“Yeah. Hang on.”
I heard the toilet flush. Then running water.
A couple minutes ticked by as I sat naked on the bed, waiting.
“Sorry.” She opened the door and stood fully dressed in its frame.
“Why’d you get dressed? I wasn’t done with you.”
Her bottom lip tucked between her teeth and her eyes darted to the floor.
I was on my feet. At the sight of her, concern gripped hold of me. I touched her chin and guided her face up toward mine. “What is it, Liv?”
“Do you believe in second chances?” she asked in a soft voice.
Was she a mind reader? “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“I mean—” She reached into her pocket.
I studied what she held in the palm of her hand, and I dropped to my knees. For the first time since my friend died in Iraq, emotion pushed through me, and I allowed it to escape.
Olivia was in front of me, and I crushed her against me. “We’re having a baby?” I choked out, reaching for the pregnancy test.
I stared down at the two stripes on the test and rubbed a hand over my face.
Her eyes welled with tears, and she nodded. “What do you think?” Her voice broke.
My thumb touched her cheeks, smoothing away the tears. “I think we’d better have a boy. Because I don’t know how I’ll ever handle a daughter of mine dating. If she looks anything like her mother . . .” I scrubbed a hand over my short beard.
She tilted her head back, and the sweetest sound filled my ears—her laughter. “I can see it now—the shotgun by the door.” She shook her head at me as her lips opened into a broad smile. “I think you’d make a daughter proud.”
Also by Brittney Sahin
*Connor Matthews guest stars in the upcoming romantic suspense, My Every Breath. Learn more.
More from the Hidden Truths series
Surviving the Fall – Jake Summers loses the last 12 years of his life in this action-packed romantic thriller.
The Final Goodbye - Ben Logan’s book (June 2018)
Stand-Alones
Someone Like You - A former Navy SEAL. A father. And off-limits.
The Story of Us - Fall in love in Rome with the sexy Italian soccer (“football”) player.
On the Edge - Travel to Dublin and get swept up in this romantic suspense starring an Irish businessman by day…and fighter by night.
My Every Breath - Cade King has fallen for the wrong woman. She’s the daughter of a hitman - and he’s the target. (May 2018)
*Get notified when books enter or exit KU by clicking here.
Continue for previews of Surviving the Fall and Someone Like You.
Surviving The Fall
Blurb-
Gone was the man Jake Summers had become; in his place, there were only questions . . .
After having been abducted from an FBI operation, Jake Summers wakes up the victim of an explosion in London a week later. He is perhaps the sole witness to the start of a massive terrorist plot, but his memory of the event—and of the last twelve years of his life—have been erased.
Jake’s not sure if he can be the man he once was to help the government stop another attack. But when MI6 agent Alexa Ryan shows up needing his help, Jake begins to recall some of his past. And some of those memories include her.
Alexa Ryan has been keeping secrets since the day she became an MI6 agent, and the life of a spy—no social life, no love life—is beginning to wear. When she’s ordered to share her true identity with the one man she didn’t think she’d ever see again—a man who doesn’t even remember her—she’s conflicted about how much to reveal about their past. For more than a year she has been struggling to take down a notorious cyber-terrorist group, whose leader seeks retribution against America and Britain. Alexa doesn’t have time to work a new operation involving Jake . . . even though everything inside of her begs to be near him.
When Alexa discovers a link between her cyber case and Jake’s disappearance, the two agents are drawn together to fight a common enemy. But will Jake reclaim his memories in time to stop the attack? And will Alexa be able to open her heart once more to the man she had thought was lost?
Extract from Surviving the Fall
The men were either horrible shots, or they had no intention of killing him.
The loud punch of gunfire echoed around Jake as he ran. His feet pounded the uneven concrete, the cold hard surface assaulting his heels as he tore through the empty building. Shots sprayed against the floor, nipping at his ankles.
The massive space was nearly empty—a ghost of a building that once housed dozens of men and women who’d churned out products at the assembly line. Scraps of paper littered the floor, sticking to his bloody feet as he tore through the large space. A rancid odor crept into his nostrils as he looked at the staircase that led to the second floor, open to the factory down below.
He tried not to limp as a shooting pain spiraled up through his left leg. Still, he staggered to the set of steel stairs, clenching tight the trigger in his hands. One slip of his thumb and it’d all be over. No overtime. No do-overs.
Upstairs now, Jake started down the hall. He focused on the corridor of rooms that spanned before him as his sight blurred. He blinked rapidly to clear the sweat and blood from his gaze.
The bullets had stopped, but any glimmer of hope that he’d escape fizzled fast when the thumping of two sets of boots barreled behind him down the hall. So far, every window had been boarded up.
Shit. He turned left and halted, taking two steps back to the entrance of an open doorway. He released a pent-up breath as he spotted a large, expansive open window—a piece of plywood lying in front of it. He’d almost missed it.
Thank God. The open window, with its glimpse of dusky blue sky, was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
He hurried into the room and braced one hand against the wall. The cool, biting air slapped him in the face, and he narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look outside. His heart pumped hard in his chest as his insides shook.
He swiped away the blood and sweat from his eyes, ignoring the burning pain, and focused on the rooftop of a neighboring building maybe fifteen or twenty feet below. The jump wouldn’t be too bad. Not deadly, at least.
He lowered his hands, the trigger still grasped tight, and spun around as he heard the two men draw near. They stood before him, staring at him with the same brownish-black eyes that had become so familiar. Green bandannas were tied around their faces beneath their eyes and draped down in a pointed V to their chins.
One of the men moved in front of the other and entered the room with slow and cautious steps. He stopped a few feet shy of Jake and pushed a breath through his lips; the bandanna puffed lightly out in front of him. The man’s eyes, void of emotion, darted down Jake’s chest as he lowered the gun to his side.
Jake glanced down at the timer on his black vest. The red numbers glowed on the stopwatch strapped over his heart, which was wedged between small packaged blocks of what Jake assumed was C4. Wires sprang out of the red blocks and wrapped around to the back of the vest.
Jake cocked his head and slanted his eyes. “You guys have less than sixty seconds to get the hell out of here. You might want to run unless you’ve got a death wish.” He panted a little and swallowed.
When they didn’t move, Jake raised the trigger out in front of him. He could set it off now if he wanted to, but the men weren’t afraid. They could see it in Jake’s eyes—his desire to live, to see another day. To tell his mother he loved her because he worried he didn’t tell her enough. To remind his sister Emily how proud he was of her. And to tell his dad—well, his dad was a man of few words and wouldn’t need to hear how he felt. But he’d been the rock of the family. Someone he could always count on.
“You Americans think you’re so smart.” The guy closest to him took a step back. “You think you’re so much better than the rest of the world.” His accented voice pushed through th
e dusty air, and Jake tried not to look at the stopwatch. He had to stay strong.
“We don’t think we’re better or smarter than everyone, but we’re for damn sure stronger and smarter than you assholes.”
The man’s gaze flickered back to the vest for a moment, then he and the other guy turned and disappeared.
Jake now had twenty seconds to get out of the mess he was in.
He worked fast at the vest, attempting to remove it while also keeping his hand on the trigger. If his thumb lifted from the button, he’d be painting the walls with his blood.
He’d trained for moments like this. Although he knew how to deactivate a bomb, there was no use trying with only seconds left. This wasn’t some blockbuster movie, and as much he and his pals always joked he wasn’t an action hero. The death attempting to claim his soul was all too real. And he wasn’t ready to learn whether it would suck him down to the netherworld of hell or the soft grace of heaven.
The vest finally slipped off, and he cleared the room in two galloping strides to chuck it down into the factory. His veins pulsed in his neck, squeezing tight until he could hardly gather oxygen into his lungs as he sprinted back. Still holding the trigger, he climbed into the window and squatted.
He didn’t know how large the blast would be—perhaps not too bad, based on the amount of explosive material on the vest.
This is shit, Jake thought as he sucked in a breath and leaped out the window. A hot blast of flames fanned out behind him, propelling him forward.
Surviving the Fall
Someone Like You - Now Live!
He was a nameless guy in a bar—a man Grace couldn’t get out of her head…
A week later, she came home to find him sweaty and shirtless with a tape measure in hand, remodeling her loft. As a Parker-King, she’s not allowed to want someone like Noah Dalton. She’s sick of her life, though. Sick of the rules of being a Parker-King. She wants something more, even if it isn’t forever. Somewhere in history there was that one time where hot, no-strings-attached sex didn’t end badly, right? Finding comfort in the arms of a former SEAL is easy, not falling for one . . . not so much.
Noah left the military and moved to New York for one reason: his daughter. Not for some uptight businesswoman—a Manhattan elitist. So when Grace offers him the kind of relationship that no hot-blooded man can turn down, he should say no. And when her seemingly put-together life spins out of control, and his instincts to protect and save kick in, he should turn away. But he doesn’t.
Can two people from different worlds really live in the moment, knowing they’re on borrowed time, or is someone bound to get hurt?
Prologue~
Noah
Why the hell isn’t she answering?
“Yo, we’re ready to roll out at zero one. We’re meeting up in ten to go over the mission once more. You good?” Wyatt’s in the doorway, casually leaning inside the frame with crossed arms.
“Yeah, sure,” I mumble.
His forehead creases as he straightens his stance and drops his arms. He knows something’s up with me. We’re a team, one unit; we can read each other.
But is something wrong with me?
I’ve had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach for weeks, and it’s not about the mission. I never get nervous on ops. I live for them. We were trained at BUD/S to remove fear from the equation, so I know going into Iran in a couple of hours isn’t what has me rattled.
“I’ll meet up with y’all in five. Just trying to see Cindy and Lily before we leave.” I turn back to the laptop screen and end the unanswered Skype call once again, killing the annoying beeping sound before I try one last time.
“All right.”
I lean back in the chair and narrow my eyes when the call finally connects, and my daughter’s face fills the screen. Lily’s long blond hair is draped in front of her shoulders, and her huge emerald-green eyes trap me, giving me a serious ache in my chest. It’s been months since I’ve been home. She’s almost five, and I’ve been away from her more than I’ve been with her. She’s the reason I’m not sure if I’ll re-enlist when the time comes in four months.
But she’s also why I do what I do—to protect her, to try to make the world a little better for when she grows up.
“Hi, baby girl. I miss you.” My index finger goes to the laptop screen as if I can actually touch her tiny palm as she waves, her dimples popping as she smiles.
“Hiya, Daddy. I miss you too. Mommy is packing. She says we’re going to see the Big Apple.”
I lean in closer. “Where’s Mamma? Can you put Mamma on, baby girl?”
“Okay, Daddy. Love you.”
“Love you more.” I kiss two fingers and press them to the screen, and Lily does the same. It’s our ritual goodbye.
A moment later, Cindy is on camera, and I’ve lost sight of Lily. Now I’m certain as to why I’ve been hanging on the damn edge.
My wife.
She’s been off for a while, but I haven’t wanted to admit it. With the way her brows pinch together and her lips draw tight, I can tell she’s holding something back from me, something I don’t want to hear.
I catch a glimpse of my mother’s old record player off to the right behind her. It’s closed and probably collecting dust. When we first got married I would play my mother’s jazz music and dance around the living room, trying to get Cindy to move with me. She always hated that record player. She’d shirk away and raise her palms, insisting I was crazy for wanting to dance in the middle of the day just because it was a rainy afternoon.
Not once did she dance with me.
My gaze snaps back to Cindy as she wets her glossy pink lips and brushes her dyed blond hair to her back. Her green eyes aren’t on mine. She looks past me as if someone is standing behind my chair. I almost peek over my shoulder just to be sure I’m alone.
“Where are you going? What’s Lily talking about? Another trip to your mom’s?” My body tenses as an unnatural pull of stress ropes me in, and I grind my knuckles against my thigh. “Cindy?”
She finally looks at me.
I almost regret it, because the look in her eyes…well, it’s as if she’s a ghost.
“Noah.”
My name used to sound good when she said it, but now it’s as though the word has become an inconvenience, my existence a nuisance.
“I don’t have much time,” I say as anticipation cuts me open. Give me a terrorist to face any day, but a pissed off wife…not so much.
“When are you coming home?” She knows the answer to that because I can never give her definitive dates.
“I don’t know. Maybe sooner than I thought.” I didn’t think the raid in Iran would happen this month, so I’ll probably get back to Virginia in a matter of weeks.
“Well, I’m going away for a little while…so, uh, we won’t be here when you get back.”
I blink like a damn fool as I try to make sense of that.
“What do you mean?” I stand, needing to be on my feet for this conversation. I brace against the desk, palms down, a grimace spreading across my face.
“We’re leaving. I’ve already had a lawyer draw up the paperwork. The law requires us to be separated for a year before we can get a divorce, but because of your unique situation, they’re allowing me to take Lily out of state. If you want to contest it, you can, but please don’t.” Her voice doesn’t even quaver. There’s not an ounce of remorse or fear, no emotion at all. Just…hollowness. An empty vessel of what used to be there.
My wife is gone. When did that happen?
I grit my teeth and stare at her, assessing the situation, trying to figure out how to get through this as if she’s an op and I want to minimalize the collateral damage.
She won’t look at me again. “I wanted to tell you when you came home, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to face you in person. I just want what’s best for Lily.”
“What’s best for Lily?” My heart thrashes as I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself the h
ell down.
As a SEAL, I’m trained for the unknown. I can turn any object into a weapon—if I remain calm, that is. If I keep my shit together.
But let me tell you what I’m not trained in—keeping my wife happy while I put my life on the line every day. And no, I never got instructions on how to deal with the intense blow she’s delivered.
“You’re not taking Lily anywhere.” I bow my head, knowing I’m on the other side of the world and can’t do a damn thing about it. Hell, I’m about to go into dangerous enemy territory and might not even make it out alive.
My skin crawls, and my body slightly trembles. I’ve never once, in all my goddamn years as a SEAL, thought about the possibility of not coming home. You can’t think like that because it puts your men at risk and takes your eyes off the end game, the goal.
What is Cindy doing to me?
I pinch the tight skin at my throat and close my eyes. I have to keep my shit together for my men, for the mission. “Please, can we talk about this when I get back? I’ll be able to call you in a few days. Don’t go anywhere or do anything before then. Give me your word. We’ve been together for thirteen years. You can’t just drop this on me right before I’m about to go—”
“I’m sorry to do this to you, but this is your fault.” She actually looks annoyed instead of sad. A scowl mars the pretty features of her face. “You were only going to be in the military for four years. This wasn’t supposed to turn into your life. I-I can’t handle this anymore.”
“Are you asking me to choose? Are you at least giving me an option?” My eyes flicker open at the possibility that I might be able to save my marriage. I just need to give up being a SEAL.
You know, give up breathing…
The Hidden Truths Series Box Set Page 73
