“What?”

  Everyone exploded, but Peter’s outburst overrode the entire room.

  Seraphina turned those defiant eyes his way. “She made me clean my mouth out with soap. She picked my friends, did you know that?”

  My stomach rolled over.

  I wanted to throw up.

  “She told them to pick on me. She’s the one who created that website where they ranked everyone in our class, and she knew I could see it. She’s the one who put that my personality needed work. It would’ve gotten worse except Bailey hacked into it and my mom was too scared to type it in again. She thought Bailey would look again, see it came from her, and would show it to you, Dad. That never happened, but…” She looked at me, and I was bowled over. “Thank you for doing that. I never felt like I could really tell you how much it helped, but it did. Those girls weren’t as mean to me as they were before. And Kash, I’m sorry that I liked Victoria. I know she was friends with Mom, and I know she was your ex, but I overheard that she was mean to Bailey and I’m really sorry about liking her. But sometimes … sometimes I didn’t like her at all.”

  Kash leaned forward. “That’s why you’ve been nervous around me?” he asked quietly.

  She nodded, her head almost jerking forward at an awkward angle. “I felt bad. I’m really sorry.”

  I had no idea what conversation she had overheard, or when, but I wanted to just grab her and hold her forever.

  “Ser.”

  She looked back up at him.

  “You don’t have to feel bad about anything. Okay? I think of you as my little sister, and that will never change.”

  “Never?” A whisper from her.

  “Never.”

  She sat up a little higher, her entire face brightening up. “Okay.” Still a whisper, but it was progress.

  “Those girls aren’t mean anymore because I told them what you did, Bailey,” Cyclone said. He was looking at me, too, and I continued to be bowled over. “I made them scared of you, told them you could hack into their parents’ bank accounts if you wanted, and no one would know.”

  Matt snorted in a choked-off laugh.

  I ignored him, reeling from what both had just said.

  One. Two. Both with punches, because both were looking at me with such conviction, such strength.

  Cyclone kept going. “I told them that they better watch what they say. If I heard one whisper they were being mean to my sister, I was going to sic my other sister on them. I told them even the FBI knew about your skills and gave you a wide berth.”

  Okay. That was funny.

  My mouth twitched. I heard a low chuckle from Matt.

  Seraphina was gazing at her plate and her bottom lip was trembling.

  I couldn’t take it.

  I shoved back my chair, was around that table in a flash, and I had both my arms around my little siblings. They were sitting next to each other, but moved in with me, hugging me back.

  Cyclone let go first, and I heard a little giggle from him.

  Seraphina wound her other arm around my neck. She whispered into my neck, “I love you, Bailey.”

  Oh. Damn.

  I was gone. Blubbering.

  A mess.

  My bottom lip was the one trembling now.

  I eased back and smoothed down her hair, smiling at her. “You are so beautiful and so kind and you have the best soul I think I have come across. Anything Quinn told you was wrong. If you need to fact check me, look at where she’s at right now. Not here. Not with her family. She did that, no one else. She is not the victim. She is not misunderstood. She hurt people, and because of that, she lost the two greatest things she’s ever done in her life. You two. What your aunt said is right. You can still love her. You know that, right? You can miss her. But she hurt people, and she needs to atone for that.”

  Seraphina’s hands came up and gripped mine where they were resting on her shoulders. She squeezed them, saying gently, “I know.”

  Good Lord.

  I loved this little teenager.

  Cyclone’s hand snuck into mine and pulled it from Seraphina’s shoulder. He squeezed. “After dinner tonight, can you help me with a computer project?”

  “Of course.” I squeezed his hand back.

  “I want to learn how to hack into my gym teacher’s emails. I want to get a pass so I can join the next robotics class, and it’s only offered during gym. It’s not fair.”

  Matt said, “Maybe wait until you’re not at dinner with the adults to ask that, bud.”

  “Why not?”

  “Cyclone, your sister won’t be helping you with your computer project after dinner. You and me, we’ll be having a talk instead,” Peter said.

  “That’s why,” said Matt.

  Seraphina giggled. “You got in truh-bull. Truh-bull.”

  She kept snickering, and it was contagious. Everyone was sporting a grin.

  I think it was the best dinner I’d ever had.

  There was only one person missing.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Kash

  I was back with my team, and over the last few weeks, we found the rest of Calhoun’s hidden locations. Bailey helped us find them a lot faster than we expected.

  Safe houses. Warehouses. His or someone else’s that he used as his.

  We destroyed them.

  Each one was isolated and so off the grid that I didn’t know when Calhoun would find out about them, but it would take time. I wished I could be there when he was told.

  Josh came to the back of our motel room, sitting on the bed beside my table. He let out a sigh, unclasping his holster and putting both his guns on the other side of my laptop. “Derek called. He said Victoria’s detoxed. Wanted to know what you wanted done with her?”

  I hadn’t trusted Victoria, so I sent her off with two of my guys. Their orders were to find Robbie, who would get in touch with Ace, who had more friends with places that were completely off the grid. She went to one of those locations, and whoever Ace trusted was getting paid a lot of money to not only detox Victoria but also to deprogram her, since she’d been brainwashed. She’d been spewing pro-Calhoun sentiments when we had her at our first headquarters. Deprogramming was the way to go.

  “Is she still pro-Calhoun?”

  He grinned, stretching his neck so it cracked. “I don’t think she’s pro-Calhoun, but she’s still anti-you, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  I lifted my arms up over my head, clasping them, stretching them. Sitting in the motel room for the last two days put knots in places I didn’t enjoy. “I can work with that. Is she showing remorse?”

  “Over what?”

  I dropped my arms, eyeing him. “Derek didn’t say anything about that?”

  Josh shook his head. “Ace was the one who talked to Derek, said your ex was done and ready to be moved for whatever you wanted for her.”

  I glanced at my phone. Bailey’s picture was there, smiling up at me.

  Josh fell silent.

  I shoved up from the chair, grabbing my own gun and sliding my phone into my pocket. Josh was watching my movements but kept quiet.

  “Have we gotten word about my brother or what Calhoun is planning next?” I asked, while holstering my second gun.

  Harden had asked to meet in person, but when we got in touch, he said he needed more time. So that’s what we were doing; we were waiting.

  I was getting sick of waiting.

  “Still radio silence from Harden, but the other team called earlier. They found someone who got wind of your brother, but I gotta say…”

  I stopped in my movements and looked at him.

  He was grim. “Your brother’s like a ghost. He’s like you, maybe better.”

  “He’s laying low. I was a ghost, standing next to Peter Francis. He was a ghost when no one knew to look for him.”

  Josh stood from the bed as I was heading for the motel door. “You’re not worried about him?”

  I reached for the doorknob, but paused and looked back. “I am, but so far he’s not going after the people I love.” Bailey. Matt. The Francis family. “When he said he hated our grandfather more than me, I felt it.”

  Josh’s eyes narrowed. “And about Victoria?”

  “Let me think on her.” I opened the door. “I’ll be back.”

  We were in the middle of nowhere, a back section of woods in North Carolina. A perimeter was established, but I needed to move. I needed to exert myself.

  I needed to punish myself.

  I had to run, and like two days earlier, I just started.

  It wasn’t enough. It never was.

  I sparred at home. I swam to tire myself.

  If those didn’t work, I would wake Bailey and bring her and myself to a climax over and over again. There was a drive in me, one I didn’t want, one I cursed, one that was a blessing, one that kept me going and going and going.

  It’d always been there.

  I had trained that drive into a thirst against my grandfather. He was always the target. He morphed my life, and I let him. I used his image, his threat, to mold me into who I was today. Bailey said I was half animal. Maybe. A half monster, too? Probably. Either way, I had to move and go, and I had to sweat until I wanted to collapse, and at the end of that, I would keep going, because I always had more in me.

  Always.

  And tonight, I was just starting.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Bailey

  “You know what I was thinking about today?” Matt was sitting next to me on a bench, and we were getting attention. He didn’t care. He slumped down, almost looking bored.

  Not me.

  I was fully aware of how much attention was coming our way, but that was our plan.

  We were sitting on a bench outside Quinn’s trial. It was closed and we weren’t allowed inside, on everyone’s request, but Matt wasn’t okay with that. Well, he wasn’t okay with anything when it came to Quinn, so here we were, sitting on a bench, getting cameras and phones pointed our way for pictures and recordings. People wanted to know why we were there, but mostly Matt wanted Quinn to know we were there.

  Me, I had my own plan, and it was dumb. It was really, really dumb.

  We were doing it anyway.

  “Bailey. You’re supposed to ask, ‘No, my Genius Brother. What were you thinking today?’”

  “Right.” I moved my head up and down in a clip. “No, my Genius Brother. What were you thinking?”

  He smacked my leg, a full grin on his face. “I was wondering how long it’s been since you got laid?”

  I spit.

  Whatever was in my mouth, it landed on someone walking by us. Gum. Spit. Water from a bottle I just drank out of and hadn’t fully swallowed. It was all gone, and after throwing a distracted apology at the passerby, I turned to face my brother squarely.

  He remained slumped down in the bench, lounging to be more accurate. His legs were out and he had angled his body so he was taking over half the bench. He was dressed in faded jeans, but they were still the expensive kind, sneakers that weren’t available in stores yet, and a sweatshirt that had a logo celebrities were starting to wear on their social media. I knew what he looked like: a rich, cocky dick. And it was working. A few girls on the other side of the hall were watching Matt. They kept sneaking pictures and whispering to each other. But it wasn’t like we were trying to be incognito. The whole point of us being there was to get recognized and get the word out that we were there.

  My neck was hot.

  Had someone put a heater on in the hallway? In the middle of the winter?

  I fanned myself with my hand and scooted farther down on the bench from him. “Why’s that your business?”

  “It’s not.” His smirk grew even cockier. “But I was thinking you’re not the type to step out, and your man’s been gone, so…” He was eyeing me, studying me.

  “What?”

  “How cranky are you going to be after we do this thing today?”

  “This thing” was our so-stupid and so-not-genius-like plan, and I knew we were dumb to even be considering it, let alone to actually be here. And once those doors opened and Quinn showed, I knew we would put it in motion. Matt looked laid back in whatever too-cool image he was displaying, but he was tense and alert and primed to attack Quinn.

  “After? What are you talking about?” A thought hit me. “And where’s Tony? You said he’s the one who can pull this off.”

  “I did.” At that moment, Matt sat up, nodding to a crowd gathering in the hallway. “He’s here.”

  “This is so stupid,” I muttered, my heart rate suddenly spiking.

  I straightened up, too, rubbing my hands up and down my jeans, trying to dry the sweat off of them to no avail. That sweat was going to be there until we were done, in the car, and safe. Preferably not in handcuffs. “Matt.” A sudden burst of newly frenzied panic hit me hard. He was starting to stand up, but I grabbed his shirt. I yanked him to me. “Let’s not do this! We’ll get arrested. We’ll get—”

  A presence had stepped up to us, and Matt pried my hands off of him, standing fully at the same time. Once I let him go completely, he stepped back and looked at Tony. “Cutting it close, Cottweiler.”

  Tony rolled his eyes, raking a hand through his hair. “Whatever, Francis. I didn’t think you wanted people to know I was here. ’Cause, you know.”

  “No!” I stood, stepping up to them and perhaps raising my voice louder than necessary. “’Cause you know what? ’Cause I think I should know, know whatever it is that Matt knows that I don’t know.” Yep. I was now shrill. “What should I know?”

  Tony’s eyebrows went high. “Dude.” He stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s freaking out.” He inclined his head toward me. “You’re not even doing shit. What’s your issue?”

  My eyes were bugging out.

  I wasn’t going to do shit?

  What did he just say?

  I wasn’t—I wasn’t?

  Matt coughed, stepping into both of us and bumping us both back. He hissed under his breath, “Shut up, you guys. And dude, who do you think is doing the hacking? And Bailey, calm down. We have done this before, and it will be fine. Do not worry.”

  Do not worry.

  Like hell, do not worry.

  The crowd was getting bigger and bigger. That only meant one thing: they were finishing for the day.

  “I cannot sit in the jail cell next to Quinn. I can’t do it! I won’t stand for it!” I hissed.

  The doors opened, and it was too late.

  I knew the plan. They knew the plan. And those doors opening set the plan in motion.

  The crowd tripled in size. It was chaos. Flashes were going off. People were shouting questions. People were shoving. And for once, the attention was no longer on us.

  I loved that.

  Maybe this wasn’t such a dumb plan after all.

  But then Matt was shoving through the crowd.

  I was still standing back, but he turned, grabbed my arm, and dragged me behind him.

  I glanced for Tony, but he was already doing his part. He was skimming the back end of the crowd, and he was hunching down so I was close to losing him in the crowd.

  Wow. He was good at this. They really had done this before.

  Fitz was on the outskirts. He and Scott were both watching us. Both wearing slight frowns. Both looking resigned to letting us do whatever we were going to do. They’d been like that since Kash left, so I assumed either they hadn’t been given orders to directly stop us from doing certain things or they were given the opposite order—protect from afar, but still let us do idiotic things.

  Quinn’s lawyers were leaving the room, Quinn right behind them.

  I had another burst of fear and grabbed for Matt’s shirt. He stepped out from the last edges of the crowd, and his shirt slipped right through my fingers.

  Was that fate?

  At first, they didn’t see us.

  They kept going.

  Matt stepped even more out of the crowd, right in their way now.

  The first lawyer guy had no option. He was blocked, but his glance was distracted as he began to move around Matt. Then recognition flared and he ground to a halt. He was raising his briefcase, but I was certain that was a reflex, because he didn’t do anything with it, just held it up to his chest and looked at his partner.

  They’d all seen Matt.

  Eyes slid to his right, and there I was.

  Now cameras were swinging back to us, because apparently they’d forgotten we were present, and I had a thought in the back of my mind that the whole reason we came ahead of time hadn’t worked. Word had not gotten to Quinn, because both of her lawyers looked shocked to see us.

  They were dressed in their sleek business suits. One lawyer had a head of white hair. The second lawyer was younger, his black hair combed back, and I wondered if he was sleeping with Quinn. Seemed like her type; he was very Drew Bonham-ish.

  Then there was Quinn. She had paused behind the two lawyers. They closed ranks, as we knew they would, and the younger guy tugged at his collar.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “There’s to be no interaction between your family and our client.”

  Matt was talking.

  I wasn’t paying attention to his words, but I heard his tone. It was the same voice he used when he wanted to get a reaction, when he wanted to piss someone off. He was doing it amazingly, because the white-haired lawyer went all rigid. Quinn, too. Her gaze had been latched on me, but whatever Matt said, Quinn’s head snapped to his and she began to step forward.

  That’s when it happened.

  The guy in the black hoodie, his head slouched down, moved behind Quinn. There was a surge in the crowd, and I knew it had been created by him, but also by the press suddenly jostling forward to get whatever Matt was saying on camera, and Tony was there.

  And he was gone.