Page 100 of Savage

Cooper’s eyes narrowed. “What are you cooking up in that head of yours?”

To that, I only smiled.

“THE ROOF? WHAT, are we busting out the binoculars?” Cooper joked. But then the elevator doors opened, and his jaw hit the floor. “No way.”

He didn’t move, and I took his hand and tugged him out onto the roof, where a helicopter waited on the helipad.

“Isn’t this against the rules?” he asked, but there was an underlying eagerness to his words that betrayed his caution.

“I’m offering you a way out and you’re worried about rules?” I lifted a brow, and Cooper broke into a grin.

“You’re right. Fuck the rules.” He climbed inside the cabin and buckled himself in, and after greeting the pilot and reiterating the flight plan, I joined him.

Minutes later we were off, hovering high above this city I loved, moving toward the river that would lead us to the docks where Mick’s warehouse was located.

Would King kick my ass if he knew I’d taken Cooper for a little joyride in the company helicopter? Yes. Did I care? Not even a little bit. Not when it had brought the biggest, brightest smile to Cooper’s face.

From the second he’d landed in New York up until now, he had only ever witnessed the dark side of this city. But as the pilot banked to the west and followed the Hudson, the afternoon sun sparkled off the water.

“This is incredible,” Cooper said into his headset, never taking his eyes off the spectacular view. “I’ve never done anything like this.”

That wasn’t hard to imagine, considering the size of his shoebox apartment. But being up here, my sharing this experience with him, was something I knew he’d remember beyond getting a glimpse of the location of Mick’s warehouse.

“Is that where we’re going?” he asked, pointing toward the docks coming into view.

“Yes. It’s quieter than any of the ports, a lot less security and traffic in and out?—”

“So the perfect place to smuggle in drugs if you know the right people?”

I nodded. “Or pay off the right people.”

“Gotcha.”

“There it is, coming up on your left.” As the helicopter made the turn, Cooper peered down at the empty docks.

“It looks abandoned.”

“Exactly. Little to no foot traffic.”

“And that’s the warehouse behind it?”

“Yep.” And from what I could see, at least two guards. This wasn’t nearly as close as I would like to be for surveillance, but I was going to have to trust Alessio with that. I wasn’t about to risk Cooper’s following me and putting himself in danger again.

“Wow. It’s hard to believe that something so dangerous and illegal can be so close, and yet so out of reach.”

He shifted in his seat, and though he was wearing sunglasses, I could feel his eyes locking on to mine.

“I have a question.” My lips curled, and he chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But seriously, if you know where Mick’s warehouse is, why not just call the cops and tell them?”

Of course that was where his mind went. It could never just be an easy question with Cooper, like:what’s your favorite part of the city?

“If we called the cops now, all they’d find is an empty warehouse. Mick’s waiting on a shipment, remember? We haven’t gotten the call yet.”

“But why do I get the feeling you won’t tell them even when youdoget the call? The other day when you guys were talking, it sounded like you were going to go in and handle it, sooo…are you working with, like, the CIA or something?”

That was a new one, and I could see why he might go there. The CIA were notorious for keeping their agents and assets as ghosts. They were excellent liars, but then again, so were us Kings.

When I didn’t respond, Cooper held up a hand. “Got it. You can’t say. Just that you’re the good guys.” When I looked at him over the top of my glasses, he added, “Most of the time.”

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