If the willed estate was the trigger for the whole blackmail scheme, seeing her there may push them into contacting her to make arrangements for the money drop.
Coop wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but at least she didn’t fight him when he told her he’d be accompanying her to lunch.
If someone thought he and Mac were close enough they could use him as leverage, his traveling with her shouldn’t be all that surprising to the son of a bitch watching her.
Rather than sharing Mac’s room with her—which Coop really,reallywanted to do—she’d insisted he take Trevor’s extra bed for the night.
When he tried arguing it was for her safety, she’d quickly called him on his bullshit, pointing out the fact that he wouldn’t demand to stay with the other guys on the team for protection.
He really hated it when she made a good point. He also knew there was more to her reluctance than good old-fashioned stubbornness.
Even though Trevor hadn’t said anything about their obvious make-out session, the other man had to suspect they’d crossed that forbidden line between partners.
Coop respected Mac’s wanting to keep their relationship private, so he backed off. For now.
The guys on their team weren’t stupid, though. For the past year, Coop had put up with teasing rumors and whispered comments. They all already assumed something was going on between him and Mac, and he was tired as hell of pretending he didn’t have feelings for her.
That stops now.
As far as Coop was concerned, once all this shit was behind them and they were back home, he was going to make it clear. To his teammates and to Mac.
She was his, both on and off the field. Someone messes with her, it’ll be the last thing they do.
* * *
“Are you crazy? Your guy almost killed her!”
“Relax. My guy did exactly as instructed.”
“Don’t tell me to fucking relax. If she dies before she hands over that money, I’m screwed.”
“You just have to do like you’ve always done and trust me.”
“Trust you?” He snorted. “You forget I’ve known you a long damn time, so trusting someone like you is a huge fucking pill to swallow.”
“Youhaveknown me a long time, so you should know I’m a man of my word.” He stepped closer. “And let’s not forget, this whole thing was my idea. You came to me for help after getting yourself into this mess. I’m doing all this shit as a favor to you, so maybe you should try to act a little more grateful.”
“Oh, get off your fucking high horse. You’re doing this because this is going to benefit you damn near as much as it will me. So quit trying to act like you’re doing this for anyone but yourself.”
The man wasn’t wrong. Still…
“Last chance. It’s not too late to call this off and forget the whole thing.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not calling off shit.”
His words were certain, but his eyes told a different story. “You’re absolutely sure you want to go through with this?”
Part of him hoped the other man would say no. He’d always liked Abigail, but her fate was sealed the moment she chose to betray her family.
In a rare show of emotion, the other man’s eyes glittered with remorse. “I have no other choice.”
Then unfortunately for Abigail, neither did he.
