Sour Cherry(19)

“Considering this has to do with my life, I think I deserve to know. Is it personal? More than some power struggle?” I stared at his back, watching his shoulders rise and fall evenly.

He left only half his face visible, but I saw the struggle in his eyes.

I had a bad feeling about that look. With an all too familiar experience of fighting inner demons, I recognized the war raging across Cooper’s face. So many possibilities were the cause of such agony and confusion, but my mind automatically went to the worst case scenario: a hit had been taken out on my life as well. In the back of my mind I wondered if he’d spared me for the same reason I hadn’t told him about the hit on his life, but my reasoning seemed irrational now. “Just tell me. Please.”

Cooper didn’t answer for the space of three inhales and I thought I might explode. Finally, when I couldn’t take any more, his eyes dropped to the pavement in defeat. He spoke to me over his shoulder. “I’m CIA, Cherry.” Cooper faced me fully, no signs of deception evident in his expression. “And my orders to take control of Satan’s Army were very clear.”

****

I didn’t even have the ability to snap my mouth closed.

“Does that satisfy your curiosity?” Cooper mounted his Harley and threw back the kickstand. Starting the machine, he gave me an expectant expression.

I didn’t know if I wanted to climb on or run as fast as I could. “What the hell does the CIA want with Satan’s Army?”

“Cocaine. The same thing your dad was after.”

“What did you just say?” My temper swelled in the center of my chest and I couldn’t think of a single exercise to cool off. I took a step closer, ready to wipe that smirk off his face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Kenyon Williams was one of the best agents we had in our unit. He trained me personally. I got involved in Satan’s Army because of him.”

His explanation was simple, but brought even more questions to my lips. Only one stood out from all the others, however. “So it was all a lie?” I waited for him to answer, but the possibility of him targeting me for his own purposes kept me going. “That night we slept together. Did you single me out?”

Cooper wouldn’t meet my gaze, his shoulders sinking slightly. “Yes, but—”

My whole body went numb. I turned my back on him, heading back toward the restaurant’s side door. Footsteps followed me, but I didn’t care.

“Cherry, wait.” His calloused hand wrapped around my arm. “Let me explain.”

I put all my weight behind the punch to his face and Cooper dropped like a bag of concrete. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, I’d have congratulated myself for cold-clocking a man twice my size. I stared down at him, trying not to break down into sobs. The pain in my knuckles alone made me want to cry, but the betrayal made it nearly impossible to hold back the heartache.

“I’m not some tool you can manipulate, Cooper.” Suddenly my shock and anger transformed into a vengeful, living thing. He thought he could use me? Well, maybe he could rely on the person who’d have to give him a ride back to the city to help him from now on.

I sauntered up to the bike, mounted and shoved on Cooper’s helmet. Pain radiated throughout my face from my broken nose, but I turned the key and squeezed the throttle. Movement on my right side told me Cooper had made it to his feet. I let go of the break and sped off with a lingering gaze in his direction. Ripping out of the parking lot with Cooper’s bike, I let the wind dry the tears streaking down my face.

As I ripped my way down I-95, I tried not to let his betrayal go straight to my heart, but the waterworks gave me away. He’d picked me out of that bar. He’d made me think he cared for me, that he’d saved my life because he liked me. Turned out he just didn’t want his asset to die. God, I’d even considered something permanent with him.

But I guess that was my problem to begin with: I’d assumed too much.

Bastard.

In an hour, I ended up at my apartment.

Returning to Vegas wasn’t my brightest idea, but if home was ever where my heart was, I wanted to find it after Cooper cut it out. There were other reasons, too. Cooper’s claim that my father was involved in the CIA weighed heavily on my mind. I’d taken over my old man’s apartment when he’d died, but none of his personal items had given me the idea he’d been anything but a member of the Outriggers. Certainly not a rat for the CIA.

I waited across the street a few minutes, searching the front door and side alleys for any sign of loiterers. I was sure my club had already searched the apartment, but they might still be hanging around, waiting for me to run home scared.