“Just how the fuck do I borrow a kid? Besides, Mia wants her own kid. She wants my kid.”
“No, she doesn’t. She wants you, and if she doesn’t, she’s hopelessly crazy.”
“I think I know my Mia.”
“Sure you do. What I’m sayin’ is you adopt. Nothing wrong with that. Hell, I’d have done that if it happened to us.”
“But I want my own.”
“You honestly think you could tell which fuckin’ sperm was yours if you looked at them under a microscope? What the hell difference does it make? That’s like saying you could never love a woman because some other man got there first. That makes no sense at all.”
Cooper did have a point. “I think, in this case, I would be able to tell mine from others. Mine would be with dented heads and wouldn’t move.”
“Dented heads, huh? What kind of a doctor showed you what your sperm looked like? That does no fuckin’ good. I’d have nightmares if they showed me that shit. Like a science fiction freak show or something.”
“I wanted him to prove it to me.”
“Oh. Well, then, that explains it. You dumb shit. You didn’t need to see that.”
Cooper nearly finished his mineral water, sucked on the lime until his cheeks caved in, and then chewed on ice. He looked at Fredo like a cow chewing hay, watching the cars go by and not keeping up with the movement. “I don’t care what mine look like.”
“Yeah, well, yours swim.”
“Apparently.” Cooper swallowed and went for the last gulp of ice. Before he could set his plastic glass down, the waitress brought him another mineral water and lime with tons of ice.
“I don’t know what to say to Mia.” Fredo wanted to be honest with his best friend. He was still trying to reconcile the fact that beautiful Mia, who could have been a model or a beauty queen if she’d chosen that path, and was the most stunning of all the SEAL wives, had chosen him. And Fredo knew he was generally thought of as the least handsome of the bunch. He’d had to work long and hard to win her love. He worried that perhaps this would disappoint her. Ever at the back of his mind was the concern that she would one day leave him.
“I can hear all that Mariachi music rolling around in your head, Fredo. Don’t get your cart before the horse. You’re worrying about something that might not exist.”
“But what if it does? What if she’s angry? Coop, what if she thinks I’m not right for her?”
“Fredo, you dumb shit. How can you say that? You think she’s that shallow? Mia’s a strong and beautiful woman, inside and out. She loves you, Fredo. When she finally got it, she was hooked, man.” Cooper nodded to a couple of young tadpoles who had entered the bar. “God almighty, they make ’em younger every year. Did we ever look like that?” He nodded to the new recruits.
“I think I was born with hair all over my body. Someone who knew my mom said she called me a little gorilla. Not sure I ever looked like a little boy.”
Cooper was laughing. “That’s a visual I need eye bleach to get rid of, Fredo. Why did you have to go tell me that? Now I won’t be able to think, seeing this little gorilla boy running around the streets of LA.”
Fredo began to get steamed. “Okay, asshole. I can see this was a big mistake. I come to you with something serious, and you get me all talking about my childhood and sperm and stuff.” Fredo knew it was an unfair argument, but he couldn’t hold it back.
“Okay. Calm down. Seriously, Fredo. You just tell her the truth. You ask her what she wants to do, okay? And then you do whatever she wants. If she wants to adopt, you adopt. If not, you stay good with that. If she needs to think it over, you give her space, let her know you’re here to discuss it if she wants. But let her decide. We don’t make those decisions, they do.”
Fredo figured it was probably the best advice he’d get tonight, or any night. He did dangerous things every day, especially when he was overseas. But today, this sitting down and talking to Mia about the doctor visit was the hardest thing he’d have done in over a year.
“You guys have plans for Christmas?” Coop asked.
“Getting together with her mom and Mayfield. What about you?”
“We’re going up for a couple of days to Libby’s folks’ cabin at Big Bear. You should come up.”
“I’ll ask her.”
On the way home, Fredo stopped to buy Mia’s mother some items he knew she’d want for her Puerto Rican traditional Thanksgiving feast. The little supermercado was in a seedy part of town where every bar, restaurant, house, and school had bars on the windows. Even the windows at the public park were barred and locked at night with large iron grates.
Fredo only knew the shop owner as Jose, since that’s what Mia’s mother called him. Recently, Mayfield had insisted on accompanying her. Fredo knew some of the gangs in the area were not opposed to robbing an older military type, even a retired cop, which Mayfield was. So, Fredo tried to do the shopping for her mother as much as he could. Mia almost never cooked. Mama Guzman insisted on doing all of it, so there was no arguing with that. Ever.
He picked up some corn husks and specialty tomatillo sauce, the hot sauce she liked that was made in her hometown in Puerto Rico, and some good rum that Felicia loved to mix with her coconut milk to celebrate anything that required alcohol.
Outside the mercado, he found a couple of pre-teen boys looking for someone to buy them liquor.
“Jefe, you maybe wanna help us out some?” the kid with the blue eyes said. Fredo remembered seeing him before, since it was so rare to see a Mexican kid with blue eyes.
“I told you boys I wouldn’t do it last time, but what the hell. It’s nearly Christmas. You tell me what good deeds you done this week and I’ll think about it.”
His two friends swore and snuck around the lamppost, walking in the opposite direction, disgusted. But blue eyes stayed behind.
“Punched a kid at school who was being rough on a girl,” the boy blurted out. “That good enough for you, frog-man?”
“Where’d you get that name, son?” Fredo asked.
“Because that’s what you are. You got webbed feet. You got tats, and you’re a fuckin’ swaggering asshole frog-man.”
“Asshole? This the guy you expect to buy you some booze and you call me an asshole?”
The kid grinned. Fredo saw something different about him. It was either something dangerous or dangerous for the environment. He was eager. Maybe too eager. Fredo adjusted his stance, moving his package to his left arm so he could retrieve his gun from the holster in the small of his back with his right.
The boy’s eyes half-lidded. That made Fredo even more nervous.
“I hate you frogs.” He ran off.
Fredo stood for a moment and surveyed the alarmingly calm street. It was always like that overseas, too. When it was quiet, that’s when you had to worry about getting picked off. That’s when the shit hit.
Or maybe he was getting paranoid. Fredo rolled his shoulder, checked both sides of the street again, squinting into the sun and still not seeing anything that gave him a reason for all the hair on the back of his neck to be stuck at full attention.
But something was definitely wrong. He couldn’t find any of the three boys he’d seen. He began getting into his beater four-door truck. He heard the ping of the windshield before he felt the shot to his chest. He was surprised it didn’t hurt more than it did. But he couldn’t breathe. He felt the blackness all around his eyes as he began to lose consciousness. It was fuckin’ hard to breathe. That meant the shot hit a lung, and he was not going to survive if the blood was fast.
The street was a tunnel when he felt the tug at his pants. His wallet was taken. He did hear swearing, an altercation, and some choice words in Spanish. He wanted to get up and stop the fight, but couldn’t move for some reason. Someone was still upset. Then a lady screamed. He slumped over in the front seat, trying to stay on his back so he wouldn’t expose the gun he had at his waist. Just before he passed out, he saw a pair of blue eyes and focused o
n them until everything was black.
Fredo’s Secret is available here.
About the Author
Sharon Hamilton
NYT and USA Today best-selling author Sharon Hamilton’s award-winning Navy SEAL Brotherhood series have been a fan favorite from the day the first one was released. They’ve earned her the coveted Amazon author ranking of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance categories, as well as in Gothic Romance for her Vampires of Tuscany and Guardian Angels. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love.
Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read about before, since they don’t go to ground and can walk around in the full light of the sun.
Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.
She lives in Sonoma County, California with her husband and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmers Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.
She loves hearing from her fans:
[email protected]
Her website is:
www.authorsharonhamilton.com
Find out more about Sharon, her upcoming releases, appearances and news from her newsletter.
Newsletter ** Sharon’s Blog ** Sharon’s Website ** Facebook ** Twitter
Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.
Series Overview
SEAL BROTHERHOOD SERIES OVERVIEW
SEAL Encounter (Novella #.5)
Accidental SEAL (Book #1)
SEAL Endeavor (Novella #1.5)
Fallen SEAL Legacy (Book #2)
SEAL Under Covers (Book #3)
SEAL The Deal (Book #4)
Cruisin’ For A SEAL (Book #5)
SEAL My Destiny (Book #6)
SEAL Of My Heart (Book #7)
Fredo’s Secret (Novella)
BAD BOYS OF SEAL TEAM 3 SERIES OVERVIEW
SEAL’s Promise (Book #1)
SEAL My Home (Book #2)
SEAL’s Code (Book #3)
BAND OF BACHELORS SERIES OVERVIEW
Lucas (Book #1)
Alex (Book #2)
TRUE BLUE SEALS SERIES OVERVIEW
True Navy Blue (Novella #.5)
Zak (Book #1)
NASHVILLE SEALS SERIES OVERVIEW
Nashville SEAL (Novella #1)
Jameson (Book #2)
GOLDEN VAMPIRES OF TUSCANY SERIES OVERVIEW
Honeymoon Bite (Book #1)
Mortal Bite (Book #2)
THE GUARDIANS SERIES OVERVIEW
Heavenly Lover (Book #1)
Underworld Lover (Book #2)
Underworld Queen (Book #3)
Box Sets
SEAL Brotherhood Series Prequel Novella, SEAL Encounter, and Book 1, Accidental SEAL, are available in a convenient digital box set format
SEAL Brotherhood Box Set 1
SEAL Brotherhood Series Prequel Novella, SEAL Endeavor, and Book 2, Fallen SEAL Legacy, are available in a convenient digital box set format
SEAL Brotherhood Box Set 2
SEAL Brotherhood Series Books 1-4 (plus 2 prequel novellas) are available in a convenient digital box set format
Ultimate SEAL Collection 1
SEAL Brotherhood Series Books 5-7 are available in a convenient digital box set format
Ultimate SEAL Collection 2
Golden Vampires of Tuscany Series Books 1-2 and The Guardians Series Books 1-3 are available in a convenient digital box set format
Immortal Valentines Box Set
Audiobooks
All of Sharon Hamilton’s books are available as audiobooks narrated by J.D. Hart.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE
SEAL BROTHERHOOD SERIES
“Fans of Navy SEAL romance, I found a new author to feed your addiction. Finely written and loaded delicious with moments, Sharon Hamilton’s storytelling satisfies like a thick bar of chocolate.” —Marliss Melton, bestselling author of the Team Twelve Navy SEALs series
“Sharon Hamilton does an EXCELLENT job of fitting all the characters into a brotherhood of SEALS that may not be real but sure makes you feel that you have entered the circle and security of their world. The stories intertwine with each book before…and each book after and THAT is what makes Sharon Hamilton’s SEAL Brotherhood Series so very interesting. You won’t want to put down ANY of her books and they will keep you reading into the night when you should be sleeping. Start with this book…and you will not want to stop until you’ve read the whole series and then…you will be waiting for Sharon to write the next one.” (5 Star Review)
“Kyle and Christy explode all over the pages in this first book, [Accidental SEAL], in a whole new series of SEALs. If the twist and turns don’t get your heart jumping, then maybe the suspense will. This is a must read for those that are looking for love and adventure with a little sloppy love thrown in for good measure.” (5 Star Review)
PRAISE FOR THE
BAD BOYS OF SEAL TEAM 3 SERIES
“I love reading this series! Once you start these books, you can hardly put them down. The mix of romance and suspense keeps you turning the pages one right after another! Can’t wait until the next book!” (5 Star Review)
“I love all of Sharon’s Seal books, but [SEAL’s Code] may just be her best to date. Danny and Luci’s journey is filled with a wonderful insight into the Native American life. It is a love story that will fill you with warmth and contentment. You will enjoy Danny’s journey to become a SEAL and his reasons for it. Good job Sharon!” (5 Star Review)
PRAISE FOR THE
BAND OF BACHELORS SERIES
“[Lucas] was the first book in the Band of Bachelors series and it was a phenomenal start. I loved how we got to see the other SEALs we all love and we got a look at Lucas and Marcy. They had an instant attraction, and their love was very intense. This book had it all, suspense, steamy romance, humor, everything you want in a riveting, outstanding read. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.” (5 Star Review)
PRAISE FOR THE
TRUE BLUE SEALS SERIES
“Keep the tissues box nearby as you read True Blue SEALs: Zak by Sharon Hamilton. I imagine more than I wish to that the circumstances surrounding Zak and Amy are all too real for returning military personnel and their families. Ms. Hamilton has put us right in the middle of struggles and successes that these two high school sweethearts endure. I have read several of Sharon Hamilton’s military romances but will say this is the most emotionally intense of the ones that I have read. This is a well-written, realistic story with authentic characters that will have you rooting for them and proud of those who serve to keep us safe. This is an author who writes amazing stories that you love and cry with the characters. Fans of Jessica Scott and Marliss Melton will want to add Sharon Hamilton to their list of realistic military romance writers.” (5 Star Review)
Navy SEAL Ethos (Creed)
In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call. A common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and protect their way of life. I am that man.
My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.
My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor se
ek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.
I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.
We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the mission. I lead by example in all situations.
I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.
We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me – my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.
We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend.
Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.
Nashville SEAL
A Novella
Sharon Hamilton
Chapter 1
‡
The bright stage lights always set Jameson Daniels’ nerves on edge, until he began to feel the music in his bones. He covered up his shyness, closing his eyes and falling into the rhythm of his music. Then he felt comfortable enough looking out into the crowd he knew to be mostly women, about twenty deep, standing as close to the stage as his security would allow. Though he wore his Transitions shades, in time his eyes adjusted so he could see their gleaming faces. Flashing cameras still made him jump.
Nashville SEAL: Jameson: Nashville SEALs Page 18
