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“Thanks, guys.”
“I don’t blame you,” Jordan said. “And I’m glad you found Jules in all this. I really am. But I know I’m still not going to rest until Russ Coleton has to feel at least some regret for what he did. I have no idea how I’ll make that happen if this falls through, but I’ll figure out a way.”
“If Jules can’t get the laptop,” I said. “I’ll help you. As long as it takes, Jordan.”
“Shit,” Travis said. “Count me in, then.”
Noah nodded. “Still retired. Might as well.”
I sat back in my chair, feeling relief wash over me. The real truth I’d been afraid to fully confront was that my own thirst for revenge had cooled. I spent ten years thinking about only one thing. Ten years letting revenge be the only emotion that got me out of bed in the morning. My future was nothing except a big ass target with Russ Coleton’s face in the center. I’d had no damn clue what I’d do once I struck the bullseye.
Then Juliette came along. She gave me something else to care about. Little by little, my feelings for her filled the hole I’d been shoving my desire for revenge inside. In a matter of days or maybe weeks she’d become the only thing I really cared about protecting. Now that I knew my team was okay with how things had turned out, I felt like I could finally accept the way I felt.
I just wanted Jules back. If she got the laptop, great. If she didn’t, also great.
“Look at this asshole smiling,” Travis said. He shook his head. “What’s so funny?”
I smirked. “Honestly? I was just thinking about how kicking my knee through two of Russ Coleton’s paintings was almost as satisfying as I imagined the whole demolition job would be. Getting to see the look on his fucking face,” I said, laughing. I was surprised with how much the memory made me laugh. The others joined in, chuckling at the idea of it.
Once my amusement faded, my thoughts went straight back to Juliette. It took all my willpower not to get off my ass and drive to her house right at that moment. I wanted to storm through the gates and take her away from that place—to tell her it wasn’t worth the risk. But I knew that was selfishness talking. Juliette didn’t only care about bringing her father down for me and the team. This was personal for her, too. I had to give her a chance.
Twenty-four hours. That was all I could stand to give.
39
Juliette
The time for subtle, carefully calculated risk was over. My father had gone nuclear after Adrian left. I’d never seen him so angry. I’d seen him fume, glower with disappointment, and coldly lash out. But the rage he’d shown was entirely different. He had thrown his plate against the wall to shatter as soon as Adrian left the room. He pushed his chair over, then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up to my room. He even locked the door and swore to me I was going to be in there until he had a suitor for me to marry.
It was a ridiculous claim, I knew, but I also knew Adrian well enough to assume he wasn’t going to wait forever. Adrian wouldn’t wait weeks for me to let my father cool down and relax his guard on me. I had to figure Adrian was going to come get me before long and I had to act like I had no time to waste.
I sat on the edge of my bed and assessed my situation. It had been about three hours since everything happened. My mother had tried to talk to me through the door and assure me she’d find a way to get my father to calm down. That was wonderful, except I knew she had no influence over him.
I’d heard her speak to the man guarding my door before she left and noticed I didn’t recognize his voice. There was a bathroom in my room that I could access, so other than needing food and water, they probably assumed they didn’t need to let me out at all.
I’d spent a few hours forming a very rough, very risky plan that I had a strong feeling was going to fail horribly. I spent the last hour trying to decide if there was any better, less risky way, and realized I only had one shot at this. I needed to think about which plan was most likely to get me to that laptop, not which one was the least scary.
So I sucked in a deep breath, then went to my bathroom. I unrolled about half a roll of toilet paper and tried to flush it. As I hoped, the toilet clogged and water started to fill the bowl. After about a minute, water was splashing noisily on my bathroom tiles.
