Page 84 of Point Proven
“If it helps, when she was seventeen she cleared out an entire compound before Sasika found out. She, uh, wasveryproud of that moment. Earned her physical torment and, um, she’s like Thorne, just… expressive.”
Like Thorne?
Prompted by the comment, Thorne lifted a brow. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Oren scratched his head, a light blush forming. “She’s a badass, but even more…colorfulin language. She bit a guard one time cause they tried to touch me and smiled with her bloody teeth.”
Without offering a rebuttal, Thorne grabbed his drink and sank back into the cushions.
“Shecanbe very overwhelming. Oh, but Thorne’s better with his aim. Superior with tracking, too.” Oren tapped his chin. “Well, also, he’s a lot better at hand-to-hand combat.”
I stifled my laughter. “You can just say Thorne’s better, you know. He is your…” Should I say fiancé? “Partner,” I settled on.
Resting his head against Thorne’s chest, Oren smiled. “Yes, he is. Much better.”
Devouring the latter half of Oren’s statement, Thorne spoke up. “That’s all beside the point. If these operations are truly this intertwined, we have an empire to dismantle.”
“How are we going to do that?” I breathed, flopping back against the couch. “This… This is impossible.”
“What about this Mafia head? Levander…?” Liam posed, the unease still prevalent in his timbre. “Does he have men that could assist?”
Shrugging, Thorne’s reply followed. “It’s worth asking him.”
“I could bake him some more cookies. Maybe… Maybe then he’d be more willing to agree?”
“You could do that,” Thorne hummed toward Oren, his lips slowly curling into a smirk. “But I believe we have the upper hand in negotiable influence now.”
“Negotiable influence?” Twisting my head to Thorne, I leaned against Liam.
“My dear best friend.” Taking a long swig from his mug, he chuckled. “Matt fucked Levander, not just once, but twice. Seems the two really hit it off.”
“Matt?OurMatt?” Blinking, the information almost seemed impossible to believe.
“Yes.OurMatt,” Thorne answered without hesitation. “Seems he found the redhead rather…dashing.”
“Well… then we get started on this, right? I mean, I’m not sure if Liam or I will participate, but we can help from the sidelines.”
“It won’t be an overnight task.” Grunting, Thorne pushed himself from the couch. “I fear what we have uncovered will beat leasta six-month-long feat. And that’s being positive.”
“Six months?” Oren whispered, following Thorne’s movement. “I… She… She’s going to have to stay there six more months?”
“Unless you’d like one of us to die, most likely.” Thorne’s response came clipped as he walked into the kitchen, Liam tensing beside me with his words.
I pulled Liam closer as Oren slipped from beneath his blanket and followed after Thorne. His anxiety was apparent, and it made sense after recent events. Knowing him, he would focus on every little thing to a detriment, making sure he didn’t hurt Thorne again.
“No… No, I don’t want anyone to die. I just didn’t know it would take that long, but that’s okay.”
“With how things are structured?” Thorne dumped his empty mug into the sink before turning back around to face Oren. “Ifthis woman is as powerful as you claim she is and her operations are corrupt, we are going to need all the time we can get.”
“I know. I-I want to do it right this time, so… so whatever information you need, I’ll tell you.”
Running my fingers through the back of his hair, I turned to Liam. “You… You wanna go?” I whispered, flicking my gaze to them before returning to the man I loved more than anything. “I think they could use the privacy.”
“But… We need to plan.” Liam’s browns found my hazels. “Like Thorne said, we need as much time as we can get, which includes devising up… something.”
“You… You sure you want to do this? After everything?”
“Yes.” He nodded, his throat bobbing. “I want… I want to end Stefan’s reign…”
