༄ Cleo parked her car in front of the Mayans clubhouse in Santo Padre after the prospect let her drive through the gate. As always, it was a pretty long drive but it was worth it. She needed to talk to her brother in person, not over the phone. This was something to talk about face to face.

The brunette glared at Adrian who sat outside with a scowl on his face, pretty pissed that she had the nerve to show up here to try and get him in more trouble than he was already in.

"The fuck you want here?", he scoffed once she was close enough. The confidence in her eyes angered him even more. Enrico loved his club but he would believe his sister over him any day and that was his problem.

"Wow, so nice today?", she asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I'm here to talk to my brother, maybe also the others."

Adrian put his cigarette out with his boot before he got up and spat onto the ground right next to her feet. "To tell them what exactly, cariño?"

"I'd rather tell you all together. Feel free to join me, pinche pendejo [fuckin' asshole]", she spat at him, which earned her a slap across the face.

"You wanna say that again, little bitch?", he barked at her as he grabbed a fist full of her hair, smashing her face into the table. He was so pissed that he forgot where he actually was. This would get him into some big trouble when his brothers would come outside but he just lost it. "You're not taking my club away from me with your bullshit!"

The brunette yelped in pain as her face hit the hard table. Her nose was already bruised and hurt like hell, now it felt hundred times worse while the warm, red liquid already flowed over her mouth and dripped from her chin. She noticed the prospect running inside, hopefully to get some help.

"My bullshit?! You're the one getting yourself in trouble. You thought I was letting you ruin my relationship, let another war happen because of your ego? Fuck no", she laughed bitterly at him and brushed some of her hair out of her face that stuck to her bleeding nose and lip. "Everyone should know the truth about you, what a psycho you are. I'm done defending you for the things you did to me!"

Adrian felt drunk on his rage, anger flooding his body at her words. He roughly pushed her to the ground and kicked her with his boots twice, hitting her ribs first. The second kick in her stomach made her throw up immediately. The young woman erupted into yelps and sobs at the pain and humiliation⸻ she wasn't sure what was worse.

When he was about to pull her back onto her feet by her hair again, he felt cold steel pressing against his temple.

"Ah ah, step away from my sister", Enrico seethed angrily.

Adrian lifted his hands, steadied himself and gulped, yet he didn't move away from Cleo, his eyes still staring at his ex girlfriend.

"Right fuckin' now or I'll blow your brain out right here!" Enrico's voice was so loud, commanding and aggressive that even a few of the guys in the back flinched briefly.

"Brother, let me ex⸻", he didn't come any further as he was hit across the face with the gun Enrico held in his hands.

Hearing the man's jaw crack wasn't enough satisfaction for Enrico, not even close. He threw a few fists, not giving Adrian any chance to hit back until he lost balance and kneeled on the ground, or better said he was on all four, supporting himself by burying his hands in the dirt so he wouldn't loose balance completely.

Enrico held his gun against his brother's temple once again, his finger already on the trigger as he crouched down so they were on eye level. "Got anything you wanna say before I pull the trigger, you twisted fuck?", he asked dangerously low.

"Wait", Bishop chimed in and came to a stop next to Enrico, looking down at Adrian in disappointment. "I wanna hear what happened."

"You can't be fuckin' serious, man! Look at my sister", Enrico snarled, his eyes wide as they were fixed on his Pres.

Angel helped Cleo to get back on her feet, gently dragging her over to one of the chairs so she could take a seat. He cupped her face in her hands, turning her head to the side to check if she had any other wounds.

"Why did he do this, linda?", Angel asked directly but kept his tone soft so he wouldn't scare her more than she already was. The anger he felt was hard to hold in but he gave his best. "Prospect, get some ice packs, quick!"

While the prospect ran inside like his life depended on it, Cleo tried to give a simple answer without the hysterical sobbing. Adrian's angry burst out just caused all the bad memories she had with him to come back and give her the worst flashbacks. That's why she was so upset.

"H-he didn't do this for the first time and that's exactly what I wanted to tell you guys. It was about time y'all would find out the truth about him and what he did behind your backs. Jax never did this to him, Enrico's and my dad did it to punish him for laying a hand on me in the past. Adrian decided to blame it on Jax so you guys would flip and get in a fight that would make me choose sides. This way he thought I'd crawl back to him and won't stay with Jax", she explained surprisingly well but right after she finished, her sobs started to become uncontrollable again.

Angel's lips formed in a thin line as he clenched his fists just like everyone else. Spanish insults were spoken and thrown at Adrian while Enrico stood in front of him wordlessly, the gun now pressed against Adrian's forehead instead of his temple.

"Is that true? And don't fucking lie to us, Adrian", Bishop growled lowly.

"Stupid whore! You're gonna regret this", Adrian screamed hysterically as he looked at his ex, blood dripping down his face from Enrico's beating. Slowly, he looked up at Enrico and right into his eyes. "Yeah, yeah I did all those things and you know what else? I hope that bitch gets gutted from the inside out."

Those words made Enrico's blood boil. He was so close to explode. Killing Adrian with a bullet was way too good and easy but that's exactly what he would do. He didn't want to waste one more second to kill that bastard.

"Alright, that's enough", Bishop said, his voice laced with disappointment and anger. "Take his kutte off!"

Two other members came to Adrian's side and ripped off his kutte, handing it over to their Pres. Getting his kutte torn off of him was the greatest humiliation for Adrian ever.

"He's all yours", Bishop slapped Enrico's back and stepped aside. He didn't need to take a vote, everyone was only waiting for the bullet to drop.

"Apologize to her", Enrico demanded coldly.

"The fuck I will", Adrian huffed. Meanwhile he was back on his knees only, looking up at his former brother.

Enrico shot him somewhere in his stomach area, making the man on his knees yelp and whine out in pain. Adrian arched his body, breathing heavily.

"You're a fuckin' disappointment, cabrón [bastard]", Enrico laughed bitterly and pulled the trigger. The man's body fell to the side like a sack of flour, clouds of dust rose briefly as his body hit the dry desert ground. Enrico spat at the lifeless bodies' face and took the few steps towards his sister.

Wordlessly, he gently dragged her to her feet and embraced her in a hug, wrapping his arms around her as tight as possible. "I'm sorry I never noticed anything", he muttered into her brown hair where his face was buried. She was covered in dirt from the dry desert ground but Enrico didn't care, he just wanted to hold her.

Cleo stared past her brother's shoulder, watching the blood coming from Adrian's head seep into the ground. "You couldn't have known. I never wanted anyone to know", she hardly whispered. After she had enough of the sight, the brunette closed her eyes and buried her face against Enrico's shoulder, her arms firm around his waist. This ended a whole lot different than she had expected.

⸻

"Jax knows you're here?", Enrico asked his sister, running his hand through her hair while her head lay on his lap as they sat on the couch in his room. Angel leaned against the desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Not exactly. He thinks I'm at work", she admitted softly. Shit, he would be so mad at her for going alone.

"Why didn't you tell him? You know it doesn't work that way. Shit, what if none of us would've been around, Cleo?", Enrico let out a frustrated sigh. He worried about her all the time, she was his little sister. Knowing she didn't even tell Jax concerned him even more. "Do me a favor and tell him where you're going in the future. Especially when it's something so dangerous!"

"I couldn't bring him here, Enrico! All of you still believed Adrian, he would've been beaten bloody before he could get off his bike", the brunette muttered meekly. "I know it was risky but someone's always around. I couldn't wait any longer."

"Angel, get Jax on the phone. Tell him to come here", Enrico asked his friend, earning a nod from the older Reyes brother. "Thanks."

"God, he's going to be so pissed", Cleo whined dramatically once Angel left the two of them alone and turned on her back to stare at the ceiling. "But at least you guys won't start a fuckin' war because of me."

"You think? I'd be hella pissed, too, princessa", Enrico chuckled. A part of him hoped that Jax would call her out and give her bit of a hard time. She shouldn't pull shit like that again. On the other hand, she was his sister and he wouldn't let Jax get too angry with her.

"I got it, alright? I learn from my mistakes", she smirked slightly before covering her face with her hands.

"Can I ask you something?", the Latino asked after a moment of silence, his forehead wrinkled thoughtfully.

"Go on", the brunette hummed, trying to ignore the throbbing headache. She was grateful for every distraction.

"If this would've ended in a stupid war, would you have chosen him over us?", Enrico asked, his fingertips tracing the tattoo on her shoulder. It was a floral tattoo with their mother's and his name written in the middle.

Cleo was baffled by his question, overwhelmed actually. Her mouth opened but not a word slipped past her lips. She sat up slowly and ran a hand over her neck.

"Don't make me answer that question", she pleaded sadly. "Please Enrico. You're my brother, my blood. I love you more than you know and I'd never choose against you⸻ but I also love Jax. I truly love him, Enrico, it's impossible to choose a side."

Enrico didn't answer with words, he just nodded briefly and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her into his side. Her answer wasn't as surprising as he thought it would be. There was no doubt she truly loved Jax Teller and if he was the one making her happy, he wouldn't make her choose⸻ not even if a new war should ever break out.