Page 43 of Their Virgins Secret

“No. ”

Fuck. Burke wanted to bait him into losing his temper, and Cole refused to let him. Burke wanted him to grab Jessa and push pleasure on her until she melted in his arms, then pass her to his brother so he could give her more of the same. But Cole wasn’t going to give his brother the satisfaction of showing Jessa how much he loved and wanted her. Or of trying to break her down and soften her up for them. It was pointless. She wasn’t coming back.

Burke’s growl came from the back of his throat. His brother was getting really angry, a surprise since Burke rarely lost his temper. That was Cole’s job, but Burke seemed willing to take over for him. “Fine. I’ll do what I always do. I’ll fucking speak for you. Jessa, you’ll stay in the swamp for as long as it takes, until we tell you it’s all right to go. ”

Her eyes narrowed. “Or maybe I’ll call the cops myself. He can’t possibly own every single one of them. Maybe I would be better off taking my chances with them than the two of you. At least they won’t lie to me. ”

Cole felt his whole body flinch, like she’d hit him with a bullet. No, a bullet would hurt less.

“You’re not calling anyone. ” Burke crossed his arms over his chest and intentionally crowded Jessa. He got right into her space, towering over her. “Do you honestly believe we haven’t tried everything we could in the short amount of time we’ve had? We have people calling the feds, the US Attorney’s office, the DA of New York. These things take time. That’s what Marco is counting on. ”

“Or maybe he’s counting on the fact that he’s had months and months to prepare for this and he knows exactly what you’ll do at every turn, like just sitting here and waiting for him to come get us. ” Her body was practically vibrating with anger.

“Do you think I like sitting around? Do you honestly believe I wouldn’t rather be out looking for this bastard? If I knew you’d be safe, I would. But I don’t know if this asshole is nearby, and driving around in the middle of the day is just asking for someone to spot us. So until dark, we’re staying. What the fuck else do you want me to do, Jessa?”

“Go back a year ago and change everything. Hell, if I could go back, I’d be smarter, see through you two. I should have known exactly what you were. I can see it so clearly now. ” Her fists were little balls of barely contained emotion. Even her toes seemed curled, biting around the cheap carpet.

“And just what are we?” Burke challenged. “Lay it out, sweetheart. Put it all out there. ”

“You’re liars. ”

Cole closed his eyes. That hurt almost as badly as the idea that they were mercenaries. Did she think they lied to everyone or just sweet virgins like her, looking for affection? Did she believe they really made money off saving or taking human lives? Probably. He’d been called worse, but never by someone he cared about.

“We were undercover. Did you want us to walk around giving the bad guys business cards?”

“In the end, it didn’t matter. They seemed to have figured out who you are. They were way smarter than I was. ”

“Of course, they figured it out. We had to file a ton of paperwork to get the feds to accept the evidence we’d collected. We had to put the bad guy away. Don’t act like we’re the villains in this scenario. We were the ones saving the women, and you know it. ”

“Well, you didn’t save me, did you?” she said acidly.

Cole felt his fucking heart almost stop at the question. Unlike her previous rantings, this question came out of her mouth with a hint of vulnerability that broke his heart. The hurt in her eyes was raw, like it had been scrubbed to bleeding with steel wool. Guilt churned in his gut.

Burke softened up a bit. He reached out for her. “Sweetheart, we didn’t know you needed us or were in danger. The minute we thought you were, we came for you. ”

The vulnerable girl was gone in a heartbeat, righteously angry female taking her place. “I wasn’t talking about that, you asshole. I was talking about the fact that you left me alone and pregnant, and if Marco Delgado hadn’t decided I would make a spectacularly good Judas goat, you would never have come back for me. ”

“We would have checked. ” Burke’s hands came back down, his fingers twitching as though they really wanted to be on her. Cole knew his brother. Burke thought if he could get his hands on her, he could smooth their way back. Cole didn’t think Jessa wanted to be placated. She wanted to fight, and they were the only available targets.

“Would you? Or would you have just moved on to the next job and the next female who was stupid enough to buy into your routine?”

“It’s not a routine, and we would have checked on you. ”

She turned those big green eyes on him. Cole felt his heart stutter. “Would you, Cole? Really? Would you have come looking for me, a woman you thought was married?”

“No. ” He’d died a little the day he’d heard about her marriage. A piece of himself had shriveled, and he’d buried it. He wouldn’t have gone back. He wouldn’t have wanted to see her with her husband. “We’d already discussed it and decided to leave you in peace. ”

“Goddamn it, Cole. Can you think for two seconds before you say something? Why are you sitting there? I know you love her. Why are you just letting her tear us apart?”

“We can love her all we want, but we’re not together, Burke. I can’t tear us apart because she’s not going to let us close to her again. ”

And it hurt like hell. Cole had never felt more alive than when he’d been with Jessa. With her, he’d felt like he’d been good at something other than his fucking job. He’d been good at loving her.

Then he’d fucked up.

He watched as Burke spewed angry words her way, and she yelled right back. Yes, he’d fucked up. Brutally. He had told Jessa the truth. They wouldn’t have gone back. Cole knew he would have taken job after job after job until it killed him. That fucker Landry had lied to him about Jessa’s marriage, and he’d swallowed every damn word. He would have gone to his grave heartbroken, loving her…and believing that she belonged to another man.

“Have you thought about the fact that Caleb is our son?” Burke challenged.

---