Page 57 of Mistress Mayhem

I scowl at him. He knows how much I hate that nickname—how much I’ve hated it since I was at least ten. “Don’t start calling me pumpkin, or I’m leaving. But yes, you weirdo, I’m the one that killed them. I asked the guys to let me have the kills, and once I explained the reasoning behind it, they agreed. But why do you care?”

“We’re the ones that hired Cooper, Fox, and Austin.” My eyebrows shoot up, but his words still don’t make sense. “Obviously, we didn’t know it was them, but we hired them to kill those bastards.”

I shake my head. “But how did you know? I never told you who it was.”

“You didn’t have to.” I jump at my mom’s words, not having heard her come back into the room. “We started putting things together a couple of years ago, and then Cary Van Buren approached your dad to see if he might be interested. Obviously, he wasn’t, but he was able to get quite a lot of information out of Cary.”

My dad reaches out to squeeze my hand. “We didn’t want to watch you suffer anymore. We wanted the weight of what they’d done to you to be lifted. We wanted you to be free to be whoever you wanted to be.”

My parents hired the guys to kill Cary, Howard, William, and Lawrence? That’s utterly insane, and my brain can’t seem to process this information.

“You… They… What the hell?!” I drop my head into my hands. “I think you broke my brain.”

My mom comes up behind me, laying her hand on my shoulder and squeezing. “I never really thought about you maybe wanting to kill them. I just wanted my little girl back.”

Tears fill my eyes as I look up at her. I jump to my feet and pull her into a hug. “Thank you. I never would’ve—“ I pull back and move to give my dad a hug, whispering my thanks in his ears.

I drop into my chair, glancing at the guys, who are all grinning.

“Why doesn’t this shit ever happen when I go home?” Cooper asks. “Your parents are so much cooler than mine.”

That sets all of us off. It takes a while for us all to stop laughing and we finally dig into our dinner.

My mom clears her throat, drawing my attention to her. “I invited you over to show you proof that they were dead, but I guess that isn’t necessary now.”

“And we’ll send the money back to you in the morning,” Austin rumbles. “If it was some random nobody, we’d happily take their money even if we weren’t the ones to kill them. But since it’s you? We can’t keep the money.”

“Please. We have more money than we know what to do with. Keep it.” My mom waves off his words.

I can see that they all want to argue with her, but I shake my head at them. She won’t budge on this, and I don’t know how much they paid the guys, but I’m sure it’s just a drop in the bucket for them.

“Since those men have been taken care of,” my mom begins again, eyes full of hope. “Does that mean you’re finally ready to come home? To be Avery again?”

Shit. I hadn’t even thought of that. Just another decision I have to make, but this one is easier. “No, Mom. I’m sorry, but I buried Avery long ago. I’m not that girl anymore, and I’m sorry for that. Sage suits the woman I am now.”

“Of course it does, honey.” My dad’s smile is soft as he reaches over to squeeze Mom’s hand. “We completely understand.”

“But as for the rest of it? I won’t be hiding who I am anymore. I already announced to most of Lockwood that I’m Mistress Mayhem. I’m sure they’ll find out very quickly that I’m also Avery.” I shrug. “While I might not use the name anymore, she’s still a part of me. And I love the two of you so much, and I’d really like you to be in my life again—no matter what that looks like.”

Mom frowns. “What do you mean by that?”

I glance at the guys, wondering if they’re okay with me announcing this to my parents. All I see in their eyes is trust and love.

“Austin, Cooper, Fox, and I have decided we’re going to be together. Well, they’re all going to be with me, not each other.” I frown. “At least I don’t think so?”

Fox laughs, shaking his head. “No, angel. We’re all in this just for you.”

That makes me smile as I turn back to my parents. “We’re going to head to their house in Oak Vale soon to see how I like it. Now that I’ve had my vengeance, it’s time to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don’t know much about what that will look like, but there are a few things I do know. The three of them will be a part of it, and so will the two of you.”

“Once you get settled, you’ll have to let us know, sweetheart.” My mom’s smile lights up her face. “We’d love to come visit the four of you. Maybe if you decide that’s where you want to live, we can move closer. That way, when you have kids, we’ll be close back.”

My eyes dart to Austin’s at the mention of kids, and I can see the hunger in his eyes. My thighs clamp together as I swallow around the lump in my throat. I get the feeling that if it’s left up to Austin, we’ll be having kids really soon. I’m not averse to the idea, but that will need to wait until I figure out what the rest of my life looks like.

“I’d really like that, Mom.” And I truly mean it. After a decade apart, I want to get to know my parents again, and I’d like them to truly get to know the woman I’ve become.

She nods. “Good, then it’s settled. We’ll come visit as soon as you want us to. When are you planning to leave?”

And that’s something else we haven’t talked about. I glance at the guys, but none of them seem keen on answering her. Assholes.

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