Page 46 of Broken

“What about the guy who helped him? Walter said he threatened his family.” I looked into Theo’s eyes.

“I assume he’s dead. Walter wouldn’t have left him alive after he got what he wanted.”

“We need to make sure his family is safe.” I didn’t know if Walter had gotten his hands on them or had just obtained some informationabout them.

“Let’s go join the others and find out.”

We started down the hallway, and I glanced one more time at Walter’s body. He would no longer be a threat to anyone.

Chapter 26

“THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD defeat us, but they were wrong,” Tobias said with a smile on his face.

I looked up at him. “Does that mean the Spiders are no longer a threat?” Even though the Cobras’ hideout had been breached, we’d decided to stay until the whole situation with the Spiders was resolved. Besides, the only reasonWalter had gotten inside was because he’d had inside help, and Tobias had made sure that would never happen again, so only the most trusted Cobras could guard or enter this place, and Tobias was the only one who could lock it down or open the front door.

“Yes. Most of them are either dead or are on the run. And Jerome was arrested earlier today.”

“How did you achieve that?” Vix eyed himcarefully.

“Mick hacked some stuff and found Jerome’s shell companies and a lot of incriminating stuff. Once we connected him to a particularly shady company, we sent everything to the cops and posted it on the Internet. Jerome doesn’t have enough influence to make something like that disappear, so I think we’re free of him for now. I made a deal with his brother so the Spiders won’t be aproblem for us.”

“That’s wonderful news.” Vix clapped her hands.

“Yeah, we can finally go back to our lives,” I said, and yet I didn’t fully believe it. “Did you locate the wife and child of that guy who Walter forced to...?”

“Yeah. They’re fine. Walter never really went after them,” Tobias said, his eyes filling with sadness. “Our victories always carry losses too. I’ll make surethat family will be cared for.”

My shoulders relaxed a little.

“Has Theo come back yet?” Vix asked.

“He should be here soon.” He hadn’t wanted to wait for confirmation that the Spiders had been defeated because he didn’t think they were a threat to him or that they had any reason to go after him, but he’d wanted to make sure there weren’t any contenders left for taking over the RosaNera, so he’d gone on a little trip. I’d texted him an hour ago, and he’d said he was on his way back, so I hoped nothing had happened to him in the meantime.

“The Rosa Nera should stay dead with my mother,” she said, her face darkening.

I nodded, because I couldn’t agree more. “You know what? I’ll text Theo and tell him to come to my apartment instead. I want to get out of here. Histexts were a bit vague, but he said there was nothing for me to worry about.”

“I want out too.” She looked over her shoulder at Seth and smiled. “We’ve been stuck down here way too long.”

“Do I still need guards with me?”

“It’s better if you keep a few by your side,” Tobias said. “Just for a couple of more weeks until we’re sure that we really have nothing to worry about.”

“Okay.Thank you.” I offered him a smile. It was time for me to finally go home, and if some gang member tried to ruin my day, I was going to be so mad.

“YOU STILL NEED BETTER security,” a voice behind me said, and I turned around to face Theo.

“You could’ve entered like a normal person.” I pulled him into an embrace and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “How was your trip?”

“Boring.”

“Did you miss me?” I gave him a look through my eyelashes.

“What do you think?” He pulled me closer to him, his hands resting low onmy back, and gave me a kiss that left me breathless.

“What did you find out?” My face grew serious.

“No one will want to take over the Rosa Nera now.”