are you suggesting? I should just accept my failure?"

"Or find a way to spin it to your advantage, hermano. The wolves are living in fear now thanks to these hunters. You've wanted to unite the packs for years. Maybe now is the time to do just that."

Rico wandered into Exotica greeting the early bartender. Seeing as it wasn't even 6 o'clock yet, the club was pretty dead, but he was surprised at the one person he did find by the stage. Rico looked up at the fair-skinned girl twirling around the pole recognizing her by the stage name of, Apple. She wasn't the prettiest girl in the club, which was most likely why she danced during the slow hours, but her lone viewer made it seem like she was the most talented stripper in the country.

"Come here often?" Rico asked taking a seat also in front of the stage.

Carmen glanced over at him for a brief second and then turned her attention back to the stripper. "I needed a drink. Figured, why not?" She shrugged.

"So the half naked women were just a plus?" Rico raised an eyebrow at her and she just laughed.

"It's not like that. I just like the atmosphere."

"The atmosphere?"

Carmen brushed a strand of those wavy locks behind her ear, but it just popped right back into place. "Eh, naked chicks don't hurt. But when you walk in this place, what do you feel?"

"Horny?" This elicited another smile from Carmen and Rico began to remember how fond of her smile he had been. Her skin was more tanned now, her hair darker underneath, but the natural streaks of blonde rippling through that wild mane still gave her an exotic Amazonian flare.

"Exactly. What's more primal than lust? Each of these dancers has mastered their own way of using that instinct to their advantage. By playing off of that they manage to entice the money right out of a man's wallet like the Pied Piper."

"So that's what gets you hot, huh? I'll have to keep that in mind." Rico smirked at her making her shake her head.

"Cute."

"Ouch, I'm still just cute? Two years hasn't upped my chances any?"

"Not sure you're old enough to ride this rollercoaster."

Rico turned and placed two fingers under her chin, turning her to face him. "Or maybe you're just afraid I'll give you a run for your money."

Carmen looked into those blue eyes seeing the youngest Cruz in a new light. The two years she'd been gone had worked wonders for Rico, but there was no way she'd tell him that. If she were to act on the attraction she felt to this older, smoother, more rugged Rico it could completely ruin her chances of being accepted back into the pack. But was she really supposed to ignore how good he looked in that tuxedo? How could she not notice the transformation from the scrawny 18 year old kid with the bird chest to this sexy clean cut Colombian man with rippling muscles and a dazzling smile?

"You need to slow your roll, amigo." Carmen placed a hand on the middle of his chest realizing how firm and defined it was— and what a mistake that move had been. She tried to gently push him back suddenly noticing that he had moved closer, but he took her hand in his and held it to him.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Rico asked knowing the answer already.

"No," Carmen wrenched her hand away and turned back to Apple still doing the same weak moves that had her working the day shift.

"You sure?"

"Rico, please."

"Alright, alright. I'm done." He sat back in his chair and continued to watch Apple wondering if she was as lifeless in bed as she was on stage.

"Why are you here, anyway? You look like you should be at a wedding, not a strip club." Carmen asked.

"Looking for someone, but I found you instead. Not that I'm complaining."

"Looking for an easy lay for the night?"

At that, Rico laughed. "If I wanted to get laid, I could do it without paying for a dance."

"Really? Because the Rico I remember couldn't buy a date."

"Well the Rico you remember has grown up a lot since you've been gone." Rico turned back to face her again noticing the cuts and scrapes on her bare arms. Her shirt did little to hide her cleavage and at the risk of seeming like a perv, he appreciated her womanly figure in great detail. She had always been beautiful to him, but this version of her was less tame, he could feel it— and he liked it.

"You lose something in my shirt?" Carmen snapped without looking at him.

"Sorry, but I'm a man, and you've got them just out for me to stare at..."

"So you being a man makes everything ok?"

"Are you always this combative or is this just your way of telling me you've got a crush on me?"

Carmen rolled her eyes and stood, grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair. "I'll see you later."

"Hey wait, come on don't be like that." Rico stood immediately after her and grabbed her hand. "Come on Carmen, I was just messing with you." Carmen looked into those blue eyes and she knew she was making a mistake, but he looked so cute that she felt her icy exterior melting away. Rico pulled her to him, "what are you doing tonight?"

"Why?"

"Because I have a party to attend and I need a beautiful woman on my arm. I would love for that woman to be you."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? Afraid you might actually have a good time?" His cupid's bow lips curled into that adorable smirk wrenching another smile from her.

"Your brother—"

"Is not your concern. We're both consenting adults. Besides, two old friends can't go to a party together?"

"I have nothing to wear."

"Let me take care of that." He stepped just close enough that his cologne danced around her nostrils and his breath whispered dangerously lustful thoughts of tearing off his clothes and riding him to satisfaction. She felt him rubbing circles in the back of her palm with his thumb and she wondered why she found the small gesture so ridiculously erotic. "Please? You'd really be doing me a favor. I'll look like an idiot if I go to this thing without a date."

"It isn't a date."

"Alright. Like I said, just two old friends, catching up."

Carmen let out a sigh knowing she was getting herself into trouble with him, but when he was being so sweet like this it was nearly impossible for her to turn him down. "Fine. When?" Rico had always been very good at exploiting her weaknesses, and that hadn't changed since she'd been gone.

"It starts at 8 tonight, but I don't mind being fashionably late."

Vicente strolled casually through the expansive house with his hands crossed behind his back. It was just what he'd expect from an International Drug Dealer like Josiah, a huge house on a hill overlooking the best parts of the city. The artwork lining the walls of the large house was oddly gory as if the owner were trying to send his guests a message. Vin stopped in front of one at the end of the hall realizing that his host had finally arrived.

"Mr. Cruz, what an unexpected surprise." Josiah greeted him politely but made sure to drench his tone in hostility. He noticed the large black man with the piercing brown eyes that sat on the bottom step looking entirely too comfortable in his home for an uninvited guest.

"What good surprise is expected?" Vicente turned around to look him in the eye. "You've got some interesting taste in art, Josiah. This piece is rather... violent."

Josiah smiled. "I like pieces with a powerful message."

"Yes well, you can tell a lot about a man from the art he hangs on his walls."

"Why are you here, Mr. Cruz?"

Vicente made eye contact with Josiah noticing that even though his eyes were filled with courage, he wreaked of fear. "I ran into a former business partner of yours. You wouldn't happen to know about that would you?"

Josiah felt like a child being asked by a parent if he'd taken cookies before dinner. "Why would I? I haven't had any contact with Vance since I left The States."

"Hmm. I just find it so odd that he would set up shop so close to claimed territory without some kind of... connection."

"I've given you no reason to doubt my loyalties," Josiah scoffed.

"Over the years I've found that loyalty can be bought like a new car, for the right price." Vicente clasped his hands together in front of him.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Josiah became defensive confirming Vin's suspicions, but unlike his father, Vicente was not one to act without proof.

"Should I be?" Vin asked. He could see--and smell--how uncomfortable he was making his associate so he decided to drive his point home. "Have you ever heard of the horse hair worm, Mr. Chase?"

Josiah turned up his nose, "I'm not a follower of worms, Mr. Cruz."

Vicente smirked. "Spectacular creatures. You know they actually control the minds of their hosts, forcing them to drown themselves in order to allow the parasites to reproduce."

"Sounds like a powerful creature." Josiah rolled his eyes obviously unable to see where this story was heading.

"Yes. But that's the beauty of their creation. They can only control the minds of insects like ants and crickets. You see once they've been ingested into the body of a larger animal, their powers of persuasion become completely ineffective."

"What the hell does a worm have to do with this? I told you I didn't bring Vance here, dammit!"

Vin could feel his control slipping slightly, and the intensity he felt coming from his Beta who was no longer sitting, but standing on the staircase was only adding to his own. Manuel's normally brown eyes were glowing amber and Vicente realized they would need to leave before one of them actually ripped Josiah's throat out. Josiah Chase was always tiptoeing the line between arrogance and disrespect, and Vin would have been more than happy to finally be rid of him, but even Vin couldn't deny the key role Josiah played in his business. His connections in the U.S. would make expansion all the more possible finally bringing Vin the power he needed to break out from under his father. "Careful, Josiah," He warned his voice menacingly low. "I caution you to be cognizant of how you speak to me."

Josiah stepped closer to show he was not afraid. "Maybe you should be more aware of your surroundings before you make threats."

Vicente completed the journey Josiah had started so that the two were side by side, him facing the door, Josiah facing the staircase. "Maybe." Vicente felt his instincts overriding his better judgement, surely turning his eyes white by now. "Your little games may work on your men, but I strongly advise caution when dealing with a larger animal." He snarled and Josiah did his best to hide the chills that crept down his spine as Vicente walked out casually taking the large black guard he'd brought along with him.