Page 66 of Reign of Psychos

“Me, too,” Thea replied, fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. “But you go first.”

Milo appeared, carrying his laptop. He nodded at me, letting me know he had everything we needed in place.Good.

“Here, drink this, gorgeous girl.” Lan handed Thea a steaming cup of amber tea that looked an awful lot like piss.

Her nose wrinkled but she took a hesitant sip. “Hmm. Not too bad. What’s in it?”

“Ginger and honey, chamomile, and a few other things that are good for you.”

“You’re like an old woman fussing over her,” Dario muttered. “Thea’s not a fucking doll.”

“Fuck off, stronzo,” Lan snapped.

I sighed. This would not end well. It was bad enough when he cussed out Kyril in Russian.

“Enough! Now shut the fuck up and let me talk!”

“Yes, Daddy,” Thea sassed.

“Someone’s in need of a spanking,” I told her. She smirked, but the pink glow on her cheeks told me she wasn’t averse to the idea.

“In your own time, Cassian. I have shit to do,” Dario sniped.

“Like what?” Landon rolled his eyes. “You have no fucking job.”

“Nor do you!”

“My role in life is caring for my girl. Once our baby is here, I’ll be a stay-at-home daddy.”

“I think you meanmybaby,” Kyril corrected.

“Ourbaby!” Thea yelled, clearly over the in-fighting. She turned on Lan and Dario. “Both of you, stop winding each otherup. Any more of this shit and you’re banned from my bedroom for a month.”

“A MONTH? No fucking way!”

“Yes way!”

Dario wisely said nothing.

“Cruel.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you’re done, I’ll tell you about our plans.”

32

Dario

Iforced myself to listen to Cassian’s blueprint for the future. Every day I woke up and thought maybe I needed to leave. I didn’t belong here. Didn’t belong anywhere. Dad was gone, his money tangled up in bureaucratic red tape while the DIA investigated.

They hadn’t bothered coming after me. I was small fry, and besides, my father had made it clear I wasn’t a part of Francesco’s operation. He’d coerced me into doing jobs for him, but I’d never been one of his trusted inner circle.

The DIA was only interested in the key players. People like Torrance. Not that they’d catch up with him now. From what Ronan had told us his clean-up crew took Torrance’s remains to a local pig farm. There would be nothing left after the pigs had crunched their way through bone and flesh.

Thea was the only reason I’d stuck around. With Torrance no longer a threat, I could leave.

I mulled over my options. The money I had would last for a few months if I lived modestly. I could pick up jobs here and there. One of my contacts had reached out only the other day.The job involved protecting some influencer while she attended a fashion show. Or some such bullshit.

I’d told him I would think about it.

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