Page 48 of Revelation

“Both,” Henn says.

“Fan-fucking-tastic.”

What are they talking about? My brain is struggling to process. The Maksim guy who got killed is obviously that creepy Max guy who ordered the hit on Sarah and demanded a freebie from her. Well, good riddance to that bastard and may he rot in hell. But who’s the other guy who died in the raid? Yuri something? Sarah mentioned a Yuri during our meeting with Agent Eric, I think—yeah, it was when Henn played that voicemail from her attacker—

I gasp. Holy shitballs. I just got it.Both. Henn meant that both men directly responsible for the hit on Sarah died today.

My entire body erupts in goose bumps.

Oh my God.

I don’t know how Jonas did it—and what Josh and Henn had to do with it, but those two bad-guys biting the dust today doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. It seems I’m not watching a news story unfold on the television screen—I’m watching a PR campaign.

“Josh,” I blurt. But before I can say another word, he’s standing next to me, pulling me up from my chair, and enfolding me in his muscled arms.

“We did it,” he breathes into my lips. “We saved the world.” With that, he kisses me with such ferocious intensity, my knees buckle.

When Josh breaks away from kissing me, he moves on to Henn, wrapping him in a massive bear hug. “Thank you,” he mumbles into Henn’s ear. “You’re my brother for life, man.”

My heart pangs at the earnest tone of Josh’s voice. If I didn’t realize it before now, today’s victory obviously meant something deeply personal for him.

Josh’s phone rings and he pulls away from Henn, rubbing his face. “Yo,” he says into the phone. “Yeah, we just saw it.” He presses his lips together, obviously containing his emotion. “I’m so proud of you, Jonas. You left no stone unturned.” He listens. “I know. We can finally breathe again... No, no, no. Don’t second-guess yourself, man. It was the perfect measure of force—like a fucking sniper.” He listens for long beat. “Wow. I didn’t know if they’d go for that. Fucking fantastic.” He beams a smile at Henn and me. “Yeah, they’re both standing right here. I’ll let you tell them yourself. Hey, guys. Jonas has some exceedingly good news for you.”

Josh hands the phone to Henn, a huge smile on his face, and puts his arm around me.

“Hey, big guy—congrats,” Henn says into the phone. “You’re welcome. I told you, I always wear a white hat.” He listens and his eyes go wide. “Tax free? Are you kidding me? Oh my God.” Henn looks at me, grinning from ear to ear. “Guess what Kitty Kat? We’re each getting our million bucks completelytax-free.”

“Tax free?” I shriek—and then I promptly burst into gigantic, soggy tears.

Josh embraces me and I wrap my arms around his neck, sobbing like a kid on her first day of kindergarten.

“Looks like you’ll be opening that PR firm sooner than you thought,” Josh coos into my ear. He kisses my wet cheeks and then my lips. “Ssh,” he says gently, stroking my back. “You did so good today, babe. You deserve every penny. You kicked ass.”

Clearly, he thinks I’m crying about the money. And I am. That’s a shitload of money. Holy shitballs, especially tax-free. But that’s not the biggest reason I’m crying, I don’t think. Mostly, I think I’m just relieved that the threat of danger to Sarah (and myself) is now, finally, blessedly, over. And I’m also sobbing with relief that I’m almost certainly not gonna get carted off to prison today—which is good, because God help me if I had to call my dad from jail. And, finally, I think I’m crying for no other reason than the fact that Ireally, reallyneed a full eight hours of sleep. Holy Sleep Deprivation, Batman—I can’t keep going like this. Even the Party Girl With a Hyphen needs to freakingsleepoccasionally, for the love of God!

“Aw, babe, ssh,” Josh coos, cradling me in his strong arms and kissing my tears. “This is great news—nothing to cry about.”

But my body won’t stop wracking with sobs. I squeeze Josh tighter and press myself into his broad chest with all my might.

Josh chuckles and squeezes back, kissing every inch of my salty, wet, snotty face, and whispers in my ear. “We did it, babe. It’s over now.” He puts his lips right against my ear. “Well, this settles it once and for all: you’ve definitely got a vagina.”

I burst out laughing through my sobs, and he laughs with me, holding me close.

After a moment, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and when I pull my nose out of Josh’s neck, Henn’s holding up the phone to me. “Sarah wants to talk to you for sec.”

I wipe my eyes and take the phone from Henn.

“Hi, babycakes,” I say. “Congratulations.”

“Kitty Kat!” Sarah shrieks. “You’re a mill-i-on-aire!”

I laugh and wipe my eyes again. “So I’ve heard,” I squeak out, my voice cracking. “I can’t believe it.”

“Aw, Kat,” Sarah says, her voice breaking along with mine. “You were so brave today.”

“Oh my God, Sarah, no, I wasn’t brave at all,” I reply. “I was totally crapping my pants the whole time.”

Sarah laughs. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

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