by Hadley Quinn
“Somebody gets pissy when he’s tired,” Leah said from behind.
“Bedroom,” he pointed down the hall, ignoring her. “And the bathroom is right next to it.”
Cole made his way to the couch and dropped onto it face first. He may have been out the second his body went still, but Leah’s voice prevented it.
“I’m not taking your bed,” she told him, picking up her bags to set by the other couch.
Cole pretended like he was already snoring.
“Very funny, but seriously, I just want to crash on the couch for tonight.”
“Me too, it smells like pizza,” he mumbled into it.
“Sounds awesome but I doubt it’s better than sleeping in your own bed.”
“It is because I’m already here. It would be worse to move me so go to my room, Leah.”
He heard her stifle a laugh. “Ooh, kinky. And what are you gonna do to me in your room, Cole?”
He couldn’t help it and actually smiled. Dead fucking tired, but she made him smile. “Absolutely nothing. That’s the kinky surprise.”
It took only five seconds before he could feel himself drifting off to sleep. He was pretty sure he heard Leah grab a bag and head for the hall, but then his mind went completely blank.
***
Just because Cole could fall asleep quickly, it didn’t mean he could stay asleep for long. The average amount of sleep he got on a nightly basis was three or four hours, so once seven a.m. hit, he was awake again.
He sat up on the couch as his mind cleared for a few minutes. It’s not like he forgot Leah was in the other room because he could feel the difference in his apartment the second he woke up. He sensed things like that. Most would assume it was his career that made him that way, but the truth was that it was an innate trait that had always been a part of him. He was hyperaware of his surroundings.
He stood and headed for the bathroom. Surprisingly, Leah had left the bedroom door wide open and he paused in the hallway to peer inside. First he realized that his room was an absolute mess, but then he noticed the bare leg and arm that stuck out from the bedding, and little bit of purple underwear that went along with it.
It was kinda cute—until he remembered it was Van’s sister that was barely dressed in his bed.
He used the bathroom as quietly as he could, and when he came out, saw that Leah was in the exact same position as before. She was a heavy sleeper, that’s for sure. If anyone had been within twenty feet of Cole, he would have been wide-awake—even if he’d been dead asleep.
Opening the refrigerator, he immediately realized he had no food. Well, nothing that was edible anymore. He grabbed a few leftover items that had obviously seen healthier days and tossed them into the trash. He found beer and salsa; some cheese with a bit of mold that could be sliced off. He didn’t figure that would go over too well. Happy that he found cereal in the cupboard, he realized there was obviously no milk.
“Well, we’ll fix that,” he said as he left his apartment for Cody’s. He stood at the door for less than a minute, picking the lock, and silently let himself inside. Cole could hear heavy, animal-like snores coming from down the hall in the bedroom, so he knew Cody was definitely home.
He grabbed a half-gallon of milk from the fridge and locked up behind him just as quietly.
He’d eaten three bowls of cereal by the time eleven o’clock hit. Leah was still sound asleep in his bedroom, so Cole decided to just let her sleep as long as she needed to. He had a file spread over his coffee table when Cody walked right into his apartment.
“You steal my milk again?” he asked, dropping onto the other couch.
“Yep,” Cole nodded, reading over a perp description in the case file. “Hey, I left my door unlocked so you could come get it back.”
“Asshole.”
Cole only smiled.
“And you don’t wanna give me the chance to break in like you do?”
“I don’t break in,” Cole stated as he continued to skim the information in front of him. “I’m just courteous and choose not to wake you up.”
“Ah, right,” Cody chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m gonna come steal your beer one of these days. You just wait and see.”
“You couldn’t break into my apartment if your life depended on it.”
“You wanna bet? I sure as fuck could.”
“You wouldn’t live to tell the tale, that’s for damn sure. You’d have a bullet in your head.”
“No, I’d just kick your fucking door in, then you’d know it was me.”
Cole smiled as he flipped a page to read the backside. “I seem to recall you trying that to Paulie’s door and it didn’t exactly work.”
“I was drunk, you fucker,” Cody laughed. “Didn’t exactly have all my brain cells on my side that night.” He got up and helped himself to the fridge, grabbing a beer. “You got nothing to eat, man,” he grinned.
“No shit.”
Cody took a swig and said, “So? You’re back. Where you been the last couple weeks, secret agent man?”
“Miami.”
“Miami?” Cody scoffed with a smile. “What’s in Miami?”
“Retrieval of, eh, someone.”
Cody only nodded since he knew not to ask questions. Cole never talked about his work with any of the guys. It wasn’t that a lot of it was exactly clandestine, but he just wasn’t a big talker when it came to work related things.
Or anything, really. None of them even knew he’d been looking for Leah.
“You gonna hit the Divehouse tonight?” Cody asked. “Mickey misses ya, man. Me too. I need some competition. Now that Van is doing the whole family thing, I got no one to give me hell.”
Cole slightly nodded. “Hell yeah, sounds good. I could use it.”
“You going to the party later?”
Cole studied him for a second. “What party?”
“His little girl turns one today. You didn’t get an invite? My bad, man. Well, I guess you’ve been out of town, but I know they’d like you there. Stop by.”
He barely agreed, but going to a baby party wasn’t really Cole’s thing. And now he had Leah to deliver to her brother and didn’t know if he should do it before the party or after it.
“So I told you about that chick Bianca, right?” Cody asked, leaning back against the couch.
“Yeah, I remember.”
“She’s hot. And she’s got a friend. Serena. She’s hot, too. I’m gonna hook you two up.”
“I don’t need a matchmaker, thanks.”
“Dude, maybe you got some in Miami—which I really hope you did, bro—but you need to get fucked, man. Stop working so damn much and go out once in a while. You’re like this badass motherfucker that chicks gravitate to, pal, and you don’t even capitalize on it.”
“How would you know?”
Cody raised an eyebrow and paused for a few seconds. “I guess I wouldn’t,” he finally replied. “But maybe you just don’t like to share stories?”
“Not really.”
Cody studied him again before he said, “You are a closed book, my friend.”
“And you’re just starting to realize that?”
“Point taken.” He lifted his beer and took another swig. “But one of these days…I’d like to hear a story or two.”
“If it’s not in my present, and not something I want in the future, there’s nothing to dwell on.”
Something caused him to glance down the hall. Leah was standing in the doorway of the bedroom, just listening to them talk.
Cody looked behind him to follow Cole’s gaze and he raised both eyebrows with surprise. “Well look at that, Don Juan. I spoke too soon.”
Leah came down the hall, dressed in different clothes than she’d been in before. She was eyeing both of them, each sitting on a different couch. Cole wondered what she was thinking, seeing two guys in just a pair of shorts in front of her. The guys on this floor didn’t exactly wear clothes all of the time. He certainly never wore a shirt in
his own apartment, and Cody rarely did either.
She finally settled on Cole and asked, “Why didn’t you wake me up? It’s almost fucking noon.”
Cody gaped at her for a few seconds, then looked at Cole. “Yeah, man, it’s almost fucking noon,” he mimicked.
Ignoring him, Cole stood and said, “Just thought you might want to sleep.”
“I don’t need sleep—well, I mean I didn’t think I did—but you should have woke me up.”
“You weren’t in a hurry last night so I didn’t think you’d be in one this morning.” He didn’t miss another one of his buddy’s looks with that comment as Cody continued to glance between him and Leah.
Leah blatantly stared right back at Cody, almost like a challenge. “What? Have you not ever seen a goddamn female before?” she asked him.
Cole thought it was kind of funny but didn’t laugh. The guys were all used to Marnie, Paul’s wife, who would have said exactly the same thing.
“Never seen one in here before,” Cody answered her.
“Oh, well congratulations,” she told him sarcastically. “I’m truly honored.”
With a huge smile, Cody turned to Cole and asked, “Where’d you find this mouth? She’d give Marnie a run for her money. But in a weird way, she totally reminds me of Van with that smug little smile she’s got.”
“Ding, ding, ding!” Leah chimed. “The Neanderthal is smarter than he looks.”
Cody only stared at her and blinked.
“Leah Kemp,” Cole informed him, motioning to her with his hand. “She’s Van’s sister.”
Again Cody stared at her, and then his mouth dropped open as he looked between Leah and Cole. “No fucking way,” he whispered.
“I’m his Miami ‘retrieval’, smart one,” Leah said. “So wonderful to meet you.”
Cody stood from the couch and faced both of them. He was completely surprised by the information and didn’t say anything for a long time.
Finally he started laughing—really hard—and he bent over to support himself on his knees as he continued to laugh. “Oh my God, Van is gonna kill you,” he barely spoke between hysterics. “He’s…gonna…his sister…oh my God…”
“Shut the fuck up,” Cole told him. “It’s not what you think.”
“No, please, I don’t care,” Cody continued to laugh. “No, I wanna see his reaction. Please don’t ruin this for me…” He dropped onto his knees on the floor and kept laughing. “Please, can I just pretend? I seriously wanna see his face…”
“You guys are ridiculous,” Leah rolled her eyes as she headed for the kitchen. Cole watched her open the refrigerator, stare into it for three seconds, then close it again.
“Cereal,” he pointed to the counter. Turning back to Cody, now lying on the floor flat on his back, he said, “Get out of my apartment.”
Rolling backward to flip himself onto his feet, Cody shook his head as he stood. “Come on, man. You have to admit that would be fucking hilarious. Van finds out you’ve been doing his sister? Honestly, I would pay you fifty fucking bucks to just make him think—”
“Get out, Cody,” Cole growled, grabbing the back of his neck to push him toward the door.
“What about my milk?”
“Fuck your milk. Go visit the chick in 2E. Maybe she’ll let you replace one of her twins and suck a tit.”
“You’re sick, man. But shit, she is kinda hot, even though she’s got, like, six kids or something—”
“Get out!” Cole shoved him out the door and slammed it behind him.
“Hey, Cole,” Cody’s voice whispered from the other side of the door as he tapped on it. “I didn’t realize Van’s sister was so hot. He is soooo gonna have a problem with that.”
Cole kicked the door hard and heard Cody laughing as he walked away. He really didn’t think Leah had heard that last comment since she was sitting at the counter with a bowl of cereal. But he knew that Cody was right, and even though she tried to hide it before, Leah Kemp had a great body. She was in a tank top and jeans right now, sitting at the counter in bare feet. Her long brown hair was down and she wasn’t wearing her glasses. Overall, she had a very naturally pretty look.
Even with the scowl on her face.
When Cole faced her from across the counter, she looked at him with those deep hazel eyes like she was trying to read him.
“So what’s the plan for today?” he asked in order to keep his thoughts on business.
“You mean when can you get rid of me?”
“No, I mean when do you want to see your brother and how do you want to go about it. I obviously know nothing about you or what it’s going to be like for you, so just tell me what you want to do.”
She paused before taking another bite. After she swallowed, she asked, “It’s his little girl’s birthday today?”
He barely nodded. “Apparently so.”
“Then I’d rather not ruin it. When’s it over?”
“I have no idea, I’ll ask Cody.” He retrieved his phone from the table and sent him a text. When he got an answer a minute later, Cole said, “Starts at one.”
Leah sat there at the counter in silence as she continued to eat. Cole returned to the couch and studied his case file for a few more minutes until she stood and asked if she could take a shower.
“Help yourself to whatever you need,” he told her.
When she disappeared into the bedroom, he sighed and shook his head.
It was going to be one long ass day.
Chapter Five
There were a handful of times in Cole’s life where he’d been hired to find someone. One was a seven-year-old girl that had been kidnapped from her home by a drug lord that wanted revenge for the death of his brother. Even though both families were at war with each other and he didn’t care for either of them, Cole focused on it as a job only and got it done.
But he had to admit that it was a soft moment when the little girl was finally reunited with her mother. Cole had carried her from the car across a street in the middle of nowhere to hand her over, and the mother dropped to her knees and bawled. The little girl never let go of her mom for a single second, and even when he was handed an envelope of cash by the father, it was the sobs of the little girl that Cole held with him as he walked away.
There wasn’t hysterical sobbing when Leah and Van were reunited, but Cole still felt how meek and submissive the moment was. Like himself, he knew that Donovan Kemp was a hard shell with a soft heart, and Cole chose to leave quickly so he didn’t have to witness the guy have to work through such conflicting feelings. But when he got to his truck, a familiar voice called his name. He was hoping to escape without having to talk any further, and especially because he didn’t know what to say to Dani.
He turned around to face her. She only stared at him for a few seconds with tears in her dark blue eyes. He didn’t want to see that. He’d seen enough of her tears to haunt him for a very long time, but the hardest part to accept was that those tears had never been for him.
She’d been so in love with Van that Cole never had the heart to fight it.
“Thank you so much, Cole,” she whispered to him as she wrapped her arms around him.
He felt nothing from the contact and he was glad. He’d shut himself off from feeling anything for anyone else for the past year and a half.
He hugged her back and replied, “You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help.”
She pulled away from him and wiped the moisture off her face. “She looks really good. Healthy, I mean. Is, um, everything okay? Where was she?”
“Good luck with all of that,” Cole shrugged. “If you mean you guys were worried she’d be all cracked out in junkie town, no, I don’t believe that’s the case.”
He didn’t mention whoreville for a reason; whatever Leah wanted to tell them, she was on her own now. He’d done his job, apparently.
“So where’d you find her?” Dani asked again.
With a sigh, Cole nodded toward the front porch. Both
Leah and Van were watching them, so Cole answered, “Maybe she’s ready to tell you.”
With a tiny nod, Dani smiled. “Okay. And thanks again, Cole.” She gave him another hug and turned for the house. A few seconds later, she turned back around and added, “You’d better not be a stranger anymore.”
He gave her a partial smile before she headed back to the porch. When Van held the door open for the girls to go inside, he turned back around to look at Cole. No words were spoken as they made eye contact, but Cole could read him loud and clear. Van was telling him thank you from the bottom of his heart.
Returning to his apartment felt awkward. The past couple of weeks he’d been away had given him a temporary sense of homelessness and disconnection. It was something he’d always been used to before as he moved from place to place over the years, but now that he’d spent over a year living on the Block, it was kind of starting to feel comfortable.
The feeling was surprising.
As he sat on the couch with the television on to numb the empty silence, his thoughts drifted to places he didn’t want them to go. Solitude and loneliness tended to resurface memories he always tried to keep buried.
Blood. Everywhere.
Yelling, cussing, a beatdown.
Silence.
Car doors slam shut.
Tires squealing.
Silence.
Cole physically shook his head to rid it of unnecessary thoughts, although it never worked. He had no idea what those memories were. They just came in bits and pieces at the most random moments. He didn’t even know if it was an actual memory or just flashbacks from a nightmare he’d once had.
He needed physical exertion right now, so he changed into his gym clothes and headed for the Divehouse. It wasn’t really in his repertoire to be social with anyone when he came to the gym, so he stuck his music in his ears and found a bag to punch the shit out of. But when Cody arrived forty minutes later and wanted to spar, he ditched the music and climbed into the cage with him.
“Well looky who’s back,” a chuckling voice entered the gym at the same time. Mickey was all smiles when he came toward the octagon and shook his head at Cole. “If you’d learn how to use a goddamn phone once in a while, we wouldn’t be making bets on whether you were dead or alive. Stop being an asshole.”
