Second Chance SEAL(155)

He seemed so tiny, practically disappearing into my arm muscles.

His cry got quieter and quieter as I bounced him softly, and slowly it stopped. He blinked up at me with eyes identical to my own, and I felt something inside me, however brief.

I was holding and looking at my son, really looking at him, for the first time.

This was why I was here. Because of Mason, Tara was really in danger. Because Mason was my son, and Omar knew he could use that to hurt me.

I cradled Mason in my arms. “Sorry to pull you into this, little man.”

He just looked at me.

“Not much of a talker. I get that. I’m not either. But I bet your mom talks to you constantly. I bet you never get any peace and quiet.”

I rocked him in my arms as I carried him slowly downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and Tara looked up at me, biting her lip.

“Well?” she asked. “What do you think?”

“He’s my son, all right,” I said. “The boy nearly ripped my arms out of my sockets when I tried to pick him up.”

That made her smile. “Here. I need to change him and feed him.”

“All you, mommy.”

She made a face and took him from me.

I watched as she walked into the other room and shook my head.

What a bizarre thing. That was my baby, and my baby’s mother.

And out there somewhere was one of my biggest enemies, looking to destroy us.

I was going to have to up my game this time.

I grinned to myself, almost looking forward to the moment when I could crush Omar’s skull in the palm of my hand.





Chapter 9





Tara





His son, all right.

As I changed Mason, I couldn’t stop thinking about that. Emory was such an intense man, an enigma in my life. But now that he was back, and apparently intended to stick around for a little while, at least until the danger went away, I was beginning to have hope. It was a strange feeling to have in the middle of the most dangerous situation of my life, but ever since I’d found out I was pregnant, I’d been feeling scared. I was used to being scared.

But now I had a reason to feel less scared. Emory was here, the ghost man, the handsome SEAL who knocked me up. I didn’t know where any of this would lead, if it would lead anywhere, but for the first time since Mason was born I finally felt like I was going somewhere.

As I was finishing up with Mason, I heard a knock at the door. “There you go, little boy,” I said, strapping his diaper on and pulling on his clothes.

“I got it,” I called out. But as I scooped up Mason and walked into the other room, I saw Emory had already opened the door.

“Who is it?” I asked him.

“Nobody,” he grunted.

“Nobody was there?”

“No,” he said. “It’s nothing.”

I made a face at him. “You’re being weird. Who knocked?”

“Just a package.”

“Let me see.”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Emory, this isn’t your house, in case you forgot. Let me see.”

He sighed and shut the door. “It’s just going to upset you.”

“Emory.”

He held up a photograph. It was a picture of the two of us sitting in the café from the other day.

“They’re messing with us,” he said.

I felt fear drop into my stomach. “How did they get that?”

“I’m not sure. Omar didn’t have a camera when I spotted him, and this was taken from a different angle.”

“There are more of them?”

“Probably.” He shrugged. “They normally work in cells.”

“Cells?”

“Groups of terrorists embedded in a country. I’d guess he’s running a group of ten guys, some of them Pakistani, but I’d bet most of them are radical Americans.”

“That’s crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “Americans work with these people?”

“Unfortunately,” he said. “It happens more often than you’d guess. People are easy to turn if their life isn’t going the way they planned, and The Network is one of the best at identifying those vulnerable people and exploiting their fear and anger.”

“Ten men,” I said softly. “How can you protect us from ten men?”

He grinned at me and stepped close. “You don’t think I’m worth fifteen men?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Listen to me, princess,” he said. “I’ve got more man in my little toe than any one of those terrorist fucks out there.”

“Still. Fifteen?”

“I’m a SEAL, and don’t you forget it. I’m worth at least fifteen of them.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “I really think we should go to the police.”