He technically didn’t have one yet, but everyone we spoke to seemed pretty preoccupied with the idea that Trace would green light anything if someone said the word Mars. Despite this opinion, he didn’t fall down every rabbit hole related to the word Mars.
“By eliminate, you mean what?” I sipped my water and waited for that response. “We aren’t interested in killing non-Alliance people, if that is what you mean. Now, helping to turn their attention elsewhere might be something we could work on.”
The man nodded fast. “I don’t want anyone dead. I wouldn’t have asked the old Council for that reason. But maybe you could help.”
Judson nodded. I didn’t think he really cared one way or another. Warden was in favor of it. Trace would be intrigued on the turning attention part of this plan. Kade probably didn’t care unless it was tech related. I tilted my head to consider this. “The town closest to the land? How is it doing economically?”
He opened and closed his mouth. “Not much to it. Population is mostly in agriculture, and it’s failing.”
“Well…” Now I had an angle here. “You are going to do something for them. Invest in the town. Let’s see how you can take some of that know how you have to help some of those people. Come back with results in a month. I know time is of the importance. If you can prove the way you helped, you’ll have a yes in a month which should give you six months of time for us to help you.”
He rapidly blinked. I hoped he wasn’t about to have an aneurysm. “Okay. I’ll do that.”
“Great. See you then.”
Our connection died, Kade obviously turning it off. Judson laughed. It was a sudden sound and not one he made very often, considering he was in mourning and also disbelief at the same time, a problematic combination.
“He just shit himself. Well done.” Judson got up. “I don’t think we’ll have to kill anyone over this.”
We ended every Alliance conversation this way. Did we have to kill anyone? So far it was no, but I knew better than to think that was permanent.
The guys were figuring out their place in life. Derrick spent his days designing how he was going to improve and expand the house. There was going to be a second one with even more bedrooms and bathrooms.
Kade was still working on his hide-from-the-satellite device, and he’d reopened his tech consulting company. No one knew it was Kade’s. There were a million steps between him and the client, but it was his. Warden was busy. He’d opened a new fund and was getting things straightened in the world economy. The news talked a lot about natural correction, and in a way it was. Warden was naturally meant to be doing this. Trace had Mars ahead of him. With a list of ten investors, he was less interested in making them a mark as he was in selling others to the idea. If he wanted to go back to teaching, he’d not said that yet.
Judson went out looking for real estate. He was going to open a clinic, one where patients would travel for plastic surgery and stay during recovery. It would be luxury with nothing else around it. I was glad he had something to think about other than the things that made him preoccupied.
As for me, I didn’t have the slightest idea what I’d do with my life. I sighed. Much of it had to do with whatever was going to happen when I looked in the bathroom and saw the lines on the pregnancy test.
I rose, and Judson grabbed my arm. “I finally have your college graduation present.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Your college present. Everyone has gotten you something but me.”
I had completely forgotten. Yes, I owned a car, a yacht, and a house. And diamonds I was afraid to wear but I’d put on some time for Derrick because he really did want to see me naked with just them around my neck.
“I told you, Jud. I didn’t… Oh, you’ve already done it. What did you get me?”
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “No more basements.”
Now that didn’t make any sense. “There are always going to be…”
“No.” He held me close. “No more of our people holding people hostage. It’s illegal. I made it a directive and everyone, as far as I can tell, has released their prisoners. I can’t promise it’ll never happen again, but right now at this second, everyone is free. No more basements.”
I didn’t expect the tears, but they came, hot and streaming, from my eyes. He’d done this. Hell, there was no way he’d done it alone. I looked around the room. They were all there. Each of them would have had to have played a role in Judson’s gift.
I couldn’t form words, but I held him tightly in my arms as I shook. That was a beautiful legacy. “Thank you.”
He kissed my lips. “The guys helped me. I needed info only they could give me, although it was my idea. These are good tears, right?”
I sucked in a breath. “Yes. Good tears.”
“Great.” He gave me a wobbly smile.
Judson passed me on to Derrick who kissed my forehead and then my nose. “This really was all Judson. We just got in touch with people. It was Judson who thought to have Kade tap into Mercer’s old programs to find out who had who where.
They were all so much smarter than I was. I turned toward Kade who embraced me hard. “Judson remembered how much you wanted this, and I was happy to help.”
Trace laughed, and I let go of my K to kiss him on the mouth. “I didn’t personally want to empty the basement. You know me. I’m so fine with torture.”
I pinched him, and he laughed, which just left Warden. He pushed my tears away with his thumbs. “Why the tears?”
“I finally feel like we might be okay. If there are moments when we can personally make it so there aren’t people locked in the basement for the Alliance, then maybe there is hope after all.”
And there had to be. Because that pregnancy test in the bathroom? It had two pink lines.
* * *
Twelve years later.
I wasn’t really listening to what the idiot on the other side of the room blathered on about. I didn’t need to. I already knew what he’d say. We had the proof he’d been stealing from the Alliance for over a year to the amount of four million dollars. Warden was pissed. There was nothing he disliked more than when an accounting ledger didn’t add up.
And to have it be one of his own people? That was awful.
We were in a safe house—Warden, Derrick, and me—going through the motions of listening to this man. It really was ridiculous. He didn’t seem to have an excuse. He just wanted it.
My mind drifted. It was the middle of February and even though the weather in Montana was cold, I’d much rather have been home with our family than here with this idiot.
We’d only been gone a matter of hours, and soon this would be over and I’d be back home with them again, even if we lived in a perpetual state of chaos brought onto us by the constant noise our five daughters between the ages of three and eleven caused.
I wouldn’t change a thing.
I’d had enough. Thinking about the girls meant I wanted to be home with them.
“Mr. DayHarb, did you or didn’t you steal from the Alliance? Taking money that was set up for the use of our members in pursuit of their families’ empires for your own good without permission?”
He stuttered. I guessed I was scarier than Warden. “I d-did.”
I pulled out my gun. “That was a very poor decision. I tell my kids all the time, it’s important to make good choices and this? This was a terrible one. Decisions and choices have repercussions and yours is that you are going to die. I’m not sorry. The good news that you can carry to the great beyond is that we won’t take this out on your offspring. Your son will inherit his rightful spot in about forty-five seconds.”
“They never should have let women into the Alliance. It’s a disgrace.”
Oh, that old chestnut. Misogyny died hard. But Jim DayHarb did not.
I raised my gun.
* * *
The sounds of little girls screaming greeted us as we stepped from the cold wind blowing outside into
our warm, light filled home.
“Mommy!” Monica stormed through the door. At eleven and the oldest she was rather sure of her place in the world. It probably didn’t hurt that her first two years in life she’d only been set down when she wanted to be and had otherwise ruled over all of us like she’d been born to do so.
She looked like Trace, even if he insisted she looked like me.
I ran my hand through her hair. We hadn’t cut it in a year. She was overdue, but she didn’t want it and Monica did tend to get what she wanted. But then again so did all the girls.
“Mommy,” she tried again. “Alexandra took my brush, and she hid it. I know she did and she won’t confess.”
She probably had. Judson’s daughter was nothing if not sneaky and almost from birth had set out to drive her big sister crazy. If only Monica understood that all Alex wanted was her adoration and attention.
I shook my head. “I’ll talk to her.”
Monica sighed dramatically. “She’s so annoying.”
Alexandra sat on the counter across the house. When she saw me, she grinned, showing teeth. Yes, she’d taken the brush. I’d get it back, but I’d probably have to negotiate with her for it.
“Hey…” Her father walked up, kissing me on the lips. “Go ahead.”
“The transaction is handled.” Warden kissed me on the cheek, stepping by. “Everly was very helpful and Derrick wasn’t going to let anything bad happen.”
My D shrugged. “You never do know.”
That was true. We’d learned that over the years. Better safe than sorry. His daughter, Reese, spun in a circle, singing to herself in the middle of the living room. She was always happy, and it was beautiful to witness. Derrick kissed Monica on the head before he scooped up Reese and went to see the others.
Where were the littles? As if on cue, the youngest two, Warden’s daughter, Deborah, and the baby Aria, who was Kade’s, rushed into the living room. They were five and three, both of them dressed in unicorn costumes.
I stood there and watched. This was mine. If Ben hadn’t taken me under Alyssa’s direction, I’d never have had this. We would have all broken up. Or maybe I’d have seen one or two of them until it fell apart. I couldn’t have been the person who had this if I hadn’t lived through Ben’s basement.
My five Letters gathered in the middle. They were talking about their days. I listened, but it was more like I watched them. We’d spent over a decade together and there were still times I couldn’t believe I got to have this. That the pitfalls and near misses and the pain ended with this.
Oh, I wouldn’t recommend how we’d met to anyone as a dating strategy. But these were my Letters. Derrick. Judson. Kade. Trace. Warden. My forever loves. And our family. We’d fight to keep it, run the Alliance until we could pass it off safely, if ever, and protect each other until our dying breaths. I’d never imagined leading a secret organization older than time but there it was, also mine.
My loves. My daughters. My secrets to keep. All mine.
I was Everly Marrs. I’d fought to be the woman I’d become. Lover. Mother. Killer. Leader. I could wield a gun, ending betrayers, and then come home to help with math homework and assist in cooking dinner. I knew how to blackmail, to coerce, to protect, to destroy, and to build better futures. I was all those things. I stepped forward into the crowd that was my family.
This might not have been everyone’s happy ending, but I loved it—messy and dirty like it was. This was beautiful.
“What are we doing tonight? Anyone want to order pizza?”
* * *
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading the Kiss Her Goodbye series. I was sad to say goodbye to Everly but I loved writing her and I hope you agree I gave her a happy ending through the darkness, even if its still not all flowers and light in her world. How could it ever be?
I hope you’ll come and check out some of my other works! Have you read…
My completed contemporary RH series, called Reverse Harem Story? https://amzn.to/2HYbnWL
My completed paranormal RH series called Last Hope? https://amzn.to/2HJtyjL
My almost done Science Fiction romance series called Wings of Artemis? https://amzn.to/2HK4OYP
My completed male/female shifter series called Westervelt Wolves? https://amzn.to/2Un6MnW
My ongoing werewolf series called Fallen Alpha? https://amzn.to/2HMu7JI
My completed young adult series called The Warrior? https://amzn.to/2UgJRdz
I’ve been writing for ten years and I have over 80 books published, having written for a decade. I’d love for you to check out the rest of my work. And to come join my readers’ group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebeccasrandomness
Please turn the page for a complete list of my books. –RR
About the Author
As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework.
I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. I live in Austin Texas where I am determined to eat all the barbecue in town.
I am in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and try to use all of these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.
In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.
I'd love to hear from you! Please visit my website at www.rebeccaroyce.com to sign up for my newsletter and learn about my books!
Here’s where you can find me online:
Rebecca’s Randomness Reading Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/RebeccasRandomness/
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Cheers!!
Rebecca
Other books by Rebecca Royce…
Wings of Artemis
Kidnapped By Her Husbands https://amzn.to/2BQdUxy
Rescued by Their Wife https://amzn.to/2Rr9as4
Crashing Into Destiny https://amzn.to/2VkyXRL
Meeting Them https://amzn.to/2BLPaXm
Reclaiming Their Love https://amzn.to/2GKAw8E
Loving Them https://amzn.to/2BKDmEK
Ship Called Malice https://amzn.to/2BNputj
Saving Them https://amzn.to/2SsrBtH
Dark Demise https://amzn.to/2VidXv3
Light Unfolding https://amzn.to/2GO6Yqr
Still Waters https://amzn.to/2CFePT8
Rising Tides https://amzn.to/2MCdTlM
Lost Star (coming soon)
Pointed Arrow (coming soon)
Last Hope (completed series)
Tradition Be Damned
Past Be Damned
Destiny Be Damned
Compassion Be Damned
Future Be Damned
Dragon Wars (completed series)
Forever
Eternal
Always
Evermore
Endless
Wards and Wands
Hexed and Vexed
Curse Reversed
Meow, Baby (novella, co-written with Ripley Proserpina)
Tragic Magic (Coming Soon)
Safe Haven
Everywhere and Nowhere
Dimension X (coming soon)
More coming soon….
Soul Bound
Prisoner of the Dragons
More coming soon….
Shadow Promised
Strange Days
Weird Nights
Bizarre Years
More coming soon…
The Warrior (completed series)
Initiation
Driv
en
Subversive
Redemption
Justice
Warrior World (spin off of The Warrior, completed series)
Deacon
Micah
Jason
The Westervelt Wolves (completed series)
Her Wolf
Summer’s Wolf
Wolf Reborn
Wolf’s Valentine
Wolf’s Magic
Alpha Wolf
Angel’s Wolf
Darkest Wolf
Lone Wolf
Fallen Alpha
Alpha Rising
Alpha’s Strength
Alpha’s Sacrifice
Alpha’s Truth
Alpha Enticing
Hidden Alpha (coming soon)
The Capes (completed series)
Seductive Powers
Adrenaline Rush
Last Ascension
The Conditioned
Eye Contact
Embraced
Unlawful (coming soon…)
The Outsiders
Love Beyond Time
Love Beyond Sanity
Love Beyond Loyalty
Love Beyond Sight
Love Beyond Expectations
Love Beyond Oceans
Love Beyond Flames
Love Beyond Lies (coming soon)
Cascade (completed series)
Haunted Redemption
Phoenix Everlasting
Fragility Unearthed
Persuasion Enraptured
Reverse Harem Story (completed series)
Unconventional
Unexpected
Undeniable
Kiss Her Goodbye
Hard Truths
Deadly Truths: Kiss Her Goodbye #3 Page 26
