The night they’d shared was nothing short of incredible, and though it wasn’t completely unexpected, part of him had hoped to wake up with Mac’s incredible body wrapped snuggly against his.
He’d woken instead to a note thanking him for an amazing night. She’d also left a key with a polite p.s. asking him to lock up behind him when he left.
Like that wasn’t a fucking slap in the face.
“Hey, Coop,” Trevor answered on the third ring. “Enjoying your time off?”
“Why the hell is Mac in New Jersey?” Coop blurted into his phone, not really giving the man on the other end time to answer. “Scratch that. Why is she attending the funeral of a well-knowncrime bossin New Jersey?”
He’d followed her to the church almost an hour before. Thanks to the church’s website, he knew the name of the man being honored today.
According to the guy’s obituary, Anthony Michael Moretti was a man of great reverence. An upstanding citizen of Jersey City for over fifty years, the man read like a saint.
Moretti donated his time and money to several local charities, and his corporate real-estate business was one of the most successful in the state. Arguably, the entire east coast.
Having listened to his father preside over numerous funerals throughout the years, Coop was well aware of the fact that obituaries were designed to highlight the good in people. A compilation of the best, most important accomplishments one reached during their time here on Earth.
He also knew there was a hell of a lot more to someone’s life than what could fit in a few short paragraphs.
“Uh…what makes you think she’s in Jersey?” Trevor asked hesitantly.
“Cut the bullshit, Matthews,” Coop snapped back. “I know she’s here becauseI’mhere.”
There was a long pause. “You followed her to Jersey?”
“Hell yes, I followed her!”
Thanks to the tiny tracking device he’d attached to her suitcase two nights ago, he’d been able to catch up to her in pretty good time.
Underhanded move? Maybe. But when it came to Mac’s safety, he didn’t give a fuck.
A low curse hit Coop’s ear. “Jake’s going to lose his shit when he finds out.”
“So don’t tell him. You’re the team leader now, right?”
“Temporaryteam leader,” Trevor corrected him. “The man still owns the company, Sean. You can’t just take off and fly across the damn country without so much as a heads up.”
Which was exactly what he had done.
Coop had also decided to call Trevor rather than Jake for two reasons. One, with Jake and Olivia days away from delivering their first baby, Trevor was temporarily the man in charge. And two, Coop had no doubt that Trevor knew all about whatever it was Mac had gotten herself involved in.
“What the hell did you expect me to do, Trev?” Coop demanded to know. “You two have been sneaking around, having your little side conversations for over a month now. I had the time off, and since you both refused to tell me what’s going on, I decided to come find out for myself.”
Trevor exhaled loudly. “Like I said the other day, it’s her story to—”
“Goddamnit, Trevor. She’s mypartner. If Mac’s in trouble, I need to know.”
“She doesn’t want you to—”
“I don’t give a fuck what she wants,” Coop cut the other man off. “She admitted to me that she’s scared, Trev. How many times since you’ve known her has Macevercopped to being scared of anything?”
“Never, but—”
“Exactly. Not only that, she told me I couldn’t get involved because it was too dangerous forme. What the hell does that even mean?”
Coop checked on her through the dual lenses again. She was talking to some guy who was standing way too fucking close to her. When he focused on Mac’s face, however, she appeared to have the situation under control.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm his rising frustration, Coop realized his friend hadn’t said anything more. “Trevor? You still there?”
