Now was the moment.
This was the way. She had to come at them from the side and not in a head-on fight. Oh, they’d hurried up her timeline, without question. But they were men of action, and she’d created them to be that way. In fact, she’d built them to be lone wolves and deadly soldiers. They seemed to misunderstand their purpose, their ultimate function, which did not, in any way, involve connections or familial bonds. It never had and it never would. To reach their full potential, to find the state she had created in them, they needed to be alone. To be singular in their pursuit of her agenda.
To make the ultimate soldier.
Her computer was just another extension of her brilliance. Her boys needed to come home and get back to work. For her.
Now it was time to teach them that lesson.
CHAPTER
36
Denver angled to the side, keeping Cobb’s attention on him, not on the baby. Explosions rocked the world outside, and the floor shook.
Cobb stiffened. “Looks like you’re not alone.”
“I haven’t been alone in years,” Denver retorted, moving even farther from the crib. If Cobb fired, he would be aiming away from the baby. Far away from the baby. “Sounds like your depot just blew to hell.”
“I’ll get another one,” Cobb retorted, taking a step toward him. “You wouldn’t believe the money Isobel has accumulated through the years. We’ll have fifty depots.” His blue eyes blazed in the night and he again stepped forward, his hold steady on his weapon. “Last time we met, you confessed you killed my brother.” His voice trembled with barely leashed fury.
“Yep.” Denver kept his hands free, just waiting for the opportunity. The bastard wouldn’t care if he shot the baby. Denver tensed to keep his body in the way.
Shouts echoed from down below.
“Sounds like a fight,” Cobb said, his teeth gleaming, setting the flashlight down near the door. It was bright enough to illuminate the entire room.
Denver nodded. Gunfire ripped through the night, and the sound of a vehicle rushing away came clearly through the storm. “Is that Isobel? Did she just leave your ass?” God, hopefully the bitch was still on the property somewhere. Though it would be just like her to have an escape plan.
“If it is, I’ll catch up with her soon.” Cobb’s shoulders squared. “I’ve been waiting a long time to pay you back for what you did. Maybe you’ll live long enough to see one of your brothers die. Though I doubt it.”
“I’d forgotten how much you like to talk,” Denver said, flashing back to his childhood. “Yack, yack, yack. It’s like you needed foreplay before getting to the hitting. We saw it as a weakness. Still do.” The muscles in his legs bunched and prepared to launch. “I bet Isobel thinks you’re weak, too. Has she gone looking for a younger version yet?”
Something flickered in Cobb’s eyes.
Denver bit back a smile of satisfaction. The asshole had always been insecure. “Oh, she has gone a-lookin’. Rumor had it she used to bang some of her younger soldiers all the time.” He gave a mock shudder. “There’s no way you can keep up with a twenty-year-old highly trained killer,Sheriff.” His sarcastic note on the wordsheriffhad gotten him punched more than once as a kid.
Apparently Cobb had learned some self-control. “She never tried with you.”
Denver blinked. “You’re kidding me. She never told you.” Triumph, a dark one, roared through him. “She does like a good secret.”
Cobb’s chin lowered. “Told me what?”
The asshole had to ask. “She’s my mum, Cobb. My mother. My mommy dearest.” Denver barely kept himself from gagging on the last. So much for appearing stoic.
“Bullshit,” Cobb growled.
“She told me.” Denver lifted a shoulder, angling even more away from the baby. Tension pricked down his arms. “I wondered why she brought me presents as a kid. You know, I think I have her eyes.” Fuck, he hated that.
Cobb drew back and visibly shook himself. “I think you’re full of shit.” His voice wavered.
“You know it’s true.”
That quickly, Cobb’s vision cleared. “Then she’ll have to forgive me for killing her son. If that’s what you are. I’ll give her another one.”
Bile rose in Denver’s throat at the thought of Madison and Cobb creating a kid. “Guess I’ll have to kill you instead,” he said in a low tone.
Cobb jerked his head. “How’s your side? That knife wound had to hurt.”
