Page 91 of Marked

What was he supposed to do? Break up with her? No, it wouldn’t be a breakup because they weren’t in a relationship.

But there was something between them. Something more than just good sex.

He pinched his temples and exhaled. He needed to get her off his mind. There was absolutely no fucking way he and Sophia could ever have a normal relationship. And she deserved more than a fuck buddy. She deserved someone who’d take care of Bella and her. Someone with legal employment.

Why did part of him want that life with her? It was a future he’d never envisioned.

Yanking his key out of the ignition and flinging off his seatbelt, he stepped out of the car. He had to end things with Sophia. A clean break.

One day she’d thank him.

Cole approached Lawson McDougall’s business and stepped inside. It was late afternoon—this time there’d probably be more patrons than there’d been the last time he visited.

The dark-haired woman from the other day looked up from her computer at the till and her eyes grew round. She sputtered and got to her feet, her hands clambering for her cell phone.

“Relax.” He kept his tone cold and hard as he approached the glass counter. “I’m not here for you. What happened with your boss?”

The woman batted her dark eyes in confusion. “Um. Well, he was rushed to the hospital and made it through surgery. That’s about all I know.”

Cole kept his temper in check. “You called him an ambulance knowing he was involved with kidnapping children?”

She brought her hand to the base of her throat and shook her head. “I couldn’t be sure you were telling the truth. He swore you had things confused and—”

He held up his palm. “Save it. Is he still in hospital?”

Nodding, she lowered her gaze.

“Which one?”

“Are you going to kill him?”

He rested his fist on the counter. “I’d like nothing more, but I have a feeling he’ll get what’s coming to him without my help.”

She wet her lips then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking as if she were deciding whether to share the information. “He’s at Swedish Medical Center.”

Cole rapped his knuckles on the glass. “Good call.”

He marched out of the shop. In the vehicle, he sent a quick text to Dare then pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of the hospital.

Half an hour later, he walked through the stark white hallways. The scent of bleach hung in the air, stinging his nostrils and reminding him how much he fucking hated the medical world.

Maybe because he’d had to ride in an ambulance one night, accompanying his mom after his dad had broken her nose and two ribs. Or maybe because of the only other ambulance ride he’d had in his life—the one for him. The one where Dallas had brought him back to life.

Ever since the moment he coughed out seawater, staring into his twin’s eyes, he’d wondered why the fuck he’d been saved.

Why hadn’t God sent him to hell then and there?

Shoving aside all the questions that still circled his mind thirty years later, he jabbed his thumb into the button marked 3 and the elevator soared. Dare had been able to hack into the hospital’s system and tell him exactly what room he’d find the disgusting sonofabitch in.

Luckily, Lawson was out of intensive care, so getting in and out of his room during visitation hours wouldn’t be difficult.

Carrying two cups of coffee on a tray, he moved past the nurses’ station. Probably should have fucking put rat poisoning in Lawson’s coffee, he thought. With the map Dare provided, Cole moved swiftly toward 14B as if he’d been there every day.

No one paid him any mind as he slipped into the room and locked the door behind him. Lawson lay stretched out in a bed, his leg elevated and in a cast from his groin down.

Good.

The man’s head was turned to the side and his eyes were closed. Snores rumbled from his lips. Cole lowered the coffee tray to a nearby table then strode to stand next to the bed. This close, Lawson’s freckles appeared to connect. The brown dots covered his pale skin.

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