A Matter Of Justice (Grey Justice #4)(73)

The quickness with which she answered told him she’d been thinking about it already. And her answer didn’t surprise him. He had known this day would come. He had thought about doing it himself. He certainly had the wherewithal to destroy the place where she’d been abused and tortured. But he had waited, wanting her to come to that conclusion on her own.

He had forced the issue of ridding the world of Hill Reed. It wasn’t in him to regret the man’s death, but he damn well regretted what it had done to Irelyn, and to them.

A slender hand covered his own. He glanced down and marveled that something so lovely, so delicate-looking had the strength to fight such brutal evil. She was deceptively soft, deceptively fragile. There wasn’t a weak bone in this woman’s body.

Something settled within him, lessening his worry. They would do this, and they would win, because they would be doing it together.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He squeezed her hand. “Together.”





Chapter Thirty





Hill House

England





“The intel is credible?” The question was rhetorical. Gibson would never dare come to him without verifiable proof.

“Do you remember Ivy Roane?”

How could he forget the woman Reed had created to ease his obsession with Irelyn Raine? The woman had been a pale imitation and a liability from the start.

“Yes, but what does Roane have to do with finding Raine and Justice?”

“She left detailed notes on all her contracts. The last one was the Mendoza and Bianchi debacle.”

Debacle indeed. She had played everyone against one another, and in the end, everyone but the target had been killed, including Roane.

“Mendoza’s granddaughter was hidden away in a house in the Colorado mountains. The house is owned by various shell corporations. Every time we uncover one, it leads to another one.”

The people who worked for him knew that he was not a tolerant man. He had eliminated more than one employee for trying his patience. “Get to the point, Gibson.”

The man’s Adam’s apple convulsed as he took a nervous gulp. “Yes, sir. It’s a bit complicated, sir, but the point is, Jonah Slater is rumored to be closely associated with Justice. We believe Justice provided this place as a safe house to Slater and the Mendoza woman.”

“And what makes you think Raine and Justice are there, in Colorado?”

Breathing a little easier, Gibson went on. “Justice has three houses in his name, Raine has two. They also have one together in Italy. There’s been no activity at any of these houses, so we know they didn’t go there.”

“And?”

“When Justice’s private plane left Dallas, the pilot had to file a flight plan. It’s taken a few days to find someone to hack the records. We—”

“Gibson,” he warned.

“Sorry, sir. Um.” He looked down as if checking his notes. The man was a brilliant researcher, but had no stones when it came to this kind of work. Maybe he should just kill him right here, right now. Release a little tension. Maybe he should—

“They flew to Colorado, sir.”

Thoughts of eliminating Gibson disappeared from his mind. In fact, he might just give the man a bonus.

“Send me the information. I’ll take it from here.”

“Yes, sir, thank you.” The man practically ran from the room.

Sebastian waited until the door closed behind Gibson to do a triumphant fist pump. It was going to happen. Grey Justice would soon have a new claim to fame. Murdered billionaire. It was going to be a spectacular takedown. While his people had been trying to find them, Sebastian had been busy planning. He was a detailed, meticulous—some might say anal-retentive—planner who left nothing to chance.

Justice would die, and Sebastian Dark would claim victory.

And then he could concentrate on something lovelier, something deliciously dark and deadly. He would have Irelyn Raine brought here, back to where she had begun. It was only fitting that the justice she so deserved be meted out here. He already had everything prepared. He just needed his unwilling participant.



Colorado Mountains





Lying in bed with Irelyn, wrapped in each other’s arms, Grey stared into the darkness. Her easy, shallow breathing told him she was in a deep, dreamless sleep. That was a miracle in itself. Too many nights he had held her as nightmares overtook her, tortured her. They had lessened through the years, but on occasion, they would attack without warning. When he was with her, he could bring her back, ground her in reality. When she had been away from him, he knew she had battled them on her own. He didn’t want that to ever happen again.

They had talked about the future, but only in abstract ways. He wanted something more, something different than what they’d had. Something concrete. What that looked like, he wasn’t quite sure yet. He knew only that whatever she faced, whether it was a nightmare she needed to be woken from, or an endangered child she needed to save, he wanted to be with her.

This week had been a good start. It had been all about them, all about being together, working together. Tomorrow afternoon, they would go to the airport, where their plane would be waiting. They would fly into London, gather the supplies they needed, and then they’d move on Dark. There would be no going back.