Cole(67)

But I didn’t wait for a response. I kept going. Doris and William’s daughter. Her dog.

Did he have a dog policy for the building? If not, he should. Dogs were good. People loved their dogs. I could bring Frankie back.

Then it became all about Frankie.

The city lights moved past overhead, lighting our way as the car sailed down the highway. “He would just lie next to me,” I explained, continuing on about Frankie. “I was either in bed, or if I couldn’t stand the smell of Liam’s pillows, I’d sit in one of the other rooms. I just sat on the floor, and Frankie would curl up next to me. He barked sometimes. He wanted food, but I couldn’t get up to feed him. I knew that was what he wanted, but I just couldn’t make myself to get it for him. Everything was work. Moving. Sitting. Going to the bathroom. It was all just work.”

“Here’s our exit,” Cole murmured.

I turned on the signal and followed the lane, transitioning to the next road. His direction brought me back to reality. He must’ve sensed that.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I moved my head up and down. The shock had worn off, because now I felt exhausted and numb all at the same time. We rode the rest of the way in silence. When we neared The Mauricio, I turned the corner. Cole hit the button, and the bottom parking lot door opened. Pulling the car inside, I parked in Cole’s spot and turned the engine off.

We went inside, and I expected we’d go to my place. We didn’t. When I started for the elevator, Cole caught my hand and pulled me another way. His hand fell to my hip, and he opened an exit door in the corner, revealing another elevator. I knew no other code would work for this one.

Cole said, “Open.”

The doors obeyed, and we stepped inside. There were only three buttons to choose between. He touched the middle one, and we were moving. When the doors opened again, Dorian stood waiting for Cole. His head jerked back when he saw me, but he pressed his lips together in a tight line.

Cole sat down in a chair, and Dorian went right to work.

I didn’t look around. I knew this was Cole’s place, but he was my focus in that moment. My determination lasted thirty minutes. The exhaustion was hitting me hard, and at one point I almost fell to the floor before catching myself.

Cole grinned at me. “Go to sleep, Addison.”

“I don’t know how to get there.”

He pointed behind him. “Follow the hallway. Take the stairs to the top floor, and you’ll see the bed.”

He wanted me to sleep in his bed. I could only blink at him. That meant something.

“I’ll be up in a little bit.”

I could tell Dorian didn’t approve. His face had told me when I came in, and now he stiffened and sucked in his breath when Cole sent me to his bedroom. I looked over at him, then back at Cole. Cole shook his head.

Okay. That was my cue to do as he said. I walked around him, my hand touching his good shoulder briefly as I passed. I looked down. It felt wrong to explore Cole’s home without him. When I came to the stairs, I followed them all the way up. There was a door right ahead of me. It was the only place to go, and when I opened it, I saw the biggest bed I’d ever seen in my life.

I almost cried out with joy. Almost. I refrained, figuring Dorian would try to kick me out if he heard. Instead I staggered into the bathroom and tried not to drool over everything inside. There was a Jacuzzi bathtub in one corner and a glass shower along the entire opposite wall. A basket of towels sat between two sinks. They looked large and warm enough to heat me like a blanket.

I stripped, showered, and grabbed one of those towels. I was right. They were heated, too. I didn’t waste time looking for a shirt to wear. I crawled under Cole’s sheets still wrapped in the towel.

I tried to stay awake. I wanted to wait for him to join me. There were things I wanted to say and lying here, I thought about what all was happening. Right now, men were heading out to the stables. They would clean up the bodies, the glass. They’d take care of everything, and my job—I looked to the doorway. Cole was there, his hands rested on the doorframe as he stared back at me.

Cole was my job now.

We’d changed. We had been changing, but we had graduated to a new level tonight. Cole took care of me. I took care of him. We were a team.

We were together now.

I felt sleep coming on, and knew I wouldn’t be able to fight it, but as my eyelids started to drop, I whispered to him, “I choose. I choose you.”





I woke and could only lie there.

I’d shot a gun last night. I might’ve killed a man. Cole did kill five of them, and maybe that last one, too. They came, they shot Carl, and they tried to hunt us down.