Page 68 of Entangled

I break his gaze when he doesn’t reply and look out the windshield, war waging within my mind. He was a killer. Even if it was self-defense, he had taken a life. The very thought of it did nothing but bring my father to mind and all thinking about him ever did was make me want to vomit. And yet… if that person had been trying to hurt him… well, what the fuck was I supposed to do with that? The thought of something happening to him was unimaginable to me and I was left with no answers. Mind whirling in a never-ending stream of contradictions.

Coop pulls into the parking lot of the restaurant and parks the car, letting a moment pass before he answers me. “It was self-defense.”

The car is filled with nothing but heavy silence and neither of us makes a move to get out. Eventually he reaches over and takes my hand again and despite everything between us, I let him. It terrifies me, this indefinable something, this pull between us. That I could accept the fact he had taken a life simply because of the fact it washislife that had been at stake.

“Della?”

I keep my eyes on the windshield, staring out without really seeing, my mind snagging on how odd it is to hear the fake name I gave him come from his lips. It’s always Princess or Brat, never Della. As if he won’t speak the lie between us.

“Look at me, please.” Coop’s voice is a soft command and I turn my head at the sound of it, unable to deny him. My eyes take in his concerned expression but I keep my face carefully blank.

“This is not something I enjoy talking about.” He heaves a breath and swallows visibly. “But he was a bad guy. I’m not saying that to make you accept it but… he was a bad guy and he was trying to hurt people I care about. So I won’t lie to you either and say I’d make a different choice if I were put in the same situation today. I will always do whatever it takes to protect the people I care about. That’s just who I am.”

I try to quell the tumultuous wave of emotions inside me and think through his words rationally. Contrasting the differences between Coop’s action and my father’s. What my father did was… well, evil, either that or pure insanity. There was no other way to look at it. But Coop… what he did was born out of necessity to keep those around him safe, to stop the evil thing. To stop someone who, for all intents and purposes, was probably somewhat like my father.

“Princess?” His voice snaps me out of my trance. “You know I would never hurt you, right?”

I pull my bottom lip into my mouth, biting down on it hard in silent response. The trust, which is so easy for most people to give the hardest thing he could ask of me.

At the look on my face, he untangles his hand from mine and unhooks my seat belt, reaching over to lift me out of my seat with his considerable strength and settling me onto his lap. Reaching up, he cups my face, invading my space, his intense night-forest eyes finding mine.

“Listen to me.” He runs his thumbs along my cheekbones in a soothing gesture, voice quietly serious. “I would never hurt you. The thought of it is just… unimaginable, sickening to me.” His comforting sandalwood scent wraps around me and his lips ghost up. “Now I can guarantee you will want to hurt me at some point. I will fuck up, it’s inevitable and I know I already have even. But it has never and will never be my intention to hurt you. Okay?”

I dip my head once in acceptance of his words, because I know he believes them, but something about his wording has my intuition spiking and he must see it on my face.

“Have you ever, for one second, felt unsafe with me?”

“No,” I answer without hesitation. “Never.”

“Okay, then.”

His night-forest eyes stare intently into mine, that thread of darkness that I’ve always seen in them up front and center. The only difference now is I know just how deep that thread goes… but maybe, maybe not all darkness is evil. Maybe sometimes it’s what scares the greater monsters away.

“Okay.” I echo on a deep exhale.

He dips his forehead to mine. “You need a minute?”

“No.” I shake my head against his, clearing the lingering nerves and pulling my armor firmly back into place. “No. I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” I press a quick kiss to his lips. “I’m good. Just took me by surprise, is all. Should’ve thought it through before now.”

His lips pull up on one side, eyes filling with humor. “We had other priorities.”

A soft laugh leaves me at his words and I cock a brow, feeling more like myself again. “True.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “Why don’t we get this over with so we can get back to those?”

“Sounds good to me.”

He lifts his hips against me and I laugh again, reaching to open the door and stepping down as he lands a playful swat on my ass. My short sundress brushes against my thighs as we start to walk and Coop wastes no time in hooking an arm around my waist, pulling me to him. The restaurant is colorful and the scents of Spanish cuisine wash over me when we walk in. I’d wager it’s usually a pretty popular place because of the lively atmosphere but in the late afternoon it sits mostly empty.

Coop steers me toward the back and I spot who we are meeting without needing any direction. He stares out from a booth in the back, dressed head to toe in black, eyes flicking back and forth between us with interest. His short platinum hair is a mirror of my own and surprise filters through me at seeing the unusual color on someone else. I’d guess he’s in his late twenties and when we come up to the table he stands, both him and Coop breaking into wide smiles as they grab each other’s arm and go through the motions of that universal male greeting.

Coop squeezes his shoulder as they pull away. “How the fuck have you been, man?”

“Good.” A faint hint of an Eastern European accent colors his smooth voice. “You know I always love doing a job back home but I’m glad it’s done.”

He turns his head to me and the beauty of him hits me in full force as his brown eyes rake my face.

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