Page 40 of Wrecker

“Change before you head home. You smell like a murder scene.”

I arched a brow. “Wasn’t one.”

“Yet,” he said with a smirk.

I peeled off my shirt and dragged the clean one over my head. My ribs protested, still sore from the blast. I wasn’t gonna complain, though. I’d earned every bruise.

“Deviant figure out the money trail?” I asked, tugging on my vest.

“Yeah,” Maverick said, tone going sharp. “It’s a fuckin’ shell game. Eclipse Insurance and the real estate group both trace back to the same parent company. So every time they ‘paid out’for damages, they just moved the money from one pocket to the other.”

“Slick,” I muttered. “Bet they thought they were really clever.”

“They did. Until you and Peyton started tugging at the seams.”

At the mention of her name, my jaw clenched. I could still feel her hands on me from that morning. Heard her whispering my name when I kissed her goodbye. Smelled her skin under my palms. I hadn’t liked leaving her alone, even locked up safely at the compound.

I suddenly noticed that Maverick had gone quiet, and the air was filled with tension.

Glancing over, I scowled.

He had that look—like he wanted to say something but knew I wasn’t gonna like it.

“You’re not gonna let me kill him, are you?”

Maverick’s sigh was slow and reluctant.

“No. Fox and Stone agreed—if we kill Calder now, it could screw everything. His disappearance would raise too many flags when the media starts picking up what we’re about to leak. The others might try to use him as a scapegoat and say he acted alone. We need him alive long enough to be exposed with the rest of the bastards.”

I didn’t reply right away.

My fists clenched, but I tried to reason with myself. Killing Calder would’ve been clean. Easy. One bullet. Done. But this wasn’t about easy. It was about ensuring the entire rotten empire crumbled. And even I couldn’t argue with some things.

“You’re right,” I said after a beat, the admission coming out like I’d eaten razor blades. “But I still wanna break his fucking spine.”

Maverick clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Save it for after the trial.”

I snorted. “That the plan? Let the court system handle it?”

He grinned. “Nah. We’re just waiting till the right eyes see the evidence. Then he’s all yours.”

That was something, at least.

He tipped his chin toward the door. “Go home to your girl. You look like shit.”

I gave a humorless laugh. “Feel like it too.”

“Seriously,” he said, stepping back. “Put this behind you for now. Give her the vest. Put a ring on her finger. Knock her up.”

I smirked. “Already got a head start on that last part.”

Maverick barked a laugh. “Wouldn’t be a true Iron Rogue if you hadn’t.”

As I grabbed my keys and started toward the exit, I paused by the heavy steel door that led back to Calder’s room. My hand tightened around the frame for a second, the urge to go back in and finish what I started riding me hard.

But I made myself walk away.

Because they were all right.

---