Girl Undercover 12: Showdown (16 page)

I struggled to keep a straight face when he said that, especially when he pretended to wipe away tears.

Clearing his throat, Ian continued. “After having spoken to my father today, I believe we’re not quite ready to go through with the coups. They need to be postponed at least another month so I have a chance to learn
exactly
what’s going on in each department and who’s involved. Especially now that he’s gone and can’t fill me in himself. When I know everything, we’re going to prepare a new strategy together based on that information. I’m sure this makes sense to everyone what with the leadership of the movement being thrown on me so suddenly. I need some time to think things through to be
absolutely
sure we succeed with my father’s vision.”

Everyone looked at each other and nodded. Yes, of course Ian needed to learn all the ins and outs of the movement before he could proceed with the takeover. How
else
would he know what to do?

“Who would like to be the first to speak?” Ian asked.

When Janine eagerly stretched out a hand, I couldn’t help but smile.

EPILOGUE

I collapsed on top of Ian’s naked body, having come hard for the second time tonight. He was truly an amazing lover.

“Wow, that was
great,”
I mumbled into his ear as I just lay there like a sack of potatoes, exhausted but happy.

Two weeks had passed since we found Stenger and both he and Jonah died. Just like we had planned and expected, the ten advisors we had gathered in the mansion had filled us in on everything we needed to know about the conspiracy. We found out exactly who was involved in every country, how many labs and hybrids there were across the world, and how to find every one of the hybrids as there were meticulous records. Apparently, there were fewer of them than Ian had feared, only about eight thousand in total. The youngest were in the embryo stages, while the oldest were in their late thirties.

When they were done telling us every detail of the movement’s infrastructure and plans—which took them hours—we calmly informed them that everything they had just told us had been recorded and would be used against them as they were brought to justice for all that they were guilty of directly or indirectly, particularly for the murders of my husband, Ariel, and Emma, not to mention Burt, Nadja and Dr. Sokoloff. When the thorough investigation that had been launched into the movement was completed, several more were sure to be uncovered, especially when all the labs had been examined. Lots more crimes besides murder would be found. It would take many months before the investigators got to the bottom of all that the scientists had been up to, as well as the businessmen and the politicians. That included members of the movement operating on lower levels. Needless to say, both Ian and I were glad that we didn’t have to be part of the huge investigation. We had had enough of The Adler Group and being undercover.

All ten of the advisors would have separate trials, and deals were struck with some of them to get the most lenient sentences.

One such deal regarded one of Stenger’s top scientists. He informed us that there was an antidote available to fully undo the changes in the brain the various versions of the Zoc virus had triggered in not only Brady and Ian, but in many others during experiments. There would be no need for any of them to be dependent on Haldol for the rest of their lives.

We found out that, while Stenger had always been aware of Ian’s existence, it was only when Ian contacted his FBI handler wanting to stop the movement that Stenger began taking an interest in him, quickly realizing how smart he was and what a good leader he would make. The more he studied Ian, the more obsessed he became with him. Since he wanted the empire to stay within the family and Jonah was not improving, he decided that Ian would be his successor.

Stenger himself was not in his early seventies like I had assumed, but in his mid-nineties. His doctors had given him treatments to make him younger, more vital. Even though the treatments worked, Stenger was often tired still, preferring to use a wheelchair when he was at home.

One of the movement’s doctors showed regular doctors how to remove the microchips built into the heads of the younger hybrids without making them explode. Without the microchips, there would be no way to control the hybrids nor turn them into killers. They would be allowed to live like regular people, which was only fair to them. We were all hoping that their super-human abilities would be used to achieve good in the future, not destroy the world.

Only time would tell if this would turn out to be the case.

I rolled off Ian and stared up into the ceiling.

He turned toward me, lying on his side. “What are you thinking?”

“That I need a vacation,” I replied. “It’s been a rough year.”

“You could say that again.”

“I also think that I can say with certainty now that allowing revenge to consume you can be good in some cases.”

“What do you mean?”

I turned my head to look at him. “If I hadn’t been so obsessed with finding Nick’s killers, the world would have been a very different place today. And I did find them in the end. With the help of you and Brady.”

Ian placed a strand of my hair that was back to chocolate brown again behind my ear.

“Do you miss him?”

I didn’t immediately answer. Because I did miss Nick. I would always miss Nick. He would always own a piece of my heart, and the pain that I experienced over what had happened to him would likely never go away. But things were different now. All that I had been through the last several months had changed me, made me stronger. I was tougher than before, even more cynical. I felt many years older than I was. The time I had shared with Nick felt like it had happened in another lifetime. Which was good because I no longer felt guilty for being with Ian. I didn’t even feel guilty for loving him, either. In the last few days, I realized that I did truly love the man beside me. It had not just been a feeling triggered because he hadn’t died on me. Nick would want me to be with a man like Ian. It didn’t matter who his real father was.

“Yes,” I replied finally. When I felt how he stiffened next to me, I quickly added, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t love again. I do love you, you know.”

“Really?” He pulled me into his arms and gazed at me with eyes that were a dark blue at the moment. And suddenly full of worry. “Even though a man like Stenger is my father? Can you really love someone who’s the carrier of such evil genes?”

I smiled at him. “Yes, because in your case, it’s clear that the good ones have prevailed over the bad ones. And I have no doubt that it’ll stay that way.”

He grinned big at me then, all the worry gone from his face. “Didn’t I tell you you were a one of a kind woman?”

“Yeah, I think you might’ve at some point…” I laughed. “You know what, I think we’ve done enough talking here. Show me how you’re a one of a kind
man
instead and make love to me some more. I feel starved in that department. It’s really, really—”

Before I could say anything else, he’d rolled me around and crashed his lips to mine.

THE END

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Feel free to check out my six full-length novels:
THE DIARY
(Psychological Thriller),
THE SMILEY KILLER
(YA Thriller), and The L.A. Girls Romance Series. This series follows the steamy love lives of four different girls from Los Angeles. While interconnected, the standalone novels don't have to be read in order, but I suggest your read them the following way: TRIGGER, Nina and Dylan's story, a romantic thriller with lots of twist and turns; LOVE CURSED, Ricki and Dante's story, a slow-burn, sexy romance with some suspense; UNDERCOVER LOVERS, Gabi and Paul's story, a sexy romantic suspense novel; and LOVELY REVENGE, Elisa and Chase's story, a sexy action-adventure mystery that ties the series together. You can find links to all my books at the beginning of this book.
UNDERCOVER LOVERS is the prequel to the GIRL UNDERCOVER serial. A second, revised edition of that book will be published late October 2015.
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