Second Chance SEAL(153)

Sure, he was a cocky asshole. There was no doubt that he frustrated me, pushed my buttons. But he was a Midwesterner like myself, and he seemed to genuinely care about my safety.

Plus, he was the father of my baby. No matter what happened, that was the truth and would never change.

Dad was looking at me expectantly, and I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t bring myself to say the words to them.

“Mason’s dad is back,” I said instead. “Emory is back.”

Dad raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“So you finally found him?”

“Well, no. He just showed up today, actually.”

Dad was giving me the look that meant I find this hard to believe. “Just out of nowhere?”

“Yes, Dad, out of nowhere.”

“Why?”

I paused. Why had Emory shown up? “He was looking for me,” I lied. “He wanted to see me again. He didn’t know about Mason.”

“And what does he think about having a son?”

“It’s complicated.”

Mom came over and put a hand on Dad’s shoulder. “That’s right. It is very complicated. Right, Roger?”

“Of course it is, Celine.” Dad smiled up at her.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen with him and Mason, but we’re just getting started. So be nice, okay?”

“When am I ever not nice?” Dad asked.

Mom laughed and smacked his shoulder. “Just do what she says, Roger.”

He laughed. “Okay, fine. I’m out numbered. I’ll be nice to the man who knocked my little girl up and then disappeared.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t mention it.”



That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept having nightmares where my whole family was blown to little pieces on an airplane.

Around three in the morning, I climbed out of bed and walked down the hall. I pushed open Mason’s door and walked into the nursery. For a second, I was terrified that he wouldn’t be there.

But he was safe and sound.

I smiled to myself and sat down in the comfortable chair next to this crib.

So I’d lied to my parents earlier. Well, not exactly lied, but I left out a pretty important detail. Emory had found me, but I left out the real reason.

I felt guilty about that. My parents needed to know the truth sooner or later, but I needed to be surer before I did that. I also felt like Emory needed to be there to reassure them, otherwise I could already hear my father on the phone with the local police.

I felt like I was losing my mind. I was playing into Emory’s instructions without really questioning it. There was just something about him, something powerful. It was hard to ignore and to go against.

And he was the father of my son. I had to keep reminding myself of that, over and over again. No matter what happened, he was Mason’s father.

I fell asleep sitting in the nursery, terrified and worried, Mason sleeping soundly by my side.





Chapter 8





Emory





I was up at the crack of fucking dawn and moving around Tara’s neighborhood silently.

Omar knew I was here, but I was still hoping I could catch him unaware. But as the hours slipped past, I didn’t find a single fucking peep. I didn’t know who Omar was working with, so I was keeping my eyes open. But as far as I could tell, the neighborhood was clear of any surveillance.

He’d probably pulled back as soon as I showed up. He knew me, or at least knew what I was capable of.

I couldn’t help but keep thinking about the day before, at the café. I couldn’t think of a single reason why Omar would be sitting out in the open more or less. Maybe I should have gone after him then and there, but there were too many people around, too many innocent bystanders.

He had to have been taunting me. I couldn’t think of any other reason why Omar would sit there where he was easily seen. He had more skill than that, more training; he knew exactly what he was doing. That bastard was just rubbing it in my fucking face.

Which really pissed me off. I reached back and felt the grip of my weapon, squeezing it reassuringly. I couldn’t fucking wait to put a bullet between his scumbag eyes, to take him out of this world forever before he hurt another person.

As I moved across the neighborhood, I watched Tara’s parents get into their car and pull out. I briefly wondered if she told them and then decided that she hadn’t. I was monitoring their incoming and outgoing calls, or at least I was watching who was calling and who they were calling, and I hadn’t seen anything strange at all. I wasn’t actually listening to what they were saying, because I wasn’t a total fucking creep, but I had to know if Omar tried to contact them.