Page 106 of Clinch'd

Summoning a wan smile, I turn away, and say dully, “What are you waiting for? Answer it.”

I don’t want to know who’s on the other side of that phone call, and I slide from the bed as he says, “Yeah?”

My entire body protests but I make it to the bathroom before closing the door. Wasn’t I here just this morning after Cooper and I spent the evening fucking?

I wish I could go back to that person. She was miserable but she wasn’t fucking devastated.

I hear Cooper’s husky tone through the wood and lean against the door. What now?

Is Jordan dead? How do I process what just happened? He had his slimy hands on me.

A shower. I need…to be clean.

I don’t wait for the water to warm up, nor do I bother to undress before I step inside and kneel in the cool spray.

Closing my eyes, I touch my mouth and shudder before the sobs form again. Was Jordan going to kill me?

Why? I knew he was a little worm and dangerous at that but I underestimated him. Frankly, I found him too weak to kill a woman.

That was a fatal mistake.

And Castinetti? What did he mean about Lorri? And what the fuck did he tell Castinetti about me?

I don’t know how long I’m in the water before Cooper appears with a towel and wraps me up. He lifts me easily into his arms and I have no energy to fight when he takes me from the room bundled up like a burrito and back to his own.

I’m quickly divested of my clothes and Coop rubs me down with a new towel before helping me into one of his shirts.

When I sway on my feet, he guides me into the bed, his touch gentle as he pulls the covers up to my chin.

With a groan, I turn on my side and stare at the wall, until he slides in beside me and I’m wrapped up once more.

It’s only once I feel his warm skin against mine that I manage to relax and my eyes flutter when he says gruffly in my ear, “Sleep.”

Chapter 39

Cooper

Minnie’s quiet breaths sooth the beast still raging inside of me but barely. If I hadn’t gotten to her in time…fuck, I can’t afford to go there because I might lose what’s left of the sanity I’m hanging onto by a thread.

When I went back to the room after Minie stormed off, Beast was still standing by the window.

I didn’t particularly want to look at his gloating face and instead I headed for the minibar, grunting, “Don’t you have somewhere to go?”

The bright side of losing my career was the fact that I could drink whiskey like a pathetic loser in my fucking hotel room, alone but for my ex-best friend.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was here?” Beast said and I shrugged.

I tried but my heart wasn’t in it. I was tired of the fucking subterfuge and maybe I wanted Minnie to know that I knew just how far this went.

I could tell by the expression on her face she thought we played her from the beginning, which was not true. However, Idid what I had to do because if Castinetti sending her my way had anything to do with Monroe, then that meant my sister was in far more trouble than I hoped.

It didn’t make sense. Why plant drugs on me? Especially if this was related to Monroe. Was it a warning or not related to my sister at all?

And what the fuck did she mean about Jordan? Apparently, I needed to have a serious conversation with my damn manager now too.

Can anyone be trusted in this fucking mess?

“Coop?” Beast said and I rubbed my tired eyes. Sleep had eluded me for months and I was so fucking exhausted even if I had finally caught a few z’s with Minnie beside me.

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