Page 58 of Charming But Reckless

He needed to know what it was like for me when my son was taken. To know how those women and children felt when they were taken. He needed a dose of his own medicine.

I knew that wasn't how the justice system worked. And I had given them the green light to do this. I knew that there could have probably been other methods to take care of Varr. But I couldn't, in good conscience, do that.

If the day ever came that my son asked me about the man who hurt him, about the men who had taken him, I wanted to honestly answer that they were put away and they were suffering for their crimes. I didn't know if he would still look at me the same if I said that they were murdered or that I had ordered their execution.

Orion moved around to wrap his arms over my shoulders. He kissed the side of my head and whispered, "You okay?"

I nodded slowly and turned to kiss his lips. It wasn't an erotic kiss or anything, but it was full of passion and thankfulness. He had stood by my side even as I was unsure about what I wanted to do.

“I just thought you all should know,” Tank said to the room before turning to leave again.

Four days later

Since Varr's arrest, we had part of the main screen locked in on the news. It would alert us anytime anything popped up about him.

And though there were a few opinion pieces about what would happen to him, most of it was quiet. We still hadn't heard a final verdict on when his arraignment would be.

I had buried myself in work and Orion to distract me from obsessing over the updates. During the day, I would dig for more information about the Gilded Ones. Sometimes I searched for the people Varr had worked with to buy my son.

At night, I would go home with my family. We would spend time together as a group. Then when Sol went down to bed, Orion and I would get lost in each other.

He would touch and kiss me until I was gasping for breath.

He would break me apart to put me back together.

Then we'd hold each other until we fell asleep.

It was a beautiful routine, and I became addicted to it. I knew that I was burying my feelings. That I had not been happy with my choice to let Varr go. Regret was a heavy burden.

It was especially clear the more time it took for any type of legal action to come about. I had forgotten how much the judiciary system in this country could drag.

There would be a long process as he awaited arraignment and trial. From there, his case would probably get caught up in the courts for months or maybe even years.

And what if he got out on bond before then? He didn’t have the option at the moment, but things could change. What if he wound up being able to hurt more children?

It would have been much better if I had just said that they could kill him.

I kept the notion to myself though because I knew telling Orion would only cause trouble. The man was busy enough as it was. He had been in and out of the office over the last few days working on a non-Gilded Ones project.

Today in particular, he had taken Takeshi and Ronan with him, claiming they had to help him with the next step in his process. Whatever he was doing, it seemed to be big enough to warrant it. The other two had agreed immediately, and they’d all left without any other details.

The rest of the team didn't act bothered at being left out. Seeing their relaxed states only further proved how well they all worked together. There wasn’t an ounce of jealousy to be found.

I was a bit jealous though.

And curious.

Since everything was Gilded Ones related, I thought maybe I could figure out what was going on. But nothing was adding up. It was like they had created their own mission or something.

Or maybe I was too in my head to put the pieces together properly. I wasn't exactly sure.

What I was sure of was how the screen began to flash letting me know there was an alert on Varr's name in the news. When I enlarged the screen, my jaw dropped.

There was an image of a charred vehicle in the middle of the highway.

“We have an update on the Varr case for you today,” the newscaster said. “Jackie Varr, who was being transported to a new facility after threats on his life were made at the local prison, was in a vehicle crossing the highway when a bomb exploded,killing him and the two officers inside. Reports indicate there's no chance of survival.

“As firefighters work to put out the last of the flames, we have to wonder if Varr had enemies who went after him. Maybe there was more to what was going on that we will ever know. With him gone, the case will be closed. Was Jackie Varr innocent? Or is he as guilty as we all suspect? Reporting live from New Roughoak News, I am Dana Talley.”

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