by Hadley Quinn
“Ha, like that’s going to happen,” Leah laughed sharply.
Cole made eye contact with her and enjoyed the smugness on her face, because he was counting down from five and knew what was coming next.
Three. Two. One.
“Yes Leah, do what he says,” Van told her reluctantly.
Bam.
Her eyes flashed his way, and had Cole not been completely worn out, he would have laughed pretty arrogantly at that moment.
“What?” she frowned. “Hell no. There’s no reason for that.”
“Sounds like plenty of reason to me,” her brother said. “You’re staying here with Cole until he says otherwise. I’m not the expert here, okay? He knows what he’s doing. I don’t fucking care if you get along or not, you do what he says.”
Leah was obviously stunned. “Are you kidding me right now? What the hell am I, a babysitting project?”
“I don’t know what the fuck this is, so until we do, you’re staying here. And shit, I need to get back to my wife and kid. This is making me really uneasy right now.”
He pulled out his phone to make a call but Cole stopped him.
“Dani’s okay. I have Sam watching the house.”
Van exhaled a deep breath. “Good. Thank you.”
“Not a problem. Go ahead and get home to your family, though. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Who the hell is Sam?” Leah asked.
“The only reason I’m not running out of this apartment building right now,” Van told her as he made a call anyway. He kissed Leah on the top of the head and said, “Call me tomorrow. I’ll skip work if I need to, ‘kay? The gym can deal with one less trainer for the day.”
“Van, don’t leave me here,” she groaned.
But Van was already on his phone talking to his wife as he left the apartment.
Leah slowly turned her attention to Cole and glared at him.
“What’s the look for?” he asked. “You really think I like this?”
She got up from the couch and stomped over to the kitchen. Pulling the refrigerator open she said, “Hopefully you have more food this time. Van bribed me out of the house with food and I got absolutely nothing.”
Cole honestly couldn’t remember what he had in the fridge, but she ended up pulling out a beer and a chocolate pie that Marnie had brought him from work. She found a fork and ate it right out of the tin dish, taking swigs of beer in between.
“I can order a pizza or something if you want,” he offered as he stood. He rubbed his weary eyes. Shit, he just wanted to crash right now, but he secured the deadbolt on the front door and turned off the lights. As soon as he did it he realized his actions spoke louder than his words.
He’d offered to order food only to shut down his apartment for the night.
“Thanks, I don’t need to see what I’m eating anyway,” Leah stated dryly.
He moved across his apartment effortlessly in the dark and switched on the kitchen light. “Sorry.”
“Mmhm,” she answered after taking a bite.
“I’ve got burritos and stuff in the freezer. Some apples and oranges in the drawer of the fridge. Uh, not sure what else you’d like. We can go to the store tomorrow.”
“We?” she asked with her mouth full. “Am I seriously going to have you up my ass twenty-four-seven?”
Cole leaned against the counter and smiled facetiously. “Do you want me up your ass?” he questioned in a low voice.
She stopped eating mid-bite and stared at him. He could honestly see a blush form on her cheeks and along her neck. He didn’t mean to affect her like that, he was just trying to be an asshole.
Leah tossed the fork in the sink and shoved the pie back into the fridge. She grabbed the beer and took a drink as she headed for the hall. “Goodnight.”
Cole paused. He’d been heading for his own bed out of habit, not even thinking about his guest this time. What happened to her reluctance to use his bedroom like the first time she was here?
He followed her down the hall and paused in the doorway. She’d switched the lamp on and was pulling back the bedding, but paused for a moment.
“Not good enough for you?” he asked.
She turned her head to look at him and placed her hands on her hips. “It’s fine. Why?”
He shrugged. “You look indecisive.”
“Well…maybe I am. I don’t want to take your bed.”
“Good,” he said, coming across the room. He pulled off his shirt as he went to the opposite side of the bed and dropped on top of the comforter. “Thanks.”
He heard her grunt as she left the room, but then the bathroom door shut. Yeah he felt kind of bad, but shit, he just wanted to sleep in his own bed right now. He didn’t even care that she’d left the lamp on as he drifted off…
The bed moved and Cole flinched. He flipped to his side to see what the hell had moved him and saw Leah climbing under the sheets next to him.
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
“It’s a king-sized bed. Surely you can keep your gorilla ass on one side of it and share. Trust me, I don’t like touching people or being touched when I’m trying to sleep. I’m staying on my side.”
She flipped the light off and silence ensued.
He was in the same bed as Van’s sister. For some reason that thought kept running through his head. This is Van’s sister. It’s Van’s sister, you dumb fuck.
But the funny thing was, he knew Van would somehow find out and Cole realized he didn’t even care. Leah was set on snubbing him all she could, so what was the big deal. She was only doing this so she could get back at her brother for making her stay here.
Game. On.
***
Cole was on his right side facing the window. It was a typical morning position and he’d be opening his eyes soon when it started to get light out. However, there was something unusual and different this time. His back. There was something up against his back. Something…cold?
He opened his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness. A few seconds passed as he recalled the events from the day before.
Leah.
He groaned to himself, and then the fact that her skin was cold against him caught his attention again. He did like to keep his apartment cooler than normal. It was usually perfect for him, but he could admit that it got too cold sometimes.
Cole carefully turned onto his back. In the dark he could tell she was facing him, her hands and arms up against her chest, trying to keep them warm. He placed one of his hands over hers and it was ice cold. She’d obviously been trying to absorb some heat from his bare back.
He turned on his left side so he was facing her now. She was the perfect size to tuck under his chin and he pulled her close to his body. He felt horrible that her hands were so cold when he crushed her against his chest, and when she nuzzled her face in for warmth too, her nose was cold too. He wrapped her up with his body the best he could and then closed his eyes again.
***
“What in the— What do you think you’re doing?” a voice broke the silence of Cole’s slumber.
Something shoved off of him and he opened his eyes. Leah was sitting up on the bed, scowling at him.
“Seriously?” she raised her eyebrows. “What does ‘stay on your side of the bed’ mean to you?”
Cole rubbed his face and then pulled the covers up to his shoulders again. She’d pulled them all off upon her retreat and the air was cold.
“I think you were a little cold last night,” he mumbled.
“Oh, cold?” she scoffed. “I wasn’t being cold to you, I was just setting some boundaries. If you think—”
“Cold as in freezing your ass off,” he interrupted her. “You woke me up with your icy hands on my body. I was only trying to help get you warm. It apparently worked.” He glanced at the clock that read 7:54. Shit, he never slept in that late.
Cole noticed a shiver ripple through her body. She was just sitting there in her t-shirt and panties, obviously c
old.
Leah glanced down at her chest and her hands covered up her perky nipples poking out. “Why is it so fucking cold in here?” she growled as she quickly climbed under the comforter again and pulled it up over her head.
Cole slid out of bed. “I’ll turn the heat up a little.” He grabbed a zip up hoodie and slipped it on before he trekked out to the front room. The radiator was switched on ‘low’ but it wasn’t clicking like it usually did. He placed his hand on it.
Ice cold.
“Great,” he grumbled to himself. He messed with it for a couple of minutes but couldn’t get it to work. No wonder it was colder than usual in his apartment.
After making a quick call downstairs to report the issue, Cole entered the kitchen. He pulled out the last few hardboiled eggs he had and dropped some bread into the toaster. He didn’t drink coffee so he didn’t have any, but there was tea up in the cupboard that Dani had once brought over. It had been a night that Van was in jail and she couldn’t sleep. She’d sat right there on the counter, waiting for the water to boil, apologizing for coming over so late…
He sighed and shook the memory. It seemed so long ago.
While the water heated, Cole made a trip to the bathroom. Upon standing there taking a leak, a voice walked past the door and said, “Nice.”
He’d forgotten to shut the door. So many years of living by himself had probably made him the worst bachelor in the world.
When he returned to the kitchen, Leah was already buttering the toast. She made some comment about hoping he washed his hands after going to the bathroom, so he touched her face with the back of his fingers to prove they were damp.
“Gross! Don’t do that!” she protested. “And why don’t you dry your hands after?”
“Because I was in a hurry to butter my toast,” he answered, taking a piece from her. He took a big bite and smiled at her.
She barely made a noise and continued to butter the other pieces just as the teapot started to whistle. He pulled it off the burner and set two mugs on the counter. He felt Leah’s eyes on him as he dropped a teabag into each one and poured steaming water over the top.
He finally glanced at her. “What?”
“Tea?” she asked. With a shrug she added, “To each their own.”
“Hey, it’s all I have and I thought it could warm you up.” For the first time, he noticed what she was actually wearing—one of his sweatshirts and a pair of sweats that were rolled down several times at the waist. She’d obviously raided his dresser drawers.
“Just wouldn’t take you for a tea guy, that’s all.”
He wasn’t going to bother explaining. He could just see it leading to a conversation about Dani being in his apartment and he didn’t want to go there. Ever. It’s not like he still had feelings for her, but damn, how do things turn out that way? He couldn’t help how he felt about her back then, even knowing he couldn’t have her. Why was life like that?
“You wanna head to the gym with me today?” he asked to change the subject.
As he peeled the three hardboiled eggs, Leah sat down on a barstool at the counter. She’d set a plate for him next to her with two more pieces of toast and nibbled on the one she had in her hand.
“The Divehouse?” she asked. “Yeah, sure. Just keep Gary away from me. I might kick his balls up into his asshole.”
Cole chuckled but then cringed at the thought of it. “So you’ve been to the Divehouse already? With Van?”
“Mmhm,” she nodded, taking a bite. “He wanted to introduce me to Mickey.” She pulled the mug to her lips and blew on it, sending the steam swirling everywhere.
Damn, it really was cold in his apartment.
“Well we don’t have to go, I just needed a workout is all.”
“No, sounds good to me. I don’t have any clothes, obviously,” she motioned to her body. “Would’ve been nice to know I was going to be held hostage here. I mean what if I have a job I need to get to? I could be fired because of your alpha macho-ism.”
“Do you have a job?” he raised an eyebrow.
She frowned at him. “No, still looking. I have zero official work experience, so it doesn’t help much. There’s no way I’m putting Damien as my former employer.”
Cole nodded his agreement, glad she was disassociating herself with the guy. “Have you talked to Marnie yet? She works as a waitress downtown. They might have something. Have you met Paul and Marnie?” he added.
“Yeah, they’ve come over a couple of times. I don’t think she likes me, though. I’d rather avoid her.”
“She acts like she doesn’t like anyone,” Cole replied knowingly. “Don’t take it personal.”
“Hm, oh well. I don’t have time for shit like that anyway. I’m not looking for friends.”
She got up and rinsed her plate in the sink and then began washing the few dishes that were also in it. Cole sat at the counter and ate in silence, occasionally glancing at her back that was to him.
Based on her personality and her latest comment, he began thinking about her relationship with Scarlett again. He wasn’t sure he believed Scarlett was working for Damien. It just didn’t sit well with him. She had to be working for someone else, maybe undercover somehow?
And because of that thought, he still didn’t trust her. He was worried about Leah and how the Feds could possibly be using her to bring down Glenn’s operation. Sometimes they didn’t care which pawns they used as long as they got their target.
Fuck, he needed to decide which route to go. If the Feds were keeping an eye on Leah, it was probably why Scarlett hadn’t been so quick to contact her. On a federal level, it could even be about bringing down more than just one crime family; maybe they were after more players. And if Scarlett was undercover, what the hell did she want with Cole? What did they need from him that they didn’t already know?
And that question led him right back to the original issue. Was she really working for Damien? Cole felt he could sniff out a federal agent easy enough. Scarlett just didn’t seem to fit—from the little things she did and said to her methods of dealing with him—but if she was good enough to throw him off…
Then he began to think about the “secret” she’d mentioned before. Was she meaning Emilia Denton? And if so, why would that be something of interest to her? Scarlett’s role in all of this was significant, and Cole needed to find out what that was.
More importantly, he still needed to get Leah to trust him.
Chapter Thirteen
“So whatya got?” Cole answered Sam’s call.
“No answer at the Westman number on the rental. No answering machine…nothin’.”
Cole wasn’t surprised. Whoever Scarlett was she was fairly good. She still had him guessing.
He needed to up his game.
“Hey, you’re gonna hang out with Cody today,” Cole told Leah after they’d returned from the gym. She’d just come out of the shower, dressed in his clothes again as she dried her hair with a towel.
“No way,” she answered. “And why is it still so cold in here?”
Cole sighed and made his way to the radiator. He messed with it a little bit, even though the maintenance man was coming by in a couple of hours. He never let anyone in his apartment without him there, and what the building owners also didn’t know was that he’d changed his own locks on his doors and they wouldn’t have been able to come in anyway.
It was against the rules, but he didn’t care. He liked his privacy and didn’t trust people.
“Why do I need to hang out with Cody?” she scowled.
Cole was searching through a kitchen drawer for a wrench. “I have work to do; thought maybe you’d have fun somewhere else.”
“Oh, so go from one jock-stench apartment to another? No thanks.”
“Does it really smell in here?” he asked seriously as he dropped himself in front of the radiator again. Without waiting for an answer, he added, “And I’m sure his apartment will be warmer for you.”
“Sol
d,” she answered right away. She slipped on her shoes and headed for the door. “Have fun doing investigative stuff behind my back. Not sure why you need me out of the picture.”
He paused and set his tools down. “I don’t need you out of my way, it’s just…”
Yeah, he did need her out of the way. But why? He was in auto-mode, trying to do everything on his own again. He looked at Leah, who had paused at the door waiting for the rest of his response. His issue was that she still felt she needed to keep secrets from him. He’d been trying to be just a regular guy around her, not a sleuth.
“Will you answer some more questions for me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied instantly, shutting the door. She flipped the locks closed again.
“Does Scarlett know about the baby?”
Leah released a sigh. “No, I haven’t told anyone. Like I said, I was willing to take it to my grave.”
“What about Alex? Who would he tell?”
“No one. Absolutely no one. He felt the same way. We decided to just leave it in the past.”
Cole slightly nodded his head. “Do you think Damien would take Emilia from her family, just to send a message?”
Again Leah sighed. “I honestly don’t know what is going on but I just don’t want an innocent child pulled into that stuff. I mean I found out about Alex’s family and business situation later—it didn’t influence giving her up at the time—but now I just…”
She was trying not to cry. Cole could only imagine what she was going through but he tried not to think about it. He didn’t want to give up his objectivity to a weak moment of being sensitive.
“One last thing,” he asked, almost humbly like he didn’t have the right to ask. He wasn’t sure how far to push at the moment, but he had to figure this shit out.
“Sure,” she nodded wearily.
“Who is Scarlett? Really, you need to tell me. Because she’s working for someone and I need to know who it is so I know how to proceed. I want to help you. Do you understand that? I want you to be careful about who you trust right now, but know you can definitely trust me. I would never do anything to put you in danger.”
