Page 131 of Clinch'd

Jig rounds the front but pauses and I follow his gaze to find Hate stepping from the trees. Searching beyond his shoulder, I cover my cry when I see Cooper and Beast, carrying a man between them.

He’s alive. They’re all alive.

Thank fuck.

After that it’s chaos as they’re rushed to the car behind us. I move to the other side of the vehicle, so I can watch them assist Hudson inside. The poor man sags between them and I wince as they carefully maneuver him onto the seat.

All the while, I nibble my finger because we’re sitting ducks until we can get the fuck away from Castinetti and his thugs.

Speaking of which, he’s probably already tagged me as the snitch and while I hate that it was probably Lorri who told him it was us, at least she’s protected from his wrath.

Now I have to get my ass out of dodge because I don’t want to consider what he’ll do if he finds me.

Cooper brushes his brother’s shoulder and says something in his ear. My heart pulses at the sight and I rub my chest. This is it.

There’s so much left unsaid between us but maybe it’s for the best. While he chose to trust me in the end by following Hate into the unknown, he still jumped on the blame Minnie bandwagon without giving me the opportunity to explain.

The hurt between us feels insurmountable and I don’t have the option to stay and wait while we work it out.

When Hate waves toward our vehicle, I nod because we don’t have time to waste. Except Cooper rounds the vehicle, headed my way.

Hate grabs his arm and Cooper looks back. With a pulse of regret, I whisper, “Let’s go.”

“You sure?” Jig says, and wiping a tear from my cheek, I nod.

“Minnie?” Cooper calls and I bow my head. I guess, now I don’t have to say goodbye.

“Minnie!” he barks, wrenching on Hate’s arm. Cooper rushes toward the vehicle and when I meet his gaze outside my window, he shouts something I don’t understand.

I open my mouth but there’s nothing to say and as Jig accelerates and I bounce against the seat, I push up to my knees to look back one last time.

With my heart in my throat, I touch the cool window, hoping he gets the message but it’s no use because as we drive out of sight, Cooper follows, until Beast grabs him around the arms to restrain him.

Chapter 51

Cooper

It’s been two days since we rescued my brother. Two days since I’ve spoken to Minnie. Two days since she jumped in that car and did nothing as they sped away.

After I came to my senses, we rushed my brother to the hospital where he remains in critical condition with multiple injuries that may take him years to get past but he’s alive.

The full truth of my brother’s undercover work came out and with Hudson basically comatose, it was up to me to share the sordid story.

Beast came by the hospital earlier and I knew he had a few things to get off his chest, but I refused to leave the room and he couldn’t speak freely with Mom there.

I don’t know how this went down with Castinetti, but I assume at a minimum, my brother is in danger if not the rest of us. We’ll have to tread carefully until Hudson recovers and can maybe testify against the animal who orchestrated this.

I’ve tried calling and texting Minnie but discovered when I went out to my vehicle this morning that her phone has been on the floor in the backseat the whole time.

It was foolish but I had a spark of hope as I raced over to her apartment, thinking maybe she wasn’t avoiding me after all.

Instead, I found the damn thing empty and the landlord cleaning up the furniture she left behind.

She disappeared into thin air, and I never got the chance to tell her how sorry I am. I had hoped on the other side of this that we could clear the air because I know what I did was shitty. I let my fear rule me and ruined something that I can’t replace.

Does she hate me?

It would seem so, although I could swear, she was right there with me when I held her hand. I don’t know. I may never know.

---