Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“It’s summer vacation,” I said. “Now is the time to sun it up, plan for the future, take care of business.”
“Speaking of business, we’ve got another job.” Wilder handed me his phone.
Months and months later, the new Rogues handled all the revenge commissions based on the now-dead T.O.D. Club. At first, a wave of them came in because no one confessed. They all stupidly thought I was bluffing.
When the twelfth trust-fund baby wound up in a ditch, the Royals got the hint. A mess of them moved out of Regalia, thinking they’d escape punishment, but all it did was take the franchise global. Rafael, Cato, Lucien, and Wilder dropped out of school to handle the out-of-state and overseas business.
As for the rest of the Royals, Saylor and I brought part b of the plan to her father and grandfather, who took to it easier than we expected. Any Royal who didn’t leave on their own was evicted.
Regalia, home of the über-rich and connected, was no more. The Burkhardts sent all their renters packing, then Dario donated the land and homes. Regalia was now a collection of fancy orphanages, women’s shelters, refugee housing, and housing for homeless or low-income individuals.
The stack of applications wrapped around the world when Uncle Dario announced he was donating all those mansions for practically nothing. He didn’t profit from the gesture, but he did win the presidential election by a landslide.
With the Royals scattered all over the world, making new business and social connections separate from the Royal line, that was the end of the system. Saylor didn’t protest this loudly or at all. Thanks to the text messages, she would’ve inherited a Royal line that hated her and tried to sabotage her at every turn. She accepted that it wasn’t worth the headache, and she’d keep the billions coming through her inheritance instead. Not a bad trade-off.
Saylor looked up from her lounge. “What’s the job? Anything that’d interest me?”
Well, she thought that for less than a month. Turned out, she didn’t take to having nothing to do and no one to dangle at the end of her puppet strings. She came over to the Rogue side, and I was only too happy to accept her. I’d seen firsthand how good she was at making people suffer. Why not use her dark gifts for good?
“Stepfather married her rich mother, they went on vacation, Mom suffered a freak accident, and then a new will appeared that gave him everything and cut the kids out,” Wilder explained. “They know he killed her and forged the will, but there’s no proof. They want to hire us to get the money back... and make sure he has a freak accident too.”
“That does interest me. Give it here,” Saylor said, requesting the phone. “And get me a piña colada too. Extra pineapple with a straw. Don’t doddle.”
I rolled my eyes. “Saylor, it’s both irritating and admirable how steadfastly you, you are.”
She shrugged, returning to her sunbathing.
Twisting around, I landed on Rafael, Cato, and Lucien chatting at the beach bar.
“I’m glad they took time away from the search and joined us,” Victor said softly. “Their mom is good. Not even we can find her.”
I nodded. It crushed my heart when I had to tell Rafael and Cato that their search for their mother’s killer was over. She wasn’t actually dead.
To say they didn’t handle the news well was an understatement. Cato went on an arson spree, burning down every place connected to their mother, and Rafael straight denied it. He said he wouldn’t believe their own mother blew them up to cover her fake death until he heard it from her.
Unfortunately, after that fateful night with Everleigh, Everton and Sasha left their small town and went deeper into hiding. We still hadn’t found them.
“They needed this,” I said. “Good food, the beach, and surrounded by everyone who loves them. Finding out your own mother carelessly tossed away your life would put anyone in a dark place.”
Rafael saw me looking and smiled. The three of them came over.
“You gonna keep eyeballing me, gorgeous, then I’ll have to invite you for a walk down the beach.”
I giggled. “Fine by me.”
Victor and Wilder stood up too, to join us. Wilder plopped Liam on Saylor.
“Wolfgang and Adonis will be back soon,” Wilder said. “They went to grab food.”
Liam bounced on her lap. “Auntie Saylor, Auntie Saylor, swim with me.”
“I’m not your aunt, kid,” she said, even while dropping everything and carrying him to the water, peppering his face with kisses the whole way. Liam loved Saylor even more than he loved me, and she loved him back.
The six of us set off down the beach.
“Can you believe how far we’ve come?” I mused. “Everything’s changed so quickly. I barely remember that girl you guys kidnapped from the ABC party.”