Page 54 of Cooper

“I’m considering leaving the military,” I say. “I don’t have a plan yet, but if I were to stay here, I’d need a job.”

Sandor is quiet for a moment. “What, specifically, are you asking of me?” He asks. “I’m not trying to be a dick, I just don’t want to make any assumptions.”

“I don’t know what my options are,” I say cautiously. It feels presumptuous to assume they would consider me Royal Protector material.

Sandor knits his brows together and eyes me. “I think we both know what your options are,” he says. “The only question is whether or not you’re willing and able to pledge your life and loyalty to king Erik.”

“I don’t know enough about it,” I admit. “You explained a little bit about what you needed when you sent Natalia to me in Iraq, and of course I’ve seen quite a bit of what you do in the month I’ve been here, but I’m not sure I understand the full spectrum of responsibility.”

“Are you willing to die for Erik, Casey, and the kids?” he asks bluntly.

“I was willing to die for Uncle Sam,” I reply wryly. “And he doesn’t even exist.”

“If you’re serious about this, we can talk more. I’d have to bring in Erik, Daniil, and Joe for a more in-depth conversation.”

I nod. “Absolutely. I really want to understand more about both what would be expected of me and how the process works. I know Natalia has had to go through extensive training.”

“A lot of what Natalia has had to do is because she came to the military with zero experience. She didn’t even know how to hold a gun, much less hand-to-hand combat or how to react in a crisis. None of that applies to you, considering your experience. There are other things you’d need to do, though, and while the list isn’t expansive it’s intense. You’d have to learn the basics of the language, our customs, and what I specifically require of the Royal Protectors. Not to mention two major questions you have to ask yourself.”

“Which are?” I ask, curiously.

“First and foremost, do you love Natalia?”

That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?

Do I love her?

I think so.

But we haven’t said the words yet, so I’m not sure. “It’s still new,” I say, slowly, “but it’s going in that direction.”

“Alright, well, the second question is whether or not you’re willing to leave the U.S. behind and become a Limaji citizen. You don’t have to give up US citizenship, but you’d have to have dual citizenship, and that could impact your ability to work for your government in the future.”

I hadn’t considered officially becoming a citizen of Limaj. “I have to think about that one,” I say after a moment. “I hadn’t thought about citizenship.”

“Fair enough. If you still want me to set something up, I’ll talk to Erik and do what we’ll call an interview. So you can ask questions and have the answers you need to think about what you want to do.”

I nod. “Great but will you do me a favor and not say anything to Natalia until we’ve come to some sort of agreement? I don’t want to get her hopes up until I’ve made a decision.”

Sandor nods. “Absolutely.”

“I think after what happened to Logan, she’s skittish,” I say carefully, not wanting to share anything too personal, “so we’re taking our time.”

“That’s smart. Just don’t take too long, because strong women take some nudging in the direction they want to go. Take it from a man who married one.”

“I do have one more question,” I say as we pause in front of his office.

“Sure,” he nods.

“How much does this gig pay?”

He smiles.

The number he gives me almost makes my mouth fall open.

Holy shit.

That’s a lot of fuckin’ money.

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