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Wincing, he looked at his brother Burke’s face had shut down
“Burke? Is there anything I can do?” Hilary asked “You must be so tired I can make reservations for dinner You need to eat”
Burke shook his head “No, thank you Not hungry Get us back on a plane to Colombia”
Hilary’s eyes widened, her lip forot here Burke, your wounds aren’t completely healed”
A cold professional mask slid across Burke’s face Cole was fairly certain that his own mirrored that desolation “Give us a moment”
Hilary nodded reluctantly and walked out of the room
“I want to go to New York,” Cole blurted
“What would it prove? And according to that report, she’s moved”
“I want to lay eyes on this fucker What’s his name?” Cole demanded
Burke’s laugh was huus He’s from Scotland”
She’d ot to go”
They could talk to her, force her to tell them just why she’d pro there when they came home
Fuck, he still loved her He didn’t want to let her go, but he couldn’t bear to see her with thison her finger and know he hadn’t put it there
“We can’t go, Cole” Burke scrubbed a hand over his hair “She never called”
“We didn’t call her, either” He regretted that fact on a daily basis, but it had been too dangerous
“When e supposed to call, man? We’ve been deep undercover for months We have to face facts She didn’t love us It’s over Fuck” Burke turned away He stalked to his desk and picked up the phone “Rafiq al Mussad, please Yes, tell him this is Burke Lennox, and he needs to callback to Colombia soon We need to meet with him”
Cole stared out hisMiles separated him from Jessa, but even if she stood in front of him now, he wouldn’t be able to reach her
His future was over He needed a drink
Burke continued to make plans, but Cole could see the rest of his life ht Die Alone Maybe he would save a few people, but the only woman who could have saved him was lost
CHAPTER EIGHT
Present Day – Dallas, Texas
Cole watched Jessa, his every instinct on overload She was thinking solared at hi across the floor in a quick step that told hier
Of course she was angry In her head, they had lied, but it hadn’t really seemed like a lie at the tih that it was just part of the job
But this particular cover had blown up in their faces Burke could be as opti back Not now that she’d decided what they really were
Mercenaries
He hated that fucking word It sounded selfish, made them seem like men who sold their services to anyone with cash, who used their power and strength, no ot hurt That wasn’t him, but he wouldn’t be able to convince Jessa Did he even deserve a chance to try at this point? He sighed And hoould their son regard therew up?
“So, how long do you expect me to live in a swamp?”
Cole watched her pace, her hands clenching and unclenching She was ready to explode, and he was going to let her Maybe if she bled off some of her tension naturally, he wouldn’t be teasms on her until she relaxed He liked that plan much better, but she didn’t want hi No one would ever love him
Burke crossed his arht at Cole “Well? Don’t you have some caveman comeback to that one?”
Cole just shook his head
“Not a single word?”
“No”
Fuck Burke wanted to bait hi his terab Jessa and push pleasure on her until she ive her ive his brother the satisfaction of showing Jessa howto break her down and soften her up for the back
Burke’s growl ca really angry, a surprise since Burke rarely lost his te to take over for hi speak for you Jessa, you’ll stay in the swaht to go”
Her eyes narrowed “Or maybe I’ll call the cops le one of the my chances with them than the two of you At least they won’t lie to me”
Cole felt his whole body flinch, like she’d hit him with a bullet No, a bullet would hurt less
“You’re not calling anyone” Burke crossed his arht into her space, towering over her “Do you honestly believe we haven’t tried everything we could in the short a the feds, the US Attorney’s office, the DA of New York These things take ti on”