Hot SEAL, Savannah Nights

by Kris Michaels

  So much didn't make sense, but the thing that did resound in a clear knell was that it truly did seem as if Rio North had cut ties with her. After the twentieth unreturned voicemail, that conclusion came through loud and clear. Her only regret was it took twenty calls for her to finally see the light.

  "Here is my access key card, the list of passwords the administrative assistant will need and a schedule of events for the next week." Meghan handed Connie a folder. "I know this is quick, but it is an opportunity I can't refuse. I have to take it, now." Or she'd break into a thousand pieces, and then she'd have to tell Connie what happened. It was just better that she walk away, head held as high as she could. Not that she wasn't going to be back in Savannah. She was going to confront Rio or Mason and find out the truth. The thought that Rio had used her still didn't ring true. She knew the man. She knew he was decent, and kind, and he cared for her. She knew it... she just couldn't prove it.

  She wasn't going up to her office. She didn't have anything up there that she needed. N.R. refused to let her have personal items on her desk. Her lip balm and comb could be replaced.

  "Well, okay, but are you sure they want you that soon? My letter said three weeks?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, they have an immediate opening for a project manager." In Atlanta. She was staying with a friend she'd made as a freshman in college. It wouldn't take her long to find an apartment in Atlanta. Triple Two was a huge company. The move was a preemptive strike. If Rio had walked away from her, she couldn't see herself staying in Savannah. There were too many memories.

  No, she'd lose herself in work and lick her wounds. She'd signed a lease on the apartment she was in now, but it had a clause that released her if she could prove she'd had a change in employment status. The rent had been paid for this month and she'd use the deposit to keep the apartment for next month. She'd be able to get back by then, try to find and confront Rio. If she couldn't, she'd rent a truck and make the trip back to Atlanta. A long weekend would suffice. Was taking the job in Atlanta a knee-jerk reaction? No. No, the move was self-preservation. She had to be realist. The woman may have been telling the truth, and the longer Rio stayed out of touch, the more credence she was forced to give the woman's words.

  Connie narrowed her eyes. "Something is wrong. You don't look right. You look sad."

  "I am, I guess. I've worked here for a while now. Even though N.R. is a piece of work, he has paid me well. It is stressful leaving what you know for what you don't." Which was so true, but the real reason she was sad had nothing to do with a change of employment. Only nobody could ever know how foolish she’d been.

  "You know you won't get your last check until the paperwork clears, right?"

  "Yeah, I know. I'll be okay." Meg stood up when Connie did. She had to fight back a torrent of tears when her friend hugged her. She needed to be held, to be told everything would be okay, but the one she wanted to hold her had walked away from her without a word. Meg drew a deep breath and forced a smile when the hug ended.

  Connie narrowed her eyes for a moment before she shook her head. "Okay, I'll see you at Triple Two in three weeks."

  Meghan smiled and winked at her friend. She wouldn't lie to her. She refused.

  As she turned into the hall, an employee from purchasing stopped her and asked her for the status of the deliveries for the latest project they were working. Meg had seen the logistical reports when she was cleaning up N.R.'s documents last night. She answered the question and pressed on toward the main entrance, stopping at least three more times to answer random questions.

  "Excuse me, could you hold the door?"

  Meg glanced up and took a step back to hold the door open for a florist who was carrying the world's largest bouquet of red roses. The freaking Tournament of Roses parade was missing a float type of big.

  Meg slipped out the door before the first tear started to fall. Someone in that building was being told how much they were loved. Nobody sent that many roses if they weren't in love. Red roses on top of that. She sniffed back her tears and batted away the moisture that had dropped to her cheeks.

  She was done crying over Rio North, at least in public. She slid into the driver's side seat of her old Toyota and glanced at the suitcases and boxes that filled the car. The trip to Atlanta wouldn't take long, mending her shattered heart, however, could take the rest of her life.

  Chapter 23

  "N.R. Hunnicutt's office."

  Rio pulled the hotel phone away from his face and looked at the damn handpiece like it was a foreign object. "Meghan Williams, please."

  "I'm sorry sir, Meghan Williams no longer works here, may I help you with something?"

  "Since when?"

  "Excuse me?"

  "Since when doesn't she work there?" He'd fucking sent five dozen roses to her this morning.

  "Since this morning. May I help you with something?" The man's voice held an edge of irritation that he wasn't trying to hide.

  "Yeah, can you connect me with your Human Resources department?" Her friend Connie was the head of HR.

  "One moment."

  Rio closed his eyes and dropped his head back between his shoulders. "HR, this is Connie."

  "Connie, this is Rio North. I'm trying to get ahold of Meg. I've lost my cell phone and I don't have her number memorized."

  "Oh, hi. Ummm… I'm not supposed to give out personal information."

  "Connie, you know I had the number, but I've lost my phone."

  He heard a heavy sigh from the other end of the line. "Okay, but only because she was acting so weird this morning."

  "Weird, how?"

  "I don't know, sad and upset, but she was trying to cover it. Kinda like she gets when her family treats her like shit, but it was more this time. Deeper."

  Fuck him, if her sister and mother were at it again, he'd pay them a visit. Meg's kind heart couldn't take too much more abuse, and he was damn well going to shield her from it. "I'll find out what's wrong."

  "Let me know what's going on, okay? I mean, she should be happy. She got a job with Triple Two as a project manager. They wanted her to start the day after tomorrow."

  "Triple Two?" Rio parroted the words.

  "A new logistical company that is building up on the river. Here you go. I've got her number up on my phone." Connie rattled it off, and Rio repeated them back to her as he jotted it down, even though the digits were engraved in his brain.

  "Got it. Thanks, Connie."

  His fingers depressed the hook hanging up a split second before he dialed the numbers Connie had given him. It rang once. "The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. If you feel you have reached this message in error, hang up and try your call again."

  A sense of horrible foreboding gripped his gut. He had to have misdialed in his haste. He punched in the numbers again. "The number you are..."

  "Fuck it." Rio hung up and flipped open his briefcase. Something was horribly wrong, and he wasn't going to wait three more minutes, let alone three more days, before he got answers. A quick search of his papers and he was on the phone again.

  "I need a favor. Several actually..."

  "Are you sure about this?" Mason spoke a bit breathless as he struggled to keep up with Rio's longer stride.

  Rio slowed down and nodded. Fuck yeah, he was sure. He stopped outside the apartment number he'd been given by Hightower. His new connection at Guardian Security had put him in contact with an investigator within the company, Brock Hightower. By the time Rio had made it back to Savannah, he knew Meghan hadn't been hired by Triple Two in Savannah, but rather the parent company in Atlanta. If she'd purchased another phone or changed her number, it wasn't with one of the top five carriers. Hightower was working on the smaller companies, although he'd warned Rio that a pay-as-you-go phone was damn near untraceable.

  Hightower had sent people to interview Meg's neighbors at the apartment complex. That is where he'd struck gold. A limo had been parked outside her building several
nights ago, and because it was such an oddity, people had noticed. They also recalled the driver stopping Meg and Meg approaching the car. The occupant of the vehicle was unknown. The description of a blonde female did nothing to help them find Meg, but Hightower had tracked down the limo company.

  Rio stopped Hightower's people from interviewing the driver. He wanted first-hand knowledge, and he'd be damned if he was going to sit on the sidelines any longer.

  He pounded on the door and waited. Mason was breathing heavy beside him. His brother hadn't left his side since he'd picked Rio up at the airport. It was good to have his brother in his corner again.

  The door opened. "What?"

  "Are you Craig Avery?"

  "Yeah, who wants to know?" Attitude dripped off the man.

  Rio held up his hand stopping the man's angry words. "Sorry for interrupting your day, but we need some answers about a person you drove to an apartment complex in Savannah on Tuesday night."

  Rio reached in his back pocket and retrieved his wallet. He fished out three one hundred-dollar bills. The guy eyed the money but leaned against the door frame and measured both of them. "What kind of information?"

  "Who was in the car, and what was said."

  "Dude, I'm not going to take your money. The bitch in the back of the car said her name was Mrs. North, and she threatened the redhead. The bitch said the redhead was fucking her husband and she would ruin her if she didn't go away. Gave her a check for 10K and told her to get lost."

  The driver stood away from the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest. "That woman was a piece of work. She laughed for a good five minutes after we left."

  "Is this the woman?" Mason flashed his phone at the driver.

  "Yeah. Guess you know her, huh."

  "Yeah. We know her." Mason flashed the photo at Rio. Fucking Deanne.

  "That redhead, she was hurting. I felt like shit just leaving her standing there, but I was on a job you know. Is she okay?"

  "She will be. Thanks." Rio handed the guy the money. "We appreciate your help."

  "Nah man, I'm not taking anything. Still feel like shit for leaving her. You go make it right and I'll be happy."

  Good people. Rio fucking loved having his faith in humanity restored. He turned and Mason fell into step with him. "Let me handle Deanne. You go to Atlanta and find Meghan."

  "Fucking Deanne. The bitch." Rio's rage at his fucking sister- in-law boiled under his skin. He wasn't going to let this slide. Through clenched teeth he spoke so only his brother could hear him, "You've got to take her down, Mason. She hurt Meghan to get to me."

  "She's an evil bitch." Mason sighed and stared at his shoes. "I wish I'd seen through her earlier. I'm sorry your lady was hurt. I'm sorry you've been hurt."

  Rio pulled his brother in for a hug. "We've all been injured in Deanne's scheme, you most of all. I'm heading to Atlanta. Hightower will find her for me, of that I have no doubt. I'll make this right."

  Mason pulled away and cleared his throat. "You shouldn't have to make it right. I'm pulling out all the stops. She won't be a factor in our lives any longer. My lawyers will bury her. She's committed fraudulent misrepresentation."

  "Stop beating yourself up over her actions. Get mad and get even." It wasn't a tenant Rio usually promoted but, in this instance, a little reconciliatory justice was due.

  Chapter 24

  Meghan sat in the small, sparsely appointed office just outside of HR She glanced at her new phone, noting the time and sighed. If the head of human resources herself hadn't kept checking on her, she'd have sworn she'd been forgotten. It had been two hours since she finished her hire package. She'd had three cups of coffee and made two trips to the ladies' room.

  "Ms. Williams?"

  Startled, Meg popped to her feet. "Yes?"

  "We are ready for you now. Will you follow me?" The head of HR smiled at her and extended her hand, guiding her out the door. Meg grabbed her phone and popped it into her purse as she hustled out of the little room.

  "You’re ready for me? What does that mean?" She probably shouldn't be so forward so early on in her hiring process, but she'd never sat in a holding pattern for over two hours while being hired. It was… disconcerting.

  "Oh we had some things to get done to make sure everything was just right." The woman stopped in front of the elevator and punched the up button.

  "Where are we going?"

  "We are not going anywhere. You are heading up to the forty-first floor. Someone will meet you and take you where you need to go."

  Meghan hesitated to step into the elevator. Something didn't seem right. "And where do I need to go?"

  "Up." The woman smiled at her and laughed. "Seriously, trust me on this. If you have any questions or concerns after your meeting upstairs, come back and see me, and I'll take care of any problems. Okay?"

  Meghan lifted an eyebrow and stepped into the elevator. "Why do I feel like a lamb heading to slaughter?"

  "Don't. Everything will be fine." The woman winked at her as the door closed. Winked at her. Like they shared a secret, but they didn't. Lost and on uncertain footing, her anxiety only added to the melancholy weight that seemed to press her into breathlessness. She struggled even to maintain the pretense of calm.

  The elevator rose, floor by floor. It was strange that it didn't stop at other floors. When she arrived this morning, the elevators were so busy that the car stopped at each floor and people entered and exited.

  When the car finally at the forty-first floor, a beautiful woman in a tailored business suit greeted her, "Ms. Williams?"

  "Yes." Meg cleared her throat and repeated her acknowledgement without the frog that seemed to have taken up residence in her voice box. "Yes, I'm Meghan Williams."

  "Wonderful. Right this way, please." The woman moved forward, expecting Meg to follow. So, she followed.

  "Where are we going?"

  "The conference room." The woman smiled at her but kept walking.

  An amazing scent filled the air and Meg pulled in a big breath. "Oh, that smells wonderful."

  The woman smiled and chuckled but kept walking. She strode past a bank of frosted glass walls and moved on to a closed door. "Here you go."

  The woman opened the door and stepped to the side.

  Meghan blinked as her mouth fell open. The entire room was filled with roses. Red, yellow, white, pink and multi-colored. She glanced back over her shoulder at the woman who smiled and shut the door behind Meghan. "What, what is this?" she whispered to the flowers.

  "This is me telling you that I love you."

  Meghan gasped and spun toward the voice. Rio walked out from behind a massive display on the side of the table. "This is me telling you Mason's wife lied to you. I would never hurt you. This is me telling you I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

  Her legs shook as she lifted her hand to her mouth, stopping a small cry. Rio's image swam in her tears.

  He came forward slowly. "This is me asking you to marry me and be mine. Forever."

  He dropped down in front of her and lifted a black velvet box. She swiped at the tears and started crying all over again when she saw the solitaire.

  "That woman, she said..." Meghan stifled a sob and tried to breathe before she whispered, "And then you didn't answer."

  Rio stood up and enfolded her in his arms. "And this is me promising I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

  Her mind skipped to random questions, but she was powerless. She had to know. "You're not married."

  "I'm not, but only because you haven't said yes."

  "And you want to marry me?"

  "I do."

  All the reasons he shouldn't ran through her mind, spoken in that vile woman's voice. She shook her head and looked up at him. She had to see the truth in his eyes. "Why?"

  "Because I love you, and you make my life complete. You are all the good things in my world. I take it you didn't get the roses I sent to you at your office before you quit."

 
"Roses?" Meg swiped at her eyes again. "Red roses?"

  "Yes, didn't you read the card?"

  She shook her head. "I passed the delivery person as they came in the building. What did the card say?"

  He chuckled. "I'm not the best with words. Give me a gun and a mission and I'll lead the charge, but words?” He shrugged. “So don't laugh."

  "I won't. I promise. What did you write?"

  "The card said,

  My heart sees you.

  My soul needs you,

  and my life is empty without you beside me."

  Oh. Oh God. She leaned forward into him and... cried. There was no stopping these tears. They were happy, confused, hopeful tears, and there was no way she'd be stopping anytime soon.

  His hand threaded through her hair in a repetitive motion. He whispered to her as she struggled to control herself. She'd never be able to recall any of the words, but the feelings that came with Rio holding her in his arms healed all the fissures in her soul. She was still hiccupping when she pulled away. His handkerchief presented itself and she half laughed, half sobbed as she used it to mop up her face. Thank goodness for waterproof mascara.

  Rio lifted her chin with his finger. "So, was that a yes?"

  She blinked up at him. What? "A yes?"

  "Will you marry me?" Rio held up the small box again and took out the ring. It wasn't huge or ostentatious. It was… perfect.

  Oh, yes, yes, yes! She nodded quickly, smiling up at him. "Yes, I'll marry you."

  He slid the ring onto her finger. The kiss he gave her was soft and sweet, but it left no doubt he cherished her. That woman was wrong. Wait!