Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Did she want that? Maybe if it was Bri and Daisy and they had margaritas. They would let her trash Zach, and still at some point Bri would push her to be honest about how she felt.
Angry. Angry. Enraged. Sad.
Longing. She felt longing when she looked at him. Ached when he cried because she’d been brutal with him and he couldn’t take it. Not from her.
Why? He’d told her some of his past, a sanitized version constructed to get him where he wanted to be. There were likely some truths mixed in, but a lot would have been hidden. What happened to him that he couldn’t be the hardened operative around her?
Or was it all one more act?
When she thought about it, she knew little that was real about him.
“What do you know about Zach?” There was zero way her mom didn’t know everything her uncle did at this point. Classified intel be damned, Ian Taggart wouldn’t leave her parents in the dark. Not about the basics.
“I know you should talk to him. I know some of his past, and it’s painful and cruel and he didn’t deserve it. I can tell you, but it might be better if you ask him.”
Because if he told her, he would be opening up to her. “What does Uncle Ian think?”
There had to be a reason her family wasn’t banging on doors and threatening the world. Her parents had gone to Germany with the team when her brother had been taken. They’d made sure he got home.
So there had to be a reason her mother was calmly sitting there while she was in… Everyone told her it was Wales. They could be lying.
“I’m pretty sure your uncle knows more than he’s saying, and I know he did not arrest Zach when his dumb ass walked right up to the team in Virginia. I need you to think about that. He didn’t hide. He didn’t run. He walked up to them knowing they have orders to bring him in. I believe he did that for you. Now you’re probably sitting there thinking it was all about Cooper, but I don’t, and I have several reasons why,” her mother began.
She was confused. “Why would it be about Cooper? Because of how close they are and he didn’t want him to have to save Kala alone? I don’t understand. Uncle Ian could have gone in with him.”
Her mother went still, like she hadn’t anticipated the question. “He didn’t tell you. Damn it. I thought for sure he would have told you that.”
Really confused. How much worse was this going to get? Or did her mom not understand? “He and Cooper are friends. At least they seem to be. When we were together we spent a lot of time with Cooper and Kala.”
Who were getting married. She always dreamed of designing dresses for her cousins’ weddings. She’d made all the dresses for Carys’s wedding. Well, for the one that got busted up with gunfire. She was supposed to start Tasha’s wedding dress soon. Well, after her cousin figured out to the very last detail exactly what she wanted. But that was probably done now that she was stuck on a Welsh farm. Someone else would get to lovingly sew the dress. Not her.
Was she going to end up being the cursed wedding dress designer? Not like “hey, you’ll probably get divorced if you wear that Taggart original.” Nope. More like “your wedding will get raided and there will be bombs.”
“Sweetie, Zach and Cooper are biological brothers.”
She’d had such plans for Tasha’s wedding and the bridesmaids’ dresses. Wait. What? “Brothers?”
“Yes. It’s one of the things he told Cooper and Kala while they were in the woods.”
“Why were they in the woods?” She had been left out of so damn much.
Now that she thought about it, they did resemble each other. Same coloring. Same nose. Same build.
Brothers.
“They were tracking down Zach’s aunt. The one who raised him after his mom went to prison.” Her mother seemed to be carefully measuring her words. A thing she almost never did. “Zach was there, and they all had a showdown. You’ll notice that Kala didn’t bring him in either. As a matter of fact, I believe Kala is still feeding him information.”
“How?”
“Well, there’s this thing called the Dark Web and…”
Her mother was starting to irritate her. “How are they brothers? I swear I will hang up if you start explaining sex to me.”
Her mother sometimes spoke only sarcasm.
“I wouldn’t do that. Not now. Baby, I know you are hurting. I know it feels like you’re on the outside looking in, but that’s what happens when you’re involved with a person who works intelligence. I should know. I’ve been on both sides.”
Her mom’s words kind of flowed over her because her brain was moving in quick speed. “Cooper was adopted. Zach’s older. His mom kept him but not Cooper? Or were they both adopted out?”