Page 79 of Control's Undoing

Annie’s brows lifted.“Sebastian mentioned something about that when we were in New York.Your leader was killed?”

It was Xavier who replied.“Yes.And it was the admiral of Hungary who did it.”

Annie tilted her head.“Nikolett killed the previous fleet admiral?”

“Not her, the admiral before her.Petro Sirko.”Xavier practically spit the name, making no pretense of liking the man.

“Wait, was it a coupe?A necessary assassination?Basically, was it a good thing or a bad thing that the other fleet admiral died?”

“Bad,” Colum and Xavier said as one.

They were silent for a moment, and Colum used the time to plan out each word, hoping he could get them out.“Petro was pure evil, a sociopath.He was the one…” He swallowed hard, closing his eyes.

Xavier gripped the back of Colum’s neck.“He killed your sister?”

“Not himself, but he set the wheels in motion.Sent a serial killer after her because she was one of the Librarians.Eric blamed himself because he was the one who suggested her name and demanded that she be included in the Librarians.”Colum hadn’t let himself think about any of this for years.“Eric’s been swimming in an ocean of guilt ever since her murder.”

“He killed Petro,” Xavier said.“He twisted the man’s head off.Ripped it off with his bare hands.Primal.Brutal.”

“That’s not possible,” Annie murmured.

“Actually, it is.Because he did.”Colum glanced at Xavier, surprised.“Most members of the society don’t know that.”

Xavier shrugged but didn’t offer up where he got his information.

“Wait, if this Petro guy was the one who arranged for your sister’s murder, and Eric killed him, what happened to the actual killer?”Annie asked.

“Eric killed the serial killer as well.Spent months hunting her down.Actually, that’s how our societies started getting close.When he was hunting Josephine’s killer, the person Eric left in charge spoke to your Grand Master regularly.”There was another silence, and they gave him space to think and prepare his next words.“The worst part is…”

Colum felt his eyes well up with tears.God, when was the last time he’d cried?In the early days after her death, he’d nearly drowned himself in a sea of tears, but in the past year or so, they’d dried up completely.

Annie twisted on the couch, pulling their linked hands against her chest.“What’s the worst part?”

“I never told her how much she meant to me.Never thanked her for…everything.I didn’t even say goodbye to her the last time I saw her.She was sitting right here, in this room, and I had my nose buried in my research, ignoring her.She said she was going out for food.”Colum felt his throat grow tight.“I told her to bring me something back.Actually, I grumpily demanded it.She told me she loved me just before she left, and I blew it off, didn’t say it back.Then she told me I would miss her when she was gone.She meant it as a joke, a teasing jab, but…” Colum lowered his head, shaking it as the first tears began to fall.“I miss her so fecking much.”

Xavier used the grip on his neck to pull Colum’s face into the crook of his neck, wrapping his arm around him in a strong hold that told Colum he wasn’t alone anymore.

Annie curled into him, her arm looping around his waist as she offered the same relentless, powerful, warm embrace.

Colum didn’t even try to hold back the tears, his grief safe with them.

ChapterFourteen

Colum: I wish you’d met my sister.

Franco: Me too, friend.Me too.

Annie moaned, her back arching with pleasure as fingers feathered over her breasts before pinching her nipples.“Mmm,” she hummed, the sound shaky, breathy.

More, she thought, hoping to prod her dream lover to move those wicked fingers lower.

She shivered when the softly stroking hands obeyed her unspoken demand, drifting over her stomach, not stopping until the tip of one finger slid through her wet slit.

She was no stranger to sex dreams, but this one was more intense, pushing all the right buttons.She writhed with need, parting her legs farther for her dream lover.

First, she imagined it was Xavier who was toying with her, issuing his dark, dirty demands, calling her “his bad girl.”

Then it was Colum, mumbling those endearing Irish curses of his in that sexy-as-sin accent as he played her body like a violin.

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