Page 43 of Marked

“Of course. Thank you. I appreciate all of you being willing to help.” She blinked rapidly, but a tear crept out of the corner of her eye.

Cole’s stomach knotted with the need to wipe it away. Christ. He’d never wiped away someone else’s tears. Even when his brothers were small, he’d told them to suck it up.

This was different.

Something about Sophia got under his skin. Made him want to touch her. To comfort her. To take away the blaring pain in her eyes that for some reason burned a hole through his fucking heart.

Lexi leaned across the island and grasped Sophia’s hands. “We’ll find her. You’ve got only the best working with you.”

A wave of gratitude hit him. Thank god Lexi had comforted Sophia. Fuck, keeping his hands to himself had been torture.

“Let’s get started,” he declared. The sooner they found Bella, the sooner he could part with Sophia and go back to normal. Every minute spent with Sophia only allowed her to burrow deeper into his soul.

He needed to get a wrap on that. ASAP.

Before she fucking broke him.

***

Awkward.

Really freaking awkward.

The people Sophia had practically interrogated for information on Cole were sitting right in front of her while she sucked like a vampire on the skills she’d condemned. She fiddled with her second cup of tea while poring over the blueprint of the farmhouse spread out on the dining room table.

As an investigative journalist, Lexi was used to getting her hands on the impossible. In less than an hour, she’d secured the blueprint and land layout of the address Lawson had given them. The farmhouse was a ten-acre property owned by none other than one of the highest-ranking Grand Chancellors in Lionsgate Kinship.

“How far is this from the city?” Sophia asked, glancing at Lexi. Her brain had processed so much information in the last hour that the facts were running into each other.

“An hour and a half.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “Dare should be there pretty soon.”

“You’re sure he can get the drone overhead without being spotted?”

Lexi scrunched up a corner of her mouth. The expression made her vibrant blue eyes shine. She’d tied her long dark hair back into a ponytail, and she looked gorgeous. No wonder Nash seemed so taken.

“Well, we can’t be certain about anything,” Lexi said, a strong warning in her tone. “Especially with so little time to plan properly. Dare knows what he’s doing, though. It’d be best to wait until dark, but that wouldn’t leave us enough time. The images will come through directly to Dare’s program,” she said, nodding at the computer screen awaiting the images. “But we’ll still need to review them and get there well before your scheduled meeting with the kidnapper.”

Sophia rubbed her thumb along the rim of her mug. “Right. Of course.” She lifted her chin toward the office the guys had closed themselves off in. She didn’t need superhuman hearing to know they were talking about her—as well as things they didn’t want to disclose in front of her. Whether she liked it or not, she was the distrusted one in this circle.

The person who could take them all down with a phone call.

“We’ll get her back.” Lexi’s grip on her elbow forced Sophia to drag her gaze from the door.

Her lips might snap if she smiled, but she pushed out a little one anyway. “I appreciate your help.”

Lexi nodded. “Don’t mention it.” A few seconds passed, and then she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. “Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Why Cole? He’s not exactly one to dole out assistance, especially when it costs him time and money. And you’re a...” She shrugged and grimaced. “Sorry.”

Sophia waved her off. “No, I get it. I’m a cop. The enemy.”

“Well, until today, I thought you were his enemy in particular.”

Sophia dropped her gaze and wet her lips. She couldn’t divulge that Cole had been involved in a murder, couldn’t say he’d broken into her apartment and that afterwards she’d accepted his help. “It’s a good question. I really can’t answer it, though.”

“But weren’t you trying to put him in prison?” More confusion laced Lexi’s question.

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