Page 83 of Cup of Lies

“What did he say?” me and Caius demand at once.

Nova pops off my nipple to gaze lovingly at me after hearing her parents speaking at the same time. I grin at her and then help her latch back on.

“He said, ‘What have my sons done to me?’”

Theo, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, frowns sadly at his phone. When he came here, to me and Caius, he chose which side of the family he was going with. The first time, when he betrayed us, he chose wrongly. This time, it’s the right choice, but I can tell it still pains him.

Caius’s expression is cold and distant, but I know him well enough to pick up on tiny cues of his displeasure. The small crease in his forehead, the slight purse of his lips, the tightness in his jaw muscle. I reach over to take his hand, offering my comfort.

Theo and Caius were closer to Orion than I was to Gideon. But he was my father for all intents and purposes, so bringing down the hammer on his world he shares with my brother isn’t easy either.

Eva peeks her head in the conference room, a frown on her face. “Gid is trying to call me. You’re sure he can’t find me?”

Her question is for Koyn, who worked some tech magic on her phone.

“Nothing’s for certain, but you’re safe here,” Koyn assures her. “We just detonated the bomb.”

Even though Eva knows all about our plans, she’s still shocked into silence that it’s finally been done.

“It’s going to get messy before we can clean it up,” I say softly. “Maybe you should turn off your phone and go see if Bermuda needs help in the kitchen. Might take your mind off things.”

She flashes me a grateful smile that widens when she sees her granddaughter. “That’s a lovely idea, hon.”

Once she’s gone, Koyn cracks his neck. “I just checked and social media is already blowing up. It’s all over Twitter.”

“X, old man. It’s X now.” Nees grins at his uncle, earning a middle finger in return.

“What the fuck ever,” Koyn growls. “By the time dinner is over, the people of the internet will be dissecting the hell out of this shit.”

The files are all out there. The Crowne Unity Project—or CUP of lies as I like to think of it—and their CUP Star soldier program. We can thank Theo for that access, though I still haven’t fully forgiven him. There’s also a ton of information on Stem Lock that Koyn’s group stole from the facility when they came for me and Kaitlyn. That implicates Doc Junior and Huxley. Even everything about Solomon and Ava’s nefarious ventures were exposed, including their client list, which had people like Huxley and other important government figureheads on it. Every bit of it is being forced through the media channels my father owns.

It’s a lot.

Overwhelming, in fact.

But it’s necessary.

They’re all going down some way or another, starting with their reputations.

“I think that’s all we can do for tonight,” Koyn states, fatigue in his voice. “We’ll see what the fallout looks like tomorrow and pick it up from there.”

I can’t believe this nightmare has an end in sight.

It’s weird to have a date night.

Caius and I haven’t ever dated. Our lives were woven together, completely out of our control, and we just went with it. But tonight, it’s just us, good food, music, and cool drinks.

“You look horny,” Caius says, smirking from behind his bottle of beer. “Stop looking at me like you want me to put another baby in you.”

“We can’t have sex yet,” I grumble. “I was just thinking this is a weird, and really late, first date.”

He snorts out a laugh. “Until Nova was born, you had a date every night with my dick.”

“Funny guy.” I roll my eyes and sip my sweet iced tea. “You think the girls are okay? What if I don’t have enough milk bagged for Eva?”

“They’re fine,” Caius assures me. “Come here.”

I abandon my chair and drink to crawl into Caius’s lap. He smells like smoke from the campfire. I run my nose along his neck, inhaling his masculine scent.

---