Page 137 of Resolve
He’s close enough now that I run my fingers over his beard. “I have too much to live for to let go so easily.”
Kellan grins and kisses me again before he’s shoved away.
“At least let me get out of the way first,” Dane snaps. He faces me again and kisses my temple. “Are you hungry? I’ll make you whatever you want to eat.”
My stomach growls at the promise of food. “I’m starving,” I admit. “Whatever’s quickest to make would be great.”
He nods. “A smorgasbord of breakfast, coming right up.” Dane squeezes my hand and slides from the bed.
“Our doctor and Cassandra are on their way up with Elias,” Portia announces from the bathroom doorway. “I’ll let them in.”
Jackson sits at the edge of the bed, taking my hand and holding the back of it to his lips. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply. When his eyes open, they’re bleeding with dark obsession and violence. I scared him again, too, and he’s fighting the need to let it out through bloodshed. There will be plenty of time for that soon.
“He’s dead?”
“He’s dead,” Aiden confirms first, standing at my other side. “Kellan tore him to pieces, and we burned them to the bone.”
Thank fuck.
I close my eyes, breathing through my nose.
He’s dead.
The leader of Gifted Enterprise, who has haunted us for most of our lives, is dead.
Their business front is destroyed.
Their board is dead.
We did it. And we survived.
I’m grateful I’m still in bed as my body shakes with relief. I cover my face as emotion builds behind my eyes, and I draw a shuddering breath.
The bed dips on Aiden’s side, and I’m carefully pulled against him. “You did it,” he murmurs in his smooth, cognac voice. “It’s over.”
I grip his soft shirt with my free hand and let a single tear fall.Jackson crowds my other side until I’m trapped between them, hidden from the world as I let it all go.
It takes a week of recovery before Elias arrives unannounced with a demand. “Without Charles around to back the corrupted officials, my legal team had the court order seizing the Tower thrown out. Law enforcement has been forced to leave the premises effective immediately, and we retain full control over the building moving forward.” He fixes his tie and clears his throat. “With that now settled, please go home.”
He leaves without another word, and Kellan roars with laughter. “Did he just tell us to get the fuck out?”
“Sure sounds like it,” Dane mutters.
Jackson hums into my hair. His arm is slung over my shoulders as I lean into him on the couch.
Aiden stands from his chair. “He’s right. We’ve overstayed our welcome and I, for one, am looking forward to going home.” He holds his phone to his ear, most likely calling Cibrina. “Tell everyone to pack their things. We’re returning to the Tower in two hours.”
“What about Alice and the others?” I ask, worrying where they’ll go now that Charles is dead. I’ve been visiting them since my energy returned two days ago, but we’d always avoided the topic of what was next for them after a small Guild team rescued their mother and unborn sibling and brought them back here. We’ve been content in this bubble of our win while living at Hype to talk about plans for the future.
“There are apartments available in the Tower if they’d like to come with us,” Aiden replies easily.
I nod, pushing to my feet. “I should go talk to them. And Portia, to let her know we’re leaving.”
Dane stands. “I’ll come with you to make sure Alice doesn’t start shit.”
I don’t bother telling him that he’s the only one she usually gets an attitude with now. They’re already like bickering siblings, and something about that makes me happy.
We walk to the apartment they all share. Elias offered the last two units for them to split, but they’re all so used to sleeping on floors that they felt more comfortable sticking together.
