Cole: The Wounded Sons, Leah Sharelle [the reading list .TXT] 📗

“Well, what else are we supposed to call you keeping your relationship secret?” Rainn challenged, staring me down.

“I mean, Cole would never keep such a thing secret, not from his family,” Memphis added, Charlotte bobbing her head in agreement.

“Cole has always been a good boy,” Rainn nodded, then glared at me. “Memphis gave you a job, trusted you.”

Anger seethed through me. Who the hell did these women think there were? Judge, jury and the executioner? Lumping me with all the blame, as if they knew me already and making up their minds, I was some kind of scarlet woman! A shameless hussy taking advantage of a child?

“Ladies, please, I don’t think this line of questioning is conducive—" Memphis tried to soothe her friends, but I was done. Heard enough.

“NO! I think this interrogation is done,” I interrupted, pushing to my feet and climbing out of the plank seat awkwardly, losing my footing once and nearly going arse over tit.

“What goes on between Cole and me is our business and no one else’s. He is a grown arse man, not some barely-aged, sheltered virgin,” I yelled, righting myself.

“My job with you doesn’t have anything to do with my relationship with Cole, nor does it affect me from performing my duties properly.” Looking directly at Memphis, even though she couldn’t tell that I was.

“Oaklee, I think—”

Rushing forward, I slammed a hand down on the table, my anger erupting.

“There are certain reasons why Cole and I decided to go about this the way we did. And yes, it was our decision, not just mine. The main one being your husband, Memphis.”

“He told Cole to stay away from me, and he said I wasn’t to be approached. Who is he to say that? Creed barely talks to me, and I have no interaction with him unless there is a signing or when he comes to the shop to pick you up. And from that, he makes up his mind I am not worthy of being with your son.” Getting a full head of steam, I continued my outburst, not caring that the women were looking at me with wide, shocked eyes. My last thread had snapped and there was no shutting me up.

“Cole has been so worried that his father would be disappointed in him, we opted to put off telling you both until he gets back from his deployment. I’d rather he concentrate on what he has to do wherever the hell he is than on Creed scowling, grunting and growling!”

Mentally I was counting to ten, trying to calm my boiling temper before I really said something I could not take back if I hadn’t already.

Looking directly at Memphis, I took her hand, gentling my grip, so I didn’t squeeze too hard. I loved my job, adored my boss, but I wasn’t going to stay where everyone thought such horrible things about my character.

That was not healthy.

“If you are unhappy having a liar and an underhanded person working for you, then consider this my resignation.” The words ripped at my heart, but I meant them. As much as I didn’t want to give up my dream job, staying and being treated like a criminal would be worse. Much worse. I’d had enough of that from my parents, and I didn’t need more from people who weren’t family.

More aching thumped in my chest. The Wounded Souls was becoming like a family to me … or they were, so I thought.

What hope was there for Cole and me if his family wasn’t accepting of our relationship … of me? Being at odds with them, making him choose between time with them and me, was too unfair to burden him with.

You ruin everything, Oaklee, I can’t have a life because you were born.

A sob tore from my lips, and tears streamed down my face unchecked. My life was crumbling with each falling tear. He is gone. I’ve lost Cole and he doesn’t even know it yet. Yelling at his mother and aunts, my final nail in the coffin. Spinning on my heels, I bolted from the picnic area, desperate to get away from the brutal, unfair and heartbreaking confrontation.

Confrontation! It was more like a firing squad, with me as the poor sap as the target.

Running as fast as my shaking legs allowed, I tried to tune out the shouts for me to stop and kept running until I left the park area and hit the road. This part of town was kind of isolated, being in a semi-wooded area of Ballarat East. The roads were mainly gravel, but I was familiar with the area and knew of some tracks that would take me off the well-known and more travelled road.

Dodging an oncoming car that honked at me when it nearly hit me, I ran blindly down a deserted track, my lungs screaming at me to stop, but I refused to until I was finally out of earshot of the shouted pleas from my boss and her flock. Grateful that all of them had been dressed to the nines and wearing high heels, so there was no chance of them following. Memphis not coming after me was self-explanatory.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

COLE

“You doing okay, Ghost?” Tank asked, coming up behind me as soon as we disembarked from the chopper and back to the temporary base we had set up amongst the thick jungle. A fifteen-hour slog through dense vegetation and high humidity had us all in foul moods. Me especially.

For two weeks now, I had not been able to get hold of Oaklee thanks to the shithouse reception, even on the satellite phones. When I finally found a spot to make a call, she never picked up, nor was there any reply from her to my text.

“Fucking peachy, captain. We can’t find this fucking prick who is killing innocent women and children, we have been in this godforsaken jungle for four weeks, and I seem to have