I held Maria's hair back as she continued to lose her lunch in the restroom. I had never been more grateful that I wasn't a sympathetic puker.

"Oh God! I hate vomit." Julian gagged as he peeked through the door.

Guess he was a sympathetic puker.

"Then. Get. The. Hell. OUT!" Maria croaked angrily through her dry heaving, and poor Julian scurried away.

I rubbed her back soothingly and gave her a wet towel to wipe her face.

"You're a trooper, Maria. A warrior, really." I praised, and Maria groaned in despair.

"This is the worst. Like, honest to God, the worst," Maria complained.

"Just wait until your child launches out of your vagina!" Josh called out and I winced at the withering glare Maria sent to the door.

"You guys aren't helping!" I scolded and helped Maria up. "Are you sure you don't want to tell Xavier about your morning sickness? At this rate, you won't be able to hide it from him much longer."

"No way in hell. He'll use any excuse to put me on bedrest. I need my last few moments of freedom before I have a nagging mother hen on my ass for the rest of my pregnancy. It's already bad enough that he is eying how much nutrients I am eating," Maria muttered. "Pretty sure it's first trimester nerves. I told the man not to look up any pregnancy statistics."

"Why don't you lie down and rest?" I suggested but Maria waved me off, plopping herself on a recliner.

"My mother's coming to visit and Xavier will be here any moment. I'm not moving anytime soon. If I do need help, they won't run away like cowards," Maria said casually and gestured to the guilty party.

"What? Our sister talked on and on about the tearing and how everything practically turned into one–"

I clamped my hand over Julian's mouth with wide eyes.

"I don't think this is the best time to mention that," I whispered with flushed cheeks. A shudder ran through me at the visual. "We are here to encourage and support her– not scare the snot out of her with pregnancy horror tales," I said with a fake smile.

"Yes, I would like my snot to come out naturally," Maria huffed, leaning back and resting her feet. I joined her in another seat. Josh rested against the wall while Julian decided to spread out on the floor. "Thank the heavens you two aren't doulas or midwives."

I rubbed my temples in emotional exhaustion.

It'd been a couple hours since the meeting with Xavier and Damon. I went straight to Maria for some girl time. It lasted for about ten minutes when the twins barged in, claiming it was a 'matter of my security'. While the twins were driving the two of us nuts, it felt nice having a bit of normalcy – well, as normal as it could be.

Sitting here with all of them, it felt so surreal. Everything was out in the open, Damon and Xavier were using my information, and I was safe. I still had ways to go before I felt like myself again, but this was a great start.

"I don't want to be anywhere near that end when the baby comes," Josh shuddered. Then he stood up straight and beamed. "But I could teach them things, like how to tie people up or how to chop off–"

A knock on the door thankfully cut off the rest of what Josh was going to say.

"Oh, a visitor!" Josh skipped to the door and slowly opened it. He must've recognized who it was because he threw the door open and tackled the person.

"JJ! I missed you!" Josh shouted and lifted the visitor in the air. Whoever it was laughed. Julian froze and scrambled upright.

"Put me down!" a familiar voice demanded. My eyes practically popped out of their sockets as Josh placed Jasmine on her feet.

She was wearing dress pants and a red silk blouse, her dark hair in an intricate updo. She exuded confidence, reminding me of the woman who was showing me how to dance at Elysium.

"Sorry, JJ. Boop!" Josh bopped her nose and Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"I don't know why I bother. You and your brother are trouble," Jasmine said with a hint of amusement. She glanced at Julian, who gave her a coy smile.

"Hello, darling," Julian drawled. I peeked at Maria as she watched the interaction with delight.

"I'm not here to see you, you moron. I came to check up on Maria and Rosie," Jasmine muttered, completely dismissing him, though I saw a strange twinkle in her eye before focusing on us.

I checked behind her and saw Julian looking a bit dejected.

Did someone have a crush? I didn't blame him, Jasmine was a beautiful woman.

"Rosie! It's good to see you on your feet again," Jasmine said with a smile and gave me a hug before looking at Maria's belly.

"Hi Princess," she crooned and rubbed Maria's stomach delicately.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Maria snorted and Jasmine let out a small laugh.

"And there's the queen." Jasmine kissed Maria's cheek.

"How was your last mission?" Maria asked Jasmine, who let out a sigh of exhaustion.

"I was able to get the routes for a drug ring. Started out as a homeless man but eventually got in as a guard," Jasmine waved dismissively. "Rosie and the twins got to see the show a little bit."

I made a face as I tried to figure out what she meant when it hit me.

"You were the person in Time Square? I knew you looked familiar!" I exclaimed and everyone laughed. "But how did..how did you–?"

"I'm a grifter. Disguises and aliases are kind of my thing. I can be anyone and you would never know," She winked, her accent rich.

I thought about what I knew about grifters. They were known to con people out of money, not information for drugs. I guess she was a higher-up con artist?

I really needed to do more research.

"Thank you for helping me at the police station. The detective wasn't...very nice." I said carefully and Jasmine scoffed.

"You're welcome and trust me, Rosie, we can all say worse things about him. I would've helped you even if you weren't involved with Damon. I don't want my student to get sent to jail."

"Student?"

"You didn't think I forgot about your dance lessons, did you? I sure hope not. I'm thinking we can start next week since I need to finish my write-up. After that, we can use the gym here. Maria can join us to stretch her muscles and to escape her bodyguards. I'll text you the time." Jasmine smacked her leg.

"Sounds fun!" I chirped, excited to play around with the pole again.

Jasmine smiled at my optimism. "Speaking of that write-up, it's not going to finish itself. I wanted to stop by to make sure everyone was all right," Jasmine finally turned to the twins and examined their healing cuts.

She stepped toward them and inspected Josh like a mother hen before going to Julian, slowly moving her eyes on the cuts on his face. Julian looked at her just as intently, his eyes softening.

"I'm happy you idiots are okay." Jasmine said, ignoring the look Julian gave her and glided toward the door.

"Jasmine, how about we–"

"Can't talk. I'll see you for our lesson, Rosie!" Jasmine sang, cutting off Julian before she closed the door behind her.

Josh looked at his brother with a smirk. "And this is now the 428th time you have gotten rejected by Jasmine. Two more and we can celebrate your 430th failed attempt together! This is why the ladies prefer me over your dumbass."

"Excuse me, but I am a fucking hoot," Julian snapped and Josh snickered. "I'll wear her down eventually."

"You've been asking her out for over a year?" I asked, not sure if I was impressed by his determination or not. I couldn't picture the two of them together. Jasmine seemed sophisticated while Julian was...a little crazy. But, I had only seen them in a room together for not even five minutes, what would I know?

"It's actually been eight months. Julian decided to stop giving hints and actively pursuing," Josh laughed.

"And that's what we call harassment. But I don't since she likes you too." Maria claimed, no doubt in her tone. Julian perked at the statement, his confidence building up again. Maria looked at the clock on the wall.

"Xavier should be here soon with my mom. Rosie, save yourself while you have the chance. My mother will find and smother you eventually, but only one of us has to be a victim today."

I giggled and nodded.

"All right, I'll see you later then." I walked out of the room, the twins right behind me.

"You guys relax in the living area while I do some research in my room. I want to know more about this criminal law stuff. The more I understand it, the more I can help out around here if I'm needed. I don't think my accounting and book-reading skills will be useful." I told the twins as we made our way to my wing.

"You should talk to Erik. He's a book nerd when he's not running around doing boss' bidding, ma'am." Josh skipped down the hall waving to guards we passed. They didn't seem surprised about his behavior – I didn't think anyone was at this point.

"And we can watch some TV while you're in your room. Just keep the door partially open if you want privacy. But not too long, we hate being alone." Julian whined and I laughed at their silliness.

We finally made it to my quarters and the twins raced for the remote while I walked into my room. I winced as I heard a crash.

"Please clean that up! Is anyone injured?" I called out

"No!" the twins called back in unison.

I partially closed my bedroom door like they requested and spotted my bag laying against the wall. My heart skipped. Things have been too crazy for me to remember if my things were safe.

I examined the few belongings I retrieved from my old apartment. I sighed happily seeing that nothing was harmed besides my bag. I could easily throw it out.

Spotting my small black box, I opened it and took out my parents' wedding rings. They were a bit worn out, the gold bands not as shiny as they used to be. However, they still symbolized the years of love my parents had together.

"I miss you guys," I murmured, pressing my lips against the cool metal. "But I'm safe now with Damon. I think you guys would like him a lot."

I held in the urge to cry for some reason. Was I happy? Sad? Relieved?

"I think you would have gone crazy, Dad, if you knew his profession. I think with time, he would've been like a son to you. Mom, you would have cuddled the snot out of him. He's like a big and scowly teddy bear...but I'm not alone anymore. If you sent these people my way, thank you. Anyway, I have some work to do. I love you guys."

I twirled my parents' rings between my fingers with a smile on my face before placing it back in the box.

Time to do some research. Criminal 101, here I come.



"Breaking news: Russian mob enforcer, Boris Ivanov, has been brought into FBI custody. He is wanted in more than fifteen countries and has been charged with over twenty murders. Ivanov is well-known in the criminal underworld, being associated with the Romanov family, a well-known mafia organization. He is being held without bail."

"I love a happy ending," Erik said as we watched the TV in Xavier's office.

"It's not over yet. We have more work to do." John turned off the TV as I thought of the riddle Angelo left for us to solve.

"Scatena la verità. Sblocca il cassetto. Enlightenment...Unleash the truth. Unlock the drawer. Enlightenment." I translated. The words had been repeating in my head for hours.

"Why didn't Angelo not tell us, but left a clue to a civilian?" Erik asked as he wrote the notes on his device.

"Because he is an asshole? He always liked his little codes and riddles, why not make it even harder?" I muttered.

Angelo had an unhealthy obsession with puzzles and riddles. I remembered the one time we made the mistake of making him in charge of an Easter egg hunt for a children's event we did for our organization's families.

It took active participation from everyone and an hour to find one egg.

But we weren't looking for a fucking plastic egg– we were trying to find what caused his death.

"He must have discovered it just when he got caught. It's the only reason why he wouldn't have informed us," Xavier replied lying in his chair. "Angelo may have wanted to die with the last word. In Catholicism, people have a last rites– confessing any sins, secrets, or regrets when someone is nearing death. It's supposed to purify the soul from any sins. With Rosaline in proximity, Angelo was able to confess while saying a 'fuck you' to the Diablos. Whether that's true or not, we'll never know."

I thought about what Xavier said. I wasn't sure how religious Angelo was. If I were about to die, what would be my final thoughts before I left this world? Would my life flash through my eyes? Would I remember all the wrongs or all the good I had done? Or would I want my final moments to be a 'fuck you' to the world?

"We need to check his old room. See if he left us a message," John spoke as he stood to leave. "If there's a chance it can be in a drawer or a secret hiding spot, we need to look. That's the only thing we can conclude so far."

"Good. If you find anything– a code, a picture, even a damn scribble– let me know immediately," Xavier ordered.

John nodded and left.

"Erik, I want more eyes on Lorenzo Diablo. I want to know his every movement. If he comes anywhere near New York, tell me. I need to know what the fucker is planning. He desperately wants Rosaline dead so he is bound to make a mistake. How is the bomb investigation?"

"I haven't heard much but I did some more digging," Erik showed us a picture of a man. "Howard Campbell, CEO of the Arms and Protection Corporation. He is associated with the US Army and has been accused of fraud and harassment. None of the charges stuck since he's one of the top millionaires in the country. If anyone is involved with this attack, it's him."

Xavier hummed as he read the file. "A man in his mid-forties, rich, and with wife number five. He took the company over from his father about twenty years ago. Definitely grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth and thinks the world owes him something. This guy seems power-hungry and egotistical, not caring about the consequences as long as he gets what he wants. I mean look at his face, he screams sociopath. I doubt he's had to clean dirt from underneath his manicured fingernails before."

Erik gave me a look but I shrugged, unfazed. Xavier was good at reading people and their signals. Xavier also loved fucking with people. If we ever left Xavier alone with someone, he could find a way to drive them mad.

"Keep an eye on him, too. I think I can find a way for us to talk to him," Xavier said with a smile and Erik nodded before also leaving the room.

"Careful. You know how Maria feels when you play your mind games. You're already annoying enough without them."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Asshole. Besides, I get a lot of results when I do it. Is some of it ethical? No...but it works!"

"You learned it from watching television." I stated blandly and Xavier rolled his eyes.

"They were the inspiration for the genius that is me. Remember when I got the insurance broker and his daughter to confess to creating false insurance policies?"

"You created a fake account making it look like the father was running off with the cash. The daughter had him at gunpoint when we arrived."

"Details, details. But they got arrested and the insurance company paid a large fine to pay back all the families they conned," Xavier said with a duh voice. His phone beeped and he cursed. "Lilah is visiting today and Maria is waiting for me."

"Go be with your woman. I'll check Angelo's room with John." I grabbed a file with Angelo's information.

Xavier patted me on the back. "We're getting closer, Damon. I can feel it."

I smiled tightly.

"I can feel it too. I need this to be over so we're safe again. We finally have a lead and once I get my hands on Lorenzo, he's going to regret every coming near Flower."

I would find him. And I would kill him.