Page 156 of Fighting With Light

They both look at me at the same time, and Emerson chuckles. “No offense, Aelia, I’m not into sharing women with my idiot brother,” he says.

“Good because I am very selfish. I likeallthe attention,” she quips.

“That onlyI’llbe giving you,” I grunt.

She grins at me and slides her hand down Emerson’s bicep to mess with me.

He rolls his eyes and begins climbing up the stairs. Her hand drops and she winks.

“You’ve been stabbed and you still find a way to be sassy.”

She lifts her shoulder with a smirk on her face.

I grab her neck gently and press my lips on hers. “What am I going to do with that mouth of yours?” I grumble.

“Oh please, you knowexactlywhat you want,” she snips.

That makes me chuckle and I smile at her.

“She knows me sowell,” I say confidently.

“And she also knows the answer is no. Plus, my face kinda hurts,” she says over her shoulder as she climbs the stairs.

“Too bad. You know I like celebrating victories inveryspecific ways.”

57

Liam

Two Days Later

Aelia and I havebeen laying in bed for two days, healing and trying to plan a wedding…in Bali. That’s where she said she wanted it, so that’s where it will be.

While she picks things out, I’ve been working almost nonstop to create a press packet to provide to all news outlets. If the Feds want to throw away what Aelia, me, and our family have almost died to get, then I will make sure the whole world knows about it.

I was able to hack into the majority of large news networks’ email systems and email everyone and the janitor. It will not be ignored.

Since Marco Costa is no longer an issue, it was pretty straightforward. We included the guns being shipped to the harbor that border patrol has a station at and my father happens to be part of that committee. We sent photos and evidence linking the Colombian drug market to my father and those who work at the Colombian US embassy. This will expose my father for who he really is, and the bodies stuffed in his closet. I don’t see how he could weasel out of this one.

Then lastly, I included pictures of the woman my father killed. Aelia begged me not to provide the coordinates to her body for fear that a decent detective could trace it back to Costa and his killer, me. But that woman deserves to be remembered.

So I found her name from a picture, Irene Johansson. Her wallet was open, and things from her purse were strewn about it. What makes it worse is I recognized where she was—the home I grewup in.

I found the people she left behind—a kid and her grandma. Then I looked for her grandma’s bank account and moved three million into it. It’s not enough to pay for the life of her granddaughter, but it’s enough to get Irene’s kid through school, take care of his grandma, and hopefully meet all of their needs for now. My father has hurt so many and I don’t know their names, but at least I could do this.

After going through the Washington, D.C. police cold case database, I pulled up her missing person report and pinged it. When this packet goes out to the news sources, they will know her name.

I’m sitting in my office finishing the last of the packet, double-checking my back-end encryption so that in case anyone tries to find the source of this email, it will bounce them around the world. It’s buttoned up tight and can’t come back to us. But my father will know, and that makes me smile. He sent an army of mobster goons after us, assuming they completed the job. This is a satisfying way to tell him and Cameron, we areverymuch alive.

***

The family, minus Kai and Cordi, is gathered to decide if we should send the press packet. We make decisions as a family. I want us to do this, but I need everyone to be on the same page.

“I say do it,” Kai says through the video call.

Mom nods, and Emerson rubs his scruff. “And you are positive it can’t come back to us?” he asks.

“Yes, I could explain it, but I don’t think you’re smart enough to understand it.”