Love of a Marine (The Wounded Warriors Series Book 2)

by Patty Campbell

  “Jamal.”

  “Yeah, him. He’s on a terrorist watch list. They’ve been hoping he’d lead them to one of the big boys. So far, no dice.”

  Cluny socked a fist into his open hand. “I wanted to kill him for the way he was knocking Graciella around. What if he shows up again? What if she and Santos were alone in the apartment? How are they going to protect her?” Was he the only one worried more about protecting them than nailing some bozo on a watch list?

  “What about her and the boy staying at your place for a while? You’ve got plenty of room.”

  He shook his head. “I doubt she’d go for it. She has a business to run. Except for a small pension from the Navy, it’s her only source of income. Anyway, we’re just getting comfortable together. Having them under my roof twenty-four-seven could put the stink eye on our connection. I don’t want that. I love her. I want to marry her, but it’s too soon to ask for that commitment.”

  “I suspected you’d seriously fallen for her. How do you think she feels?”

  “She’s cautious. Her first priority is Santos. I’m pretty sure she wants to see where our relationship could go, but she’s wary of getting in too deep at this point. I don’t blame her. She’s done a good job managing life on her own since Marv was killed.”

  Yes, Cluny loved her. He’d never been surer of anything in his life, but was it fair of him to bring all his shit to her doorstep? He didn’t want her to commit out of pity. Perhaps he should back off, let things cool down.

  The watch commander entered the room and walked through the open cell door. “You’re free to go, McPherson. The FBI asks you to return to Mrs. Jefferson’s apartment and sit down with them.”

  “What for?”

  “I’m not in the loop, my friend. I’m purely on a need-to-know basis with the feds. My guess is they want your cooperation to make sure you don’t throw a monkey wrench in the works and blow their investigation.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass what the feds want. All I care about is safety for her and her boy.”

  The commander put his hand on Cluny’s shoulder. “Piece of advice? Sit down with the feds and listen if you’re really concerned and not just wanting to be a macho cowboy.”

  Dwayne laughed. “Officer, that’s tough, because we are Wyoming cowboys and retired Marines to boot. I’ll try to keep him reined in.” He gave Cluny a light smack on the back. “Come on, Macfearsome. I’ll drop you at her place and then get on home. I left Marla alone with a tent full of kids in the backyard. They’ll be waking up hungry any time now, and I’m in charge of breakfast.”

  Cluny pulled off the jail shirt and tossed it on the bunk. “Where’s my stuff?”

  “Follow me. It’s up front. All you have to do is sign for it and you’re on your way.”

  * * *

  Graciella’s apartment, early Thursday morning

  Graciella rushed into Cluny’s arms the second he walked through her door. “Querido, I’m so happy to see you. Thank God you’re safe.” His embrace warmed and comforted her in the deepest places of her body and soul. She clung to her man, reluctant to let go, even for a moment. “I love you, Cluny.”

  He held her away so he could look directly into her eyes. “Baby, that makes me so happy. I wasn’t sure you felt the same as me.” He hugged her hard and kissed the top of her head. Queen leaned against his leg.

  She stepped away from Cluny when he bent down to pet and talk to Queen then preceded him to the living room where two men in suits, who looked the part of FBI agents, introduced themselves.

  “Amor, I’m going to make breakfast for you while you talk to these men.” She went the short distance to the kitchen and returned with a steaming cup of coffee for him.

  “Thank you, sweetheart.” He gestured to the two men. “I need to get my shirt and shoes on, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me?”

  “Sure, go right ahead, sir.”

  She stared at his back when he walked down the hall to her bedroom, not willing to take her eyes off him for a second. Would the road ahead be an easy one for them? Deep in her heart she wanted to try to work things out and develop a long-term relationship with this special man. He was worth it. Removing pans from the cupboard and eggs from the refrigerator, she set about cooking breakfast for the man she loved.

  Once the food was ready, she carried the plate and silverware to him. One of the agents eyed the three eggs, sausage, and toast as she set it in front of Cluny. She’d interrupted the conversation, but from what she’d heard, they were repeating what they’d talked about with her while waiting for him to return from police custody. “May I get you gentlemen anything?”

  “No, ma’am. We’re just about to leave. I reiterated to Mr. McPherson that we had instructed you to avoid contact with Krystal Jefferson and her parents during this phase of the investigation. They’ve received the same instructions, and our office in New York has been in touch with Ms. Jefferson. For her safety, she’ll be under close watch.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. She’s made some foolish choices, but I’d hate it if anything happened to her. Her parents have already lost their only other child, my late husband.”

  The two men got to their feet, gathered their briefcases, and prepared to leave. “We’ll show ourselves out. Don’t get up, Mr. McPherson. Enjoy your breakfast. We hope this will all be over soon.”

  Graciella followed them to the door and shot the deadbolt. She was relieved to have them out of her apartment.

  “Cluny, Queen hasn’t been out of here since they took you.”

  “That’s OK, baby. I’ll take her out soon as I finish. Sit down. I need to ask you something.”

  Curious, and not a little unsettled, she sat across from him. “Take your time. I’ll make more if you’re still hungry. It’s been quite a night.”

  Her heart tripped when he winked. “In more ways than one.” She leaned back against the couch cushion and watched him devour the last of the sausage and eggs. Finally, he set the plate on the coffee table and leaned forward with his forearms on his knees. He had something on his mind and she could see he struggled with how to voice it. Maybe he was going to suggest they take a break from each other. That would probably be the wise thing to do, but something she did not want.

  “Baby?” He gazed into her eyes. “Gunny made a suggestion when he came to spring me this morning. At first I thought you wouldn’t go for it, but there’s no way to know unless I ask you outright. So here goes.” He twisted his hands as they dangled between his legs. “Would you consider moving yourself and Santos into my house in Spring Grove until this crap blows over? I know you have your business and all, but I’m not convinced the police can protect you. Take your time to think about it, you don’t have to answer right now.”

  Flooded with happiness over his concern for her and her son, she went to him and sat on his lap. Laying her head on his shoulder, she said, “I can’t sleep in your bedroom, amor. It wouldn’t be proper.”

  “Does that mean you’ll come?”

  “Yes, I have to think of my son’s safety.” She would take Marla’s advice and stop borrowing trouble. She wanted to be with Cluny and didn’t feel she and Santos were secure in this apartment anymore.

  He squeezed her hard. “What a relief. You can have the guest bedroom, and I’ve got an air mattress we can put on the floor in one of the other empty rooms for Santos. Bring as much of your things as you want. I’ll bring the van if you need more than you can carry in our cars.”

  “That wouldn’t be a good idea. The name of your company is on it. Let’s go get Santos and you can come back here and help us pack up what we’ll need.” She looked at her watch. “Oh, no, I just remembered you were supposed to open your business about now.”

  “I called Chief. He’ll handle it today.”

  “Does that mean you don’t have to be someplace else for the next couple of hours?” She brushed her lips on his ear.

  “I know where I’d like to be, baby.” He laid a sizzlin
g kiss on her lips.

  “You read my mind.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Same afternoon

  On the way to Dwayne and Marla’s, Cluny thought about what a lucky man he was to have this remarkable woman sitting beside him, the woman who’d made love with abandon, and who was presently caressing his leg.

  Graciella broke the silence. “What do you think we should tell Santos, querido?”

  “Tell him about what?”

  “Why we’re going to stay at your house for a while.”

  “The truth might be a good place to start.”

  She sniffed and removed her hand from his leg. “Says the wise father of many children.”

  Oh boy. Tread lightly, McPherson. “Sorry, you asked my opinion.”

  She put her hand back on his leg, squeezed, and sighed. “I’m more unraveled than I thought. I didn’t mean to sound witchy.”

  He covered her hand. “Like you said, baby, it was quite a night.”

  She leaned across and kissed his cheek. “Yes, one I’ll never forget for many reasons. I love you, Cluny. I don’t know how this arrangement will go, but please have patience with me.”

  Queen whined from behind them.

  Graciella laughed. “You too, Queenie. We’ll be encroaching on your territory.”

  “Don’t worry about her. She loves attention, especially from Santos. She might get the idea she’s a pet and forget what her real job is.”

  Graciella sat back. “We’re almost there. I’ll just answer his questions as honestly as possible.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Dwayne’s house was quiet. Nobody answered when Cluny knocked on the door. “Looks like nobody’s home. Let’s go around the house to the backyard to make sure.” He opened the gate and knocked again, then took his keys from his pocket and found the one to his buddy’s back door and opened it.

  “Anybody home?” he called as they went inside.

  “Where do you suppose they could be?”

  He pointed to the table. “There’s a note.” He read it and handed it to Graciella. “They went to the grocery store.” He turned on the light over the sink and opened the refrigerator.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for orange juice.” He reached in and pulled out a half-gallon jug and set it on the sink. “Want some?”

  “Cluny, this isn’t your house. Should you be helping yourself?”

  He was surprised by her reaction. “Dempsey and I are like brothers. He wouldn’t think anything of it.”

  “But it’s Marla’s house too. I’m not comfortable coming in here and making myself at home when they’re not here.”

  “Marla knows how it is with me and Gunny. As long as I don’t leave a mess for her to clean up, she’s cool.”

  “I don’t know, Cluny…it…” The sound of the garage door interrupted her.

  “They’re home. I’ll put it back if it makes you feel better. Then I’ll ask Marla’s permission.” He regretted the sharp edge to his comment.

  She sniffed. “You don’t have to sound so grumpy about it.”

  Marla walked in carrying a couple of bags of groceries. Santos and Amber followed, carrying loaded plastic sacks. “Hi, Graciella, Cluny, when did you get here?”

  “Just now, gorgeous.” Cluny kissed her on the mouth. “Let me help with that stuff.” He took Marla’s bags and set them on the kitchen counter. “I was on the receiving end of a lecture from Mrs. Jefferson about making myself too comfortable in your house when you’re not here.”

  Marla gave Graciella a hug. “It’s so nice to meet someone with manners. But, don’t worry about Cluny. The way I look at it, he’s just another one of my kids. I’m about to make tuna sandwiches for lunch. Have you eaten?”

  “Hi, Mama.” Santos hugged her. “I had so much fun last night at the campout. Were you lonesome without me?”

  She took a breath. “Um, no, Cluny stayed at our apartment with me.” Wincing, she glanced at Marla and Cluny. He put a reassuring smile on his lips and nodded.

  Santos nodded and smiled at her. “That’s nice. Come on, Amber; let’s let DD out of her carrier. She loves to play with Queen.”

  The kids ran from the room, and Graciella crossed her arms and slumped down on one of the kitchen chairs. “I don’t know what I was agonizing over.” She glared at Cluny. “Don’t laugh if you know what’s good for you.”

  He laughed anyway. “Oh, I know what’s good for me, baby, but I’ll try to behave.” He turned to Marla. “Where’s Gunny?”

  “He’s looking at the engine. He thought he heard something funny and wanted to check it out. Would you bring Declan in? I left him sleeping in his car seat.”

  “I’m on it.”

  * * *

  Graciella joined Marla at the counter and helped unload the groceries.

  “My word, Graciella, Dwayne told me what happened last night. Are you OK?”

  “It was frightening. I thought Cluny was going to kill Krystal’s boyfriend. If the police hadn’t been there so quick, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “I know what you mean. There’s no doubt in my mind Dwayne would beat the living daylights out of anyone who harmed me or our kids. Cluny and Dwayne are warfighters, natural-born protectors and defenders. It’s in the DNA. I don’t know if it’s possible to turn it off just because they’re not active duty Marines any longer. Fortunately Dwayne does a good job keeping it under control.”

  Graciella opened her mouth to say something and stopped abruptly when Cluny returned with the sleeping infant in his carrier. He held a finger to his lips, but the silence was shattered when Santos and Amber ran shrieking past them with DD on their heels barking her little head off. She skidded to a stop in front of Queen, paws on the floor, her furry butt in the air, and barked in the face of the much larger dog. Queen stood, shook herself with ennui, and followed them out the door.

  “Look at that,” Graciella said. “Declan slept through the whole thing.”

  Cluny grinned at the sleeping infant. His tenderness to the baby was in sharp contrast to his fierceness with Jamal. “I’ll put him in his crib. By the way, that’s some watchdog you’ve got there. She didn’t make a peep when Graciella and I came in.” He took the baby and left them alone.

  “Marla, you said something to me at the party, about Cluny and the baby, but never finished your thought.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Dwayne said when Amber was an infant he discovered she had a very soothing influence on Cluny whenever he held her. If he became agitated or restless, Dwayne would ask him to care for her, and it calmed him right down. I’m just speculating, but because he’s an orphan I suspect he has a very special place in his heart for children.”

  Graciella thought about this. “He is very good with kids. That’s one of the first things I liked about him, the way he is with Santos. I do wonder what he must have gone through in those foster homes after his parents died.”

  “He told me a while back that it wasn’t so bad. Most of the foster parents were kind, if not very physically loving, to their charges. Mostly he missed the kind of love he got from his natural parents. He made up for it by holding the babies and hugging the younger ones.”

  “He is a hugger. I think every woman at your party yesterday managed to get a hug and a kiss from him. They acted like he was a long-lost boyfriend they were thrilled to see again.”

  “There’s no denying it, women and kids do love him, Graciella.”

  “He’s very special, isn’t he?” She couldn’t imagine what it was like for him to lose both parents at such a tender age. What would happen to Santos if he were suddenly left alone in the world without her love and care? At least he had grandparents who loved him.

  “Yes. It’s easy to love Cluny. He and Dwayne became fast friends when they both attended the same junior high school in Buffalo, Wyoming. Dwayne’s two brothers lived with their dad here in Southern California, while he stayed with his mother at the fam
ily ranch after their parents divorced. He adopted Cluny as another brother. Kathleen welcomed him to the ranch with open arms when he aged out of foster care. They’re family, however you look at it.”

  “I guess that’s why he thinks he can just walk right into your house and help himself to whatever’s in the refrigerator?”

  Marla laughed. “It took some getting used to, but then I realized my sister and brothers behaved the same way at my place, and it didn’t bother me a bit. Did I tell you I have identical twin brothers, and my twin sister is married to Dwayne’s little brother, Donovan?”

  “Oh, my word no!” Graciella put a hand to her chest. “I’m surprised you didn’t have twins.”

  Marla rolled her eyes. “I worried about that when I first got pregnant, but lucky for me it didn’t happen. I gained a whole lot of respect for my mother after I had him. I thought I knew it all when I was a kid, but I didn’t have a clue.” She laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

  Cluny re-entered the kitchen and embraced both of them. “I love being surrounded by beautiful, sexy women. I’m gonna go out and supervise Gunny while he repairs that engine.” His knuckles grazed Graciella’s bottom as he stepped away.

  Graciella held up two cans of tuna. “Shall we make sandwiches, Marla?”

  Fifteen minutes later they carried a tray heaped with sandwiches out to the patio. Marla went back for a pitcher of lemonade and a king-size bag of chips. “Lunch!”

  Amber and Santos ran and reached for a sandwich.

  Graciella intercepted them. “Go to the hose and rinse the dog off your hands first.”

  She overheard Amber tell Santos, “Your mom is rill strict, isn’t she?”

  Dwayne and Cluny joined them. Dwayne held up greasy hands. “How about a kiss from my beautiful wife first?”

  Marla pointed a finger at his nose and scowled. “Not unless you want it to be the last one of your life, Dempsey.”