“I’m the only one here who looks like they’ve sacrificed anything,” Cole insisted. “It was my woman who was kidnapped. Hell, Wise’s woman was kidnapped too. Now, what exactly have you lost at the hands of this bastard?” Cole shifted away from his position at the door, moving to the end of the couch so he could more easily see Stahl.
The agent’s irritated expression went completely blank, erased like a lit match dropped into a well. That in itself was a big tell.
Cole stayed put, feeling rather than seeing Carter shift forward in his chair. “Who did you lose, agent?”
“None of your fucking business.” Stahl’s quiet response held a lifetime of pain.
“If it involves Tomi, it is my fucking business,” Cole said.
Carter tilted his head to the side, his intelligent eyes never leaving the agent’s face. “Was it your wife?” he asked.
Stahl’s mouth flatlined and he stared straight at Carter, unblinking.
Carter kept probing. “A girlfriend?”
The agent looked like a damn statute. His jaw didn’t even twitch in response to Carter’s taunts.
Carter wasn’t making headway fast enough for Cole’s liking. He needed to get back to Tomi and comfort her. Her terrified expression still danced in the recesses of his mind, pulling him mentally back down the hall. She needed his comfort. More than that, he needed her solid form in his arms to reassure himself that she was okay.
What he’d done had taken ten years off his damn life. He’d been careless, and it could have cost him everything. The thought ravaged his heart, chewed it up and left holes in it. His patience with Stahl, who’d put them all in this situation, was officially over. “So, what is it? Have you been working for Luis this whole time? He got you on the payroll?” Cole edged in closer, taking over Stahl’s personal space. “Or are you such an arrogant prick that you just feel the need to keep us on our toes?”
Stahl shot to his feet, his lifeless expression raging to life. Up close, Cole could easily see the ticking in the agent’s razor-sharp jaw. “Screwing that blonde must’ve drained your brain.”
“On the contrary, I think it made me sharper,” Cole fired back.
Hearing him refer to Tomi like that, like she was some nameless, faceless bimbo he was using to get his rocks off, infuriated him. Cole itched to wrap his hands around the agent’s throat. Instead, he balled them into fists, knowing that losing his cool was not the answer, not when he needed this asshole.
Of course, when it came to Tomi, logic didn’t always win out. “Now, are you going to tell me why you went back on your promise and broke our deal?”
“I need to talk to the girl,” Stahl said quietly.
Cole let out of bark of furious laughter. “You’ve lost your mind. You’re not getting anywhere near her.”
“And what have you managed to get from her? You’ve had her this whole time. Where’s the information we need?” Stahl fired back, throwing the bag of peas to the floor as he squared off with Cole.
He didn’t have to ask if Tomi had willingly—and knowingly—worked for a monster like Luis. Her honesty and compassion wouldn’t have let her. “I have another day. If you want your Intel, get the fuck out of my house.”
Cole could sense Carter trying to get his attention, but his focus was locked on Stahl.
“I don’t think you ever intended to follow through on our arrangement. I think you’ve just been fucking her out of your system.”
A wild roar built in Cole’s ears. If Stahl referred to Tomi that way again, Cole was going to murder him right here. Right now. To hell with the family business. Using his best efforts to rein in the beast, Cole clenched his teeth and whispered, “She isn’t involved.”
“Did she give you that Intel before or after you screwed her?” Stahl’s smirk should have warned him something was up. But Cole was too far gone to make sense of the satisfaction shining on the man’s face.
Like a coiled snake, his arm shot out and fisted in Stahl’s shirt, pulling his face close until it was less than an inch from his. “None of your fucking business how I found out.”
Cole finally looked over the agent’s shoulder and noticed the frantic look of worry on Carter’s face.
A knot of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. Stahl’s smirk grew. Cole shoved the man away from him and spun around. His fears were confirmed. Tomi stood in the entryway, wringing her hands in the material of her tank top as she stared at him in horror.
His entire world trembled. “Tomi, baby.”
“You were just using me?”
Her broken whisper ripped his heart to shreds. He took a cautious step in her direction, silently cursing the couch that separated them. “Never.”
“You’re lying,” she said softly.
Cole fought to suppress his reaction, but he couldn’t stop himself from wincing. “It’s not how it sounds. I swear to God it’s not. I love you.”
Her heartbroken expression turned bitter in an instant and Cole felt his trembling world shatter.
“You did all of this to try and get information from me. Or was it something else, Cole?” Her eyes widened and her delicate hand went around her throat as she took a step back, stumbling like he’d shoved her. “Is this your sick way of paying me back for leaving you?”
The horror in her beautiful blue eyes destroyed him. Sweet Jesus, what have I done? “Tomi, no. I told you I would never hurt you. I can’t live without you, baby. Please don’t listen to him.”
She stumbled back another step and then another. Before his eyes, he watched helplessly as her heart broke. Tomi let out a small, almost inaudible, whimper and fled down the hall, slamming the door of their bedroom so hard Cole flinched.
“Damn, you’re good. I almost believed that you really loved her.”
Stahl’s sarcastic tone destroyed what little remained of Cole’s control. With a roar, he leapt for Stahl, ignoring the agent’s surprised yelp, and wrapped his hands around his throat. They went to the floor together, Cole straddling Stahl’s chest, his attention solely focused on squeezing the life out of the man. He was going to kill him, and then he would personally hunt down Luis and kill him. Any man who’d ever hurt Tomi, would suffer.
“Shit, I think he’s really going to kill him.”
Cole barely registered Carter’s voice. He kept his gaze locked firmly on Stahl, fully intending to watch the light fade from the man’s eyes.
“Can you blame him?” That was definitely Clint.
“Help me,” Carter said.
Cole knew what they intended, and so he tightened his grip. They’d have to pry him off with a crowbar. Stahl swung with the kind of punch a man threw when he knew his chips were down.
Working in tandem, Carter grabbed Cole’s arm and Clint wrapped his bicep around Cole’s neck. They yanked at the same time, prying him free. “No!” He was a man on fire, fury and fear completely robbing him of his self-control. Tomi’s horrified expression replayed over and over in the back of his mind in an endless cycle.
Stahl scrambled back on his hands, putting some distance between them, and then coughed and wheezed on the floor. He croaked out a rough, “Bastard.”
His brothers kept their hold firm as Cole attempted to rush forward. “I’ll kill you!” He managed to drag them a few feet across the living room before they yanked him back.
Carter’s voice finally pierced his rage. “This isn’t helping anything. You need to go to her. Let us handle him.”
Tomi. She was hurting. He’d caused her pain. He’d broken his promise.
“Let me go.”
“No way,” Clint said, “not until you calm down.”
Like he could fucking calm down right now? He shot Clint an angry glare. “I don’t give two shits about him. Carter’s right. I need to check on her.”
Clint glanced up at Carter, who gave an imperceptible nod. His brothers released him slowly, staying close so they could tackle him if he went after Stahl again. But Cole was through with t
he agent for now. He could deal with him later. Right now he had to make Tomi realize the truth before it was too late. Without another glance in the agent’s direction, Cole ran from the room and down the hall. He’d normally go in without asking, but he respected Tomi too much to barge in on her like that now. He knocked gently. “Tomi, can I come in?”
She didn’t answer…she didn’t even make a sound. Cole knew she was punishing him. He clenched his fist at his sides. “Please, baby, we have to talk about this. Let me in.”
Still no answer. Not that he deserved one. He’d hurt her badly, but they couldn’t solve their problem if they wouldn’t face it. No matter how long it took, he’d make it up to her. He couldn’t live without her. Couldn’t breathe without her. After knowing her touch again, there wasn’t a chance in hell he could ever go back to the shell of a life he’d been pretending to live before.
“We have to talk. I’m coming in.” Cole grabbed the doorknob, not surprised to find it locked. “Dammit, Tomi, this isn’t the answer.”
She was locking him out of her life just like she’d done before.
With more force in his voice, Cole said, “If you don’t open this door in three seconds, I’m kicking it in, Tomi. That’s a promise.”
He silently counted to himself. One. Two. Three.
There wasn’t so much as a whisper of movement on the other side.
Shit. She’d called him on his bluff.
He had two choices—he could walk away and let her stew or he could barge in and demand she listen. Neither of them was good. But one of them at least put them in the same room. “Stand back from the door, baby, because I’m coming in.”
He gave her another couple of seconds to steer clear, lifted his bare foot and slammed his heel into the wood. The door exploded open and banged into the wall with a loud burst. Cole stalked into the room and turned a slow circle before his gaze locked on the open window in the back bedroom wall.
Tomi was gone.
“No!”
25
Cole rushed into the living room, nearly out of his mind with fear. He targeted Stahl, leaping over the couch in his hurry to punish the agent. “She’s gone!”
Clint caught him mid-air with a lunge that brought them both to the ground. Although Cole was bigger and stronger and had rage on his side, Clint was better prepared. He caught Cole in a bear hug from behind, trapping him at a complete disadvantage. “Calm down. You need to hear what he has to say.”
“I don’t care what he has to say! Did you not hear me? She’s gone!” Cole strained with all his might, kicking his feet back as he threw his head in tandem—anything to escape. But Clint and Cole had the same training, and his brother easily avoided the attack. He ducked his head out of the way, threw a leg over Cole’s and locked him up even harder in the bear hug. “I heard you, brother. We’ll get her back, but not like this.”
Cole knew he was acting insane, but he could no more help that than he could stop the world from turning. It felt like everything that mattered was slipping through his fingers. Again. “Let me go!”
Carter stepped into his line of vision and crouched in front of them. “Luis moved the meeting up. Said after what happened with the attack, he needs to assure that your slave survived.” Carter paused and then said, “Oh, and the Frenchman is combing the country looking for her. As far as he’s concerned, she belongs to him.”
Cole froze, dread disabling his body. The Frenchman had his fingers in nearly every significant weapons deal in the southern United States. If they were both searching for Tomi, it was only a matter of time before they caught her. Cole might never see her alive again.
Cautiously, Clint eased up his grip. His resistance gone, Cole collapsed on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.
“I have to find her.”
Clint held out a hand and Cole took it, needing his brother’s support to get to his feet. The floor felt like it was shifting beneath him, sucking him down and stealing his bearings. He’d always been able to operate without emotion or feelings, a deadly machine molded and trained for battle. But his fear for Tomi stole that skill from him. Left him floundering, barely able to stand on his own. He stumbled to the couch and collapsed.
“He took my fiancé,” Stahl said quietly. “She disappeared a year ago today. I got close once, or so I thought, but I still haven’t found her. This long gone…” Stahl let his words trail off and looked at Cole, his expression full of torment.
He didn’t have to finish his sentence for anyone here. The likelihood of finding a victim who’d been gone for over a year was almost zero. Women who were kidnapped and sold by human traffickers virtually never turned up alive. Most never turned up at all. Suddenly, Cole looked at Stahl through new eyes. The man had taken these extreme measures, had threatened and coerced him, because he was beyond desperate to take Luis down. If someone had kidnapped Tomi, he’d hunt to the ends of the earth, until he had no life left. He would never give up. “I’m sorry.”
The words could never make up for the agent’s pain. Nothing could.
“I came out here to warn you…to tell you we have to move now, before they connect. Right now, Luis is still recovering from the poisoning and the Frenchman is looking for her on his own. He’s pissed that you got away,” Stahl said quietly.
“Stahl’s car is gone.” Carter rushed into the room. Cole had been so distracted he hadn’t even realized his other brother wasn’t with them.
Cole’s adrenaline started to surge, fueling his muscles.
Stahl cursed. “What kind of woman is she, Cole?”
Cole sat up straight, fully alert once more. “What do you mean?” he asked carefully.
“The goddam case files are in the front seat of my car. Hers too.”
Cole didn’t move, he couldn’t. If Tomi read that file, her compassion would force her to do something reckless to save the missing women. She wouldn’t be able to help it. It was in her nature. Helplessly, he looked at his brothers, his dread turning to outright terror.
Carter’s lean body tensed, his clean-shaven jaw locked down tight. “She’s not the kind of woman to sit by and let someone else suffer.”
Cole was on his feet in an instant. “Your car got a GPS in it?”
“Hell, yes it does.” Stahl stood with determination.
Cole shook off his fear. Letting his emotions rule his thoughts and actions would only get her killed. She needed his skills and his training. She needed a warrior.
26
Tomi’s fingers were numb as she gripped the steering wheel and sped down the road, not even seeing the pavement fly by. She couldn’t see anything but her hurt and pain. Cole had done all of this to punish her. He must hate her.
She’d fallen for it like a complete idiot, letting her misguided love cloud her judgment. The betrayal seared her heart, made her chest ache so severely she couldn’t breathe. How could she have been so stupid?
He’d been using her all along. Had he known she’d be at the auction? Had he shown up deliberately for this purpose?
Her stomach rolled and bile rushed up her throat like acid. She slammed on the brakes, jerked the car to the shoulder and shoved open the door just in time to retch up the contents in her stomach.
His betrayal cut so deep, beyond any physical pain she’d ever felt.
Her brain was on overload. Snippets of the past couple of days flashed across her mind, each image more damaging than the last. Every moment she’d thought Cole had gifted her had been a deliberate act to tear down her walls, strip her of restraint, and allow him to consume her whole. She could see that now. Each time she’d started to pull back he’d stepped in, pushed harder, demanded she give herself to him. She’d been a complete fool. And the sickest part of it all was that she couldn’t really blame him.
When she’d written the letter ten years ago, she’d known it would destroy him as much as writing it had destroyed her.
She’d been teased and tormented by him ever since she was old enoug
h to draw his attention in the way that a woman could. And Cole, honorable man that he was, had steadfastly denied her until they were both old enough to embark on a real relationship.
Then she’d let grief poison something beautiful. Fear had grabbed ahold of her after her father’s death…and it seemed every headline was full of dead soldiers. Dead SEALs. Didn’t help that Cole’s commissioner’s wife had come to her father’s funeral. As president of the family readiness group, she was in charge of taking care of all the soldier’s women and families while they were gone. Mrs. Smith’s words that day had been seared into her soul forever. I’m so sorry for your loss, there’s nothing anyone can do to make it better, but at least you’re learning young. You will be prepared for when it happens again.
There were some things a person could never prepare for. Tomi had known that at the tender age of eighteen. Better to pull away. To rely entirely on no one but herself.
Except that had left her so horribly alone.
Hand shaking, she swiped her mouth, knowing she couldn’t erase the burn. She shut the door and gripped the wheel, seeking anything solid that could anchor her.
Tears leaked from her eyes and she scrubbed the heel of her palm over her cheeks, attempting to stem the flow unsuccessfully. She’d shut the door improperly, and the interior light was still on. As she reached up to switch it off, she caught a glimpse of the papers in the passenger seat. Searching for a distraction, she grabbed the file folder off the top and opened it, staring in shock at the photo that lay on top. It was a headshot of her. To the right was a neat, orderly column listing every single significant event in her life.
Her heart jumped up and gave a giant whack against her ribs. Carefully, the paper shaking in her weak hands, Tomi flipped to the next page, skimming across every single line. A summary of her relationship with Cole was followed by a rundown of the sporadic jobs she’d had for the next number of years.
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