Page 89 of Cooper
I’m torn because I don’t know what’s happening with these guys coming after us, and if they found us on the way to the prison, it wouldn’t be hard to find us on her parents’ farm either. The last thing I want to do is bring trouble to her parents.
That’ll win me a lot of points.
Not.
“Hi.” Natalia is just coming out of the inn as I’m walking in. “Where did you go so early in the morning?”
“We had a pleasant visit with Pieter,” I say, trying to keep a straight face.
She grimaces, her gaze falling on the blood stains on my T-shirt. “He’s…okay, right? It’ll make things worse if he can’t go to work or?—”
I cut her off. “Don’t worry. Black eye. Cut on his lip. He’s fine. Scared shitless, but fine.”
“Did you make him cry?” Her eyes gleam with mischief now.
“I most certainly did. Well, I think it was Sandor who made him cry. He’s way scarier than me.”
“He definitely is. And good. He deserves to be scared.”
“I’m going to change my shirt. Do you want to wait for me? Sandor’s heading to pick up Marcus and then home. He assumed we were staying for the weekend.”
Our eyes meet.
“Do youwantto stay for the weekend?”
“I want what you want. I know your relationship with your family is complicated, but Lucianna knows about us now, and she’s going to have to explain why her new daughter suddenly has a very American name. It’s probably better to get this over with.”
She chews the inside of her cheek as she mulls it over. “All right. Go change your shirt, and then we’ll go to the hospital to see Luci. Sandor arranged for her to stay five whole days, which is amazing. Our national health only covers two, but this will give her a chance to rest, recuperate and hopefully come up with an exit plan. Later, I’m going to pick up Greta, so she can see her mom and meet the new baby.”
“Sounds good. Just let me take a quick shower and maybe grab a cup of coffee? Fifteen minutes, max.”
“Of course. I’m going to text Femke, so you go ahead.”
I run inside and for a while, I forget all about the target on my back. I’m clinging to the hope that Sandor is right and I’m wrong.
Because leaving this job and my new friends will be hard.
Walking away from Natalia, even if it’s for her own safety, will be harder than anything else I’ve ever had to do.
And I’m going to have to consider that carefully when I decide whether or not to become a Royal Protector.
THIRTY
Natalia
I’mnervous as we pull up to my family’s little farm. It’s barely an acre of fields that no longer yield crops and a house that’s seen better days. Although, it appears there’s a new roof, which is a good thing since last winter was brutal for the family. I’d sent some extra money while I was in Iraq since I didn’t need anything, and I’m glad they got things done.
The rest of the house is still a mess. The front door has seen better days and seems to be hanging at a slight angle, one of the windows in the front is cracked and held together by some sort of packing tape, and the railing on the front steps is completely gone.
When had things gotten so bad?
I send them a thousand Euros a month, sometimes more, and they’re still struggling like this? I can’t figure out where the money goes because I know they don’t eat that much, and my father still works. He doesn’t make a lot of money, probably about what I send them in a month, but it also doesn’t cost much to live here. Food is cheap, basic healthcare is free, and the biggest cost is heating oil in the winter, which I subsidize. Of course, paying someone to help with my grandmother is expensive, so that could be part of it.
“You okay?” Cooper glances at me curiously.
“Yeah. I’m just trying to figure out where the money I send goes if not to keeping up with the house. My father still works so it’s not like they’re living off just my money, and we survived on his money before I started sending some to them.” I clamp my lips shut.
“Maybe something has been going on you don’t know about,” he suggests softly.