Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

Unable to deny it, Nik grumbled, “It’s not like it’s pink or anything. It’s white. It’s bleachable. It’s practical.”

“It’s fluffy is what it is.”

It had been the softest one—who wouldn’t want their feet on it? Fucking Bathmat-Gate.

Nik pushed the conversation back on track the only way he knew how. He told Coop about the Glock he’d taken off her. Which naturally Coop had a thousand questions about.

“Where does she carry?”

“Front.”

“Ooh, me likey. And was there…one in her chamber?” He waggled his eyebrows and Nik reluctantly gave a single nod to indicate she had been carrying hot. “Shit, no wonder you’re acting insane. You’re in love.”

Nik groaned. “I’m not acting insane.”

“Okay, maybe not acting.”

“Can I finish?” Nik went on to explain what he’d learned during his online search about her sister, her parents, and even the fiancé. Everything about Animal Control, the woman asking questions at the hotel, and the possible Feds at the tornado site, right up to Aimee and the tracking device at the restaurant.

“I haven’t seen anyone tailing us, but my gut says someone still is.”

“Well shit. I can tell you exactly how they’re tracking her.” He whistled for Titan. When the dog returned, Coop lifted the tag on his collar and pointed to a nearly invisible tracking device. “Figured it was a cop thing.”

Nik narrowed his eyes as it all made sense. Rescuing Titan had been a setup. Like Thea had known, there was more, much more, to her having to bail him out. Someone had wanted her scared and on the run. And now was waiting for the moment she was alone. Shit, he’d nearly handed her right to them at the mall. He was still kicking himself for leaving Thea with that Aimee woman. What if she’d taken Thea right then? His stomach churned at the thought of her being scared. And if she’d been hurt? Hell may not have the fury of a woman scorned, but neither had anything on a pissed-off Navy SEAL. The sky would rain blood before he was done.

“Want me to take the tracker off?” Coop asked.

“Leave it. They’ve already tracked her here. No sense tipping them off we know.”

“Right. Well, all this has been enlightening, but it doesn’t change a damn thing. I don’t have time to dick around waiting to see which comes first—you to remember you don’t do relationships or her to remember how to drop her panties. We’re leaving in the morning.”

Nik ignored Coop’s crudeness. Someone was following Thea. No, not following—tracking her, hunting her. There was no way he was going anywhere without her.

“She’s coming with us, then.”

“Hell no, she’s not.” Coop winged his empty bottle into the trash can with enough force to shatter it.

Nik’s own irritation kept him from laughing at his friend’s antics. “Then go without me. I don’t see what the big deal is. Just because it’s a freaking guy’s trip doesn’t mean it has to be only guys.”

“Yeah, it kinda does. You’re not bringing Yoko.”

“Yoko?” Now he did laugh. “We’re not the goddamn Beatles.”

“No shit. We’re goddamn SEALs. We stick together as family. And I need you there. It’s not just a trip, brother. It’s a job.”

“A job?” Explained why Coop was so serious.

“Yeah, a job. The kind I need you for,” he said ambiguously.

“Me, huh? Is it dangerously insane or insanely dangerous?”

“Both. The kind which will make us all a hell of a lot of money.”

Coop was being awfully mysterious. Out of the corner of Nik’s eye he caught Leo scrubbing his hand through his hair. Was he nervous? Was that why he’d backpedaled with the omen bullshit earlier?

“You know what kind of job this is, Leo? You’re cool with it?”

“He’s creeped himself out because it’s in the Bermuda Triangle and there are sharks,” Coop answered for him.

“And—” Leo began, before Coop cut him off.

“It’s a deep dive with explosives. He doesn’t have the same fondness for things that go boom as we do.”

It looked like Leo had more to say, but wasn’t going to. Which worried Nik into asking, “Is it legal?”

“It’s in international waters, so I think so.”

“You think so? Jesus, Coop, the damn media would have a field day if someone like us got caught doing anything remotely questionable.”

“And yet here you are with Miss Questionable herself. Maybe I should call the police or whoever and resolve this little standoff the hard way.”

Nik’s blood chilled. “If you do, I won’t go with you anywhere. Ever.”

The pressure in the air changed. He and Coop may have bickered and fought like an old married couple at times, while at others they flat-out butted heads like two charging rams, but in the course of their decade-long friendship neither had ever drawn a line in the sand until now. It didn’t feel good. In fact, it fucking sucked. But at least it felt like the right thing to do.

Coop leaned back in his chair, flexing his biceps as he crossed his arms over his equally puffed-up chest. He ignored Titan and the stick for the first time all night. “Let me make sure I have this right—you’re choosing some girl you picked up on the side of the road a couple of days ago over me? Do I need to remind you of what we’ve been through?”

“Maybe I need to remind you. You’re the one choosing some job over me. If it’s about the money, write a damn script.”

The look Coop shot him with decimated the idea.

They both had high six-figure offers from Hollywood to tell their stories, but like many others in the Special Ops community, neither believed in selling out the Trident. The things they’d done in the Hindu Kush, other operators were currently doing. Revealing too much would compromise the lives of those men and women.

“Tell me what you need. I’ll get it for you.”

Coop’s hardened gaze locked with Nik’s. Nik knew they both could standoff all night and then some. But Coop broke the stare quickly, shaking his head. “Fine. Fuck. Bring her.