Page 118 of Secret Spark

“You can’t leave us hanging like that,” Mark said.

Perry stared him down—the kind of stare that would’ve freaked Sadie out if it’d been directed at her.

Mark huffed. “You are literally the worst storyteller.”

Perry didn’t budge.

“You’re free now, Per,” Joan said. “You can work legitimately in the art world if you want.”

“That bridge was burned a long time ago,” he said.

“Then you can help with Hot and Cold,” Mark said. “Do you know the paperwork involved with starting a business?”

“There’s a lot,” Sadie chimed in. “More than you think.”

“I don’t know anything about running a restaurant,” Perry said.

Sadie smiled at him. “I do. And I’m going to help.”

The handsomely irritated man considered her. “I didn’t want any of this, Sadie. These two have been pestering me for weeks about this damn food truck. Once they set their minds to something, they’ll grind and grind and wear you down until they get it.”

Mark sat up, brightening. “Is that an enthusiastic yes?”

“Come on, Per,” Joan said. “We want to do this with you.”

Perry held out a hand at them. “You see? Relentless.”

Sadie giggled. “They’re pretty annoying kids, aren’t they?”

“You have no idea.” He looked at Joan and Mark. “If this gets you off my back, fine. We’ll shift our focus.”

The twins whooped and jumped up. They ran over to throw their arms around Perry. “Thank you thank you thank you,” they chorused.

Perry acted resigned and exasperated, but the faintest hint of a smile flashed across his mouth. Like a good father figure, he was going along with what his kids wanted. Their happiness mattered a lot to him. You had to respect him for that.

“That’s enough.” Perry patted their arms before pushing them off. “We still have to talk about what the Supers expect us to do.”

“Stop doing crime,” Mark said.

“Do we have to turn things over to them? Return stuff we took?”

Joan shrugged. “Whatever it is, we have to do it.”

She stepped to Sadie and rubbed her back. Leaning down, she murmured, “It’s all happening, sweetheart.”

Pure happiness danced throughout her body. “I can’t wait to get started.”

“I don’t know why we’d have to return things,” Perry said. “The agreement is for us to walk away.”

Mark smiled at his sister. “That’s why, Per.”

Perry glanced over, then seemed to comprehend that Joan was going to do whatever it took to get the life she wanted. And deserved.

“Did you know, Sadie…” Mark’s grin turned wicked. “Our very own Péricles Barbosa has an MBA, which for a long time I thought meant Master of Butt Air. Turns out it has something to do with business.”

“Master of Butt Air?” Sadie laughed.

Joan slid an arm around her shoulders. “He is that. But he’s also pretty book smart. I think with what each of us brings to the table… The hot.” She nodded at each of them in turn. “The cold, the business acumen, and the people skills, we have the perfect recipe for success.”

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