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

“Dude,” Leo said, looking up from his phone at Nik. “Before we go anywhere with her, you should see this. Thea Gale is a dead woman walking.”.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Nik had been smart to keep it simple all these years, but he’d sure as hell picked the wrong time to start playing house and complicating things, Coop thought as he watched Leo and Nik head inside. At best, all of Thea’s recent troubles were a big misunderstanding and she was engaged to a good man who loved her and could give her everything she needed. At worst, she’d gotten herself into one heck of a dangerous situation with some exceptionally powerful people. But either way, Coop didn’t need her tagging along and stealing Nik’s focus on a critical and dangerous job.

He pulled out his cell phone and tapped out an ever-changing number he only kept in his head. While he waited for the secure line to connect, he cut his eyes through the great room windows, his appraisal landing on the picture of Nik’s family. Coop had taken the photo, never realizing he’d be framing it and handing it over to Nik at a triple funeral short months later. Nik had spent the past several years ignoring the photograph while Coop had watched dust slowly mute the colors, but not the pain. Now it stood propped up. The dust gone, the colors bright and vibrant, leaving him to wonder how Nik would handle the pain Coop would soon be bringing.

“The Ghost appears, but not where he’s supposed to,” Coop’s boss, Omar Zaki, answered, dispensing with any pleasantries.

“Tying up loose ends,” Coop countered, dispensing with any apologies.

The great OZ was one to talk about ghosts, the old coot hadn’t been seen in person by anyone in a decade. But for a recluse, Zaki was better connected than God. He was a master at pulling strings, but always from behind the curtain of his global corporation—Beryl Enterprises.

As the Director of Defense and Specialized Operations, Coop’s role in the organization was pretty straightforward. Keep the billionaire and his associates protected and his enemies scared. When Zaki had contacted him about an underwater search and seizure job, it seemed a bit off. Treasure hunting wasn’t in his skill set, but he was a deep diver with ordnance experience and wasn’t afraid of pirates, sharks, or anything else known to haunt the oceans, least of all any of the rumored forces swirling in the Bermuda Triangle. Besides, only Zaki could make a much-needed miracle happen for Coop, so he’d jumped at the opportunity.

The job required a partner. Nik was the only man Coop trusted implicitly to keep his cool and handle absolutely anything down in the depths with him. But time was running out and Zaki expected them to be at the island already. In order to get Nik off high center, Coop needed to deal with Thea and quick.

“I need intel,” Coop said.

“We have a substantial tech department. I know you have the direct line and are aware I’m a busy man.”

Not too busy to play games with me. Coop swallowed back the sarcasm. “This is a little more delicate, I’m afraid.”

“The Ghost afraid? You have my curiosity.”

“Good. I need the initial autopsy reports for the three DOAs from the Colby, Kansas, tornado a few days ago. Also, information on Clayton Kenyon, age unknown, and Thea Gale, early to mid-twenties. Last address for both unknown—possibly Wichita, Kansas, or thereabouts. Gale may work for LE or government though. A mobile number on Kenyon. The sooner I can get it, the sooner I can get Nik on the road and on the job.”

“This has to do with Nik? So you’ve come directly to me not for information, but for discretion. Don’t want it getting back to your fellow SEAL you’re spying on him? Tell me, what does Nikolas Steele have to do with a tornado in Colby, Kansas?”

“He was in it.” Coop hung up before Zaki could ask any more questions. He’d pay for being brusque with his boss later, but Zaki would get over it. Especially if Coop could get Steele on his team. With Nik leaving the military, Coop intended to bring him right onboard. Should’ve been easy before some girl dropped out of the freaking sky. Convincing him now would require some strategy. Like a chess match, in order to capture a king, one must first take out the queen.

It wasn’t as if Coop didn’t like the girl. Thea was spunky and tough and probably everything Nik needed. If he was in any shape to actually be in a relationship. Which he wasn’t. Fresh out of the Teams, Nik needed a mission, a job, a purpose—and he mistakenly thought Thea fulfilled them all.

Yeah, Coop could see ol’ steel-hearted Nik falling for a woman like Thea. Easy. Hell, if he was a few years younger he could’ve seen himself getting quite the heart-on for her, even though she hated him. Maybe even because she hated him.

The woman he did have heart-on for certainly did, and for good reason.

Hell, Nik would probably hate him for a while, too, considering what Coop planned to do with the intel he’d soon get. But Nik was way too close to this situation to see it clearly. Plus, he wasn’t exactly thinking with an organ he had experience with. His heart.

Coop on the other hand knew everything there was to know about the fickle muscle. Coop loved—hard and fast, deep and wild—and it didn’t matter for shit when the real issue was never with the women, but within himself. For better or worse, he and Nik housed the same ghosts and the same darkness, and those demons never played well with the hearts of angels.

* * * *

At the buzzing of his cell phone, Clay snarled. The past few days had been a shitshow, to say the least, but Sera’s constant need for updates had worn thin. As much as he normally enjoyed adding