The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

60. Cooper

COOPER

“ A re you going to talk to her?”

I turn my head toward Jessie, who just walked outside with a plate of food in her hand.

“Come on, Coop. You need to eat something. Hanger is a real thing.” She shoves the food at me, then stands in front of me, waiting. Always the military wife, making sure everyone else is fine and has what they need. “Take it, Coop. I’m betting you’re still on heavy duty medication, and you need to eat.” One eyebrow raises.

“Why are you mothering me instead of your husband?” I fire back at her.

A small smile tugs at her lips. “He’s inside talking to Stone Madden. I decided I didn’t want to watch him revert back to a teenage boy, fangirling over his idol, and came to find you.”

“Thanks.” I take the plate from her and sit down, just as I see Jack place his hand on Carys’s back and whisper in her ear. Her brown hair brushes against his face, and when she turns, she stops and stares at me for a moment before she moves up the stairs of the back deck to go into the house.

“Are you going to tell her why you’re pushing her away?” Jessie sits down next to me and watches Carys. “She loves you. Today of all days, I think we should hold on to that where we can, Cooper.”

Her words hit hard.

She’s not wrong.

“Carys is safer the further away from me she is. We have no idea what the hell’s going on, Jess. Ford had to tell you. You’re his wife. Carys is better off not knowing.” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince Jessie or myself.

“Is she safer, or are you , Coop?” Her hand moves to her hip. “You guys like to think you can protect us from everything. But that’s not what we want. Ford told me because I’m his partner. He told me so I could be aware. Prepared.”

“That’s the thing, Jess,” I cut her off. “She and I aren’t partners. When I wanted to be there for her... to be the one she leaned on, talked to... fucking trusted—” I stop myself and look away. I stare out over the ocean as it crashes against the sand and then stand. “We’re not partners, Jess. So she doesn’t get a say in how I protect her.”

I excuse myself and walk into the house, going in search of the coffee I saw some guests walking around with. Once I’m in the kitchen, it’s as if there’s a fucking beacon above my head that says I don’t want to be left alone, and everyone stops in to talk. A few of the guys from Delta team check in before Theo pours himself a cup of coffee and leans against the island.

Great .

Another person ready to give me their two cents.

“I was glad to hear you were okay, man.” The drummer stands there with his suit coat forgotten somewhere and the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up his arms. He’s cut his hair shorter than it was a few months ago, and there’s a tattoo on his forearm that wasn’t there before. The muscles under his tat move as he spins a serving spatula through his fingers like a drumstick. “You gonna be in town for a while?”

“I’m not sure what I’m doing yet, but I should be here for a few weeks,” I answer noncommittally, not sure why he’s asking.

“You know, Carys is planning on staying for a few weeks too. The band is going on tour.”

“That’s really great, man. Congratulations.” At least something good is happening for someone.

“Yeah well, we leave in two days. We’re opening for Black Stone, and according to Stone, the show must go on. Anyway, Carys was already planning on staying through the end of October. So, I figured maybe you’d... I don’t know. I guess I figured you’d want to know.”

As if she knew we were talking about her, the love of my fucking life appears in front of me, close enough to touch but a million miles away. She’s changed out of the pretty dress from earlier, but she’s as beautiful as ever. Her red-rimmed eyes scan me from the top of my head to the tips of my shiny black shoes before she turns them to Theo. “Hey, if you see Jack, can you let him know Em’s sleeping?”

“Yeah. No problem.” He kisses the top of her head, then juts his chin toward me. “See ya later, Coop.”

Carys slips into Theo’s vacated spot next to me, leaning back against the island.

She shouldn’t look amazing in sweatpants and a sweater, but she does. It’s got one of those necklines that hits her collarbone and kisses her shoulders. There isn’t a hint of cleavage to be seen, and the way it skims her subtle curves makes it seem prim and proper... but on Carys, it’s the perfect package. “Cooper...” She reaches for me but drops her hand mid-air and smooths it down her legs. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ll be fine,” I grunt out, torn between wanting to get her as far away from here as possible and wanting to take her home with me.

She nods, not surprised by my short answer. “Have you talked to Nattie yet?”

“Yeah. We talked for a minute before I left Germany.” My eye twitches from exhaustion and from the guilt of how quickly I got off the phone. “She was...”

“Yeah. That’s probably my fault. I didn’t exactly tell the family about us with any... finesse.” She shrugs, and her sweater slips off one bare shoulder. “You’re probably going to hear it at some point from Aiden too, if you haven’t already.”

I chuckle, staring at her exposed skin. “Yeah, Murphy’s called a few times. I haven’t answered. I wasn’t really supposed to have electronics in the hospital.”

“Cooper.” She reaches up and runs her fingers over the epaulet on my shoulder and down my arm.

I want to tell her I’m sorry she had to tell them all without me.

That we’ll deal with it together.

That everything will be fine.

But instead, I push her further away. “Guess telling them didn’t make a difference after all,” I say and then turn and walk away, feeling like a bigger ass now than I did at the hospital.

I don’t say goodbye to anyone.

I just walk through the front door and down the street to my house.

I hate myself a little more with each step.

I try to force myself to believe I’m only pushing her away for her safety, but that’s not entirely true, and I know it. Loving Carys was never the problem. It’s still not. But I’m so fucking mad at her, I can’t stand it.

I pull my key out of my pocket to open the front door of the house, but it pushes open without my unlocking it. The door wasn’t completely shut, although I’m sure I shut and locked it when I left.

Pushing it open slowly, I enter the house and clear it, room by room, grabbing my gun from my bedroom when I get there. No one’s here, and there’s very little out of place. However, I can tell someone has gone through my room. My duffle bag is open, and I know I zipped it closed this morning because I caught a shirt on the damn thing when I did.

Cooper

Looks like someone’s been in my place. They searched my shit. But they’re gone now.

Ford

Be there soon. Jessie has a shift at the hospital tonight, I gotta get her home first.

Rook

On my way.

“ Y ou’re sure you zipped your bag this morning? You were pretty pissed and not paying attention when I woke you up.” Rook runs the zipper back and forth as the three of us stand around the kitchen table, trying to figure out what the hell is happening.

“You threw a glass of water on me.” I stare at him in frustration.

Ford fucking laughs, like that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “No shit? You woke him up with water to the face? That’s fantastic.”

“You’re both assholes,” I grunt, while they both laugh. Then I go through my bag again, making sure there’s nothing I could have missed. “I haven’t gotten my stuff back from deployment yet. The only things in the bag are what I had at the hospital and what I had on me when it all happened.”

Where’s my feather?

I search the bag, pulling everything out, but it’s not there.

“What’s missing?” Ford asks as he inspects the contents after I do, while Rook walks into the living room.

“This?” Ford and I both turn to Rook, who’s holding my feather in one hand as he squats in front of the couch I slept on last night, running the other hand under it.

I cross the room and grab the feather from his hand, smoothing out its soft vane. I kept my good-luck charm in an envelope inside the pocket of my uniform while I was on deployment. It was a nice surprise when I found it with my belongings while I was packing.

Rook stands up with something else in his hand. “Is this your flash drive, Sinclair? It was right next to where that damn feather fell out when you knocked your bag over this morning before your miserable ass drug it to your room.”

I take the small flash drive from his hand, and a memory scratches at the back of my brain. Turning it over in my hand, I close my eyes and try to force the memory. “I don’t think it’s mine, but I had it.” I open my eyes and look at Ford and Rook. “I think it’s Axel’s.” Pieces of that night come back to me. “It fell out of his pocket when all hell broke loose during the op. I picked it up, and the world went black a minute later.”

“Grab your laptop, Coop.” Ford looks at me like I’m crazy for not moving.

“My guess is the Navy has that packed away with the rest of my shit from base that hasn’t made it back yet.” I look between the two of them. “Either of you have yours yet?”

Before either of us has the chance to answer, Ford’s phone rings. “Give me a second. It’s Jessie.” He turns his back to us. “Hey, Jess.” He listens to whatever she says on the other end of the phone. “Okay. Thanks, babe. Love you.” Then he turns back to us. “Emerson’s in labor. She’s at the hospital.”

“She’s not due for three weeks.” Linc was counting down the days until her due date. He didn’t care that everyone said babies never come on time. He checked off the days on his calendar like a kid waiting for summer vacation.

“Yeah well, tell that to the baby. Come on. We’re going to the hospital.” Ford pockets the flash drive. “We’ll figure this shit out after we make sure Emerson and the baby are okay.”

Rook holds out his palm. “Give me the flash drive. I’ll go home and check it out first. Then I’ll meet the two of you at the hospital with the information.”

Ford passes it to him, and we all agree to meet up at the hospital.

But first, I need to change. Once the two of them leave, I get out of my dress whites and throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then make sure to lock the house up tight and set the alarm when I leave.

Time to meet the newest member of the family.