Mitch sneered, “I can run faster than her.”
Coop laughed, “That’s probably true.” He gave me a cheeky grin, “But she has endurance.” I almost bought the compliment but he started laughing, “It comes with age.”
I groaned and walked into the house.
Fitz winked at Coop and I, “She’s in your room, Evie.”
Mom got the kids settled in, and I dragged my tired butt up the stairs to grovel and beg for forgiveness. I opened the door slowly. Luce gave me a weak smile, “Hey you!”
I fought the tears in my eyes, “Luce, I am so sorry.”
She closed her eyes, “I should have told you about him knowing who I was. I almost blew the whole thing. I’m sorry.” She looked at Coop, “It won’t happen again.” He nodded.
I sat down on the bed next to Jack. He was holding her hand and stroking it gently.
“Luce, we got him. He’s dead, like ‘dead’ dead.” I said.
She smiled, “I knew you would, Evie.”
Coop sat at the foot of the bed, “How’s the lung?”
Luce shook her head, “Almost good as new, just a couple weeks and I’ll be right as rain. How was the mission?”
Jack winced, “We think we accomplished everything. MI6 is going to need a new head of their organization. We may have to face a smidge of retaliation for that one, if or when they discover it was us. The commander and I spoke from the ship on the way back to Italy. He’s pissed about the damages, but he’s satisfied we kept the American name out of it. He says we can consider coming back in if we think it’s safe, but he thinks that MI6 was just one toxic pot. He thinks that there is an arms race for the Burrow and we need to stop everyone.”
I sneered, “He just wants it for our country. We can't give it to anyone.”
Luce nodded, “I agree.” We all looked at Coop, “Our allegiance is to our country.” I almost argued but he continued, “We need to make sure that the people of our country are safe, even if it’s from our own leaders. No one gets the Burrow. We take the list and put a hit on every person on it.”
“Except Fitz.”
Coop gave me a look, “We discuss Fitz when we need to.”
Jack nodded, “I think that’s a fair one.”
Luce shook her head, “I’m with Evie. Fitz is good.”
Coop’s look didn’t change, “So is Servario, that doesn’t mean I won't kill him if I have even a slight reason.”
Luce moaned, “I need to go back to sleep, sorry guys.”
Jack curled up next to her.
“See you next year, when I wake up.” I chuckled as I got up and walked to the room my mom slept in. There were other guest rooms downstairs she could sleep in. I was closing the door, but it opened against my resistance. Coop smiled, “We’re sharing a bed.”
I scowled, “What?”
He nodded, “Yeah. Fitz and your mom have the rooms downstairs and they’re taking first watch. Your kids have to go to bed soon, this makes sense.”
I growled, “No.”
He pushed past me, “Stop being a baby.”
My eyes were too swollen for him to notice the glare I was giving him. I moaned and climbed onto the bed, “You can have the floor.”
“Fine.” He closed the door. I tossed him a blanket and a pillow and curled up into a ball.
Of course the opposite thing happened, I couldn’t fall asleep. He was out like a light in no time, and I was stuck staring at him sleep. I watched his chest rise and fall, his lips twitch slightly as he got deeper into sleep, and his trigger finger shudder every few seconds. He was dreaming. How had he fallen asleep so quickly?
I closed my eyes after a while and remembered how it had felt to kiss him in the casino. My cheeks flushed and my heart rate increased. I turned and rolled over. I was on the verge of just getting up, when I felt something I hadn’t expected. The bed shifted and suddenly he was wrapped around me. The thought of fighting him on his being in my space was overruled by the feeling of bliss I had. I loved sleeping with another person. I hated sleeping alone and he was the only person in the world I trusted whole-heartedly. I drifted off to sleep, restless sleep but who was counting.
When I woke, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I noticed the sun was shining in the curtains. Coop was gone. I closed the curtains tighter and flopped back onto the bed.
I slept for what felt like an eternity and felt more tired when I was finally really awake. Coop was back sleeping in the bed again. He was under the covers and not wearing a shirt as far as I could see. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to look. I snuck from the room to see Jack doing the same across the hall. He smiled, “Sleep well?”
I shook my head, “I don’t think so. I’m still really tired.”
He laughed, “You’ve been there for forty hours, Evie. Any longer and we were going to have to cryofreeze you.”
I rolled my eyes, “It has not been forty hours.” He gave me his blank stare and I gasped, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
He shrugged, “You seemed exhausted.” He pointed at my face, “The swelling looks improved. Are you feeling better?”
I shook my head, “I’m beat.” My stomach grumbled and we both looked at it. He scoffed, “Apparently, you are also starved.”
I grumbled, “Forty hours, no wonder.” I made my way to the kitchen where my mom and Fitz were laughing like it was old times. He gave me a wide smile as I sat at the bar, “My precious. How are you? Are you hungry?”
I nodded. My mom laughed, “I know that face. She hasn’t had coffee in ages.”
Fitz’s eyes widened, “Oh.” He started the espresso maker, “Lucky I brought some coffee back from Italy.” He rolled his eyes, “I assumed you all would forget to get things from the shops.”
I laughed, “With all our free time.”
Jack sat next to me at the bar, “This is the best coffee I’ve had in ages.”
Luce made her way into the kitchen and sat on the barstool next to Jack. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into it. I smiled as Coop came around the corner, making a face at their kissing. “Get a room!”
I shoved him as he walked by, “Don’t encourage that. They’re sleeping in my room.”
He laughed, “Oh yeah, use the barn.”
Mom’s eyes flashed when he said that.
I cocked an eyebrow at the same time as Coop. We both asked, “What?”
He punched me in the arm lightly, “You owe me a Heineken.”
I rubbed my arm, “It’s coke and no. Mom, what was that look?”
She swallowed hard, “Well, the barn is so dirty and nasty. Who wants to have relations in there? It smells and it’s getting cold out now. Have you noticed? Shall I go get the kids from school?”
I got up and walked to the front door, after Coop who already had it open.
“Just leave it, you two.”
Coop was remarking something snarky as he crossed the dry grass to the barn. He pulled open the door, “Shit.”
I looked inside to see Steve. He was hanging upside down, bleeding into the pot on the ground.
“What the f**k?” I gagged a little. I really did need some coffee to start the day off. “Oh shit. We can't leave him there like that.”
Steve moaned, making Coop and I jump back. I looked down at his hands gripping my shirt as firmly as I was gripping his. Coop gave me a wide-eyed look, “He’s alive.”
I nodded, “No shit, Sherlock.”
Steve moaned again. Coop gave me a disgusted look, “Are those spots where she peeled the skin off?”
I nodded and turned away, “Oh my God.”
Coop took a deep breath, “Wow, I haven’t seen that before.”
Mom came out of the house, “Darlings, just leave him. He’s making some serious life decisions.”
I pointed, “MOM!”
She sighed, “This is why I never told you.” Jack and Luce followed her out of the house. Jack covered his mouth like he might be sick at any second. He grabbed Luce’s hand and dragged her back into the house. I could tell by her confused face, she hadn’t seen it.
Coop pulled me back from the barn as my mom walked in and cut the rope, dropping Steve on his back, onto the ground and the blood bucket. I bent over, gagging. I hadn’t eaten in so long that my body was completely devoid of anything to throw up. So I retched as Coop rubbed my back, “Don’t look. Just don’t look.” I knew it was bad when he had jumped and looked disgusted. He never showed much emotion.
Fitz came out of the house, still wearing an apron. He had a coffee for me. Coop took it from him, “You guys are disgusting. Just shoot him for Christ’s sake.”
Fitz nodded at Steve, “This is a highly effective way of getting the truth. Trust me, he told your mom things he didn’t even know he knew.”
I walked back to the house. When I was inside, I shuddered and went back to my barstool. Coop came in a moment later, putting the coffee down for me. I sipped but the image of the dark blood spilling out was stuck on repeat in my head.
Coop and I sat at the bar, staring at the counter on the far side. Finally he spoke, “I slept with you. I should have asked, but I actually woke up to a back cramp just as I started falling asleep..”
I started to laugh, “I know. I can't believe she peeled his skin off.”
He shook his head, “I can't talk about that right now. Distract me.”
“I like it when you sleep with me.”
He nudged me, “I like sleeping with you too.”
I couldn’t face him and say it, but I had to say it. So I continued to stare at the counter and muttered, “I like you.”
He nodded in my peripheral, “I more than like you.”
I blushed and smiled, “I feel like an idiot around you.”
He nodded again, “Yeah. You are an idiot.”