“Are you kidding? He’s too stubborn to die especially from a piece of wood.”
Ortiz grunted in agreement. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”
“Thank you, Ortiz.” Words couldn’t express how thankful she was he had been on the roof with her and pulled her to safety. Before today all she saw was a fun-loving guy but when lives were on the line he took charge, all while eatingcookies. It was odd, but whatever worked.
“No, Chica. You didn’t have to be on that roof, but you were. You saved our lives. I couldn’t have done all that shooting on my own.”
Cora gave him half a smile. “Glad I could help.” Cora didn’t want to think about what she had done. Killing wasn’t in her nature, but she had protected these men. Her friends. She knew she would do it again if she hadto. “Is it over now?” Cora asked Carter.
Carter paused in his patching up Ortiz and looked at her. “It is. When we came back, Bulldog told us they were coming so we hid in the tree line, and we waited.” Carter wasn’t telling her something Liam hadn’t already told her. “We cleared them all out. We thought we got them all when we heard the voices in the house. I’ve never seen Liam so scared beforeas when he saw you facing off three men. As soon as you were clear, he took the shots. That was good thinking racing for the kitchen and not leading them towards Oreo here or Hannah downstairs.”
“Why didn’t I know you were here?” She was hurt that everyone seemed to know what the full plan was but her. Was it because she was a woman and they didn’t think she could handle it?
“We thought itbest. We wanted the element of surprise. Alejandro’s army was so focused on watching the front of the house it wasn’t that hard sit there on the side and wait. If you had known, we were there; you would have been watching for us and given our position away.” Would she? Maybe. Had she judged Liam too harshly for not telling her they had been there? She supposed she would never know.
Cora noddedand turned to Ortiz. “I’m glad you’re alright, Ortiz. If everything is over, I’m going to go pack. I’m ready to go home.” The threat was over. There was no reason for her to stay here any longer. She wanted to go home and forget about Liam and all his damn secrets. She understood the secrets of his job, but this hadn’t been a job. It had been a personal mission and she’d had a right to know aboutit.
Carter looked up at something over Cora’s shoulder, and she didn’t have to look to know that Liam was standing behind her. She could feel his eyes boring into her. She didn’t turn to acknowledge him. She was still hurt by his earlier remark. She stood and walked off to her bedroom. She could hear the men whispering behind her, but she couldn’t hear what. It didn’t matter. She was going backhome after this, and she would never see Liam again. She couldn’t do this roller coaster of emotions with him again. She understood why he kept his family a secret. It wasn’t out of embarrassment but out of not wanting people’s pity for feeling they needed to help shoulder his burden. She understood the secrets of his job. But she couldn’t put herself through this again. She thought she couldhandle it but she quickly realized she couldn’t. She would go back to her nice normal quiet life. With her mind set Cora began packing.
