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Rose shuddered. “I would like to amend the truth-telling clause in our marriage. I want to be like Franny. I don’t need to know all the details. Next time you decide to torch the bodies, just tell me they were cremated.”
Warren squeezed her tighter.
“Warren,” Rose squeaked.
“You aren’t leaving me. If you don’t want to know the details, I promise to leave them out. Petal, I’m sorry we couldn’t help your brother become a better man. I’ll never be sorry for what I did. He put his hands on you. He willingly brought trouble to our door time and time again. He offered you as payment, planned your abduction, beat you, and used you as bait to lure me out.”
“He was with the guy who has been coming after you.”
“Yeah, baby. He was.”
“Why?”
“He was part of our unit. On the last mission, when everything went sideways, Cooper went down. Tank and I checked for a pulse. I couldn’t find one. It was Tank’s call since he was our leader. We left the body. Vulture and Spencer were shot. Tank and I carried them to the extraction point while Brooks laid down cover. Spencer died waiting for extraction, and Vulture was touch and go. He would have died if it wasn’t so damn stubborn.”
“When we went back for Cooper, the insurgents surrounded his body. There were too many. We tried to get permission to go back with reinforcements but were denied. Our mission was a success. The higher-ups didn’t care that our brother’s body was left behind. His family received full military honors at the funeral, but knowing they buried an empty box never sat right with us. We retired. All of us at the same time.”
“Warren,” Rose sighed, gripping him tighter.
“Somehow Cooper survived.”
“He came back to get revenge.”
Rose rested her head on his chest. The steady beat of his heart soothed her. The tension in his body spoke more than she knew he was able to put into words. Sitting up, Rose straddled his lap. Taking his face in her hands, she noticed the bandages wrapped around them for the first time. Ignoring the gauze, Rose stroked his strained face with her thumbs. This man. This man was the one who held her heart. He was complicated, but he was the only one she wanted. Her man needed her.
“This was not your fault,” she whispered. “You had no idea he was alive. You did everything you could. Birdy is alive because of you and, Bunny, and Brooks. You had no idea he was coming after you.”
“It doesn’t matter because after following every protocol I put in place for your safety, they managed to get their hands on you.”
“That isn’t entirely accurate.”
“Petal, how hard did Lucas hit your head?”
“Hard,” Rose winced, gently touching the bruise on her head. “Lucas and Roach enabled Cooper to get to Franny and me. If it weren’t for Lucas coming to get us and Roach feeding them information, Cooper would be leaving you cryptic messages. You would be ignoring me while you tried to figure out who was after you.”
“Rose.”
“No,” she shook her head before she thought better of it. Dizziness made her vision swim.
“Damn it,” Warren grumbled, laying her on the bed.
Rose held a hand over her eyes, waiting for the room to quit spinning.
“Get in here now.”
“I’m right here,” Rose mumbled.
The door burst open before she could get anything else out.
“Thorn,” Vulture yelled, ripping her hand away from her eyes. “What happened?”
“She almost passed out again.”
“She is lying right here, and she is fine.”
“I can give you something for the nausea and the dizziness, but it will knock her out.”
“Do it,” Warren ordered.
