She clutched him tight, too overcome with emotion to speak, to do more than convulse with sobs.
Cole looked over her head at Jameson. “You want to give us a minute?”
A muscle in the man’s jaw twitched, but he nodded and stepped back. Cole walked with his arm around Crystal, guiding her down the hall around the corner, where he pulled her to a stop. “Goddamn, Crystal. I know I don’t know everything that’s gone on, but this shit with you and Wolf has been messed up from the start.”
She folded her arms tight around her, one hand coming up to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, I’m not going to make you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You know we all love you, don’t you?”
She nodded, taking in a deep calming breath.
“So does that man out there.”
She frowned at him. “Jameson?”
Cole nodded. “Yeah. Mr. Rock Star Tattoo God out there.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Am I?” When she stayed quiet, he dropped a bomb on her. “You should go with him.”
She looked up, confusion marring her face. “What? I can’t leave Wolf.”
“Yes. You can. And that’s exactly what you’re going to do.”
“Cole—”
“Listen to me, Crystal. Go with O’Rourke. If Wolf loves you, if he wants a life with you, he’ll come for you.”
“But—”
“Crystal, Wolf’s my brother, and I love him, but the man’s got to step up sometime. If he doesn’t now, he never will. I’m betting he will.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“Besides,” he grinned, trying to cheer her up, “you know Wolf’s all about the chase. You run, he’s gonna chase after you.”
“He didn’t last time I left.”
“He will this time.”
“I don’t want to play games, Cole.”
“This is not a game, darlin’. I’m bein’ straight up with you now. You need to know you’re worth it. He needs to know you’re worth it. And by God, he needs to prove it.”
Crystal looked down the hall in the direction of Wolf’s room. “Just leave him? I don’t think I can.”
Cole leaned into her, putting a palm on the wall next to her head and got right in her face. “This is not up for debate. You’re going. If Wolf’s half the man I know he is, as soon as he’s able to walk out of this hospital, he’s gonna be coming for you, and when he does he’s gonna haul your ass back to Cali.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Cole straightened. “Then, sweetheart, you’ve got a man standing down that hall ready and willing to lay the world at your feet.”
CHAPTER THIRTY