Cole turned to see Clint shove back from the table and get to his feet. “Why not? She could be anasset.”
“She doesn’t get to make the choice—I do. I say she doesn’t know. She can’tknow.”
“What the hell is going on?” Carter interrupted in a quiet voice, stepping between him and Clint, who was looking at Cole as if he’d lost his damnmind.
“Why can’t Tomi know?” Cartercontinued.
Shit, of course Carter would pick up on that one little slip. The man could read people like they were a 3Dmovie.
“Just drop it. You don’t need to know why…you just need to know that you can’t tellher.”
There was a pregnant pause in the kitchen, and then Clint said, “Stahl has something on you, doesn’the?”
Cole stared at his younger brother without blinking, praying that Clint couldn’t see the truth in his eyes. A lost cause, forsure.
“I fucking knew it,” Clint jabbed a finger in the air. “I knew we couldn’t trust that agent. Stahl is asnake.”
“He’s not a snake,” Colesaid.
“But he does have something on you,” Carter buttedin.
Cole stared them down for all of a minute before he caved. He’d never hidden anything from his brothers before. They had always operated as a unit, just as their father had taught them they should. You trust your family with your life, and you protect your family with yourlife.
“Stahl is threatening to pull our license to operate in the United States if I don’t cooperate and do as he says. He will destroy FurySecurity.”
He’d expected them to look shell-shocked, but they looked furious instead. Carter, in a surprise move, burst out, “That prick. I knew you were actingfunny.”
“Sure as hell doesn’t surprise me. He’s ruthless, he has no family, and he cares about no one but himself. Don’t let him threaten you with us. That fucker can’t take down our firm. It’s solid. We did everything right,” Clintsaid.
“He won’t have to take us down legally,” Cole said, “but he can blacklist us for every contract we apply for. We’ll go belly up in months. I can’t do that to our family. This is what we’ve all worked so hard to build. I won’t be the reason Fury Security goesunder.”
Clint swore, turned, and punched the wall. His temper always showed itself in hot flashes and quick bangs that appeared and then fizzled out with equal speed. Neither Cole nor Carter reacted in anyway.
“Stahl still suspects Tomi, and he’s threatened to destroy us if I tell her the truth. We have to play nice.” Cole paced the kitchen again, his restless energy reaching a plateau. He fucking hated lying to Tomi. It made his mouth taste likesawdust.
“How long do you have before we have to move to the mansion?” Cartersaid.
“Two days. Two days to make her fall in love with me and trust me completely.” The words sounded as hopeless as they felt. How in the hell could he make her fall in love with him all over again, when he didn’t even know the real reason she’d left in the firstplace?
“You know what you have to do,” Carter saidquietly.
The knowing glint in his brother’s eyes just made him moreanxious.
Over the years, Cole had learned how to spot a true submissive. He thought he was right about Tomi—she’d admitted she’d dabbled in the scene after their break up—but what if he was wrong? What if the control stuff had freaked her out enough to run from him? Made her lie about finding someoneelse?
Cole stopped pacing and met Carter’s stare with all the vulnerability he felt. “What if she’schanged?”
“She hasn’t. She looks at you—to you—the same way she did backthen.”
“I can’t lose her again,” Colesaid.
“Then don’t. She’s trailed you since she was a pain-in-the-ass first grader, what makes you think she ever stopped wanting you?” Carterstraightened.
Because she leftme.
“Cole?” Tomi’s voice sounded from down the hall, followed by the light creak of the bedroom door opening and her soft footsteps padding closer. A few seconds later, she peered around the corner, his T-shirt covering her from neck tocalf.
Of all the things she could have chosen to cover herself in, she’d gone for his shirt. The unconscious show that she relied on him for protection filled him with hope.“Youokay?”
