Except that was bullshit. Cooper had been around those same men, and it hadn’t made him fucking evil. He wasn’t kidnapping semi-innocent hackers and threatening their lives for no good reason.
He frowned. “I think maybe you’re just a little psychotic.”
Red gave him a full smile now, although it still didn’t reach his eyes. His teeth were too white and too square, like maybe they were veneers. “You’re braver than Sergei said you’d be. From the way he described you, I was expecting a cowering little worm.”
It was true that Cooper was acting braver than he had any right to. It wasn’t because he wasn’t scared. He was fucking petrified.
It was because he knew Chaos was coming for him.
The realization swept through him, warming him to the tips of his fingers. Chaos had told Cooper he couldn’t run or hide. He’d told Cooper he would find him no matter what.
Cooper’s taut muscles relaxed their tension, just a little. “You really think you can kill me? Have you ever even shot a man before?”
Red’s lips twitched, like he was amused with something. “I’m not a fan of guns, actually. So noisy.” He reached an arm out and dragged over a rolling stand Cooper hadn’t noticed before. It had a small metal tray, like the kind a dentist used to lay out their instruments. There were different syringes on it, and the sight of them chased away any warmth Cooper had gained. “But see, Cooper, I don’t need a gun.”
“Is that what you used to knock me out?” Cooper asked. There’d been a sting at his neck, he remembered now.
Red picked up one of the syringes, holding it in front of his eyes. “This one, yes.” He placed it back down, spreading his hand over three others. “But these three? These are the cocktail for a lethal injection. If I managed the dosage right, it should be relatively painless.” He cocked a brow. “Let’s hope I did, hm?”
And just like that, Cooper was shaking again.
Time. He needed time.
“How long do I have to decide?”
Red glanced at his phone. “Thirty minutes. We need to be leaving town soon, I’m afraid. I’ve been hearing some nasty rumors about your employer these past few days. New York suddenly feels much too small. You and I will be taking this show international.” He rose from his cheap metal chair, pushing the tray of lethal drugs off to the side again. “I’ll leave you alone with your thoughts, shall I?”
21
Cooper
The kidnapping and the threats of murder weren’t great, but leaving Cooper alone with his thoughts? That was truly evil.
His thoughts were…not good. Not good at all.
As soon as Red had walked out of sight, the sound of the door closing reverberating behind him, whatever bravery Cooper had gathered from thoughts of Chaos fled.
Chaos would come for him. Cooper knew that.
But would he get there in time?
Chaos claimed he could track Cooper down wherever he was, and knowing him, he probably could, at least with enough time on his side. But Red was taking Cooper away. Out of the city, on a plane, most likely. International—that was what he’d said.
And while Chaos might have figured out navigating a human city—and Cooper still wasn’t certain of even that much—he definitely didn’t know anything about modern air travel.
If Red took Cooper away, he would be well and truly lost.
And if he refused, he’d be dead.
And if Cooper really wanted to face the truth, he was going to be dead either way. Red seemed like exactly the kind of cold fish who’d do away with Cooper once he was even the slightest bit less than useful.
And just like that, anger reared its head, rising through the fog of fear and despair. This was just so…fuckingpointless. Pathetic, really. All of Cooper’s struggle to survive, to try to make some sort of life out of the shit hand he and his father had been dealt, and now it was all going away because some hacker wanted lots ofmoney? Handed over like a trading card because Sergei had wanted revenge for getting caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing? Maybe Sergei could have tried not betraying his own mob boss! How about that? Cooper had been doing it for years. It wasn’t that fucking hard.
When would these greedy, shitty men stop pulling Cooper into their stupid games? And for what? Dimitri had been just the same—power-hungry and ruthless. And where had it gotten him? Death by an aneurysm before he could even enjoy any of that money he’d killed so many men for. Unmourned by the sons who hated him, and definitely unmourned by the wife it was rumored he’d had murdered.
Pointless, pathetic games.
Chaos would agree; Cooper knew it. Chaos had more power in his cute little wing tip than any of these narcissists, and he cared about it only so much as it made him laugh. He used it to amuse himself, to make life fun. And now he used it to makeCooper’slife fun. To try to make him a little less anxious, a little less lonely. To protect him and make him happy.
