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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

JASPER

Refusing painkillers after getting shot may not be my best decision making, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this fuckery drag me back down the dark path I’ve worked so hard to end. “When can I take more ibuprofen?” I ask Falin. She’s been at her desk monitoring the police investigations. All of them—the warehouse, the fire, Orlov’s death. She’s kept tabs on Fairfax too. So much work that I can’t keep it all straight in my fuzzy head. Thankfully with her and everyone else on top of things, I don’t have to.

“Not for another two hours.” She sinks onto the bed beside me, and I clench my jaw against the pain that ripples through me at the slightest movement. “Do you need anything else? A drink or a snack?”

I know she hates to see me in pain. If I wasn’t such a selfish bastard, I’d tell her to leave me here alone, not that she’d listen, but I’d try.

I gesture toward the end table where a Gatorade, a water, and a lukewarm cup of coffee sit untouched next to a box of protein bars and package of Oreos. “I think I’m all good there. Come closer, I want to feel you.”

She hums and as gently as possible, inches closer, resting her head on my chest. Her fingers trail circles over my pecs, and down until she reaches my upper ribs. “You don’t have to be so hard on yourself. If you need them, you need them. We’ll work through it when you’re healed.”

Her gentle voice and matching touch almost makes me want to relent. “No. I’ll be fine. The pain’s less every day.” She moves to kiss my jaw but I hold her cheek, kissing her sweet lips until I groan with need. “The worst part is not being able to fuck you like I want.”

“Just because you can’t doesn’t mean I can’t,” she says with a devilish gleam in her eye that makes my cock hard in spite of the pain. “You just lay there and let me take care of you.”

“Fuck, baby, don’t look at me like that. You’re going to kill me.” She sits up and pulls her shirt over her head, baring her gorgeous tits. My mouth waters as she trails her fingers over her nipples, toying with me. She crawls down the bed, slowly so she doesn’t jostle me. Not that the pain matters right now, I want her too badly.

She arches a brow. “At least you’ll die a happy man.” Her fingers gently reach beneath the waistband of my shorts, shimmying them down just enough. “With your cock in my mouth.”

Fucking hell. “You don’t have to?—”

“Shh. What makes you think I don’t want this as much as you?” She wraps her soft hand around my length, pumping up and down. “That I’m not soaking wet picturing the taste of your cum running down my throat?”

Her mouth. Christ. It’s a miracle I don’t come on the spot.

“Trouble,” I groan. “You’re so goddamn hot.”

She spits on my tip, getting it nice and wet, before pressing her tits together and sliding my cock between them. So soft and warm and oh fuck… I can’t lift my hips like that. I must wince because she stops, sitting back with worry in her eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. Never, baby.” I breathe through the pain. “I’m an idiot and moved my hips and?—”

She holds my hip down with gentle firmness and I see the shift in her eyes, the intensity. Her other hand starts to fist my cock again, but her eyes hold mine. “If you move, I stop.”

My chest heaves. I love this side of her. Bossy and in control. I nod, knowing staying still will be even harder now. She hovers over my cock, spitting on my head again, her warm saliva dripping down my shaft. I fight between closing my eyes and keeping them wide open, watching her every move.

“Good boy.” The second my cock slides between her plump lips, I almost lose it. Grabbing the sheets to stop from moving, I groan. Her head bobs as she takes me deep, humming and moaning like she loves every single inch of my length hitting her throat.

Her cheeks hollow as she sucks, her hand pumping my shaft. “Baby, your mouth is too good. I’m gonna come.”

She ups her pace and I feel it all at once, my balls tighten, my hips instinctively lift, and I spill every drop down her throat with a groan that could wake the dead. I don’t care if I’ll be sore. I don’t care if I might have pulled my stitches. Her sucking me dry is worth every second of pain.

I watch her swallow, her tongue darting out to catch an escaped dribble and my chest swells. How’d I get so lucky? “Have I told you how much I love you?”

Pulling up my shorts, she laughs. “Just a couple times.” She kisses my chest, right over my heart. “I love you too, dummy.”

“There she is. My Trouble.” I pull her in, too in love to care about the pain as my abdominals clench, and kiss her like she’s mine.

* * *

After three weeks of laying low and healing, one of the first things I want to do, now that I’ve gotten the all clear to move around, is check in on the victims we saved from the house in the Bronx. I want to see their faces as we tell them the bad man is gone forever.

They don’t need to know about the others yet—the countless monsters still out there. That knowledge will come soon enough. They’ve been through unimaginable things… the kind I can’t even let myself picture Bailey enduring without bile rising to the back of my throat. They deserve whatever childhood they have left. Before we go to London and continue our search, I need to know they will be okay.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I ask Leon. He’s been on the computer nonstop since that night, which isn’t out of character for him, but he’s been quieter than usual.

I know he blames himself for Ray’s death, for the deaths of the four others. It’s no more his fault than it is any of ours, but he’s Leon. It’ll take time until he sees that.

“I’ve just been going over those financial records again,” Leon says, his voice rough from lack of sleep. The harsh computer light shows every minute of insomnia under his eyes as Falin sits beside him.

She peers at his monitor. “What did you find?”

“It’s all right here.” A slight smile curves the corner of his lips, the first one I’ve seen in days. “The money trail. I’m going to take him down.”

I hover next to him, trying to see what they see. “Talk to us.”

“Look at this.” He clicks away on his keyboard, pulling up account statements and wire transfers. “Every shell company, every front business like that club we took out, they all lead back to these three accounts. And the beautiful thing?” He highlights a line of transactions. “They’re all right there. Not hidden. Or at least, not hidden well .”

Falin leans closer. “You found a vulnerability?”

“More than one.” Leon locks in, his voice grows louder as he explains. “Their entire system relies on moving money through a series of go-betweens before it reaches its final destination. But they got sloppy. Started reusing the same paths, same timing.”

“Can you get in? Move that money?” I ask, trying to understand even a fraction of what he’s saying.

“Working on it, but yes.” His eyes meet mine, focused and intense. “And I’m going to redirect every last penny. We can help those girls, Ray’s family, all his guys too. Whatever else, I’ll make sure to send to other organizations.”

Falin squeezes his shoulder. “You’re kinda brilliant, you know that? In a Bond villain sort of way.”

“It won’t bring them back,” Leon says quietly, his hand rubbing his tired eyes. “It won’t change what they’ve gone through.”

“No,” Falin agrees. “But it’s a start.”

“Do your thing, you British mastermind,” I say. “Let’s make Orlov wish he never touched Bailey.”

We sit in silence for a moment, watching as Leon’s code slowly dismantles the empire Orlov built, piece by digital piece. I have no fucking clue what he’s doing, or how, but damn if I’m not blown away.

I think about Bailey, and every other victim we couldn’t save. The ones from the gala… the photos on the drive. We have to find a way to help as many as we can.

Falin grabs the cat carrier from the bedroom, breaking me away from my thoughts.

“Did you say your goodbyes?” I ask Leon, pulling my gaze away from the screen. He raises a brow. “The kittens,” I add. “You know we talked about this last week.”

“Shit.” He drags his hand down his face with a sigh. “Completely slipped my mind. You’re certain about this?”

No. They’re my children. I saved them from death, nursed them to health. They carried me through my darkest hours. “I am. If we’re going to London, we can’t bring them with us.”

Leon rises and stretches, scooping Havoc from her spot on the cat tower. He hugs her close to his cheek, inhaling her kitten scent. I swear it’s better than drugs. “About that.”

“About what?” Falin asks, coming to our side.

“I was thinking I should head to London first, scope things out. Stay with my mum while I hunt down a decent flat. Reach out to some contacts there.”

He returns Havoc to her tower and she curls up, a perfect little puff ball. “What are we supposed to do here?”

I can’t stand more waiting, especially knowing Bailey’s most likely not even in this country anymore. Leon glances between Falin and me, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. “I’m sure you two can keep busy.”

“You really shouldn’t travel that far yet,” Falin says. “Plus, you have another follow up with the surgeon in a few weeks.”

“Have you run this by Damon?” I ask. These decisions usually involve all of us. The thought of Leon across a damn ocean alone, potentially getting into trouble, doesn’t sit well with me. Yes, he can handle himself, but he prefers to keep to his desk, managing things from behind his screen. I don’t know if he has what it takes to kill if he needs to. Not like me or Damon.

“Spoke to him earlier, before they went out.” He exhales. “Look, I’ll be honest. The atmosphere here is getting a bit too… coupley. I need some space… just for a few weeks.”

“We get it,” Falin answers for both of us. And I do understand. I’d feel the same way living with two couples who can’t keep their hands off each other.

“And Jas, finding her will be my only priority the moment I land. I promise you that.”

“I know, brother.” I nod. “If that’s what you think is best, then you have my blessing. As soon as you’re ready for us, we’ll be there.”

Falin pets the sleeping kittens. “So, does this mean we can keep them?”

“I guess so.” I can’t help but smile. “For now.”

“Probably for the best, considering we didn’t even ask Bella’s family if the girls could have them.” She moves the cat carrier to the side of the room.

“True,” I say. “For all we know, they could be allergic.”

“Better give it a few weeks before we ask,” she says with a smirk.

“Get going,” Leon says. “You’ll be late, and I have loads of work to do here.”

I wrap my arm around Falin and wince as I bend to grab our bags. She swats my arm away, slinging them over her shoulder before I do something else dumb and fuck myself up more. “No lifting! You better behave this weekend or you’ll get it.”

I waggle my brows. “Is that a promise?”

“Fuck’s sake, get out of here already,” Leon groans, throwing a couch cushion at our retreating back.

We get settled in Damon’s car, which he repeatedly told me I’d face sudden death if anything happened to. Attachment issues, I swear. “Are you ready?” I ask Falin.

She gives a half smile. “I think so?”

Not only are we taking a little trip into Jersey to see Bella and Ruby, the strong as fuck teenager labelled number two, but we’re also meeting Falin’s biological aunt for the first time.

“It’s going to be great,” I reassure her. The engine rumbles to life and Pierce The Veil sounds through the speakers. “And hey, maybe you’ll get some answers about your parents. If not, at least you’re laying to rest a part of you that’s been searching for so long.”

“When that match first came through I never believed I’d be alive long enough to actually speak with her, let alone meet her. Alexander had me by the throat,” I tense, my jaw clenching as she says his name. She notices, and covers her palm over mine. “Metaphorically, and… Well, you know the rest.”

“You’re here and she’s the luckiest person alive to get to meet you,” I say. “If she doesn’t love you, do I have your permission?—”

“Don’t even finish that thought,” she says, laughing and shaking her head. I rest my hand on her thigh and head out of the city, already feeling homesick for our little apartment with our kittens and our best friends.

“I’m going to miss the babies,” I say. “But it’ll be nice to get you all alone in a hotel room.”

“Why would that sound so creepy coming from anyone else? Major Norman Bates, shower scene vibes.”

“Oh yeah?” I drop my voice. “I can think of another shower scene I’d like to recreate.”

“But your stitches?” she asks. “Also, cheesy… What am I going to do with you?”

“I got the all clear from the doctor this morning. I was going to keep it a surprise and do a whole scene later where I get naked and fill the tub and?—”

She grabs my face, shutting me up with a quick kiss. “I think we should check into the hotel before we visit the kids.”

Her hand drifts over the bulge in my pants and she gives a soft squeeze. “Yup. You’re right.”

“Always am.”

She’s not wrong.