Page 60 of Corrupted

Terry raised his eyebrows, but didn't look like he'd decline if a fancy car turned up at the door with his name on it. Personally, I'd give him just about anything he wanted right now. I had a suspicion he wouldn't ask for much anyway. He seemed to enjoy a simple life.

"Aidan and his boys took care of everyone at the front," Gianni said. "A couple of them gave them trouble, but they won't give anyone any trouble anymore."

"Neither will any of the ones inside the house," Damon said darkly. "Some of them were quick enough to turn on Kurt. The rest will be dealt with in the morning."

Reuben patted Caleb on the shoulder and came over to join us. "We have some work to do to seize the rest of Kurt's assets, but Caleb is going to get a start on that tomorrow. You two can help." He nodded to the twins.

They responded with identical grimaces, but ultimately shrugged and nodded in return.

"Whatever it takes to tear him down the rest of the way," Hunter said.

"And make an example for anyone else." Reuben sank into a chair and rubbed his forehead. "We also need to destroy the access from the water tank. Too many people know about it."

"I'll put that on the to do list for tomorrow," Damon said. "I've already ordered a cleanup on all of those exploded SUVs. People will start asking questions if we leave them as they are."

"Let them ask questions," Gianni said. "We can give them honest answers. It was all Kurt Lasalle's fault. He got too big for his boots and decided to come after us. But, because we're awesome, we won."

"We did, didn't we?" I asked. "It's over." I couldn't begin to get my head around it. After everything we'd all been through in the last few months, we finally had Kurt. He'd never touch any of us again.

Rose put her arm around me and held me carefully. "Yes it is. You're finally free to live your best life. Just like you always were supposed to."

I placed what was left of my tea down on the table in front of me and hugged her back. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this. You deserve better."

"We both do," she said firmly. "I saw the expression on your face. You would have gone through with it. You would have gone back with him to save all of us. You must have a uterus of steel. Like balls of steel, but a lot stronger."

"I would have," I agreed. "I couldn't see any other way out. He would have killed all of you without a second thought. He would have laughed at the expression on my face while he did it. He would have reminded me of it, over and over again until I broke."

"Just like he did with that girl?" Rose asked gently.

I was too tired to hide my surprise, or pretend to be confused. "Just like that."

"Her name was Jana," Rose said. "I heard the rumour about Kurt being the Sparrow, and did some digging. According to my sources, the Sparrow was on a job, and Jana died. The thing is, my sources confirmed that Kurt Lasalle was there that night, to do something else. I figured the Sparrow must be someone else."

"I guess that's possible," I said evasively. Most of the people in the room knew the truth, but not all of them. Those who didn't know didn't need to. I was relieved that my sister did though. I didn't want to keep any more secrets. Not from her.

"Who the hell are your contacts that you can find out something like that?" Caleb asked. He'd moved to stand behind the couch.

She glanced back at him and smiled. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

He grunted and moved away. Apparently not everything was smoothed over yet.

Hunter whispered something to Parker, which made him laugh.

"You think?" Parker looked at Rose, then over to Caleb.

I snorted and looked at Rose myself.

She looked amused. "I don't know who'd kill who first, me or him."

"You'd be adorable together," Hunter told her.

"How much did you bet that my sister would get together with your brother?" I asked bluntly.

Both twins grinned.

"We'll never tell," Parker said. "Twin privilege."

"I don't think that's a thing," Damon said.

---