Page 65 of Microburst

“Well done, Sagan,” Belinda chuckled. “I had money on Vex too. You were right.”

I ran my tongue over my teeth as Fraser swore, losing the bet. “I didn’t think he’d risk something this bad after all the evidence we already had on him.” I pulled up my pants leg andsquatted down so I was eye level with the judge. “You get it now, right? Talking to the defendant’s family and making a backroom deal to fuck over the queen? You’redone.”

He didn’t like it, but he knew it was true, nodding that he understood and would do what we wanted.

Seeing the look in Belinda’s eye as she studied him, I didn’t think he’d live very long to regret his choices that led him to his outcome. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over that.

At all.

“I didn’t think to ask that,” Fraser muttered about the last question as we walked out the door. Belinda was staying behind to handle the judge—in what way I wasn’t going to ask—while we went back to the restaurant.

“What are you doing here?” Onyx asked from my left.

“What areyoudoing here?” I replied, hearing it echo.

Glad I wasn’t the only shocked one there at least. What the fuck?

We stared at each other for a ridiculous amount of time before I waved for him to answer. I obviously wasn’t going to go first.

“You found the judge,” he sighed, glancing past me and then scrubbing his hands over his head. “You found outwhathe was planning to do with Vex.”

“Not Vex,” I grumbled and grabbed his arm. “Let’s not have this conversation in the alley of an illegal gambling den none of us should be seen at. Let’s be smarter than that, shall we?”

I was glad when Fraser snorted and we hurried to get in the SUV since Lydia had already pulled up.

“Talk,” Fraser demanded from the front seat where he was next to Benson, now driving, and Lydia had hopped in the second row next to me.

I nodded to Onyx. There was no way he was getting out of filling us in.

“A cousin overheard Kole bragging that you were going to get screwed by him one last time after all and he hoped this time…”

I snorted. I could only imagine the rest of that sentence given who it was that said it. Probably that it would feel like rape, or if he was being more reasonable, that it hurt worse than when he took my virginity.

Who really knew with that fucking psycho?

“And the cousin warned you and you were going to do what with the judge? How did you even find him?” Fraser demanded in rapid fire. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Onyx gave him a scary look. “You think there’s like a playbook for this fucking shit? The woman I’m falling for who mynephewabused and was with for years—cheated on and more—and is now suing him and mybrother, who both deserve it and worse, barely talks to me because of something going on that I don’t know about and they’re about to screw her again. Seriously?”

“Kinda valid when he puts it like that,” Benson muttered under his breath.

I didn’t disagree. I just had one question. “What were you going to do with the judge?”

“Don’t ask me that,” Onyx sighed. “I prefer not confess to my sins when I didn’t commit them yet.”

Fraser snorted. “I like him better at least. He’s the good kind of psycho.” He gave a half shrug when all of us shot him unfriendly looks. “You have to be nuts to want to mate the leader of a nation, not just Thovudin. For the right reasons or wrong ones. He seems to have the right ones, but you still have to be nuts to want to be here. We didn’t have a choice.”

“Kinda valid when he puts it like that,” Benson repeated, looking a bit too pleased with himself for that joke.

But even I had to admit it was a good one.

“We have a location,” Benson told me. “She’s at home.” He handed his phone to Lydia. “I’m not familiar with the area. Can you navigate for me?”

“Yeah, I know it well. Too bad you have to be a man and always drive. I’m the only getaway driver who doesn’t actually drive,” she grumbled.

“Okay, she’s my favorite too,” Onyx joked.

“She’s everyone’s favorite, and honestly I’m annoyed that…” Fraser trailed off and shook his head.