Sweet Retribution (Rydeville High Elite #3)(105)

The mood is somber when we make it back to the rented house a half hour later.

Mom is drained, and Sylvia is distraught now she’s come out of her alcohol bubble and realized her son is dead.

She knew he was a monster, but he was still her baby.

Mom is doing her best to console her, but she’s dead on her feet. Sawyer shows them to a guest room. Mom helps Sylvia undress and get into bed while I fetch them some hot chocolate. I give Mom some of my things, because she has nothing, hugging her close before I say goodnight.

When I return to the living room, everyone is drinking, and I happily accept the beer Kai hands me before sinking onto his lap and clinging to his warmth. Shandra is similarly situated in Drew’s lap, and he’s running his hand up and down her arm.

“I know it sucks,” Xavier says, sitting cross-legged on the ground, trading a joint back and forth with Jackson. “But we should focus on the positives. We still did a lot of good today.”

“I agree with Xavier,” Shandra says. “What we pulled off today has thrown a spotlight on Parkhurst and thrown the elite into chaos. It won’t be business as usual for them anymore, and they’re going to be dealing with the fallout for a long time.”

“But we haven’t succeeded in ending them the way we’d hoped,” I say.

“We made good progress today,” Sawyer says, sipping his old-fashioned. “And no one says it has to end here. We’ve seen what we can achieve when we pool our efforts. We can continue the work we started today.”

“That fucking bastard got away,” Jackson spits out, his hands balling into fists. “I had the shot, but that bastard son of his fucking ruined it.”

The FBI confirmed both Christian Montgomery and Atticus Anderson are MIA.

“But you took Trent out,” Xavier says.

“He wasn’t the main target,” Jackson snaps. The weed isn’t affecting him the way it usually does, and he’s highly strung and clearly on edge.

“It’s still one less asshole in the world,” I say, and I mean it.

That bastard was going to murder me with no regrets, and Charlie got hurt in the process. I have no sympathy for how things turned out for my nasty ex–fiancé. Trent put me through years of torment, and he was hell bent on making my life miserable into the future so I’m not sorry he’s dead. The choices he made in life led him to an early death.

His death also gets rid of Alessandra Mathers. The authorities confirmed that Denton, his wife, Alessandra, Isabella, and Giselle have been cleared to return home to Alabama. The women had left the auditorium the minute everything turned to shit, and although Denton got into it with Drew, he didn’t shoot anyone or do anything they can hold him with. His high-powered lawyers rocked up to release him, and there wasn’t anything more the police could do.

“Two,” Drew says. “Dad’s dead too.”

“I know I should be happy about that,” I honestly admit. “But I’m pissed Christian took that from me. I wanted to see him locked in jail.”

“I wanted to beat his ass until he was inhaling blood,” Kai says. “But it’s better this way. Because he was a sly son of a bitch, and he might have wriggled out of a conviction.”

“I’m happy he’s dead,” Drew says, sipping his beer. “I hope he’s rotting in the fiery pits of hell.” His facial expression softens, and he looks to me. “And we got Mom back. That’s our greatest personal success today.”

Happy tears prick my eyes as I nod, and Kai holds me closer.

Silence descends then, but it’s companionable. It’s been some day.

“Any news on Charlie?” I ask Xavier, after a few moments. I love how in sync my bestie is, because he’d already hacked into the hospital system before I asked him to.

“He’s still in surgery,” he says, confirming what Kai’s bodyguard had already communicated.

“I should go there,” I say.

“He’s not your responsibility,” Kai says, making a deliberate effort to soften his tone.

“He took a bullet for me, Kai,” I say, peering into his eyes. “And he’s all alone in the hospital. It doesn’t feel right.”

He thinks about it for a moment. “You’re right.” He nods. “But there’s no point going tonight. He won’t know we’re there if he’s in surgery. We’ll go first thing in the morning.”

Kai holds me close all night, and his warm arms lull me into a deep sleep.

He wakes me at seven a.m. with a soft kiss. “Morning, baby.”

I yawn, stretching my arms up over my head. “Morning, sexy.” I yank him down on top of me, licking a line up the side of his neck.

“You’re killing me, babe,” he says, propping up on his elbows. “I want nothing more than to bury myself balls deep inside you, but Charlie just came out of surgery. I thought you wanted to go to the hospital to be there when he wakes.”

Screw morning breath. I grab Kai’s head down to mine, smashing my lips against his mouth for a quick, hard kiss. “I fucking love you so much. You’re one of the most selfless people I know.”

“I love you too.” A wide smile graces his mouth. “And you know what this means. We can make plans. We have a future. We can get a house, and go to college, and have babies.” He caresses my cheek. “And I get to make love to you every morning for the rest of my life, so I can forgo this morning, because I owe Charlie.”