Page 109 of Reign By Wrath

Well, she thought that for less than a month. Turned out, she didn’t take to having nothing to do and no one to dangle at the end of her puppet strings. She came over to the Rogue side, and I was only too happy to accept her. I’d seen firsthand how good she was at making people suffer. Why not use her dark gifts for good?

“Stepfather married her rich mother, they went on vacation, Mom suffered a freakaccident, and then a new will appeared that gave him everything and cut the kids out,” Wilder explained. “They know he killed her and forged the will, but there’s no proof. They want to hire us to get the money back... and make sure he has a freak accident too.”

“That does interest me. Give it here,” Saylor said, requesting the phone. “And get me a piña colada too. Extra pineapple with a straw. Don’t doddle.”

I rolled my eyes. “Saylor, it’s both irritating and admirable how steadfastlyyou,you are.”

She shrugged, returning to her sunbathing.

Twisting around, I landed on Rafael, Cato, and Lucien chatting at the beach bar.

“I’m glad they took time away from the search and joined us,” Victor said softly. “Their mom is good. Not even we can find her.”

I nodded. It crushed my heart when I had to tell Rafael and Cato that their search for their mother’s killer was over. She wasn’t actually dead.

To say they didn’t handle the news well was an understatement. Cato went on an arson spree, burning down every place connected to their mother, and Rafael straight denied it. He said he wouldn’t believe their own mother blew them up to cover her fake death until he heard it from her.

Unfortunately, after that fateful night with Everleigh, Everton and Sasha left their small town and went deeper into hiding. We still hadn’t found them.

“They needed this,” I said. “Good food, the beach, and surrounded by everyone who loves them. Finding out your own mother carelessly tossed away your life would put anyone in a dark place.”

Rafael saw me looking and smiled. The three of them came over.

“You gonna keep eyeballing me, gorgeous, then I’ll have to invite you for a walk down the beach.”

I giggled. “Fine by me.”

Victor and Wilder stood up too, to join us. Wilder plopped Liam on Saylor.

“Wolfgang and Adonis will be back soon,” Wilder said. “They went to grab food.”

Liam bounced on her lap. “Auntie Saylor, Auntie Saylor, swim with me.”

“I’m not your aunt, kid,” she said, even while dropping everything and carrying him to the water, peppering his face with kisses the whole way. Liam loved Saylor even more than he loved me, and she loved him back.

The six of us set off down the beach.

“Can you believe how far we’ve come?” I mused. “Everything’s changed so quickly. I barely remember that girl you guys kidnapped from the ABC party.”

Rafael chuckled. “Everything has changed. The Rogues disbanded. Us running the new Rogues. Regalia as we knew it, gone. You went from engaged to the most eligible bachelor in the country to dating a bunch of college dropouts.”

I laughed. “I’m very happy with all of that. The only reason I stayed in Regalia U is that it’s still my dream to become a therapist and help at-risk young people. The Rogues help a lot of people, but there’s more I can do. For Winter.”

Victor laced his fingers through mine. He hadn’t dropped out either, of course. Adonis was teaching and writing novels. That left him to take over the family business.

Together we strolled down the sand, wandering away from crowds and families to the private stretches of beach claimed by the owners of the nicer and grander homes we passed.

“I wish Alistair and Winter could’ve seen all of this,” I said. “I wish we had a chance to be a family.”

I looked at my guys, overflowing with love for all of them. “Thank you for being my family. For being there for me when no one else was. I love you so much my heart physically aches all the time.”

“We love you, Cloud Girl,” Rafael said, spinning me off my feet. “It was always you.”

“It was not always you,” Victor put in, “until it was.”

“Mine,” Cato said simply.

Laughing, I ran around them, kissing them all in turn.

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