Page 78 of Forever Filthy

“What does it stand for?” Ez asks.

“Ezy stands for Ezekiel and Hayze and the A is pretty clear,” she says smugly.

“Archer,” the man himself mutters.

“Vivian didn’t do what she did on a whim, she had this planned for years. She was a lot smarter than anyone gave her credit for,” Nova says.

“The owners of the company are Ezekiel Tempest, Archer Malik, Vox Hatchett and Hayze Draven,” Carmichael announces. “All of the assets of the company are yours to do with as you please. She has left instructions and notes on everything she has done and has planned for you all to follow. I will leave these documents with you all to read over and do with as you please. I’ll see myself out.” He places the papers on the small table in the center of the room and stands.

“I’ll walk you out,” Dawson says, then turns to us. “I’ll catch you guys later.” We nod but don’t say anything. When the door clicks shut Nova jumps off Vox’s lap and drops to her knees beside the small table and rummages through the paperwork. The guys and I all remain silent, mulling over everything we have just learned. My mind is reeling but guilt is eating at me.

“She planned to give herself up to save us years ago,” Ezekiel mumbles with hurt thick in his tone.

“How did we not see this?” Archer asks no one in particular.

“Because we were all too caught up in our own lives. She saw everything we couldn’t because we were too stubborn to admit that we had no idea what we were doing, but my sister did. She knew it had to be her that ended this. My little sister was better than all of us. She didn’t need to kill, torture or lie to defeat the Saints, she just had to be her.” Vox’s tone is riddled with remorse.

“You evil genius, Vivi!” Nova exclaims, drawing all our attention to her.

“What did you find, witch?” Vox asks as he slides further forward in his seat, trying to see the paper Nova is holding.

“You guys are right. Vivian did plan all of this out long ago,” she says in a faraway tone as she continues to read.

“Nova, explain what you mean… please,” Ezekiel forces out through clenched teeth.

Nova looks up at her brother with a proud smile on her face. “Ez, she meant it when she said she dideverythingfor you guys. Everything she built, the hotel, the investments she made, they are all owned by you guys.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Archer

I can’t even explain how I am feeling right now. On top of the pain I feel over not having her here, I now feel like a failure—we all failed her. While we were all playing hero and trying to take down the Saints as fast as possible, she was playing the long game. She saw through our flaws and concocted a plan of her own. She beat us all at a game we had no idea she was playing.

“The four of you ownLividica.” My jaw unhinges.

“The sex club?” I blurt.

“I think what you mean to say is, your million dollar hotel that is currently being expanded to four other locations. Vivian has gifted you all financial freedom, she has set you all up for the rest of your lives,” Nova says in wonder.

“How did she fund the build?” Hayze mumbles.

Nova continues to read over the stack of papers and we all sit here watching her facial features change from pride to mirth and then pure smugness. “She took a leaf out of their book. She embezzled the money from the Saints. She had the money run through an offshore account that is owned by a shell company then paid Ezy A for a service so the hotel build was funded by…” She lifts her head and looks between the four of us. “All of you. She found a way to funnel all the money from the Saints so they would never be able to rebuild and gave it all to you guys. The way she has done this makes it so nothing will track back to any of you guys. The FBI and anyone else that tries to come for the money won’t be able to find it without these documents. Vivian was the trojan horse they never saw coming.” The pride in which she speaks is clear as day, Nova is in awe of Vivi. Which makes me feel like shit. I never once gave a thought to my girl as I was wearing that mask and off doing things I shouldn’t have been doing because I wanted to be free of the noose around my neck.

“Wait a second.” We all turn to Ez, who scoots forward and drapes his forearms over his thighs while looking at his sister. “She bankrupted the Saints?” Nova nods, then Ezekiel smiles so fucking wide, displaying all of his teeth. The fucker could pose for a Colgate commercial.

“Why the fuck are you grinning like an idiot?” Hayze asks.

“Because my sister just destroyed not only the Saints but every fucker in The Brotherhood.” Vox is puffing out his chest like he just won the championship game.

“And…?” I push, getting pissed off that Hayze and I seem to be the only ones not grasping what the fuck is going on.

“The Saints can never rebuild because they don’t have the funding. All the members are now broke… every single one of them. On top of their names being blasted in the press, none of them will be able to afford a lawyer. They will be represented by public defenders and will be buried by the prosecution. They areall going to jail because Vivian was brave enough to do what she did. She saved us all,” Nova says wistfully. I hang my head in shame, she should never have had to sacrifice herself for us.

“Those papers don’t happen to mention where she is, do they?” Hayze asks with hope in his voice. Nova shoots him a sad look and shakes her head.

“No. I wish they did,” she says quietly.

“Where the fuck is she?” Vox questions aloud. “I would know if something happened to her, I’d feel it or I would just know or something! She’s fucking alive!” he roars. Nova abandons the papers and rushes to him, straddles his lap and cups his face between her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes.

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