Page 60 of Edge of Desperation

Thomas’ eyes blaze with fury. “No, you didn’t. You went after the one person who put her in that situation to begin with, the cause of her pain, the devil in her nightmares, Dmitri Krukov.” He pauses. “We didn’t know about the senator. How could we? Sure, weknewthere were other men based on how we found her, but notwhothey actually were. Obviously, she never told anyone because I, for one, know that fucker wouldn’t have been able to get close to her if the general knew. Briggs would’ve been dead and buried.”

“You’re right,” I concede. “I know promising Aurora that I’d help her puts you all in a tough spot because now you have knowledge of my off the bookactivities, and I don’t expect any of you to keep it to yourself if pressed. This can bring a shit ton of heat down on all of us if I’m ever caught, but she needs this, and I’m going to help her get closure. Whether or not you wanna take the risk to your career is up to each of you.”

“You’re not cutting me out, fucker. Screw keeping secrets… I’m in all the way.” Carver narrows his eyes. “That’s my little sister and my future wife’s BFF. If anything happens to her, andWillow finds out that I knew, I’ll never be able to put a ring on it.”

Bennett smirks. “Did you just quote Beyoncé?”

“Yeah, so?” he challenges. “The song has a good beat.”

We all laugh, easing some of the tension.

Hating to dampen the lightened mood, I put the question to a vote. “All those in favor of helping Aurora get her revenge?”

“Oorah,” the four shout unanimously.

Carver winks. “You didn’t think you’d get to have all the fun, did you?”

I flip him off. “I was hoping I could leave you home.”

He grabs his heart, frowning. “That hurts, man.”

“What’s the plan?” Hudson asks.

“Aurora has a kill list,” I answer. “I’ll get a copy of it, and we’ll start helping her do recon.”

“Seems like she already has that down,” Bennett says proudly. “I mean, she did bag two guys on it tonight by herself.”

I take a sip of my coffee. “She did good.”

“Good?” Thomas raises his eyebrows in disbelief. “Did you see Brigg’s cock? It was barely dangling by a thin layer of skin. It was almost completely ripped from his body.”

“That was Lykos,” Hudson explains.

“What?” I ask, shocked. “How do you know that?”

He shrugs. “I asked her after you kissed her and ran off.”

Son of a bitch!

“Whoa… Whoa… Wait. Time out,” Carver stands up. “You kissedmysister?”

“She’s not your sister,” I mumble, glaring at Hudson.

“Aurora’s adopted,” Carver says. “Don’t tell her though. She’ll be devastated.”

“She’s not justyoursister, asshole,” Bennett argues.

“Yeah,” Thomas agrees. “She belongs to all of us.”

Carver places his hands on the table and leans toward me. “So, what are your intentions withourlittle sister?”

I mimic his stance. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

He narrows his eyes. “No, answer the question.”

“Jesus!” I throw my hands up. “I wouldn’t fucking hurt her. I think I’ve been in love with her since I first saw her. When General Parks asked me how her training was going, and I had to admit there wasn’t anything else we could possibly show her, it almost killed me. I knew it was risky to tell him the truth. I could’ve lost her forever, but I also knew it meant going back to the task at hand, finding that son of a bitch, Krukov, and ending her nightmare, once and for all. That kiss was the first time I ever made a move.”

“Good enough for me.” Carver sits back down and plops his feet on the table. “You guys good with that?”

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