Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Or the world would burn. She knew that. She’d known for a long time. But it didn’t look like she would be the one to take him down. She would be relegated to being behind the scenes.
And she was okay with that. Her sister could finish this job, and Kala would be cheering her on all the way.
“I promise we won’t let him get away with it.” Her father brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it. “I thought I lost you.”
She gave him a smile. A weak smile, but a smile. “I’m tougher than that.” She glanced over and Coop was still asleep, looking adorably rumpled. “Did he lose his shit? Did someone take video this time because I would like to see it.”
Her father’s eyes rolled. “No. He did not. He got you out of the house and then started CPR. Aidan took over as soon as he could. He had adrenaline in his pack and got your heart restarted, and here we are.”
“And in the chaos Huisman escaped.” But he wasn’t the only one. One of the last things she remembered was watching her cousin being carried out like she was Persephone being dragged to the underworld. “How did Zach get away?”
Her father growled a little. “From what I can tell, he had someone waiting for him. He’s in the wind. Do you think he plans to hurt your cousin?”
She managed to slightly shake her head. She was going to talk to Cooper about his CPR techniques. Or Aidan. One of them had nearly cracked her ribs, it felt like. Otherwise, she seemed to be in decent condition. “He’s in love with her. I think he knows his time is limited, and he wants to protect her while he can. And probably sleep with her. A lot.”
“Too much information. I’m going to kill that kid when we catch him,” her father grumbled. “I could help him. I’m not going to turn him over to the damn Agency. Your mother wouldn’t let me.”
Her mom had a soft spot for Zach, but then she also knew what it meant to be beholden to a criminal parent. Although she was pretty sure Shannon Reed wasn’t like her grandfather, the hard-core syndicate boss. She was about to do a lot of research into Cooper’s biological mother. “He needs to do this. I think Devi will prove harder to deal with than he imagines.”
The door opened, and she heard a soft gasp. “You’re awake.”
“Thank god you’re awake.”
Her mom and Kenzie. They rushed in, cups of coffee in hand.
Cooper stirred, and then his eyes went wide as he sat straight up. “Kala.”
Her guy looked so relieved. He scrambled up, reaching for her hand. Her dad stepped back, an oddly wistful look on his face.
Then Cooper had all of her attention. He stared down at her like she was some sort of miracle.
“I’m okay.” She needed to calm him down. She could only imagine how she would feel if he was the one lying in this bed. Hell, she might be overly dramatic and cause a massive scene. He was worth it. “I’m not going into the field again anytime soon, but I’m okay.”
She heard a gasp, knew what she’d said was going to be a shock to her twin, but it was the right thing to do. For her future. For Cooper.
Cooper leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
Lou had rolled out of bed and joined Cooper. “You scared us.”
It was no surprise to her that TJ was still sleeping. “Sorry. Also, you should know that I intend to listen to every lecture you give from now until the end of time.”
Lou’s grin kicked up. “Glad to know because I have some thoughts on our comms unit.”
“We’re going to let you get some sleep,” her mother said. “We’ll be back in a couple of hours. I think they’ll release you and let you go home because we have Aidan with us. He’s been a godsend dealing with the doctors here.”
She was ready to be home. “Good because we have a wedding to plan.”
Cooper settled in beside her. “We do, though I’m willing to give my mom an extra week. She got shot, after all.”
Her mom frowned. “We need six months.”
Cooper yawned and gently wrapped an arm around her. “Nope. We’re getting married in a couple of weeks. If you and Mom want to plan a big old reception in six months we can talk, but I’m locking her down. I’ve waited way too long and seen her almost die too many times. We’re getting married at the courthouse.”
“We’ll see about that,” her mother vowed, a steely look in her eyes.
“Good luck,” her dad said and frowned Cooper’s way. “But no one is calling me Grumpa.”