14. Zoey
14
ZOEY
“Does this mean it’s over?” Zoey asked as she curled up on Cole’s lap. “Your uncle looks pissed, but not as mad as your mom. I have to give it to her—she looks good for someone going to jail. Most of the time, the press photos are bad, but she looks like she’s almost Photoshopped.”
Cole and Zoey were sitting in his media room, watching the latest episode of Impractical Jokers , when Brock sent Cole a text, telling him to turn on the news.
“She does look a little smug for having her hands cuffed behind her back. I’m a little mad my father isn’t in cuffs. Brock is going through the files to see if my brothers missed something.”
Eighteen hours ago, she’d helped steal the data they needed then gotten up and gone to work. They both decided to stay in and wait for the news to break on the evening news report. Cole wanted his brothers to push for the arrest, but he’d told Zoey he didn’t think they would get it done quickly. “Maybe your dad isn’t as bad as you remember.”
Cole closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch. “That’s the thing—I left when I was eighteen, and for the next eighteen years, all I saw was my mom throw charity events and drink. My dad, on the other hand, left at night, and numerous times I saw him with blood on his clothes.”
“Your brothers said she set him up to do it.”
Cole shook his head. “That might be the case, but they aren’t telling us everything, and I’m hoping this wasn’t some ploy. Bryson has so much anger underneath.”
She had noticed how Bryson watched Cole’s every move. They’d said they were going to take down his mom and they had. “We have to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“I still don’t like it,” Cole ground out dryly.
“I know,” she conceded. “But the bad guy is in jail, and I don’t have to worry anymore.”
“And Senator Cramer’s family was informed about his death.” Cole sighed.
“Maybe I should look for an apartment this weekend.”
Cole didn’t say anything for a few seconds as he ran his hand down her arm. She loved living with him, and they had worked so well together. They were dating and loved each other, but how long would that last? She worried he only felt obligated to let her stay because his family had tried to kill her.
“Do you not like it here?” Cole asked, and she could hear the hurt in his voice.
She’d never meant to make him feel like she didn’t want to be there. “I love living here, but you asked me to stay because I was homeless and your family was after me.” She bit her lip before continuing. “I have money again, and your family is behind bars.”
His blue eyes met hers. “I don’t want you to leave. All along, I wanted you at my house. Something about the first time I saw you, it clicked. I’m not going to force you to live with me, but I want you here in our house and in our bed.”
“I want to stay,” she said.
“Good. Now that we have that solved, we can finish watching the police send my uncle and mother to jail.”
“Did you and Ian work on the house today?”
“Yeah, it should be a quick flip, but I might need to work over the weekend. If you want to spend Saturday with Bella, you can. I’m sure Ian won’t have a problem if it’s just us working.”
“How about I come help instead, and if we finish earlier, we can go to the pub for dinner and have Ian and Bella come along?”
She enjoyed spending time with his friends. Jessica had sent her a text that morning, asking how she was doing. They’d texted back and forth for a little while before she headed into work.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I actually miss working at the house with you.” She took a sip of wine. “But don’t get me wrong—I love my day job.”
“It’s demo work, so these arms will get a workout.” He squeezed her bicep.
Last night, when they were leaving the warehouse, she’d seen a group of people sleeping on the sidewalk, and she couldn’t stop thinking about it at work. “I want to help at a home shelter or something.”
Cole didn’t say anything right away. He ran his hand up and down her arm. “I have a friend who runs a foundation, and I could talk to them about opening a shelter in San Antonio, but we would need to run it.”
“I don’t know the first thing about running a shelter or where to get the funds from. It would be amazing, but I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Even the mention of the idea made her head run with possibilities, but each one scared her to death. She wished she could have found a place to help her when she was on the street but had no clue where to turn. Cole casually mentioned the Ross family name like he wasn’t sure she would know who the family was. She did know the Ross family was rich, and not the new- money rich. The family had more money than they knew what to do with. They had opened a women’s shelter in Fort Lauderdale. It’d made headlines because Antonio’s wife was also the heiress to a large fortune.
“I’m sure Kat would come out and help. Not sure I would leave you alone with her.” Cole chuckled. “She is a retired assassin and is known for taking out men who hurt the women who come to her shelter. Last time I talked to Antonio, he was grumbling that she’d fed another body to the gators in the back yard.”
“You’re joking, right?” Zoey asked.
“I’m sure her husband wishes I was joking, but she promised to stop killing since she is six months pregnant,” Cole added.
“I’m not sure I can do it, but I would love to talk to her about the possibilities or even finding a place to help at.”
“Anything you do will help. It was an idea. I planned to bring it up the other day after I talked to Antonio. He was the one who sent the guy to watch over Paul.”
“That’s right. I wished I could have thanked him before he left.” Everything had been so busy, she hadn’t made it over to introduce herself and thank him for helping. That morning, after Cole told Antonio everything was clear, he’d caught the first flight back home. Antonio had said they had a mission in South America and could use John’s help.
Zoey and Cole watched the news a little longer, and when everything was just being repeated, they turned it off and went to the bedroom.
Cole
Later that night, Cole’s phone dinged on the bedroom stand. Bryson had sent a text, asking him to meet outside. Cole grabbed his gun from the nightstand and headed for the door. “It’s the middle of the night.”
Bryson pushed his way in, went to the kitchen, and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. “I know.”
“Why not make yourself at home?”
“I need a beer, and you’re going to need one, as well.”
Cole didn’t like where this might go. He grabbed one and joined his brother on the couch. “What happened?”
“We did everything to the fuckin’ T. There is no way she should’ve gotten off—and this quick.”
Cole had a sinking feeling who he was talking about. “I watched the news before going to bed, and she was cuffed and taken in. No one is released that fast.”
Bryson nodded solemnly. “I called a few contacts, and she didn’t even get processed. Someone escorted her right out the back door. That’s not even the fucked up part.” Bryson took a long swig. “I need something stronger.”
“What is worse than her getting out?”
“Nathan’s gone.”
“You think he helped her?” Cole was glad he’d kept an additional copy of the drive. Brock was still spending time going through everything, and maybe he could find something. He rolled his neck to release some of the tension, but it only worsened.
“Yes, I think he helped her, and I’m worried he said something about you. When they were arresting her, she made a comment to Dad that he needed to take out your girlfriend before she told anyone the info she had. Zoey has something else that we don’t know about. What is she keeping from us?”
“She helped you break into a building and steal data. Why the fuck do you think she has something else?”
Bryson pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. Hell, I don’t even know who to trust anymore.”
“That’s the thing—how do I know I can trust you?”
“You have no reason to trust me.” Bryson tilted his head to the side. “I thought I could trust Nathan, and I think I can. He’s doing something to protect us. Not sure what. But he always feels like he owes me, and I’m worried about what he got himself into.”
“Why does he owe you?”
Bryson shook his head. “Not my story to tell.”
“And you want me to trust you.” Cole narrowed his eyes and took another sip of beer. “It’s tough when you keep leaving shit out and only telling half the story.”
“Fuck!” Bryson took the last swig of his beer. “Everything will come out in time. I’m going to find them. I came to warn you to watch Zoey and tell her to watch her back.”
Bryson stood. “Don’t say anything over your phone. Hell, I would sweep your house for bugs, just to make sure.”
And he was gone as quickly as he’d come. Zoey was in danger again, and they had no clue what he was going to do. He knew he couldn’t order her to stay home and not go to work.
Zoey padded out into the kitchen and sat down on his lap. He spotted her out of the corner of his eye when his brother sat down. Cole was sure Bryson had heard her, but he didn’t call her out. He loved having his hand wrapped around her. She gently laid her head on his shoulder. “Well, that sucks.”
He burst out laughing. So many other words ran through his head, but “sucks” was accurate. “Yeah, I suppose I can’t talk you into quitting your job, moving into a safe room, and letting me lock the door.”
“Nope, but I’m racking my brain about what your mom thinks I have. You know your brother actually looked hurt.”
He scooped her up and headed to the bedroom as she squealed in his arms. “We can’t do anything now. I’ll make calls in the morning.”