Little Red's Love ✔ #2

c h a p t e r - t h i r t y o n e

He watched over her with tired eyes, the heaviness was weighing down on his lids but he refused to rest. Cole also refused to believe that the fatigue that was bolting down on him was a reason for paranoia; he had every right to believe that it was his own sister behind all these stupid letters, for him the evidence had been there.

To doctors, he looked like any concerned man that was worrying about his lover, but it was much more than that. Together, they had gotten through many things together and eventually called it quits when it all got out of control but now, now it had spiralled so far out of control that it was enough to drive her away from him again.

The thought of her leaving him again attacked his heart an made his stomach churn. He didn't want to go through all of that once over; he had done that out of selflessness and the difference between then and now was that he vowed to protect her more than ever, from everybody. Cole wished to harm anyone that came between his wife and him.

Cole's guards were down when a stranger walked by and stood next to Cole, two cups of coffee in his hands. The stranger reached out and put the cup in front of Cole, who suddenly was aware of his surroundings once the smell of coffee had burned his nostrils, sending his brain into that addictive craving.

"I figured that you needed this." The stranger said, his eyes too on Cora. Cole narrowed his eyes at the shorter man next to him, but took the cup full of steaming hot coffee. "I'm Cora's boss, well I was. I'm so sorry about what happened to her, but if her body is as strong as her working skills, then she should be out and about soon." The stranger joked.

Cole remembered the call earlier that week between Cora and her boss, the phone conversation ending with Cora with more stress than before. It had also been the morning after Cora and Michael had broken up, the remembrance bringing a sense of pride within Cole as well as a little anger, though he couldn't say much any more.

"She didn't say much about you." Taking no hesitance, Cole brought the cup to his lips and drank the coffee. This balding man would be stupid to poison a man like Cole and get away with it, there was just too many cameras and security around Cole.

"I wouldn't expect she would have said anything at all about me considering that I fired her. I'm sure you must know that business has been failing on my end, you know, since you are a businessman yourself." Cole stopped midway to bringing the cup to his lips before turning his full attention to him.

"How do you know what my profession is?" Questioned Cole, the anger rolling out of him in waves, instantly making the already inferior man almost bow down to Cole and apologise. "I have heard of you before from a partner of our firm, M-Michael? He mentioned Cora's husband, in this case you...so...so I thought I might come..."

The glowering of Cole's eyes was enough to make the man close his mouth and back away slowly, the beginning of a friendship diminishing before it even started. Cole watched the fear in this man's eyes and took a couple seconds to decide what his final move would be: the brooding gang member or the guy who could occasionally be nice.

"It's fine. I know Michael, or used to know him. You could say I kind of fired him from a type of profession he used to have." Cole's lips tilted upwards as he thought of dismissing the boyfriend title that Michael had to Cora, before replacing him as something much more stronger: the husband title.

Before another word could be uttered from either men, the machine inside the hospital room had began to beep wildly, drawing the attention of Cole's men who were close by as well as the doctors. Doctors and Cole had rushed into the room, but Cole was stopped by a nurse under the doctor's orders.

He sent a glare her way, making her bow her head and back away in fear. One of Cole's men had pulled Cole out by the arm, much to the dismay of the tattooed man. He stepped back into the spot that he had been standing in previously and watched through the window of the room, making sure that they knew to keep the windows open or there would be more trouble.