“Interestingly enough, I’ve thought about what you might’ve been wearing under your gown several times,” he retorted.
Without missing a beat, Kassie said, “Nothing.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I didn’t want any panty lines, and even though I bought a bra to go under the dress, it was uncomfortable. So Karina convinced me to go bare-ass naked under it. I think she was hoping I’d get lucky though, so she might’ve had an ulterior motive.”
Hollywood choked and Kassie pounded him on the back as best she could in the small space of the car. “Are you all right?” she asked, concerned as his face turned red and he continued to cough.
When he had himself under control, he shook his head ruefully. “I need to stop trying to one-up you. You blow me away every time.”
“What’d I say?” Kassie asked innocently.
“You know exactly what you said,” Hollywood told her, reaching for her hand again.
Gladly grabbing hold of him, Kassie leaned back, resting her head against the seat behind her. “Who’s going to be here today?” she asked, getting serious.
Hollywood squeezed her hand. “First, stop worrying. Nothing is going to happen that should stress you out. Everyone already knows your situation; we just need to get a handle on it and shut Jacks and Dean down once and for all. So all the guys will be there…Ghost, Fletch, Coach, Beatle, Blade, and Truck. Fish will too, he volunteered to come up and be involved. My commanding officer will also be there.”
“I have absolutely no clue what I should tell Dean to communicate to Richard to make all this stop for you guys,” Kassie told him honestly.
“That’s why we’re meeting as a group. It’s how we work best…as a team. We’ll throw ideas off each other and by the time we’re done, we’ll have a plan. You aren’t alone anymore, Kassie. You’ve got me and all my friends on your side. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you and your sister are safe.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“What are you going to do about keeping yourself safe?” she asked. “Richard doesn’t really care about me. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m like a favorite toy of his. He doesn’t want to play with me anymore, but also doesn’t want anyone else to either.” She grimaced. “That wasn’t the best analogy, but you know what I mean.”
“I do.”
“Anyway, so the only reason I’m here is because he hates you and your friends. We might figure out a way for me to get out from under his thumb, but what about you guys? I was serious when I told you in that email I sent right after the ball that he wants to see you all dead. I would be less than pleased if the guy I’ve come to care about very much ended up dead. Wouldn’t look good on my track record for any future prospective boyfriends.”
“First of all, there aren’t going to be any future ones because I’m not going anywhere,” Hollywood told her in what sounded like a huff to Kassie. She would’ve smiled, but he continued, “Second, I can guarantee that we aren’t going to get dead.”
“You can’t guarantee that,” Kassie insisted.
Hollywood took a deep breath, then let it out slowly before saying, “I’m about to tell you something that is top secret. It could get me in big trouble with my commanding officer and the Army. But I’m telling you because as my woman, you need to know. It’s not something I’m comfortable keeping from you.”
“Oh my God,” Kassie breathed, trying to disengage her hand from his. “You’re married, aren’t you?”
“No,” he told her with no ire in his tone. “Settle and listen to me.”
Kassie tried to read him, but couldn’t. She had absolutely no idea what was so secret that he could get in trouble if he told her. She thought she knew a lot about the Army, but as evidenced at the ball, what she’d learned from Richard probably wasn’t accurate anyway.
“I’m Delta Force.”
The three words were flat and to the point. And Kassie had no idea what they meant.
“Okay. And?” she asked.
Hollywood’s lips twitched, but he merely said, “And what?”
“Is that the big secret?”
“Yeah, Kass. That’s it.”
She wracked her brain for a moment and came up blank. Finally, she told him, “As evidenced by your demeanor, that’s supposed to mean something to me. But I’m really, really sorry, I have no idea what that means. I could Google it, but I figure it’ll be quicker if you just told me what you wanted me to know. Is it bad?”
“You seriously have no idea what Delta Force is?” Hollywood asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
He didn’t sound upset, but Kassie couldn’t read his tone. She decided being succinct was the way to go. “No.”
“You’ve heard of Navy SEALs though, right?”
“Duh. Everyone’s heard of the SEALs. They’re the guys who are all badass and go on super-secret missions overseas. Weren’t they the guys who finally took down Osama Bin Laden? I think I saw that somewhere but…” Her voice trailed off as a thought hit her. “Oh.”
Now Hollywood was smiling. “Yeah. Oh.”
“So you’re a SEAL, but for the Army?”
“Man, you’re tough on the ego, sweetheart. No, Deltas aren’t SEALs; we’re more badass than them.”
Kassie narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to picture it. Nope, she simply couldn’t do it. She kept seeing him in his white tuxedo shirt, bow tie, and pretty blue uniform with all the medals on it. “So you’re Delta Force. And your friends are too?”
“Yeah. Unlike the SEALs, our missions are done with a complete media blackout. We don’t talk about them, and what we do isn’t ever televised or reported on. We’ll never get invited to the White House to be commended by the President. We do our thing, come home and live under the radar most of the time. We focus primarily on counterterrorism missions.”
“What does that mean?” Kassie asked quietly, worried now.
“We’re usually sent into situations to kill or capture high-value targets, or to dismantle terrorist cells. We’re flexible, and can operate with just the seven of us or within bigger units. We’ve worked with the CIA, as well as protected the President when he’s made visits in war-torn countries.”
“So it’s dangerous,” Kassie concluded.
Hollywood looked over at her as if she was insane. “Yeah, Kass, sneaking around Iraq without their government knowing we’re there to try to kill people tends to be a bit dangerous at times.”
She glared at him. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I am absolutely not making fun of you,” Hollywood told her. “What I am trying to do is reassure you that there is no fucking way Jacks and his asshole sidekick will kill me or any of my friends. We’re trained in this shit. How do you think we smeared their asses in that training exercise so fast? Hell, when we rescued Emily and Annie, it took us less than twenty minutes. I’m not worried about me or my friends, I’m worried about you. And Karina. And anyone else he decides to fuck with in the futile hope he can catch any of us off guard. It’s not going to happen. Period.”
“Alrighty then,” Kassie quipped, not sure if she was relieved or not. “You’re a super-badass, top-secret soldier who eats Navy SEALs for breakfast and spits out stupid ex-boyfriend soldiers who think they’re God’s gift to the military. Does that about sum it up?”
“That’s about it.”
Kassie breathed a sigh of relief when he grinned at her. They were approaching the front gate of the post and Kassie tried not to be nervous. She’d been here a couple of times with Richard, but it felt different now.
Hollywood held out his hand. “He needs to see your ID, Kass.”
“Of course,” she said, fumbling for her purse at her feet. She got out her driver’s license and gave it to Hollywood, who handed it to the soldier at the window. He scrutinized both then handed them back.
“Have a good day, Sergeant Caverly. Ms. Anderson.” He nodded at them an
d Hollywood nodded back. Kassie just smiled at the young man. Then they were driving through.
“Whew!” she exclaimed, slouching back in her seat. “I’m glad I didn’t have to have a strip search that time.”
“Did that asshole do that to you too?” Hollywood growled.
Kassie started in surprise. “No, no, no. I’m sorry. I was trying to make a joke. Obviously that was a big fail.”
“You once told me that you joked when you’re nervous, and I hate that you’re nervous about being on post, being around men in their uniforms. You’ve been okay with me, but I can tell that actually being here is difficult for you,” Hollywood told her as he drove toward his office. “I know it’s a result of that douchecanoe, but it still frustrates me.” He glanced over at Kassie. She was gripping her hands together so tightly her knuckles were white with the effort.
“I’m not—”
“You are,” he insisted. “And Jacks made you that way. I haven’t forgotten all those fucked-up things he tried to teach you about military balls and our traditions. I told you once, and I’ll tell you again, if you ever have a question about something, or you feel uneasy, promise me you’ll ask about it. Don’t be embarrassed. How can you learn if you don’t ask?”
“Okay.”
“And just so you know, everyone today will be in uniform, except for probably Fish. He’s medically retiring and not required to show up in uniform. But you’re safe here, Kassie. I don’t know what other asinine things that asshole had you do while he and his buddies played dress up and tried to be all macho badass soldiers, but that won’t happen here. What will happen is that we’ll greet each other in a friendly way. We’ll grab some coffee, sit around a big-ass table, and talk. We might swear. Okay, that’s a lie, we will swear. We might get pissed off and upset, but not at you. But you are in absolutely no danger from me or my friends. Got it?”
“Thanks, Hollywood.”
“Don’t thank me,” he told her immediately. “You should never have to thank your man for keeping you safe. It’s my privilege, honor, and duty to do so.” Hollywood looked over at Kassie and was surprised to see her smiling. “What? I wasn’t kidding.”
Her smile faded. “I know you weren’t. I just…that sounded like something someone would say in a movie.”
Hollywood pulled into his parking space and shut the engine off. He turned to Kassie and took her hands in his, chafing them gently to try to warm her chilly fingers. “Your days of trying to do everything yourself are over, Kass. Not only do you have me looking out for you, but you’ve got seven other men who are waiting upstairs who will do everything in their power to make sure you’re safe, happy, and healthy.”
“It sounds kinda like a cult,” Kassie told him.
“No cult, sweetheart,” Hollywood returned immediately. “Friends. The best ones a man could ever have. The kind of men who would give their lives for mine without thought. And I’d do the same for them.”
“I’m nervous,” Kassie blurted.
“I know you are. If you think I’ve missed that, you’re insane. But that’s okay. Because I’m going to do everything in my power to make this easier for you. All you have to do is hold on to me. In a couple hours we’ll leave here, go back to my place so I can change, and I’ll take you back to Fletch’s. We’ll hang out with the men you’ll get to know here today and their women, and relax. After this meeting, your life will change…for the better. You just have to stick by my side and trust me. Can you do that?”
He saw the emotions swirling in her eyes. He’d never seen any as expressive as Kassie’s. He read her acceptance before the words left her lips.
“Yeah. I can do that.”
“Good. Now come on. Let’s get upstairs. I’ll get you a cup of horrible coffee. I wouldn’t suggest drinking it, but you can hold it in your hands to try to keep your fingers from falling off. Okay?”
She smiled at him then. “Sounds good.”
Hollywood leaned over, kissed her forehead, leaving his lips on her skin for a long moment as he murmured, “There’s no way on God’s green earth I’m going to let you slip through my fingers now that I’ve found you. Jacks is not going to win this war.”
He pulled back and climbed out without waiting for her to answer.
He was making no mistake. This was war. Jacks had started it with Emily, and it would end here and now.
Chapter 12
“Can’t we just beat the shit out of Dean?”
“What if we get someone to whack Jacks while he’s locked up? Who knows someone?”
“I think we should feed him a false time and place that we’ll be having another training exercise and we can nail Dean’s ass when he tries to interfere.”
“What about the sister? Do you think Dean will try something with her like he did with Emily?”
“Can we do anything legally?”
Kassie’s head hurt. They’d been sitting around the large table for at least an hour and nothing had been decided yet. All the men had been doing was asking questions…not actually deciding anything. She appreciated the fact they were here on a weekend and helping her and her sister, but she hadn’t ever been in a meeting like this one. In her line of work, when there was an issue, a manager made a decision and that was that. But now she had more questions than answers, and she was quickly reaching her breaking point.
Hollywood had taken hold of her hand under the table and hadn’t let go since the meeting started. But she was done.
Letting go of him, she pushed back her chair and got up. She began to pace back and forth in the small space behind the chairs pushed into the conference table. She massaged her forehead with one hand and put the other on her hip as she stalked the room.
“Talk to us,” Ghost ordered Kassie as everyone fell silent and watched as she paced.
Kassie didn’t even turn her head. She’d been nervous when she’d first entered the room, but at the moment was more tired and frustrated than anything else. She wanted to help them, but every time they’d brought up what Richard had done to Emily, or to her, it only made her feel worse about the entire situation.
She ticked off her thoughts on her fingers as she paced. “One, Richard is behind bars, communicating his crazy to Dean who’s carrying out his orders. Two, Dean is stupid. He couldn’t graduate from basic and barely got through high school. Three, just because Dean is stupid doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. He’s big. And strong. And can easily overpower me and Karina. Four, he’s creepy and has been watching Karina. Five, they want me to give information about you guys to them so they can do something. But what? Six, what if I don’t give it to them? What do they have planned for Karina? If they do something to her, what will that gain them? Seven, if I do pass information on to them, will they stop threatening me or Karina? Or will they just continue because I did what they said?”
She stopped pacing and turned to the men at the table and said resolutely, “I can’t ignore Dean. I can’t and won’t put Karina in danger. I need to tell him something. But what? That’s the question. What can I tell Dean to tell Richard that will end this?”
“As much as I hate to say it,” Fletch said, “I don’t think anything you tell him will end his threats. He gets off on it.”
Kassie huffed out an exasperated breath and held her arms out, palms up. “Then what? I let him continue to threaten me forever? My sister?”
“Of course not,” Fletch said easily, not seeming to be irritated at all by her show of frustration. “You’ll feed Dean information, that he’ll give to Jacks, who will decide what will happen, then we’ll end this farce once and for all.”
The room was silent for a moment before Fish spoke. “Karina won’t be an issue. I’m already down in Austin. I’m officially getting discharged on Monday and free to keep an eye on her.”
Kassie gaped at him but before she could say anything, Truck said, “You’re done on Monday? Fucking awesome, man. Pleased for you.”
Fish gave the other man a chin
lift, but kept his eyes on Kassie. “When Hollywood isn’t around, I promise to keep my eye on you and your sister. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Dean isn’t a threat to you anymore. Not only that, but I guarantee you, Kassie, you will not have to worry about Richard Jacks after this is over.” There was a note of steel in his tone that made her absolutely believe him.
“Fish, don’t do anything stupid,” the commander stated quietly. “I know you’re not under my command, and technically you aren’t even employed by the United States of America anymore, so I can’t push anything you might do under the rug. The last thing you want is to end up in Leavenworth yourself.”
Fish turned then and looked at the older man. “I don’t know what you mean, sir. All I’m saying is that I’m sure my friends, and you, will figure out a way to stop Jacks from threatening Ms. Anderson in the future. Am I right?”
No one said a word for the longest time, before the commander cleared his throat and agreed. “You’re right.”
“All right then,” Fish said reasonably. “So what information are we gonna have Kassie give Dean to pass to Jacks?”
Kassie looked from the former badass secret soldier to the rest of the badass secret soldiers sitting around the table. If Hollywood hadn’t told her that he and his friends were Delta Force, she never would’ve guessed, but…she would’ve known to the marrow of her bones that they were different. More lethal. More dangerous than the average soldier.
Even though she wasn’t used to how they made decisions, there was just something about their mannerisms, and the way they spoke and planned, that screamed…competence.
“What did Dean say you were supposed to do the night of the ball?” Beatle asked.
Kassie took a deep breath and wandered back to her chair. Hollywood swiveled it for her and when she sat, turned it back and claimed her hand again.
“He said that I’d done well in getting Hollywood to ask me out. Wanted to know if I’d sent him naked pictures or something.”
“Fucker,” Hollywood said under his breath. “Asshole wouldn’t know a quality woman if she hit him in the ass. He probably can only get pussy if he pays for it.”
Rescuing Kassie: Delta Force Heroes, Book 5 Page 13
