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But recently, Cole seeone more than he was home and when he was home, he chose to spend most of his time with Hannah It was almost like Cole and Luke had switched personalities Not that either s, but it seeto shut hiitated which worried her even h Cole was trying to smile less She knew that Alex played a crucial part in Cole’s frustration, sending him out of town often, but Cole never quite explained why

“If you need to talk, I’lass of wine she had been sipping on and went to stand closer to where Cole now sat at the breakfast bar

“Thanks”

The way he responded told her that he wasn’t intending to share anything with her now She had learned a long tio that with Cole and Luke, she couldn’t let them off the hook easy They didn’t open up much, and when they did, it was because she had pried it out of the, war her cheek in the sa on the bar stool, Sierra barely ca, Hannah’s little baby coo ca on the kitchen counter, and Cole abruptlyyour dinner,” he said and walked out of the roole in her nose and the prickle of tears behind her eyelids as she watched hirown incredibly distant Ever since they had surprised Luke at his office, he hadn’t been the sa desperately to see where things , but she couldn’t seeether That day had been explosive, just as it alhen the three of theether

Granted, she knew that, for the last week, they hadn’t been together except that one tied to steal an hour onewhen Cole was out of town, but since he’d been back, their ti didn’t seem to work out And she knew that unless Cole and Luke were finding ti inti their own separate things most of the tietables and tossing in a handful of precooked chicken Cole’s voice came over the monitor as he talked to Hannah She couldn’t help but smile as she always did when she heard either of thehter was the sweetest thing she had ever witnessed No matter how hard or stubborn the two of theuards came down entirely

For the next ten minutes, Sierra picked at her food and listened to Cole talk to his daughter The way he spoke to her brought tears to her eyes several times Not only what he said, but the way he said it Cole was one of the h most people never saw that side of him Because he was so shy, only the people closest to hiot to know hiiven her that opportunity

After cleaning the kitchen and taking a shower, Sierra checked in on Hannah to find that she wasn’t in her bed When she went to the living roo television with Hannah perched on his chest Her heart tipped over

“I’ hers from across the roo an ass It’s just been one of those days”

“Want to talk about it?”

~~~~

Cole eased over on the couch, careful not to wake Hannah, offering Sierra enough room so she could perch beside them He patted the cushion and waited for her to sit down With his hand protectively on Hannah’s back, he looked up at Sierra

“Alex wants ence,” he told her

“How does that affect you? I thought it wasn’t even built yet”

“It’s not He wants o talk to Travis and convince him to let Jake and Nate take over as their security I think he’s expecting them to prove to Travis that they can handle this”

“Why can’t he go?”

“He didn’t say” Cole hated lying to her, but he also didn’t want to share Alex’s business That was one thing about hi that this was his family, it still felt like a betrayal