Chapter Sixteen
It felt so good to cry, but now that she’d done it, there was another feeling she wanted to experience again. Love. The physical kind. He’d done everything she’d needed him to do. She believed him. She wouldn’t question him again, and she’d said the hard truth.
She could work on it. She could do anything if this man was with her.
You’re the damn sun.
The words had done something to her, opened some place inside her that had always been closed and locked away. If she was the sun, it was time to do some glowing.
After he got the damn clamps off her.
Cooper stood in front of her, the sweetest smile on his face. And his gloriously masculine body on display. He reached over and toyed with one of the jewels hanging off her nipples.
Kala yelped. Nope. Not as numb as she’d thought.
Cooper chuckled and dropped to his knees. “Do I get to tell our subs this story?”
Their subs. She’d always thought he would eventually leave and she would have to deal with them on her own, but it was kind of like they had a bunch of puppies they’d adopted and now she got to keep them. “I will murder you.”
She had a rep to keep up, after all.
He winked and leaned in, his eyes turning up to look at her. “Understood, baby.”
Then his hand came up and she gritted her teeth as he released the clamp and the blood surged back in. Pain bit through her but his mouth was on her, his tongue soothing the pain. Though she had to admit, the pain did something for her, too. It went straight to her pussy.
She might have some switch in her. The sight of Cooper on his knees in front of her got her motor going. She let her hands come up, stroking through his silky hair. He was so fucking gorgeous. Another snap of pain as he released the second clamp and then tongued and soothed her poor, irritated nipple.
How had she ever lived without this connection? She’d never viewed sex the way her sisters and friends did. She’d always known it would be sacred for her, and only with him. “Say it again.”
His head tilted up and he smiled at her. “I love you.”
Three words that should send her screaming, but they were from him so it was okay. “I love you.”
“You better because the things I’m about to do to you absolutely require love.”
He stood and before she could protest, he picked her up, cradling her to his chest.
Yeah, she thought that was hot, too. “You can’t pick me up whenever you want to.”
“Watch me,”
he replied with a grin.
Damn, but it was good to see him looking happy. All the more because she was the reason for it. She put the smile on his face. “Are you serious about getting married?”
He reached his destination—a padded table that was the exact right height to fuck on. Her whole body tightened with anticipation as he set her down, lying her back on the table. “Yes. We can go on Monday. I think we have to wait three days, but that’s enough time to plan a party for after. Spread your legs.”
There was only the tiniest part of her that chafed at the order. The larger part of her knew what he was about to do and heartily agreed. She spread her legs and allowed him to lean over and get his mouth close to her pussy.
His big hands pressed her legs wider, and she damn near came from the first lick of that talented tongue. How did he do this to her over and over and it always felt new and exciting? And safe. She was so safe with this man.
He dove in, fucking her with his strong tongue while he held her legs open for his feast.
Desire poured through her veins. This was the only place where her brain turned off and her body could hold sway. The only place where she didn’t need to think about anything but his next touch, the next kiss. She could breathe in this place, let go and be a version of herself she never thought she could be.
The orgasm hit her hard and fast, a wave rolling over her skin. And still he didn’t stop. He kept it up until she came a second time, this one stronger, threatening to become her whole world.
Then he stood, his eyes dark on her and his lips glistening. He stared at her while his hands worked the fly of his jeans, and he pushed them off and over his hips. He tossed them aside and moved into place between her legs. His big hand stroked his cock. “Come here.”
She brought her torso up, and his free hand wrapped around the nape of her neck, dragging her in for a long kiss. She could taste herself on him, his tongue diving deep as his cock started to invade. He stretched her as he thrust in, his tongue sliding along hers. Connection. This was the connection she’d longed for. With him. She’d spent so much of her life worried she was cursed and weird because she never had these feelings for anyone but him. Now it would be the joy of her life.
His hands moved, cupping her hips and holding her in place while he started to fuck her with power and precision. He tilted his pelvis and managed to hit her clit with every thrust. And whatever place inside that only he could light up. Her hands found his back, sinking in.
He held her close, only pulling away as far as it took to make it feel good. Her legs wrapped around him, nails sinking into his back. She couldn’t stand to be even an inch away from him. She kissed his neck, needing every bit of her skin touching his.
Her whole body tightened as she was blasted with pleasure. Cooper stiffened and she felt him come, sparking even greater sensation. He held her tight even as they both came down.
When she laid back, he moved with her.
“Forgive me,”
he whispered against her breast. “I was dumb and mad and took it out on the one person I never should.”
On the safest person. He’d done it because she was safe. People weren’t perfect. Sometimes when overwhelmed, the way they asked for help looked like a fight. She could get that. “Forgiven. And babe, forgive me for being a big old scaredy cat and running away the first fight we have.”
His head tilted up, a satisfied grin on his face. “Forgiven.”
He pushed himself up and immediately slid his arms under her, hauling her against his chest. It seemed to be his go-to move.
She liked it.
“Let’s take this to the privacy rooms. We don’t have long before one of the subs will be here to set up for tomorrow. I’m pretty sure it’s Devi’s week, so she’ll be hauling a bodyguard with her, and I’d like to avoid Landon seeing you all sexed up and hot as hell,”
Cooper said as he started for the stairs.
She was all for it but heard the beep that let her know the alarm was being reset. “I think she came early.”
“What the…”
Nope. It was totally her dad, and he was carrying a bag from her favorite bakery. It was sweet. Her dad had come back to try to persuade her with chocolate croissants.
Or he’d drugged them and this was his kidnapping play. A sucky thing to do, but she wouldn’t put it past him if he thought she was leaving.
He turned, but she could see he’d put a hand to his mouth. To stem the vomit. Well, he’d walked into a sex club.
“Hey, Dad, you should leave the croissants. We’re planning on having a lot of sex,”
Kala announced. “Unless you drugged them. Then you should give them to Seth. Didn’t Lou tell you Cooper showed up?”
“She left that part out,”
her dad said. “She told me about Ben making an appearance, and I thought it might be a good time to try to talk to you again. Lou thought that was a great idea. Boomer should have spanked her more. I take it you two are okay, and why the hell would I drug you?”
“We’re good,”
Cooper replied, and there was a light in his eyes as he looked down at her. He was having fun. “And she thinks you were going to lock her up until she came to her senses. It’s cool. I figured out another way. I don’t know why you and Dad always tell me my dick is stupid. It was very smart this time.”
Her father dropped the bag. “I need a drink. And I wouldn’t drug you. I would trick you into the cage. Take care of her and…”
“We don’t need a condom,”
Cooper called out. “We’re going to have the kids call you Grumpa.”
Her dad sighed and strode out the door again. Like she would get tricked. Maybe if there were chocolate croissants. Or pizza.
Cooper laughed and started for the stairs again.
“Hey,” she said.
He turned and lowered her close enough to grab the bag of treats her father had so thoughtfully brought her.
They would need some energy. They could get pizza later.
She snuggled close as he carried her to the privacy rooms.
* * * *
Kala slipped out of the room where Cooper lay sleeping. Her phone had been ringing for hours, and though she didn’t want to have this talk, she was a rip the bandage off kind of girl. She pressed the screen to answer this latest call. “Hey, Lena.”
A long sigh came over the line. “Finally. I thought I was going to have to haul you out of that club.”
Stupid trackers. She was going to tell Lou to change the damn frequency on hers. “Seriously, you turned on my tracker because I didn’t answer my phone?”
“It’s been hours and hours, and I was getting worried about you. So am I picking you up from the club or are you meeting me at the airport?”
Lena asked, her voice crisp and professional over the line. “I’m calling security for the plane because your father is an asshole.”
She wasn’t sure what her dad had done, but she did know her parents wouldn’t ever let her leave. Neither would Coop. They would track her down, and no one would care that she was on a super-secret mission. They would charge in and toss her over a shoulder and put her in a locked room.
It was easier to stay.
Nope. She was changing her thinking. She wasn’t going to make things less than they were. Especially her feelings. She was staying because this was her place. Because they loved and needed her, and she loved and needed them.
Yes, she was kind of a grump, but there was nothing wrong with her some good therapy couldn’t fix. And maybe some meds. “I’m afraid the plan is changing. I can’t go to DC tonight.”
“Kala, I set up several meetings with big-time players at the Agency. These are serious people, and they won’t like the schedule changing. I thought you wanted to work,”
Lena replied.
Kala put the phone on speaker as she walked through the bar. Should they get pizza and spend the night here, or go back to her place so she could get the lowdown on what happened with Ben? Scratch that. Definitely get the pizza delivered here because if they went home with it, TJ would almost certainly be hungry no matter what he’d had for dinner. She definitely wanted to know what happened with Ben. She wanted to make sure her heroic efforts did some good for her sister. Of course if they didn’t, then she might be able to kill Ben. So it was a win-win either way. “I think I’ve got all the work I can handle with this team.”
“You want to leave the team.”
Lena’s tone had gone tight.
She should have known this would be a bit of a fight. Lena thought she was doing the right thing, but she hadn’t been there in Colorado. She didn’t know how much it changed her. “I’ve been persuaded otherwise.”
“Did your father threaten you?”
Lena asked. “You should know I’ve already filed an incident report with HR because your father told me not to talk to you any longer and that if I continued to interfere—his word, not mine—with his daughter, he will kill me.”
So her father was already hard at work. “Lady, you got off easy. My dad can be very over the top when it comes to threats. I’m surprised he didn’t detail the death he has planned. It usually involves viscera. Also, you should understand that it’s not a threat. It’s more of a promise. He’s not like other dudes who say a bunch of shit but have no follow up. He’s already planning on where to stuff your body.”
Maybe she and Coop should look for some land. A couple of acres. A bit off the beaten path. They had family traditions to uphold. “I’ll talk to him. Once he understands I’m not leaving the team, he’ll back off.”
A low huff came over the line. “Oh, trust me. I’ll handle your father. Kala, we’ve talked about this. We have been working through this, and I would hate to see you fall back into old patterns. You will do much better without the encumbrance of that team.”
How had she even thought those words? Her team wasn’t holding her back. This was what her dad meant. The dark voices and thoughts sometimes led her down dangerous paths. “They aren’t an encumbrance. I’ve figured that out. They ground me.”
“Yes, they ground you when you could fly. Have you forgotten the last few weeks of therapy? We worked through this. We have a plan. A plan to get you where you want to go, where you need to be.”
Tears welled when she thought about some of the things she’d said in those therapy sessions. “I wanted to talk to you about the plan. And no, I haven’t forgotten. I do appreciate the time and effort you put in, but I think I need someone else. I do think I should be in therapy, and I would like to talk to someone about whether or not some of what I’m going through is depression.”
She’d thought so much about this when she was in Colorado. Even in her happiest, most content moments, she could still hear those dark voices. They were shadows that might always be there. They might simply be part of who she was, and if that was true, then she would get through it. But if it was some chemical imbalance, she wanted to know. Wanted a shot at quieting them so she could hear and feel the full extent of the amazing love she’d been given.
The line was silent for a moment. “Are you joking?”
“No.”
Did she sound like she was joking? Sometimes she could come off as joking even when she was serious. Cooper seemed to understand her. And her friends talked a lot about speaking Kala. Maybe Lena didn’t yet, so she needed to be clear. “I think I should prioritize my mental health.”
“Kala, if you start taking drugs, they’ll very likely pull you from the field,”
Lena pointed out. “They won’t allow a mentally unstable person to know some of the world’s most important secrets.”
She’d thought about it. Though it did seem unfair since she knew a lot of dudes who worked in intelligence who could use some help. And who used drugs like cocaine, but hey, the Lexapro was a bridge too far. “Then I’ll work behind the scenes. Look, we talked about me doing what’s best for myself. This is it. I want to be happy. I might never feel it like my sister does, but I’m going to do everything I can to be the best me. I have people I love who need me around, and if I keep going the way I’m going, I won’t.”
Starting with Devi, who should be here soon. This was her night to inspect the equipment and make sure the bar was stocked for play tomorrow, so she would be here with her bodyguard any minute now. She was having such a talk with her cousin. If she had to kick her cousin’s ass, she would. She and Aunt Erin could start setting up a secure room to hold her ass in if she had a problem with it. Ah, family time.
Damn, she loved her family. So fucking much.
“Are you serious? Who have you been talking to, Kala? You’re not depressed. You’re poison. You ruin the people around you. If you didn’t have people watching you constantly, you would likely have become a criminal a long time ago. Is baby Kala trying to shut out the voices in her head with some drugs? Do you think you can? Those voices are right, and they’re a part of your soul.”
Holy shit. She kind of wanted to fist pump. The therapist was evil. Therapy sucked, and Lena proved it. She sighed. Or Lena was a plant. She could still hold it over her dad’s head for all of time.
It had been a good day. She had something to hold over her sister’s head, and now her dad had forced her to go to therapy with an evil minion. How bad was it? The worse it was, the more her dad would have to grovel. Also, she got to keep Coop for the rest of her life. That was the best part. But also the other stuff. She kind of bounced down the stairs. She needed a pizza. But first she would call her dad and tell him all the “Lena is evil”
stuff. “Okay. So are you working for the shits in the Agency who want to take down my parents? Or someone else. Huisman plays a long game.”
“You little bitch. I guess we have to do this the hard way.”
Kala got to the bottom of the stairs and realized she wasn’t alone. Her stomach dropped. Eve McKay stood there, tears shining in her eyes and one hand to her heart.
Fuck. It might not be a good day. Not if Eve was here to tell her to stay away from Cooper. She wasn’t sure what the hard way was, but she had to deal with the situation at hand. “I’ll have to kill you later. Bye.”
She hung up and straightened her shoulders. She’d told herself she didn’t have to fight so much, didn’t have to be defensive. But this was one fight she couldn’t back down from. “Hello, Eve.”
She was wearing her normal outfit. Eve was always stylish, with elegant lines. Where her mom wore a lot of trendy clothes, Eve stuck to the classics. Tailored slacks and a silk blouse with a Chanel necklace that Kala would absolutely use as a weapon if she had one. Those suckers were well made. Eve had blonde hair that reached her shoulders. The only thing that marred her perfect looks was the angry expression on her face. “Who were you talking to?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
She wasn’t sure why Eve would want to know about Lena. How much had she heard? Was she pissed she’d just found out about the possible depression? Maybe she thought she hadn’t treated her therapist the way she should. She kind of felt like she was fifteen again and this woman thought she was going to wreck her perfect son’s life.
“It matters. Was it the Agency woman?”
She needed to not get mad. Calm. She had to prove to Eve that she was working on her anger issues. “I’m not going to hurt her.”
A lie, but a necessary one. Lena’s murder would happen off the books and only after she figured out why the woman had been placed there. “It was a joke. Look, this is Agency business. I think we should probably talk about why you’re here. I can go wake up Cooper, if you like.”
Eve ignored her. “She’s had you in sessions for weeks, Kala. I want to know what she said to you.”
“I thought that was supposed to be secret.”
It was kind of what they preached. What happened in therapy stayed in therapy. Though if Lena was working for someone bad, she probably didn’t follow the rules.
“I heard what that bitch said. I want to know what she’s been filling your head with, baby girl.”
Eve’s voice cracked, and Kala realized the angry expression might not be directed at her. Eve walked right up to her, heels clicking on the stained-concrete floors. She got into Kala’s space and cautiously brought her hands up, giving Kala plenty of time to step back if she wanted to. “You are not poison. There is nothing wrong with you. You are smart and bold and strong. You are resilient. You hold people accountable when they need it and you forgive when they deserve it, and I am so grateful you forgave my son.”
Damn, she thought she’d cried it all out, but the world went watery again. “I think she’s working for someone who wants to break up the team. Or maybe Huisman, though it feels more personal and Huisman doesn’t have any ties to her. So if it was Huisman, she was probably doing it for the money and wouldn’t have folded so fast. It sounded like she hates me. I’ve pissed off a lot of people at the Agency.”
“So you didn’t listen to her? You know the things she said were manipulative and wrong?”
Kala hesitated. “She sounded reasonable at the time. She didn’t say the things she said on the phone just now. She told me how much better off I would be on my own.”
Eve’s head shook. “She is not supposed to have an opinion. She is supposed to ask questions so you figure out what your motivations are. She is supposed to lead you down a path, not make one up and put you on it.”
“She said I was kind of evil.”
A rush of shame flowed over her even thinking about it. “Not in those words, but in a way that almost made it seem good to be evil. At least for my job. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it.”
“You are not evil,”
Eve said, her voice shaky. “You are good at your job. Every bit as good as your father. There are some people who have different impulses. You’re a protector.”
“I can be a killer.”
It was pure truth. She’d killed more than once and hadn’t missed a wink of sleep over it.
Eve stepped back, frowning her way. “Name me one, Kala. One person who you killed who wasn’t trying to kill you or someone else. One person who wasn’t in the line of duty.”
“Seth says I kill his soul sometimes.”
She was going to do something terrible to her brother who had betrayed her in the worst way. And she was also going to hug him because he was an asshole who deeply cared about her.
Eve chuckled but sobered quickly. “You are not what that woman said. I didn’t like her from the beginning, and neither did your mother. Which I suspect is why you didn’t tell her how deep in you were getting with her.”
Kala shook her head. She was going to be honest with Cooper’s mom and then maybe see how she handled that particular truth. “It was more than that. I was seriously considering leaving the team, and Lena was going to help me do it.”
Eve paled. “Ian’s going to kill her. Where are we going to put her? We’re all full.”
Yep, the family tradition. “I thought it would be a good way to gradually break the bonds between me and Cooper so he could find someone more suitable. Someone who wouldn’t drag him down with her.”
She went even paler, and her eyes closed. When they opened again there was naked pain in her brown orbs. “I always wondered if he told you. We were good and then you would barely look at me and your mom said it was because of what happened during the kidnapping and the fact that Cooper broke your heart. But I knew different because you were fine around Alex. It was me you didn’t want to be around.”
“It’s okay. I got over it.”
It was easy now to forgive Eve.
“No, you didn’t,”
Eve insisted, “and you also didn’t understand what I meant. I never thought you weren’t good enough for Cooper. I worried he couldn’t be enough for you. I worried he would do exactly what he did because at the time it was important to be popular and have the world see him as this perfect son. I know it’s a common feeling among adopted children and it doesn’t necessarily reflect on the parents, but it’s hard to not wonder what we did wrong. What we did to make him think we loved him less.”
“He knows now,”
Kala reassured her. “The question is how do you feel about me being with Cooper now?”
“He’s a man,”
Eve replied with surety. “It’s completely different now. He’s not an insecure boy, but you have to know that he won’t always do the right thing. He’s human and he’ll screw up sometimes, and he might not always know how to fix things.”
“Oh, he has his ways.”
She let a smile cross her face and then frowned. “Unfortunately, my dad caught the end of that show.”
Eve laughed. “Good. Then maybe I can talk him into being easier on Coop. You’re his baby. No man is ever going to be good enough for you, but I think Cooper is, and I know you’re good for him. But what Lena did, sweetheart, that wasn’t therapy.”
“No, it was apparently some form of black op,”
Kala grumbled, but she understood Eve’s point. “I know. I’m actually a little hurt by it. I thought it was doing me some good.”
“The talking part did you good, and she used it against you. Now we find someone who won’t. Someone who will guide you in figuring out how to handle some of your more delicate emotions.”
Eve stopped for a moment as though trying to figure out how to move forward. “Were you serious about getting screened for depression?”
So she’d heard pretty much everything. Kala nodded. “Yes. I think we both know how that’s going to go. My brain is all fucked up. I owe it to all the people I love to figure out if I can make it better.”
Eve’s head shook, and tears pooled in her eyes. “No. Your brain is perfect. It just needs some help so you can be happier. And you need to do it because you owe it to yourself. That’s what therapy is about. You are worth the work, Kala Taggart. I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
So many emotions. She hugged the woman who was going to be her mother-in-law. That was one thing she didn’t know. She should wait, but it was an impulse to tell her. “Cooper wants to get married next week.”
She wanted to see if Eve would stiffen and change her mind if she knew they were serious. Eve stepped back, a big smile on her face. “I’m so happy. But, sweetie, your mother is never going to allow you to get married at a courthouse. I’m sure that’s what he offered. Absolutely not. We’ll put something together. I don’t suppose we could have two weeks.”
Nope. Her future MIL hadn’t hesitated. “I’ll talk to him.”
The truth of the matter was she wanted her family there. She didn’t want to wait too long, though, and she definitely wouldn’t be having a full-on church wedding with twelve million flowers like Carys and Aidan tried to have. Though the exploding helicopter had been cool.
“Kala,”
a familiar voice said. “I’m so sorry.”
Devi. Kala turned and there was her cousin. With Lena. Who—fuck it all—had a gun pointed to the back of Devi’s head. Eve gasped and tried to move in front of Kala.
Yeah, it was a theme with the McKay family, and she was going to stop questioning if they loved her. She was sure if Alex had been here, he would be offering himself up, too. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t help. She was the target, and she had to find a way to get out of this situation with everyone alive.
Well, at least now she knew what Lena had meant by doing it the hard way. Kala held her hands up and cursed the fact that she’d thought she would be safe in the club, so she hadn’t walked around with her SIG. Rookie move. “Let Devi go and we can talk.”
That was when she noticed Lena had two friends with her. Big guys, and they hadn’t made the same mistake she had. They were strapped and looked like they knew how to use them. She was sure they would have been waiting for her wherever Lena planned on taking her. “So we weren’t going to DC?”
Lena had lost her super-professional look. The woman knew how to hide her crazy eyes. Kala would give her that. “It was the original plan, but earlier today my boss decided to change things up. I called these guys in because we’re getting on a private jet. The doctor would like to see you.”
Fuck. She was working for Huisman. Well, they’d known he’d been planning things for years and years. Was it so surprising he had a couple of long-term plants? “I’ll go with you if you let Devi and Eve go.”
“No, you won’t,”
Eve said stubbornly.
“Dr. McKay, put the phone down,”
Lena warned. “I see your hand in your pocket. Toss it my way.”
Kala heard the thunk of a phone hitting the hard floor. She prayed Eve had managed to get a call out and someone was listening in. She forced her panic down. It was there because losing his mother would devastate Cooper. And Devi… She couldn’t stand the thought of losing her cousin. A thought hit her. How bad was it already? “Is Landon dead?”
Landon Vail, son of Eric and Deena Vail. Eric had been the head chef at Top Fort Worth for over a decade, and his wife Deena ran publicity and marketing for her Uncle Sean’s restaurant group. They would… She couldn’t even comprehend what they were going to go through if their only son was dead.
How bad would this get?
“Who the fuck is that?”
Lena asked.
Kala felt her eyes narrow. “He’s supposed to be her bodyguard, so now I have to figure out which of them I’m killing.”
“I ditched him,”
Devi admitted. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it was this serious. Why is this happening?”
Lena might not know who she had. Devi had been convenient. Shit. Had she given up important intel? She hadn’t called her cousin. Did Lena know the connection between Devi and Zach? “It’s not anything that involves you. She needed a body to hide behind, and you came along at the wrong time.”
“Yeah, I’ve been here before. Hoped I wouldn’t again. This sucks, and it keeps happening,”
Devi complained. “It makes a girl think.”
Lena’s hold tightened. “Devon Taggart?”
Yep, she’d fucked that up. She was going to give Cooper a pass on his overly emotional reaction to thinking she was dead because here she was screwing up because she cared about the people around her.
“Oh, I think I can bring my boss a bonus. Maybe then he’ll let me kill you myself for what your father did to mine,”
Lena said with a snarl. “I was pissed because this ruins everything I’ve worked for. I was almost close enough to kill your parents, but the truth is I’m afraid of Huisman. But when I present him with the perfect way to force Zach Reed to turn himself in, maybe he’ll let me have you. He’s obsessed with you, you see. He wants to experiment on you again. He dreams of your screams at night.”
“Fun guy,”
she quipped, though her adrenaline was already up. She kind of wished Coop was. Up, that was. Shouldn’t he have, like, felt the danger or something? Shouldn’t all that great sex have given them a psychic connection? Romance novels had not properly prepared her. “Who the hell are you?”
She didn’t have to ask what her parents had done. Probably killed someone. It didn’t matter.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Kala shook her head. “Yes, that’s why I asked.”
“I have no idea why people consider you dangerous,”
Lena shot back.
“I could show you,”
Kala offered. “But right now I want to know who you are.”
“My father was a CIA operative,”
she announced. “Your parents killed him.”
Eve gasped. “Eli Nelson was your father? He didn’t have any children.”
“He had me,”
Lena practically shouted. “He just didn’t know it. And I didn’t get the chance to meet him because your father murdered him.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
She was here for this? This? “First off, my father didn’t kill yours. That was my mother, and she blew his lying, murderous ass all over the Arabian sea and…”
She’d been ready to explain the world to Lena when the woman nodded to one of the men and a shot blasted through the space. Devi went white and started toward the floor, but the other guard caught her, so the ploy didn’t work. It merely allowed Lena some freedom as she passed Devi off.
At first Kala thought she was dead. She’d been shot before, and sometimes adrenaline played tricks on a mind.
Then Eve fell, her body twisting toward the floor as blood stained her silk shirt.
Kala dropped to her knees, unable to stop the panic now. Her chest. How close was the bullet to her heart? Eve’s eyes were still open, but she was a pasty white.
“I can finish the bitch off or you can come with me,”
Lena offered.
“Don’t,”
Eve whispered. “Fight. She’ll kill me anyway.”
“I won’t.”
Lena stayed out of range of Kala’s hands, which twitched to strike. “I think Cooper is here somewhere, and it’ll slow him down if he has to save his mother. I like some chaos, too, you know. I missed her heart. Looks like I nicked a lung. She’ll survive for a while yet. Likely just long enough for us to make it to the airfield and get out of here. If you want to fight, I can do that, too. But the first thing my men are going to do is kill your cousin. You might take a couple of us out, but she’ll die and so will Eve. Though I suppose it would fit the Taggart way to choose the selfish path.”
“Kala,”
Devi began.
Kala looked down at Eve. “Tell Cooper I love him.”
The rest went without saying. If Lena wasn’t lying and Eve could survive, she would tell them everything. Her parents would come for her.
Cooper would come for her.
And hey, maybe the bad guys wouldn’t look in her butt cheek for the tracker. Probably not.
She squeezed Eve’s hand. “And I love you, too.”
Tears slipped from Eve’s eyes. “I love you, sweet girl.”
She hadn’t been a sweet girl for a very long time. Maybe never, but then perhaps the people who loved her saw her differently. She stood. “Let’s do this then.”
Lena chuckled, a nasty sound. “Like I would let you walk out of here. I never intended to do that. I was going to slip this into your drink, but this will do.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe, setting it on the floor and rolling it Kala’s way. Like she was too dangerous to get close to. It was the one smart thing the woman had done all day because simply laying hands on Devi had signed her death warrant. Much less shooting Eve. It might not be Kala who did it, but she had no doubt her family would take the trash out. She reached down and picked up the syringe. Ah, here she was. Full circle. Except this time she had to choose. Once she was out, they could do anything they wanted with her body.
And Cooper would still love her. Her parents would still love her. Her family would put her back together if they tore her apart.
It was oddly simple, this thing that had haunted her most of her life. She had to choose to go back to hell or watch her cousin and mother-in-law die.
Hell it was. She’d been through it once. If Satan wanted to dance again, he’d learn how good she’d gotten at it.
She stared at Lena as she shoved the syringe into her arm and pushed the plunger. “See you soon, Doc.”
The world went dark as she felt herself falling to the floor.