Page 144 of Terror Tuesday

Lips pressed into a line, he lowers his head. “She knows me, yes. Our families have grown up together.”

“But the more important thing is, despite herwantingto spill the secret, she didn’t. Her family is one of the trustees at NU, correct? She’d make the perfect candidate to cover for us.”

“Ashlyn will want something. She always does,” he says with a bit of a sneer.

I blink. “She’s beholden toOmega. And I’m her president. That should be enough.”

“It does. But just in case, see if she wants more.”

“I’ll figure out how to get her to do it.” I shift on his lap. “So…when are we instituting the new plan?”

“I’d say, the sooner the better.” He reaches around me to the keyboard. After a few moments of him sitting there, typing furiously, and me, running fingers through his wild hair, he says, “Tuesday night. Nothing seems to be on his schedule then,and we can show up to classes on Wednesday like nothing happened.”

Looking at the display, I nod my approval. “Guns?”

Valen nods. “Yeah. I’ll grab some with silencers. And tactical gear. I’ll have the house set to lose power around midnight when he should be in bed, asleep. We’ll sneak in through the side library window, the one I investigated during the president’s luncheon earlier this semester.”

I smirk. “Sothat’swhat you were doing in the library?”

He chuckles and leans back in his chair. “Yep.”

“I thought it was to meet me.”

“That was an absolutebonus. I mean, I knew you’d be there, but it was happenstance you showed up when you did.”

The memory of our first meeting warms me inside. He wraps his arms around my waist. “So after we enter, where do we go? What do we do?”

On the computer, he pulls up a floor plan and points to the different areas. “Up the stairs, to the right, open his bedroom door, and bam. Done. We’ll leave through the same window and shut it. I’ll then have the power back on in thirty minutes.”

“You make it sound simple.”

His eyes meet mine, and we stare at one another for a long moment. “I hope it will be.”

With nervousness tightening my belly, I reach across the desk and lift my leftover morning mug in a mock toast. “To midnight murders and mouth spit.”

He clinks his can against mine. “The realCaliphyllalove story.”

Valen rollsover onto his back and stares at the ceiling high above us, exposed joists and spider webs decorating the rafters.

“We’ve been over the route in the dark several times. Ashlyn will be at your parents’ place this evening to vouch for our presence. I know how to use the silencer quickly. It should be fine,” I say, rubbing his arm.

“I haven’t asked you. I haven’t said…” His lips are dry, and he licks them, trying to find some words. We haven’t talked about what may comeafteror what might happenif.

My eyebrows lift at his sudden nervousness. “Asked me what?”

He faces me, stroking back my hair and studying my face like he’s memorizing it for later. “I want children with you. Lots of them. I want to live here and make this mansion a home where I can stay and work, and play. Maybe it’s selfish to keep you from whatever political career you want?—”

“I don’t want that. Not anymore,” I say with finality. Because that’s what I feel. Politics isn’t a place for rule followers. No.

It’s the hell that lawbreakers go to escape their punishments.

“Then what do you want?” he asks me carefully. The future CEO of the biggest tech company in the nation is asking me what I want…

“Everything you just said.” Sure, maybe in the future, I’ll come up with something different. Become a leader somewhere. But for now, his vision is my own. “I need a break from the Seven.”

Leaning over the pillows, he kisses me deeply. His breath makes me tingle all over. It tastes like Valen. Likehome. Thumbs caress my cheeks as he holds my face and half slides on top of me.

“I love you, my Monarch. My beautiful butterfly. Watching you was nothing compared to holding you. I think I’m falling more for you every day.”