Chapter 412: Wednesday. Mlilo Animal Reserve, South Africa.

Coco shook her head and shoved her hands in her pockets. "I keep thinking the director of Mlilo is going to fire me. Now I find out she recommends me."

Paxton rolled her words around. He'd been there, certain that the guys in his unit didn't like him, that he was alone despite being part of a team. Even joining Aegis Group had taken some convincing because he just wasn't their type of guy and he knew it. Or he'd thought he'd known it until he accepted the job offer and really got to know the guys.

"When you grow up apart from everyone, it's hard to see how you fit in." He turned, and they strolled up the lane toward her house.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you spent a lot of your years growing up alone because you didn't fit anywhere, right?"

"Yeah. But some of that was intentional. When we were kids and Mom left Dad, it was still illegal for us to be her kids." She tipped her chin up and stared at the sky. "When we were really little, she split a flat with this prostitute who had