4. Being Awesome Brother

TRACE

"Stop killing people with nonsense, you short-tempered fucker." Logan shook his head in amusement. "Elliot has a hard time defending you most often, and members of Foedus are gonna start doubting us if you continue behaving like that."

"If they questioned my mental capacity, feed them to Doze," I said boringly. "Simple solution."

Doze is the group of my pets: lions, tigers, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, and panthers. They are twelve because they are couples. I designed a mansion, the Manor, for their home because Lev was enraged when there was a time that three members were attacked by some of my cats.

I forgot the three members' names. They are... yeah, right! The stupid professor, the idiot trillionaire, and the moron Yakuza one. Texas, Ohio, and Michigan were full for a day because of them.

I am the only one who enjoyed playing with the Doze. I have two trusted men taking care of the Doze in the Manor, Simoun and Ibarra; those are not their actual names, but I nicknamed them like that because I love the stories of Jose Rizal. The siblings Simoun and Ibarra are the ones who are making sure that the Doze will stay on Manor's premises. 

No one wanted to talk to or visit me whenever I was at Manor. Lev, sometimes, if I am badly needed for a meeting, then he sees me there. My cats are pretty friendly and adorable. They are lovely. They are not wild since I raised them as pets; they became domesticated. What happened to the three victims was their fault; they scared my cats, and the cats just fought back. Suitable for their stupidity.

"Back to you... Zup?" I returned my attention to Logan. "Anyway, Jake sent you some models of him. Choose first before I send them to Lev's club." 

"I am here because of some important matters. Those women could wait."

 "Then what about? Tell me immediately, for I need to take a bath any minute from now."

 "First, Lev said he wants to talk to you alone. That is why you must be here on the island once he returns. He was calling you, as he said, but you aren't answering."

 I went silent. I noticed that Lev is busy nowadays and keeps on leaving the island. He is probably dating a woman. He is getting old, and of course, he wants to have a wife and children. And I think I already have an idea who that wo— No! I smoked a cigarette. Not yet a woman, perhaps a teenage girl.

"Have an idea where Old Lev is going most of the time?" I asked Logan, chuckling.

Lev is five years older than me. He is not that old, but I have usually called him that to tease him since I was ten. I nicknamed him Old Lev, Oldie, Thunder, Tanders, or Gurang... that even our other friends were influenced to call him the same way. But most of the time, we call him Master Lev. 

"No one knows, I think. You have no idea, and Daxon has no idea either. I asked the rest, and I got the same reply... they have no idea what Gurang is doing." Logan shrugged his shoulders.

I just gave a glance at Logan. He is my cousin from my father's side, his mother is the youngest sibling of my shameless father, my aunt, Tita Mommy, as I call Logan's mom.

 "I will be here once Lev is back." I was slightly annoyed because of my father, who visited my thoughts. I inhaled smoke again from the cigarette and exhaled it after a while. "What else?"

 "Second, Tito Patrick wanted to talk to you. You need to go to Salvacion," Logan informed me, which made me squint my eyes while looking at him. He knows very well that I don't give a damn about my father, and now he is here telling me something I am not interested in.

I shook my head irritably, returned from Logan, and walked to the bathroom.

 "I don't give a fuck about your second piece of information. Tell your uncle I am not interested in his drama."

 "Paige is missing."

I stopped taking another step and faced Logan again.

Tangina! What the—?!

 "What happened?" I asked. What the heck is Logan saying about my sister being missing?

"I have no idea. You have been staying in Agrianthropos for three months, and it was just last night that I heard the news that Paige had been missing for three days. Tito Patrick said that you need to bring Paige home. He thought you brought Paige here with you."

 "Fuck!" I needed clarification. 

I looked outside the window. I shook my head, thinking about where Paige was. 

'Where the hell are you, Paige? That is why you didn't disturb me with your messages for almost a week.'

 "Stay here in Agrianthropos, Logan. I'll go to Salvacion." I was about to walk to the bathroom when I remembered something I needed to ask Logan. "By the way, do you have Luxe's number?"

 "Yeah, why? You like Luxe now?" he was trying to suppress his laugh. Luxe was one of our newest hackers and trackers.

 "Fuck your mouth, Logan! I need a hacker to find Paige! I know Keros could do the job. But I want to test Luxe skills this time."

"Okay, I will call him for you," Logan said while leaving the room. "I will call Luxe because your verbal and communication skills aren't good, Trace. We must find Paige, so you must know how to ask for help properly."

I let Logan go. Aside from thinking of Paige, I had no time to think of anything or anyone. My sister is the only important member of our family for me. I need to find her to make sure she is okay.

I am about to take a bath when my phone rings. I checked the caller ID. Paige!

Fuck! 

 "Paige!" I angrily answered her call. "Where the fucking hell are you? Don't tell me you are with a boy! I would kill your boyfriend, Paige!"

 "Kuya!" Paige, equally angry, exclaimed. "I'm just here with my best friend. Come here and pick me up if you want me to talk to you. And Kuya… I wanna remind you that I am already of legal age, and I have the right to decide if I want to have a boyfriend or do whatever I wanna do with my life. "Don't scare me by saying you'd kill my boyf—"

 I cut the line. I don't want to talk to my baby sister anymore. Paige is only nineteen. What legal age is she saying? And what the fuck did she say that she has the right to decide if she wants to have a boyfriend or not? Am I just scaring her?

Tangina! I am not scaring her. I am telling her that I could kill any boy who would be brave enough to court her and make her cry.

My eyes narrowed when I remembered what Paige had said before I cut the line. But what if she already has a boyfriend? What if the incident with Apollo happens again? Apollo is one of us, a member of Foedus too. The first member that bravely joined our organization, and Paige flirted with him three years ago. 

No, I won't let it happen again. My sister was young at that time and very impulsive. And yeah… 

'Damn it, Paige! You can't have a boyfriend unless you are already thirty!'