Her Sensual Protector
Night Storm, Book Five
Caitlyn O’Leary
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Caitlyn O’Leary
© Copyright 2021 Caitlyn O’Leary
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Dedication
To the men and women who serve, and the people who love them.
Synopsis
The first time Navy SEAL, Leo Perez sees Daisy Squires, he is stopped in his tracks. There she was, slamming her fists on the table, making six men jump to attention in the Afghanistan embassy. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Somebody better find her kidnapped father, and fast.
At her wits’ end, Daisy realized she would have to rely on the special forces team to rescue her father, which killed her; shouldn’t she be doing something—anything—to help facilitate her father’s safe return? But when Leo Perez told her to trust him, she started to believe. Maybe trust was finally an option for her.
Daisy and Leo soon find themselves immersed in a situation they never thought possible as terrorist forces gain strength. Will their emerging love be strong enough to face the deadly forces determined to stop Daisy?
1
Leo wished his boss had sent someone else, anybody else, but Max had raised his eyebrow and sent him. Deep down, or not that deep down, Leo knew why. But it still rankled. Fine, he had a way with the ladies, but this was a mission, for God’s sake. This was a fucking mission in Afghanistan, not the time or place for the charm offensive.
But when he saw just how poorly the diplomats and phony diplomats were doing, he could see where charm could be really useful. Just how dumb were these guys? Even the CIA plants had their heads firmly embedded up their asses.
“Ms. Squires, your presence here, and the media storm your family and friends have created in the United States, is detrimental to us finding and safely returning your father,” the US Ambassador to Afghanistan said to the petite woman sitting in the chair across from his at the conference room table. This was the fourth time he’d said something like that to her. Leo could tell she was getting hot under the collar.
“What else would you have me do? Other people have been kidnapped in Afghanistan and you have done nothing. Nothing has been done for that reporter, Dick Summers.” Her tone was savage.
Ooops, the gloves have come off. Leo smothered a grin.
“That’s not true,” the ambassador said.
“Oh really,” she said sarcastically. “Obviously nothing of note, since he’s been missing for four months, and you still haven’t managed his release.”
One of the lower-level diplomatic aides standing behind the ambassador spoke up. “We’re working on his release, as well as your father’s. Now, your dad has only been missing for a week. Nobody understands why he decided to come to Afghanistan when the rest of his team was still in Pakistan. It is our understanding that is where the polio inoculations are needed, not here in Afghanistan.” The aide seemed nice enough. But not so nice when you considered he was one of five men who were standing beside the ambassador, all leaning over the conference room table, clearly trying to intimidate the petite woman.
“Just contact Dr. Williams in Pakistan, you’ll find that they traced cases of polio to villages here in Afghanistan. My father and Dr. Williams decided my father would be the best one to come over here since he spoke Dari. He crossed the border legally, there wasn’t anything secretive about his arrival.”
Leo admired Daisy Squires’ fierceness when surrounded by all the men intent on poking holes in her story. Her will was indomitable. Leo casually leaned back against the far wall, well away from the action. He made it clear he was just observing. What’s more, the fact that they were all in suits and he was wearing fatigues should have made it even more obvious.
Another man glared down at Daisy. “Ten years ago your father was in Palestine, and he was working with Hamas. He has a penchant for working for terrorist organizations, isn’t that true?” His voice sliced through the room.
Leo continued to keep his casual stance but made sure he could catch every word of the conversation.
“You obviously have faulty records,” she said scornfully. “You need to talk to the Palestine Unit in our embassy in Israel. That was all cleared up back then. My father does not work with terrorist organizations. He cares for sick and wounded children. Full stop.”
The same oily dirtbag continued his interrogation. “I have checked with the Ambassador there, and the records are vague.”
“That’s on the State Department, now isn’t it?” She stood up and placed her hands on the table, leaning forward. “I strongly suggest you find someone who worked there at the time. In the meantime, find my father. He’s. Been. Kidnapped.”
“Ms. Squires, it’s not that easy.” The ambassador tried to soothe her.
She slapped the table. “Then make it that easy. I got this meeting because of the stink my family is making in the U.S. That’s nothing compared to what they’re prepared to do. Wait until the petitions and the viral social media campaigns begin.”
“Ms. Squires, you need to settle down.” It was the man who had accused her father of working with terrorists. “You have no idea what we have to deal with daily, and the type of situation your dad is in. You need to leave it to us to handle, and go back to the States.”
Come on Daisy, let him have it. If he could, Leo would have rubbed his hands together.
“I’m not leaving Afghanistan without my father. You’re stuck with me. As to not understanding how things work? You’re wrong. I run W.A.N.T., Women Acting Now and Tomorrow. I know exactly what your situation is.”
One of the men snorted. She turned her head to face him.
“My charity works in Nigeria. You know, the country that is home to Boko Haram? I’m well aware that here you’re dealing with Al-Qaeda or the Haqqani Network, but good news, my father has been gone for a little less than a week. You can find him. You can get this done.”
She was magnificent. Leo smothered a grin as he watched her make mincemeat out of the ambassador and his five flunkies.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” the dick diplomat said.
He’s such an asshole, I’m about ready to take him out back.
“I’m not asking you to,” Daisy said with disgust. “You go to the Afghan government and have them talk to the Taliban, or you talk directly with the Taliban, who then talks to those two terrorist organizations.”
She was exactly right, that’s how it worked. God, he was loving this. The suits were about ready to piss their pants.
Daisy reached for her leather backpack. “I will be back in twenty-four hours. I expect an update on your progress.” She walked around the conference room table. If she hadn’t been wearing heels, Leo didn’t think she’d be even five-feet tall. But that hadn’t stopped her from taking down a roomful of diplomats and CIA professionals. As she passed by Leo she winked at him, then walked out the glass door.
What in the hell was her oldest brother up to? He must have ruffled a whole hell of a lot of feathers stateside since she’d arrived in Kabul this morning, if the ambassador and five flunkies met with her. She’d tagged two as CIA, the rest as mid-level diplomatic aides, and one who gave her hope. They wouldn’t have had a casual military guy in there unless he was listening in for potential intelligence for some kind of op.
The sun blinded her when she strode out of the embassy. She stopped for just a moment to take off the linen jacket she’d been wearing and put on her Oakley sunglasses. One of the few things she splurged on, but oh so necessary when she was in countries like Afghanistan where the sun practically touched the ground.
Her driver was still waiting for her.
“Malek, take me to the hotel. There will be people following us, but don’t worry,” Daisy told her driver in perfectly enunciated Dari, the national language of Afghanistan.
“Should we be worried?” Her driver was nothing if not pragmatic.
“They will be members of the embassy. They are harmless.”
“Americans following Americans,” he coughed out a laugh. “This is something new.”
They were soon at the Kabul Serena Hotel, and Malek stopped and showed his ID. He was let through the gate, then security used a mirror on a stick to check the underside of their car for bombs before letting them drive to the front of the hotel.
Daisy knew not to even bother opening the door of the backseat because there would be somebody opening it for her. And there was. She shrugged on her jacket and took off her sunglasses as she walked into the air-conditioned hotel lobby. Her stride didn’t vary when she spotted the same soldier who had been loitering in the back of the conference room, seated in the lobby waiting for her.
How in the hell did he make it here so fast?
When he saw her coming his way, he stood up and smiled. It was a genuine smile, unlike all the others she’d been subjected to at the embassy.
“Who are you?” she asked as she took his outstretched hand and shook it.
“Chief Petty Officer, Leo Perez, at your service.”
“Navy, huh? You wouldn’t be a member of the acclaimed Navy SEALs would you?”
“Now ma’am, what could possibly make you ask such a question?” his smile was bright against his brown skin.
Daisy smiled back.
“Call it a lucky hunch.”
“Ms. Squires, based on everything I know about you, I don’t think much comes down to luck. I think that you get things done through determination, intelligence, and hard work.”
“Ah, someone smart enough to have looked me up. I’m impressed.”
“Why don’t we have a drink in the restaurant so we’re not quite so conspicuous?”
“That’s probably a good idea,” she admitted. Even though she didn’t want to be, she was flattered. There was something about having this man think highly of her that warmed her.
They walked across the lobby to the upscale restaurant and were quickly seated. Daisy noted that Leo’s Dari was almost as fluent as her own. She should have expected this. She had dealt with special forces in the past when she was in Nigeria. These men were extremely smart and capable; only a fool would underestimate them.
“You have a question?” Leo asked after they had both ordered some chai tea.
“Not a question, just an observation. You speak Dari extremely well. Very few Americans do.”
“The lady next door who babysat me while my mom worked was Persian. Farsi was easy enough to pick up. Then when I did some work over here in Afghanistan, I worked on the Dari dialect of Farsi.”
Their waiter tea set in front of them. Leo made small talk with him.
“Yep, you make it sound easy,” Daisy said in English.
Leo tilted his head and his eyes narrowed. “Yet you speak four different languages, don’t you?”
“Four fluently, a couple more where I can get by. It’s necessary when I travel so much for my job.” She smiled in response. Then she took a cup of the very sweet tea. She had missed this when she was in America. She watched as Leo winced.
“Not to your taste?” she grinned.
“I can’t get used to the fact that they dump a cup of sugar in the tea.”
“The more sugar, the more honor they’re bestowing on you. If they didn’t like you, you wouldn’t get any.” The hot beverage was making her warm, so she took off her jacket. “So how did you get to my hotel so fast?”
“Motorcycle. That way I could weave in and out of traffic.”
She nodded, it made sense. “You must not value your life, or have a daredevil gene. You could have gotten killed out there.”
Leo laughed. The sound ricocheted through her body, bringing senses alive that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Daisy couldn’t help but smile with him.
“Ms. Squires, that was just an appetizer of what my normal day is like. Would you have come down from your room to meet me if I’d arrived after you?”
“Yes.”
Leo’s eyes widened just a little. “Huh, what do you know? I believe you.”
“Everyone should. I don’t lie. If someone had bothered to ask me something relevant I would have told them the truth.”
They both took sips of their tea as they considered one another.
“So, what is relevant to your father’s kidnapping?”
“Like usual, he’s managed to piss off just about everybody he shouldn’t. He pissed off Dr. Williams so much that he sent him packing to Afghanistan.”
“Why?”
“Most people think polio has been eradicated worldwide. It hasn’t been. It’s still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
“Endemic?” Leo asked. “I’m pretty sure I know what the word means, but define it for me, just to make sure I’m clear.”
“It denotes an area where a disease is commonly found. It’s a tribute to the hard work of dedicated men and women that it’s been clamped down in almost every other country. This is where people are likely to have and spread it, while other places might get it from unsanitary water. Therefore Dr. Williams and his team were working to vaccinate the final couple of villages in Pakistan and then they were going to move to Afghanistan. They were running into the regular obstacles, but with the right kind of diplomacy, they could have worked through it. Of course, my father went behind people’s backs and stirred up the cleric elders. It was a mess.”
“The imams? What did he do?” Leo asked.
“He went to the kids’ schools and vaccinated them, totally against the wishes of their parents. It was unacceptable. But if you ask my father, he was doing the right thing. Dr. Williams
was working with the women in the village whose children had gotten sick with polio. His campaign was working, but oh no, my father just had to stomp all over their beliefs.”
Leo took another sip of his tea. “You sound very angry.”
“Only because I am. This is my father’s way of doing things. It would be one thing if it only put himself in danger, but it puts everyone around him in danger, too. Don’t get me wrong, I think what he’s doing is noble work, trying to make sure kids stay healthy, but he still could have gotten that done without putting himself and all the rest of the doctors’ and nurses’ lives in jeopardy. That’s what he does, he just forges ahead, damn the consequences.”
Leo gave her an intent look. “Did you and your family ever go with him? Did it put you in danger?”
Her next sip of the sweet tea almost made her gag; suddenly it was too sweet as her mind filled with memories. “Yes.”
“Yes to both questions?” he asked gently.
She nodded.
“That must have been hard for you growing up.”
“Not really. My mother divorced him when I was four years old. By the time I was six my mom had married Alistair Barret. For all intents and purposes, he’s my dad.”
Leo nodded.
Daisy might not ever lie, but she didn’t like the way Leo seemed to read between the lines of her story. Most people didn’t ask such pertinent questions. It made her uneasy.
Leo looked down at his phone for a moment, then back up at her “You have two brothers and a sister. Do they consider Ambassador Barret to be their father as well?”
Her Sensual Protector: A Navy SEAL Romance (Night Storm Book 5) Page 1
