the damn car already.”
“I’m in, I’m in, so bossy.”
Doors opened and slammed shut.
Ari sighed. “Alright, we’re out and gone. Do your thing, K.”
“With pleasure.” Kyou shifted priorities and picked up a burner phone first, putting in a tip with the police hotline and giving them the precise details, pretending he was an employee of the hotel. With that done, he pulled up Emura’s page and took down the top banner, replacing it with a very poignant message.
To those of you who donated with the intent of removing me, I have your names. Emura didn’t give you any privacy protection. He and the assassin he hired, Edgar Lewis, are dead. We took care of them.
We’ll take care of you shortly.
K
Eidolon
Malvagio
Carter Harrison
He posted, refreshed the page to make sure it showed up correctly, then sat back with a sigh of relief. “Done.”
Mattias stood so that he could see over the monitors. “I stand by what I said. I’ll help you clean this up.”
They’d already argued about how much the Genovese family should be involved in all of this. Kyou was of the opinion that supplying information was fine, but they shouldn’t do anything else. It would damage all of the hard work they’d already put into straightening up their lives, and he was loath to do that. Mattias didn’t agree.
“I still think the only good enemy is a dead enemy,” Deidra surprised him by saying. She had a very fierce expression as she looked down at not only her son, but the little girl at her side. “I do not like leaving things at a warning.”
“We’ll hit the larger donators; there were about six of those. They’re seriously bad men anyway, so we’ll be doing the world a favor.” Kyou looked at Brannigan as he said this, weighing probabilities. “But I think by the time we handle those six, the rest will go so thoroughly to ground that it will be impossible to find them without doing a lot of digging. They’ll be running scared for a while.”
Brannigan watched him with the same evaluation. “I think it’s alright to focus on the six and then keep open feelers out for the rest. Take care of them as they surface.”
“It’s the only sane approach,” Kyou agreed with a faint smile. “Otherwise I’ll be fused to this chair twenty hours of the day trying to find everyone.”
“No.” Brannigan’s stance was adamant. “You promised.”
Kyou softened, smiling helplessly at this man he was so completely head over heels for. He’d promised to live and love, and he’d hold to that promise. He had no desire to break it. “So I did. Let’s finish this cleanup and get back to doing what we really want to do.”
Epilogue
Kyou
It was safe to say that Kyou had never taken a vacation in his life. Sitting here on the beach, shades on, the waves gently crashing against the shore, with a cold drink in his hand, Kyou couldn’t remember what had been so important that it had kept him holed up in his various apartments like a hermit.
Especially with that view.
And no, he wasn’t talking about the ocean.
Brannigan had dipped into the water to cool off a little, but he was walking back now. With his dark hair slicked back, water still glistening on his skin, and the very, very skimpy Speedo, he was a vision. Kyou almost popped a boner from the sight alone. He lowered the sunglasses on his nose to take his lover in without any obstruction. Damn, the man was fine.
Seeing his reaction, Brannigan paused under the umbrella and struck a pose. “Enjoying the view?”
“You are utterly shameless, and yes, yes I am.”
Dropping to his knees, Brannigan leaned in to kiss Kyou with sweet, lingering heat. “Regretting not coming to a beach with me before this?”
“So many regrets,” Kyou bemoaned before kissing him back. He seriously entertained the idea of tackling the man to his back, but sand. Sand and sensitive skin did not a good combination make.
Brannigan pulled back, and there was a serious light in his eyes. “It’s been three months, my love. How are you feeling?”
Three months. Three months of hunting down the men who’d wanted Kyou and his family dead. Three months of stress, elation, and victory. Three months of oscillating between insanity and bliss. In those three months, he’d changed his world, including Brannigan in it. He’d seen two of his brothers marry as Ari and Carter spoke vows to each other in a wedding at the Genovese family home. Mattias and