I made up my mind that I’d tell Ashley what she wanted to hear, but I would plan a counter attack to ensure that neither Mia nor my son was hurt and that they would both be safe. To ensure that Joaquín wouldn’t harm them, I’d assemble my own Team.
“Well, I’m yours. Whatever you need from me, I’ll do.”
“I need you not to mention this conversation to Mia or let Joaquín know that you suspect him of anything. The reason I called you in here today was to ask you to try to get Mia to stop her investigation into Joaquín. And you also need to stop trying to locate your son. You are hurting the case, not helping it. I need you to trust me. We have good agents on this.”
I inhaled and let out a calming breath. “I won’t say a word.” But I purposely didn’t promise her to stop doing my own intel. Luckily, she didn’t call me out on my omission.
Ashley may have fooled me about her identity, but a NCIS agent wasn’t any match for a SEAL. And Ashley was a fool if she thought she could outsmart Joaquín. He may be a drug smuggler, but he was still one of the best operators I’d ever met. A lethal weapon. A deadly SEAL.
I stood, locked down my anger, and forced myself to pretend to be grateful to her. She did, after all, show me the picture of Julián that day at the coffee house. Without that photo, I may never have learned the truth.
She stood and held her hand out to me. “I’m sorry you are wrapped up with these people. I promise I will do everything to return your son. We will be in touch.”
I left the room and went to my truck, already making a mental checklist of everything I needed to do.
Mia definitely had some explaining to do. I didn’t believe Ashley that Mia had been involved with Joaquín’s criminal activities, but Mia had still been lying to me. I had to find a way, without divulging what Ashley told me, to get Mia to tell me the truth and to get her to abandon this need to save her brother.
I needed her for once in her life to choose me over him.
2
Grant
First mission—get rid of any mobile tracking devices. I drove my truck to the mechanic most of the Team guys used. It was across the street from Panthers. The neon lights seemed gaudy in the daylight, and I cringed as I imagined Mia dancing on stage, praying that I would show up, knowing that I haunted that joint.
Only two weeks ago, I had met her again as Ksenya. At least twenty girls were in that club that night, but I’d been hopelessly drawn to her. Yes, she had transformed her body into my exact physical type, but it ran deeper than that. One look at her, even under the bright lights with her eyes covered by colored contacts, and my soul recognized her as my mate.
I pulled open the door to the shop, and Carlos greeted me. “Need an oil change?”
“Hey, man. Nah, I can do that myself. Can you sweep my truck for tracking devices? I think someone is following me.”
Carlos nodded, not even fazed by my request. He was used to dealing with paranoid SEALs. “Sure thing.” He looked at my mileage. “I’ll do a service for you, too. It will take a day or so. Do you need a loaner?”
Man must’ve read my mind. “That would be great.”
He led me over to line of parked vehicles. I pointed at an older model truck.
“Keys are in the ignition. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know when your truck will be ready.”
“Thanks, man. I’m going to bring my fiancée’s car in soon, too, but not for a few days. We’re headed out of town.”
His brow wrinkled, and he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. “Yeah? Where you headed?”
“Vegas. I’m getting married tomorrow.” And I was. Well, I still hadn’t asked the bride-to-be to marry me tomorrow.
“Congrats. Your truck will be clean and ready by the time you come back.”
I thanked him and climbed into my loaner truck. It smelled a bit musty, but as long as it wasn’t bugged, it was fine by me.
I stopped at the Fashion Valley Mall and purchased two new phones but transferred our old numbers. I also made sure to activate the “find my phone” app on Mia’s phone so I could locate her if I needed to. Then I went next door to the jeweler and picked out wedding bands. For myself I picked a black titanium band, which was the best option for a man in my line of work.
For my beloved, I chose a rose gold band with beveled diamonds.
“Can you engrave it?”
“Sure. We can do it while you wait. What do you want it to say?”
“Worth fighting for.” She was. And I’d fight for her until my dying breath.
Then the jeweler made me an offer. “Do you want me to add a fidelity tracking device on the ring? Behind the diamonds. It’s new technology.”
My immediate thought was fuck no. I didn’t want to start my marriage by betraying Mia. And I wasn’t that kind of paranoid asshole. Any guy who would install a hidden tracking device on his wife’s wedding ring was a piece of shit. Why bother to get married if you didn’t trust your wife?
But on second thought, the SEAL in me thought that this may be a good idea. Not to make sure she was faithful, but as a way to find her if Joaquín ever escaped and held her hostage.
I pointed at another band. Nothing fancy, just simple and gold with one diamond. “Engrave the diamond rose gold ring, no tracker. But I’ll take this ring also, with a tracker.” When the time was right, I’d present her both rings, explain why I wished her to wear the tracking one, and if we could ever put this mess behind us, we could burn that ring.
By the time I’d arrived back home, Mia was standing outside waiting for me.
Even though her roots were showing and her brow was furrowed, she still looked beautiful. “Where were you? I was worried sick. I called you and texted you but then my phone stopped working. What happened? Where is your truck?”
I was paranoid and assumed there was a camera or audio surveillance in my house. I placed my hand over her lips and went inside to change out of my uniform. Once I was in my civilian clothes, I grabbed Hero’s leash, removed her old phone from her hands, tossed it on the sofa, and then led them both outside.
“Damn it, Grant, what the fuck are you doing?” she asked, dragging her heels as I tried to urge her along.
Once we were far enough away from my home, I turned to her. “I need you to listen to me and for once, not argue. I can’t tell you any details, in fact I’m not supposed to tell you anything that was said at NCIS. Do you understand?”
She blinked back tears. “I do. I’m so sorry, I—”
I interrupted. “I believe we are under surveillance even now. The truck is a loaner. I think mine is being tracked. Yours too. I’m going to bring your car in to get swept. Until then, you aren’t to drive in it. Okay?”
She nodded.
“First, is there anything you need to tell me?”
She bit her lip but then exhaled. “Yes, there is. Mitch. He came by the day you went to find Julián. He took me to Rafael’s place, hoping to get a lead to free Joaquín. Rafael forced me to do a line of coke, probably thinking I was a narc. I was so fucked up that when Mitch kissed me, I didn’t stop him. Well, I couldn’t’ve stop him—Rafael thought we were together. I should have told you. I was going to tell you but then I found out that Julián was alive and I was too overwhelmed. I didn’t mean to hide it from you.”
I stared into her hazel eyes as my brain battled my heart. I forced myself to lock down my anger. “Anything else?”
She nodded. “Yes. Mitch dropped me off at your place, but then I found out from the DNA that Julián was Elías. I was still coming down from the coke so I asked Mitch to drive me to Temecula. I’m sorry I lied to you. It won’t happen again.”
I kissed her forehead. Relief swept over me. She had told me the truth. She had told me everything that Ashley had shown me in the pictures. Mia was being honest with me. I had to believe in her. I did believe in her.
“I forgive you. But you need to be honest with me. There’s nothing you can’t tell me. Nothing. I love eve
ry part of you. Look, there’s so much going on, and I can’t tell you any of it. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“I’ve thought it over, and I think we should get married. Tomorrow. We can drive to Vegas tonight. What do you say?”
Her eyes brightened and then narrowed a bit. “What’s the rush? I mean of course I want to marry you. But I wanted to wait until everything calms down. I want Joaquín to be there, and of course, our son.”
I refused to acknowledge her wish to have Joaquín present. “I want our son there, too, but I think we need to be practical. We can have a big ceremony later.”
Her face wrinkled. “Practical? That’s romantic. Can’t we at least wait until after the trial?”
She wasn’t getting it. I had to spell it out for her. “We need to get married to get on the list for housing.”
“What’s wrong with your place? I love being walking distance to Liberty Market. And there are so many great parks here I can take Julián too.”
“My hours are so long it would be better if we could live in base housing in Coronado. That way, I could come home for lunch or even when I just have a break. I loved living here, but I was single. Also, when I deploy it might be easier for you to be around some other Team wives with kids the same age as Julián. Pat and Annie live on base and that way if you need to go to school or even take a break, you would have someone nearby who could help.”
She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “Yeah. I agree. It would probably be better to be married to prepare to file for custody of Julián. We can’t give the courts any reason to deny us.”
“That, too.” Everything I said was true, but the real reason I wanted to marry Mia as soon as possible was to protect her from her brother.
A flush of reluctance swept across her face. “Okay, you’re right. Let’s do it. We can have a big ceremony later for everyone.”
“That’s my girl.” I pulled her in for a kiss. I was shocked she didn’t press me about my conversation with NCIS, but she’d been around Joaquín and me long enough to know that we weren’t allowed to talk business. “Thank you for this. I can’t wait to marry you.”
We returned to my place and she packed our bags as I loaded our pets into the truck. Hero and Curry, who were becoming fast friends even though Curry did use Hero’s tail as her own personal scratching post, were again dropped off at our friends’ house and we headed to Las Vegas. After all these years, after all we’d been through, Mia was finally going to be my wife.
And I couldn’t wait.
3
Mia
I stared out the window at the barren desert as Grant drove toward Las Vegas. Something was seriously off with him, and I was certain his meeting with NCIS involved new information about Joaquín. But Grant wasn’t telling me what had been said. I understood that he couldn’t confide in me even if he had wanted to. But it wasn’t just the meeting that bothered me. Something that he found out today made him seriously believe we were under surveillance, which made my palms sweat. I’d spent most of the ride going over every place I’d driven to and every phone call I’d taken and every text I’d sent.
And why was Grant so insistent on marrying me as soon as possible? Just a week ago he despised me. Sure, his reasons were logical, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had an ulterior motive.
Maybe, it really was about spousal privilege. If he married me and the feds tried to get him to talk about my crazy antics, he wouldn’t be forced to tell them anything. Not that anything I had done was bad enough to throw me in jail, but it meant he was worried about my safety.
Or maybe, he wanted to marry me because he was about to do something illegal. And he wanted to save me from having to testify.
Grant could sense my uneasiness. “You okay?” His green eyes glinted in the sunset, and he looked so handsome that for a moment, I forgot why my gut was wrenched.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just always dreamed about my wedding, my father walking me down the aisle. Once he died, I always imagined that Joaquín would give me away. I never thought I’d abscond into the night and elope to Vegas.”
He placed his hand on my thigh. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”
“Anything with you is romantic.” I leaned over and kissed him. “So, how long will it take to get housing?”
“A few months. Once we locate our son we need to see a lawyer to begin the process of getting custody. I want to show the court that we can provide a stable home. There are some parenting classes on base we should take, too. I don’t know anything about raising kids.”
A wave of nausea hit. Julián was almost two. I knew nothing about kids and even less about two year olds. He didn’t know me. I’d be raising him mostly alone since Grant would always be deployed. Joaquín could help, once he was exonerated. “Yeah, I don’t know much either. But we’ll figure it out.”
We pulled over at the gas station, and I stared at my new phone. At least it had the same number and the contacts had transferred over. Even so, I felt completely isolated from the world and from all my hard work. At the moment, I was completely dependent on Grant, and I didn’t like it at all. I loved Grant with all my heart, and I had no doubt that I wanted to marry him and be with him for the rest of my life, but my love for Grant didn’t replace my love for my brother. Without Joaquín, I wouldn’t have met Grant. Without Joaquín being arrested, Grant and I wouldn’t be back together.
Our three lives were bound together.
I could not be happy when my brother had no freedom. This quest was to free my brother, not to get Grant back. I would not allow him to dissuade me from my original purpose—freeing my brother.
Grant purchased a cola and a beef jerky and I threw in some sunflower seeds. A county corrections bus pulled in the gas station. The passengers were surely on their way to some prison in the middle of nowhere. A lump grew in my chest, and I blinked back tears. Was this Joaquín’s future? To be carted along like some animal? He could never live like that. A horrible thought crossed through my head—Joaquín would rather be dead.
Grant pulled me into his arms and gave me a soft kiss when he saw me staring at the muted blue bus. “I love you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Let me make you happy.”
And I was happy. Wrapped in his embrace, I allowed my negative thoughts to dissipate. This was just the next step in our journey. Ultimately, I would be happy again. I believed that in my soul.
My nerves calmed as we headed toward the bright lights and gaudy billboards. I’d never been to Vegas, though I knew that Grant and Joaquín had always gone. I willed myself to be happy—I was marrying the love of my life.
So why did my heart feel like something was very wrong.
4
Grant
After getting into Vegas late last night, we crashed and woke up early to go to the county clerk office to get our marriage license. Then I took her to the shops at Bellagio so she could pick out a dress. She didn’t want me to see her in her dress before the wedding, which I thought was adorable, and she wanted to get her hair done, so we agreed to meet in a few hours at the altar.
Mia had shot down my idea of getting married by Elvis, but she had agreed to have a simple, romantic ceremony. It wasn’t the huge wedding she had told me she wanted, but she seemed to be happy that our vows would be something that we would share only with each other.
While she got ready, I headed over to the nearest bar and ordered a whiskey on the rocks.
My phone rang—Mitch. I refused to ruin my wedding day talking to that asshole. I was still fucking pissed off at him for kissing Mia, even if he had been just trying to help her get information to free Joaquín. No matter the reason, next time I saw him, I was going to fuck him up.
The blinding, fluorescent lights of Vegas rattled me. Last time I’d visited I’d been on a bender with Joaquín and Mitch. Those assholes had dragged me out here, probably sick of me moping around about Mia leaving me. Joaquín and Mitch had taken m
e to Crazy Horse, where I’d gotten drunk on lap dances and liquor.
At the time, I’d thought they were such great friends, that Joaquín’s friendship had held strong even after his sister had broken my heart.
It had been a lie.
He’d known that she had been raped. He should’ve told me. It was almost as if he had been happy that we had been broken up.
“Want another?” the scantily clad bartender asked.
“Nope. I’m getting married tonight—I want to remember everything.”
“Oh, wow. Congrats. She’s a lucky gal. But you aren’t married yet . . .” She gave me a wink and a playful tickle of my beard. I didn’t even react. I only had Mia on my mind.
After people watching for a bit, I’d had enough of this scene. I stopped by the flower shop and returned to my room to get ready.
I ordered a romantic feast for later, changed into my suit, and placed my trident in my lapel. A final glance in the mirror and I was ready to see my bride.
I entered the chapel, paid the fees, and waited for Mia.
And waited.
And waited.
Where the fuck was she? I texted her phone, but she didn’t answer. I was tempted to use the find my phone app I had installed, but I had vowed that I was only going to use that if I believed she was in danger. I refused to stalk my wife.
Maybe she’d changed her mind. Maybe she didn’t want to marry me.
I stood up to leave when the doors opened and I saw my bride.
My heart skipped. Her hair was now dark, close to her natural color, and she looked more like the woman I’d fallen in love with years ago. The woman I had wanted to marry, the woman I had conceived a child with. She took my breath away. She wore a low-cut, white slip dress, which draped over her curves, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.
Consume (Se7en Deadly SEALs Book 6) Page 2
