Chapter 35

THIRTY-FIVE

Cooper

It’s like deja fucking vu all over again.

Giving myself up in exchange for him leaving my mother alone was a no-brainer, but fuck, I’m not prepared to go through this shit again.

This time, at least, I’m in a chair instead of hanging by my arms, but it’s equally uncomfortable with my arms painfully behind my back. My ribs are healed but with my arms pulled back so tightly, they’re achy and sore, making it hard to breathe.

Knowing my mom—and my friends back in Limaj—are safe is enough to keep me grounded, though. Whatever he’s going to do to me, I can handle. Louie knew where I was going so when I stood him up, he would have gone to my mom’s. From there, he’ll bring in the cavalry.

Of course, finding me might be a problem.

Or maybe not.

I’m many things, but stupid isn’t one of them.

Sandor had a tracker installed under the skin on my ass just before I left. The battery life is unreliable, but it’s only been two days so I should be good. If they can get here before this asshole kills me, I’ll be okay.

This was always the plan.

Sandor and Joe are pretty meticulous when it comes to safety, and while they understood that I had to leave for everyone’s protection, they also were determined not to let me go without a plan. So I’m not overly worried.

Tired, sore, and annoyed? Absolutely.

Worried? Only a little.

“Do you know where she is?” Yusef finally comes into the room where he left me tied up all night.

“We’ve already had this conversation,” I reply. “They didn’t tell us where they went. We only helped them leave Baghdad.”

He backhands me.

God dammit, if he does something to fuck up the bridge I’m in the process of getting to replace the last tooth he destroyed, I’m going to be even more pissed.

“The woman you seduced and whose head you filled with your American ideals? She was my wife. Carrying my son. You took them from me.”

I hadn’t seduced or done anything inappropriate with Fatima, but I’d helped her get out of the country. It was my honor to get Fatima and the others out of there. I thought she was safe, living in the U.S. with a new name, new lease on life.

“I don’t know where Fatima is.”

Smack.

Here we go again.

At least I know what I’m dealing with now.

“You have no right to say her name!” He looks pretty unhinged, and I wonder who this guy is that he has the resources to chase me across three continents.

“I helped her move to find a better life,” I say, “but I didn’t seduce her. I never touched her.”

“Liar!” He smacks me again. “Did she give birth to your bastard?”

Jesus, he looks unglued.

But I’m in survival mode.

And I have to keep him talking until help arrives.

“I don’t understand why I’m here,” I say quietly. “You know the government isn’t going to tell someone as low on the totem pole as me where they sent her. She’s probably in witness protection.”

“She is my wife ,” he hisses. “Do you not understand that she belongs to me?”

“No, actually, I don’t.”

He pauses, eyes wide and bloodshot as he stares at me. “Of course not. You have no morals, no ethics, no tradition. Our customs require women to be demure, obedient, and submissive.”

“So you want them to be robots,” I say. “With no thoughts or ideas of their own. They’re just there to produce your sons. Is that it?”

“This is our way.”

I shake my head. “What are you so afraid of? Why do women need to be your property? Why can’t they be partners, friends, lovers…? I don’t understand.”

“And I don’t have to explain myself to you!” He glares at me.

“I guess not. But I never touched Fatima, so that baby wasn’t mine. I have no idea what happened to her after I got her on that military transport out of Iraq.”

“Someone seduced her, and you were seen together many times, so it had to be you.”

“What, you think young Iraqi men don’t fall in love with women? Have sex with them? Rape them?” I stare at him. “You know how many women I met who said they’d been sexually assaulted by their own friends and family members? Men just like you.”

He uses his fist this time, catching me in the jaw, and my head snaps back.

“Shut your filthy mouth.”

I eye him curiously.

“Did you seriously chase me across the world because you think I slept with your wife?”

“I chased you across the world to find out where she is. Getting her back so I can punish her is just a bonus.”

“Dude, we can argue religion and tradition and women’s rights all day long because that’s a conversation we can have. As as the other stuff—I don’t know where she is, I don’t know how to find out, and I can’t tell you something I don’t know. No matter how many times you hit me.”

“I didn’t believe you in Iraq, and I don’t believe you now. And it’s going to be a very painful process for you to keep denying me what I want to know.”

I sigh.

Sandor better put his plan into action pretty quick. I can take a lot, but I don’t like the looks of some of the tools this guy’s laid out. And frankly, this isn’t a fight worth dying for. Fatima wasn’t the only young woman we helped liberate. There was a group of them who gave us information about what was going on in some of the smaller villages, sometimes very important information, in exchange for a new lease on life. I was happy to help make that happen and have zero regrets.

I was doing my job and something I felt was the right thing to do. Some of those girls were being sold to men three times their age, most were beaten and abused, and none of them had anything to look forward to. I’d make the same decisions if I had to do it all again, so I just want this to end. One way or another.

“You can die quickly or after a great deal of pain,” Yusef says, his eyes gleaming. “Why don’t you make it easy on yourself? Because I can still go back for your mother.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, good luck with that. She’s gone. My friends were coming to get her.”

“And your Limaji sweetheart? I know where her family is.”

That gives me pause, but I’ll be damned if I let him see it.

I shrug. “That was a workplace fling and it’s over now. Her father tried to give me a goat to take her off his hands.”

To my surprise, Yusef throws up his hands like he’s frustrated. “You see? This is why Americans have no sense of tradition. A goat is honorable . It’s a gift for you to marry his daughter. She will give you many children, a good life. The goat is symbolic. It shows her worth, both to him and to you.”

If he only knew just how symbolic the damn goat is.

Not that I’m going to tell him.

“And yet, your people kill your wives and daughters for nothing,” I say. “What was that worth?”

Smack!

I had it coming, but it feels good to say it anyway.

“And I will kill Fatima,” he says matter-of-factly.

“Why would you kill her? What does it get you?”

“It is our way,” he says stiffly. “She has to be punished. To show other women what happens when you don’t do as you’re told.”

“She left you. Isn’t that punishment enough?”

“You truly do not understand. But before the night is over, you will.”

There’s a scratching sound from somewhere, and he freezes.

Please let that be the cavalry.

He pulls a gun from his waistband and slowly moves toward the stairs.

We’re in some kind of dark, musty basement, and the wooden stairs creak softly as he makes his way up.

Suddenly the door at the top bursts open, there’s a flash of light, and Yusef tumbles down the stairs, his gun clattering across the floor.

“Coop! You in here?” I recognize Louie’s voice, and relief floods me.

“I’m here!”

There’s three of them, and though I can’t see faces yet, they move quickly, with Louie throwing himself at Yusef before he can get to his gun.

“You’re done, motherfucker.”

Yusef is cursing in Arabic now, struggling against him, but Lou’s a beast. They go at it and suddenly Yusef pulls a knife from his boot, slicing at Louie’s arm.

A shot rings out and Yusef drops like a sack of potatoes.

“Had about enough of this fucker,” someone mutters.

It’s all I can do not to laugh.

“You all right, Captain Cooper?” Someone else I don’t recognize comes and starts cutting through the ropes binding my hands and legs.

“I’m good. Thanks. That you, Grim?”

“Sure is. Sandor called my boss, and we made the trip.”

“Thank fuck.” I nod, rubbing my hands over my sore wrists. “I appreciate this.”

“All in a day’s work.” He gives me a dark grin.

I never want to run into this guy in a dark alley though I’m glad to have him on my side.

Louie peers down at Yusef. “Hope you got whatever answers you need, because he’s done talking.”

“Everything except where Fatima is.”

“That’s above my pay grade,” Louie says. “You can come back to D.C. with me to see if we can figure it all out, but I don’t think it’ll be a fun time.”

Yeah, that sounds like misery.

Besides, I have things to do.

“No, thanks. I need to make sure my mom is okay, finish packing up my apartment, and then head back to Limaj.”

“Daniil is flying to D.C. tomorrow,” Louie says, “so you can talk to him, probably fly back with him. You probably need to call your girl, too,” he adds under his breath.

I nod but I’m also reluctant.

I know her and she’s mad .

Big mad.

And she has every right to be.

I should have talked to her.

Even though Erik told me not to.

I’m used to following orders, but sometimes you have to put your faith in the people you love. And I love her more than anything.

Hopefully, she’ll give me a chance to say all that and more.

To explain that I’m an imperfect man and it will take a while for us to find our normal both as Royal Protectors and as a couple.

Because I’m going back to Limaj.

I’m going to become a Royal Protector.

Other than nostalgia and some pride in my service to my country, there’s nothing keeping me here. When the chips were down, it wasn’t the marines who had my back—it was the Protectors. That kind of loyalty means something.

I was going to go back anyway, if for no other reason than to marry my girl. I knew that almost as soon as I left. And if I couldn’t commit to a lifetime as a Protector, I would have found work doing something else. I have no doubt Sandor would get me some kind of visa. Hell, I’d work as a bartender or construction worker if necessary. Whatever it took to be with Natalia.

Except now I know that my place is with the Royal Protectors.

“We need to go,” Louie says. “I’ve got a crew coming to clean this mess up and we don’t want to be in the middle of it. The State Department might reach out, but make sure you have Daniil with you if they do. He can work through any red tape and get you out of here sooner rather than later.”

“Got it.”

I itch to find my phone and text Natalia, but it’s probably better if I don’t.

Or maybe just a couple of words.

Three, in particular.

Yusef took my phone and stuffed it in his pocket, so I lean over and fish it out, grateful he didn’t break it.

I open the texting app and find Natalia’s name.

How do you express an apology while declaring undying love? My gut tells me she won’t be receptive to one without the other, but I also don’t think she’ll be very receptive to a texted apology.

COOPER: I love you. I’ll be home soon.

Yeah, that’s seven words, but who’s counting?