Cole(74)

“Sia’s been there for me so many times, and I’m lying to her about—” I waved at him. “You know.”

“Cut yourself a break.” Turning the stove off, he put the scrambled eggs on a plate and came toward the table. He grabbed two forks on the way and sat down. He gestured to the plate and passed me a fork. “Dig in. This is our breakfast.”

“Chef Cole extraordinaire, huh?”

“You know it.” He grinned, fork in hand and ready to dive in. He paused to stare at me a moment and seemed to grow thoughtful, lowering his hand to the table. “This is what I lived on when I was on my own for a while.”

“The family you stayed with didn’t cook for you?”

“They did, but I stayed in the stables. If they came for me, I didn’t want the family to die, too.” He shook his head. “That’s ridiculous thinking now. The Bertals would’ve cleaned house. They would’ve killed the family first and then come looking for me when they couldn’t find me in the house.”

“I’m sorry.”

“They weren’t your family.” He shrugged, raising his fork again. “But going back to the eggs, this is what I ate a lot of the time. I had dinner once or twice a week with the family. The other times, there was a small kitchen area in the barn, and I ate lots and lots of eggs. Somehow I got it in my head that that’s what you eat to get big.”

He laughed before spearing some eggs and popping them in his mouth. He ate half the plate in a few minutes before leaning back in his chair, rubbing his stomach. “I hated eggs when I first came back. I wouldn’t eat them. Carter never said anything, but I knew he wondered. We’d have dinner every now and then when I came back, and if there were eggs in the meal, I always picked them out.”

“Jake and Sia said Carter was your family’s hit man?”

He nodded. “Yeah, for a while. He rose up in the ranks, killed everything in sight. He was a fucking badass. I worshiped him; then I worshiped him even more after he saved my life. I learned later that he kind of ran the family until I came back. He’s a good guy. I owe him everything.”

I put my fork aside and leaned back in my chair, mirroring Cole. His legs stretched out under my seat, and I lifted mine, tucking them alongside his. It calmed me.

“There’s a lot on the internet about your friend.”

“The media loves him.” He winked at me. “He’s gorgeous, you know.”

I laughed softly. “So are you.”

Cole’s eyes darkened, and he leaned forward. He picked up my hand and laced our fingers together before looking back at me. “He wants to meet you.”

“Huh?” I tried to pull my hand away, but Cole only tightened his hold.

He flashed that killer smile again, rubbing his thumb over mine. He’d grabbed my hand on purpose. “Yep. He wants to meet you all official like.”

“Just him?” A dark room flashed in my head. Men in dark business suits lined up against the far wall as I was led to my death. “Or will others be there?”

Cole’s eyes narrowed, and he cocked his head before shaking it. “Nope. I love the guy. He’s family, but I know he’s scary. I thought maybe if it was over dinner, that’d be less intense. And Emma will come, too.”

“Who’s Emma?” As I asked, I remembered. “Emma Nathans.”

Cole nodded. “She’s nice. I think you’ll like her. She’s the one who tamed the Carter beast.” He smiled, and I heard the fondness in his voice.

He liked Emma. He cared for her—or maybe it was something else. He respected her, just like he respected Carter Reed. I knew it, but I still asked. “You really care about them, don’t you?”

He nodded. “I do. I owe my life to both of them, actually. Last year—” His voice dropped. “I know there’s a lot of scary shit on the internet about Carter, and I don’t know what they say about Emma, but it’s not all true. Carter’s dangerous, and he’s killed, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s like me.”

Cole let go of my hand and leaned back in his chair again. His arms spread wide, and the carefree Cole returned. “Only I’m younger, funnier, and way better looking.”

I remembered how they’d looked, Cole and Carter, at the banquet. How they’d moved as one. Cole might be younger, but he was just as deadly. He’d showed me how dangerous he could be, and thinking about that night again, a shiver went through me, cooling my blood.

“You in?”

“Huh?”

Cole watched me.

“Oh yeah. Dinner with Carter and Emma.” I nodded. “I’m in.”