Protecting His Pregnant Lover (Southern Soldiers of Fortune Book 1)

by Leslie North

  Her eyes prickled and tears welled, blurring her vision. Damn it. She wanted to cry, especially now. Pregnancy seemed to amplify all her emotions anyway, but this... this was something different. “Levon...”

  She wanted to tell him he wasn’t stupid. The dumbest things she had heard from him were the doubts he continued to express about his own intelligence. But before she could get that far, she noticed something awful out the front windshield. Something that took her breath away.

  She wasn’t sure she would ever be able to breathe again.

  “That’s Franklin.” Her voice broke on her favorite student’s name as the lanky youth exited the door of one of the supposedly vacant storefronts... flanked by some really rough-looking individuals. “What’s he doing with Colin Wilson?”

  “Colin Wilson?” Levon pulled out his phone to scroll through an email from his team, but Olive already knew what he would find. After their meeting with Principal James, she’d been given a list of names from the local PD, local youth confirmed as suspects running with the gang. She’d memorized them all.

  “Wilson’s with the Reapers.” Levon said, frowning down at his phone, then up at the group now striding across the arcade. “And it looks like your buddy Franklin’s wearing their colors. Olive, this isn’t good.”

  “I should go talk to him. I—once he’s alone—”

  “No.” Levon reached across her to block her hand when she reached for the car door handle. “You are not leaving this vehicle, Olive.”

  “This has to be a mistake; Franklin wouldn’t—”

  Then as if summoned by her protests, Franklin’s gaze moved across the parking lot and fell directly on her. He froze. Olive froze. Levon cursed when he noticed the exchange.

  “We’re leaving.” Levon tossed his half-full cup of coffee out the window and started the engine. As he backed out of their space, Levon asked, “Anyone else notice us?”

  But Olive couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything except stare at Franklin Monroe and Colin Wilson, both of whom were now staring directly back at her.

  10

  Olive was in danger. Levon could tell himself a million times over that his intrepid high school crush, and mother of his child, would have been in the Reapers’ crosshairs regardless of whether he was here or not—but that still didn’t change the fact that it was his fault she’d been on their stakeout last weekend. Stupid move, bro. Profoundly stupid.

  Levon vowed to do better as he worked on the plumbing at the high school that Wednesday. He had to do better. There was no other option.

  As he jammed the plunger harder than necessary into the porcelain basin, trying to dislodge whatever object shouldn’t have been in there in the first place, he tried to take some consolation in the fact that at least his infiltration into the school’s maintenance team had gone off without a hitch. They’d even given him a medieval-looking ring of keys that jangled on his belt with each hard thrust of the plunger. Those keys unlocked every door on campus, including Olive’s classroom. Plus, being here gave him a credible excuse to check in on Olive during the day.

  Just not this day. These high school kids were keeping him busy, and the toilets weren’t going to unclog themselves of... what was that? A loud sucking noise filled the stall, followed by the wet plop of something on the floor. Nose scrunched, he reached down with a gloved hand to pick it up. It appeared to be a water-logged wad of paper. Setting the plunger aside, he carefully peeled the soggy paper open to reveal what looked like the answer key to a quiz. Of course.

  “Brats,” he muttered under his breath. Not that he hadn’t tried the same thing himself back in the day. Tests were the worst for him in high school. All that pressure, all those questions swimming around before his eyes. Add in the time constraints and they were a disaster waiting to happen. It didn’t matter that he knew the material. Not when he had horrible test-taking anxiety. So yeah, he’d cheated a few times, because what else was he going to do? Back then, people didn’t recognize dyslexia as a real learning disability like they did now. They didn’t cut him any slack or give him any special accommodations because of it. They just made him sit there like everyone else while the time ticked by. He’d felt like a dead man walking those days, even with Olive’s help. If it hadn’t been for the resourcefulness of his friends in stealing the answers and his own creativity in making up extra credit points, he’d probably still be sitting in one of the classrooms, trying to find a way to pass.

  He tried the handle on the toilet, but the damned thing was still clogged. Picking up the plunger, he went back to work, giving his upper body a good workout. Finally, a second squelching noise was followed by a second wad—this time, it was paper towels, wrapped around an object of some kind. Upon inspection, he found something much more promising inside—a SIM card.

  Bingo.

  After cleaning up the stall and making sure the toilet flushed properly now, Levon exited the bathroom, the SIM card wrapped in a fresh paper towel and tucked in his pocket. Once he’d washed up and dropped off the plunger back in the supply closet, he took a break and headed out to find a deserted computer lab where he could upload the data from the SIM card for the guys back in Arlington. He dialed the home office while he searched the building. Thankfully, it was around lunch time, so there weren’t a lot of people around to overhear him in this corridor.

  His teammate Noah Wild answered on the second ring. “Hey, Asher. What’s up?”

  “Hey, I just found a SIM card someone tried to flush, and I need you guys to find out what’s on it.” He stopped at the end of an empty hall and peered through the glass window set in the wooden doors. Success—the room was unoccupied, computers ready and waiting. The door was locked, but soon the keys on his ring had him inside and sitting behind the desk. He left the lights off to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself, and booted up a computer. “I’ve just located a terminal and will send the data momentarily.”

  “Good job,” Noah said. “I’ll have Clint go over it since he’s still chomping at the bit around here.”

  Levon snorted. Clint Buckman was an excellent sailor and teammate who’d hit a rough patch personally and was currently sidelined from active duties until things got worked out. Levon could understand the guy’s pain. Sometimes he thought if he didn’t have the job with SSoF, he might lose his mind. He needed an outlet for all the skills he’d mastered as a SEAL and the other guys felt the same. “Cool. I need them ASAP, so whenever he’s done, make sure he sends me the results.”

  “Did something else happen?” Noah asked, his tone tightening with tension. They were co-workers, but the guys were also a band of brothers, forged from shared pasts in the military and shared danger in the cases they worked. Even though he was new to the team, Levon trusted them to have his back and protect his life if necessary, and he was sure the other guys felt the same about him. He told Noah about what had happened at the mall a few days prior and how Wilson had spotted Olive.

  “Shit,” Noah said when he’d finished. “Yeah, that’s not good. Don’t worry, we’re on it. I’ll have Clint call you as soon as he’s got the data read.”

  “Thanks, man.” Levon uploaded the SIM card’s contents to the SSoF server, then pocketed the thing again before erasing his history off the computer and shutting it down. It wouldn’t eliminate his data completely, but then no one would really be looking for anything suspicious on a desktop in… He glanced around at the sentence diagrams and Shakespeare quotes on the walls. The English Department. Ugh. He suppressed a shudder as he pushed to his feet and checked the hallway through the window in the door to make sure it was still empty before he exited.

  Yeah. Sometimes he still got nightmares about being trapped in English class and being forced to read aloud some sonnet or something else equally convoluted and perplexing in front of the class.

  He went back to work, this time changing fluorescent bulbs in the gym with a couple other guys from maintenance. It kept him busy and he lik
ed working with his hands. Before he knew it, the day was over and it was time to go. He checked his phone, but no message yet from Clint. After washing up again, Levon headed out to his truck in the faculty parking lot behind the school. Olive was already there, waiting for him. As she piled into the cab, he couldn’t help noticing her troubled expression and her silence. He started the car and pulled out of the lot, heading for his rental home. “Looks painful.”

  “What does?” Olive frowned over at him, her hand settling on her stomach and her tone distant. His heart flipped a little. Did he do something to upset her? If he had, he wasn’t sure what exactly, since they hadn’t seen each other since this morning.

  He looked away from her and concentrated on the road ahead. “Whatever’s got you so preoccupied.”

  She sighed and sank further back into her seat. “Franklin didn’t come to class today. I’m so worried about him, Levon.”

  “I know.” That piece of news wasn’t good. And honestly, Levon was worried about the kid too. But there wasn’t anything he could do until he had more information, like what was on that SIM card. Besides, it could be nothing. High schoolers skipped class; it was a thing that had been known to happen. “And I have an idea.”

  “You do?” Olive perked up at this. “What?”

  “Well…” He drew out his answer until they’d pulled up in his driveway and were on the porch, his key in the lock. “I think you need to relax.”

  Her shoulders slumped slightly as he stepped aside to let her in the house after he’d flipped on the lights and scanned the interior. “I do, but that seems next to impossible right now, I’m afraid. Too much on my mind.”

  “Then allow me to help,” he said, locking the door behind them and holding up a finger for her to wait while he went down the hall to draw her a bath, being careful not to make it too hot. By the time he returned and led her to see his handiwork, she was smiling.

  “God, Levon, this actually looks amazing.” Olive breathed in the aromatic scent of roses he had stirred into the water for her. “It’s been so long since I had a nice long soak in the tub.”

  “Good for the baby, too,” he mentioned. Olive looked surprised, and he replied simply: “I read about it online. Anything that helps the mother relieve anxiety and relax is good for her cargo. And don’t worry, I checked the temp so it’s not too warm.”

  “Thank you.” Olive’s hand drifted to her stomach again, and his heart ached at the sweetness of her expression. Blood pounded in his ears and his fingertips itched to hold her and stroke her and pleasure her, but this time belonged to Olive. Olive and their baby. He started out of the room, stopping at the door to turn back to her, “I’ll leave you to it, then. Enjoy.”

  He exited then, before the sight of Olive, naked in the tub, broke his brain.

  11

  She stayed in the bath way longer than she intended. It was just too good, and as curls of her hair drifted in the water around her, her thoughts also drifted. For once, she found she was able to put everything that worried her out of her mind.

  Everything save one thing. Or rather, one person.

  Olive brushed an idle hand across the swell of her stomach, once, lovingly; she then sighed, reached out to yank the drain, and rose. She was still robed, and towel-drying her sweet-smelling hair when she rejoined reality in the kitchen. When he saw her, Levon started, which made Olive startle in response.

  “Levon? Are you... what is that?”

  “Nothing.” He made a vain attempt to hide the assembly kit laid out in front of him, but even at seven months pregnant, Olive was quick—especially when something sparked her curiosity. She whisked away the booklet of instructions before he could conceal them from her. “You’re building something!” she exclaimed. “More than that, you’re... wow, are you putting together something electrical?”

  “You’ve just uncovered my nerdiest secret.” Levon sounded immensely dispirited by her discovery. Olive had been preparing herself to laugh along with him, but when she saw his tight, downcast expression, she realized this was no laughing matter.

  She pulled up the chair beside his and sat down, still gripping the project instructions, but her sole focus was on Levon. “This is the coolest! Do you work from kits like this often?”

  “... yeah.” Levon scratched the back of his head. “I mean, I like having them around to work on when I’m thinking. Working with my hands helps me problem-solve.”

  “That’s awesome. And it sounds almost meditative.” Olive adjusted her glasses. “Which step are you on?”

  Levon pointed at a page in the booklet she was holding. Olive smiled. “Mind if I help?”

  “I’d love it if you did.”

  His ready answer surprised her, but she kept a carefully neutral expression, same as him, as he passed her a step-by-step visual figure sheet. “Okay, so; you’re on figure four...?”

  Time passed as they worked together, and the more she watched his sure, precise movements while constructing their object, the more her curiosity rose. As usual, she couldn’t stop herself from asking questions. “So, where did you first learn to do these kinds of projects?”

  They’d talked about a lot of things back in high school when she’d been his tutor, but never anything like this.

  Levon glanced up at her, blinked, then frowned down at his hands again. “When I was nine. At rocket-science camp.”

  At first, Olive thought she must have misheard him. He’d said the last part so quietly, she would have missed it entirely if she hadn’t been paying attention. “I’m sorry? You went to rocket-science camp?”

  He winced slightly, putting down the small screwdriver he’d been using and picking up what looked like a fancy pair of tweezers. “Yes. For about a day. Then I accidentally almost blew the place up, so they sent me home.”

  “Oh.” Now it was her turn to blink at him. The memories must have been painful for him, because even now he looked like someone had just kicked his puppy. She bit her lip, thinking through how to proceed. Whenever she talked with one of her students who was having a problem, the best way she’d found to help them was to let them talk it out, without judgment or interference. So she kept silent. Eventually, Levon continued.

  “I should’ve known the first day I showed up there that it was a mistake, but when we’d gotten the brochure at my house, I thought it was just shooting stuff up into the air all day and how cool would that be, right?” He gave a sad little chuckle. “Then the teacher who was in charge stood there going over his list, turning his nose up at me, asking me if I was in the right place or not. Asshole.”

  That was pretty much Olive’s take on it too, but she didn’t say it. She’d never make one of her students feel unwanted like that. Horrible.

  “But the minute I was sitting in that classroom listening to the guy drone on and on about chemical reactions and equations and stuff, I knew he was right. Then when I saw all those bottles of chemicals and the labels kept moving around on me when I looked at them…” He cringed and shuddered, and Olive wanted nothing more than to take him in her arms and comfort every part of him, from the misunderstood boy he’d been to the wonderful man he’d turned out to be despite his setbacks. She sat on her hands to keep from reaching for him. He needed to get this out and she needed to listen. “Anyway,” he said, picking up the tiny screwdriver again to affix the final part of their object in place. “After all the endless lectures, the teacher took us out to the football field to launch our experiments. I thought I was doing it right, but some of the stuff in my bottle spilled and the grass started sizzling. Before I knew it, the teacher came running over and took my experiment away and told me to leave. Said I could’ve killed everyone at the camp because of my mistake.” He shrugged and looked away from her, but not before she’d glimpsed the sadness in his eyes. “I left, but I was too embarrassed to go home, so I took a walk. On my way, I passed a hobby store and went inside to look around. I still had the lunch money my mom had given me in my pocket. Despit
e what that teacher said, I’d always loved puzzles and putting things together, so I bought a small motor kit and instead of going home, I went to the park and put it together.” Levon’s smile finally returned, like the sun breaking through the clouds, and Olive was dazzled. “From then on, I was hooked. I’d spend nights and weekends putting together new kits, everything from lamps to model cars. It’s become my guilty pleasure.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Olive said, grinning along with him. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

  “Thanks for listening,” he said. “And for not laughing at me.”

  “I’d never laugh at you,” she whispered, the moment drawing out between them, sparkling with possibilities. “I…”

  She’d almost said she loved him, but that was silly. She didn’t love Levon Asher.

  Do I?

  He broke eye contact first, frowning down at the model in his hands and giving it a few more tweaks before screwing a small light bulb into place at its center. “There. Done!”

  Olive looked down at the completed night light in his hands, then back at Levon. Honestly, she hadn’t helped him at all with the project, but she felt much closer to him just the same. “Can we try plugging it in?”

  “Follow me.” Levon led the way into the bedroom, and plugged it in while Olive switched off the lights. The room was instantly bathed in a soft blue glow. Olive gasped and turned, admiring the cosmic shapes thrown across the walls. She was gazing upon an imaginary star system, but she also couldn’t shake the sensation that she was underwater—deep, deep underwater, swimming in a secret grotto that no one before her had ever laid eyes on.

  “It’s beautiful.” Her breath hitched, and tears threatened once more. This time she scrubbed them away with the sleeve of her robe. It was just a nightlight. That was all...

  “For you and the baby,” Levon’s low voice rumbled near her ear. Olive hadn’t realized he’d moved in behind her until his arms encircled her waist. He held her that way, her back to his front, and she felt helpless to do anything but fall back against him and surrender into his embrace. His hands fell to her stomach and the baby inside her twirled and tumbled, seemingly as thrilled as Olive was at the presence of its father.