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

“More like ‘Mary, mother of God’ and ‘Oh, God, Nik!’ A ‘Jesus, Coop,’ would’ve been awkward.”

“Awkward?” Leo grunted under his breath. “You mean like it is right now?”

“It’s okay, Leo. I don’t care if your brother wants to try to embarrass me, but Nik hasn’t slept in a few days and if Coop wakes him up he’ll be the one spiritually praying to God I don’t cut off his balls.”

Coop gave a short nod of his head. “I like you.”

Too little, too late. “I don’t care,” I muttered.

“Oh, darlin’.” He chuckled. “I know you don’t.”

I ignored him and headed for the pantry. After topping off Titan’s bowl with kibble, I returned to find something for me to eat. The shelves were lined with mostly canned goods. I recognized a few of the things Nik had bought from the grocery, but like with most things of this nature, I was lost. Hungry, I dropped to the floor with a pout and sat cross-legged.

“Need some help?” Leo asked from the door as he handed me a cold bottle of some sort of beverage.

I stared at the neon green liquid and the hazard symbol on the logo. “Outbreak?”

“It’s a sports drink.” He shot me an exaggerated wink. “Good for replenishing fluids after strenuous exertion.”

Catching the innuendo, I flashed him a dry smile. “Clever. Nik mentioned something about you endorsing these.”

Hands braced above his head on the doorframe, he leaned in, popping his triceps and reminding me of Nik. Maybe all tall, hot, physically-fit guys practiced the stance. If not, they should.

“I can get you a different flavor? T-shirt? Ballcap? Coozie?” His dark-chocolate curls fell sheepishly across his equally decadent eyes. Their rich brown depths twinkled with humor and I got a bit lost in his curvy lips. Not in the way I did with Nik’s. I didn’t imagine them doing implausibly pleasurable things to me or anything. They just were sweet. Expressive.

“This will be fine, thank you.” I unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. Tasted better than it looked. “I need food, though. I don’t know what sounds good and since apparently you can’t get fries or bacon off the shelf, I’m sulking.”

Leo laughed as he let go of the doorframe to reach past me, grabbing up a bag of potatoes. “How about I show you how to make potato skins? They’re kind of like giant French fries with bacon and cheese.”

My stomach growled in appreciation as I stood up. “You’ll probably hear a few more spiritual affirmations out of me because…bacon.”

He cracked a wide smile as he pulled a package out of the refrigerator. “Let’s go to church, girl.”

“Hallelujah!”

Coop grunted. “While you two play Reverend Betty Crocker over there, I’m going to go have a smoke.”

Leo’s brow furrowed, but he smirked when I told Coop, “Take enough to share. I’m guessing the neighbors need one, too.”

We both watched Coop wordlessly head out to the back deck.

“I was really expecting another comeback. A fuck off at least,” I remarked to Leo. “Kind of disappointed, I thought he and I had a thing.”

“Sorry he’s so gruff. It’s really not about you.”

“Oh, it’s a little bit about me.” I followed Leo’s lead prepping the potatoes. “I’m pretty sure hitting him with the bat left a dent.” In his ego, if nothing else.

“Yeah, I imagine he’ll be feeling it for a few days. But he’s got a lot going on and is eager to get on the road. We’ve got an important job.”

“And I’m screwing it up.”

I couldn’t help noticing he didn’t say no, but then again, it hadn’t really been a question.

Leo motioned to the contraption Coop had discarded on the kitchen counter when I’d come out to shush them. “He shot that flying monkey down a little while ago.”

“Flying monkey?”

“Coop calls drones that. Someone was using it to spy on the house. It’s not government quality, but nice. Earlier, when I took Titan out for a jog around the property, I noticed a black Chevy Tahoe drive by a few times. Nik said there was one following you in Kansas. He also spotted it at the tornado site the next day, in the same location the dead girl’s body had been. They more than likely followed you here using the tracking device Coop found on Titan’s collar yesterday. We still don’t know who it is or why, but it isn’t safe for us to hang out here until we figure it out, either.”

My gut sank as I was reminded of everything Nik had told me. “I shouldn’t have come here. I wanted to protect Titan from going back to Animal Control. I didn’t want to drag anyone else into this.”

“Did Nik talk to you about coming with us?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Especially seeing this.” I motioned to the drone. What other options are there?

“Nik’s not going to let anything bad happen to you. But we need to get you out of here, soon.”

“What’s the point of running if they’re going to follow me?”

“Trust me, no one is going to be following you where we’re going.”

I stilled at the dark tone his voice had taken and followed his eyes to his brother. Coop was standing outside at the deck railing, holding a cell phone to his ear with one hand and a stubby cigarette between the thumb and forefinger of his other. His lips pinched hard around it and his forehead crinkled as he drug the smoke into his throat. He held it there for a long while before it resurfaced, blurring his face.

“Nik said something about going to an island.”

“Marakata Cay.”

“Marakata? Doesn’t that mean emerald? Sanskrit, right?”

Leo’s brows did a little jump. “Like the majority of people, I don’t speak Sanskrit. But makes sense, his boss owns a large emerald mine. Marakata Cay is a remote, private island near Turks and Caicos. Coop’s employer owns it. He’s a powerful sheikh or something… An eccentric billionaire recluse type. He uses the island as a hedonistic getaway for anyone he wants