Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Aw, someone looks like he just lost his best friend.” Hunter sauntered closer. He was shadowed by a watchful Declan Flynn as they closed in on Eb.
Eb had just made it to the bar. He’d hoped for another flute of champagne. But, apparently, his plans were about to be derailed.
“Don’t worry, you still have us.” Hunter saluted Eb with a beer bottle. “We might not be wearing your face, but we still think we’re pretty awesome.”
Declan grunted in agreement. His watchful stare swept over the crowd, as if looking for a threat. Probably because he was. The man tended to always look for threats. “I’m amazingly awesome,” Declan agreed.
“Uh, huh. Great for you, too.” His fingers tapped across the bar. Why did these guys think he was depressed? He wasn’t. “Didn’t lose a best friend. She’s just about to become my sister-in-law.”
Declan began to smile.
“ Don’t go sharing that news yet. Well, fine, go tell Marley. Pretty sure you tell my sister everything.”
“I do.” A nod from Declan.
“But not anyone else. I don’t think Wren and Jake are ready for a big announcement.” He paused to consider the situation. Had she accepted? He was pretty sure she had. She’d seemed excited. She’d kissed his brother. Though she hadn’t technically said the whole “yes” part as of yet. He turned his head, craning to look through the crowd. Honey and Milo were slow dancing in the middle of the small dance floor. Other couples were out there with them, too. Marley was taking photos.
Drinks were flowing. People were laughing. Life was good.
For everyone else.
This was the part where he was supposed to put the bright smile on his face. Be happy. And dammit, he was happy for Jake and Wren. He turned a bit more and rested his elbows on the bar top. “Glad my brother finally got the nerve to make a move on Wren. Pretty sure he’s been in love with her since we were sixteen.”
“And you weren’t in love with her?” Declan asked.
Trust Declan to not care about tact and just jump right in with both feet.
“Maybe a little. Once upon a time.” Wren was a whole lot like him. Through the crowd, he saw that she and Jake had just appeared near Honey and Milo. Wren hugged first Honey, then Milo. Jake hugged Honey before shaking hands with Milo. Then that hand of Jake’s immediately returned to curl around Wren’s hip.
Wren was close to Jake. Jake tugged her even closer.
An actual, real smile lifted Eb’s lips. “My brother would walk through fire for that woman.” So would I.
Silence greeted his statement.
His gaze swept toward the two men standing near him. “What?” Eb demanded.
“Someone is feeling sad,” Hunter announced.
He’d just been smiling. How did that equal sadness? In what world? “Oh for fuck’s sake…” His phone chimed with a ring, interrupting him just in the nick of time. The two pains in his ass needed to back off. “Got to take this,” he said, without even looking at the screen. “Probably major confidential material. CIA stuff. Excuse me.” He walked away, knowing it was probably just a bullshit call but not in the mood for more of Hunter’s ribbing because, dammit…
I am feeling sad. Shit. His sister had married Declan, and Eb was absolutely thrilled for her. Marley needed to be happy. She was freaking light and joy and all those good things. She’d also been through hell. As for Jake, damn straight, Eb wanted his twin to live his best life. Sometimes, Jake worried him. Jake went too far into the darkness.
Wren will pull him out of that darkness.
Every now and then, Eb wished he had someone to pull him out, too.
But, then, other days, he liked the dark far too much.
He finally looked down at the phone screen. And it was someone from the CIA. Huh, how about that? Eb put the phone to his ear. “Yo, look, I’m not exactly in a secure setting…”
“Naomi Romano is not being charged for the murder of Hudson Wyatt.”
Naomi’s image flashed through his head. Golden, flawless skin. Dark hair shot with streaks of light. Dark, dark blue eyes. Lips made for sin. Body a perfect temptation. A woman who was…
A cold-blooded killer. “You are kidding me right now.” His grip threatened to crush the phone. “The cops nailed her as their lead suspect. The DA was going after her with everything he had?—”
“Charges are dropped. She’s walking free. I know he was your former partner,” the flat voice of his CIA handler told him, “so I thought that you’d want to know.”
“She’s guilty.” He was certain of it. Absolutely certain. Hudson had loved Naomi. And she…
She murdered him. And now she’s getting away with it?
“She might be guilty, but, again, she’s not being charged. There isn’t enough proof for the DA.”
So she just got to walk away? Oh, hell, no. Not on his watch. Hudson had saved his life back in the day. The very least that Eb could do was make sure his killer paid for what she’d done. “I’ll handle it.”
“Uh, Eb? I’m not assigning you a case here. This isn’t our?—”
“Thanks for the info, boss.” Former boss, technically. Though Eb hadn’t gotten around to telling his family the news about his career change, not just yet. “I’ll handle things from here on out.”
“Those words inspire sheer terror within me.”
They shouldn’t. The only person who should be afraid? That would be the lovely Naomi. Because he was coming for her. Before he was done, he would make one hundred percent sure that she paid for her crimes. “I’ll get the evidence to convict her. I’ll serve her up to the DA on a silver platter. There will be no choice but to prosecute.”
He shoved the phone into his pocket. Rolled back his shoulders. Returned to the two men who waited for him at the bar.
“All good?” Hunter asked him.
Good? Nah. Not even close. The world was full of evil. Naomi Romano was a woman who looked like the best kind of sin. She’d tricked his former partner into falling for her. Then she’d killed the bastard the day after their wedding. No, not good at all.
But he’d see that she got exactly what she deserved. And it might even be fun. Because, with her, finally, he’d be able to let out the darkness that he kept chained inside. “Fucking fabulous,” Eb replied as a wide smile curved his lips. “How about another round of drinks?”
Hunter cursed. “That smile scares me.”
Declan just watched with an unreadable expression.
Eb’s smile grew a bit broader.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Jake and Wren slip from the bar. At least someone was going to get a happy ending.
And someone else…someone else was going to pay for the life she’d taken. Naomi Romano was guilty as hell, and he would prove it to the world.