Pitbull (SEAL Team Alpha Book 10)

by Zoe Dawson

  “Shut up! This is worse than the boner quiz.”

  Hollywood came into the kitchen and laughed out loud.

  The shock on Paige’s face was comical.

  “Boner quiz?” she repeated as if she was saying something foul.

  Hollywood grabbed his gut and threw his head back, and Kid did the same.

  Fuckers, Hemingway thought.

  Willow, Hollywood’s brave and beautiful wife, slipped her arm around Paige and smacked Hollywood as she passed. “Don’t mind them. They will never grow up.”

  “Boner quiz,” she repeated as she walked outside with Willow.

  Kid hung on Hollywood as the both of them walked out laughing. He was just glad that Willow was expounding on Hollywood’s boner info and he didn’t have to embarrass the hell out of himself.

  “Atticus?”

  He turned to find his dad standing in the doorway. “Geez, Dad. How long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough. I’m sure you don’t need a lecture from me about safe sex or boners?”

  “Oh, God. When does the bus leave?”

  His father chuckled as he came into the room. “I want you to do your best, make good decisions, and be true to the man you are.” His dad got choked up, and he wrapped his hand around Hemingway’s nape and pressed his forehead to his son’s. “Let us know how you’re doing when you can. You will always have family waiting for you. Don’t be a stranger.”

  Hemingway tried to hold back the emotion, but it burst inside him like fireworks. “I love you, Dad.”

  “You saved your sister’s life and showed them what kind of SEAL you’re going to be. I just wanted to tell you how freaking proud I am of you.”

  “Me too,” Paige said from the open sliding glass doors. She crossed the room, and he and his dad pulled her close.

  “That means the world to me,” Hemingway said, knowing that he would do his best, then pull out that extra ten percent and do more. He was going to pass BUD/S. His dream was his for the taking.

  As he held them, he thought about the man he’d killed. The first life he’d snuffed out and he couldn’t be sorry. He was standing between him and his mission, and that was all that mattered. He wouldn’t lose one ounce of sleep over the people who meant America and Americans harm. He was more than ready to take on the training, show them what he was made of, and kick ass. Petty Officer Atticus “Hemingway” Sinclair.

  Hoo-yah.

  Pitbull helped Samantha zip up her suitcase as Mark came into the hospital room. Both girls were being discharged, but Helen had some more healing to do before she could go home. She’d suffered a lot of bruises, a concussion, and a compound fracture to her ulna, the slim outside bone in her right arm that required surgery, but the airbag and seat belt saved her life.

  “Hey, Errol. I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Samantha, why don’t you help your sister finish getting her stuff together.”

  “Okay,” she said and moved over to her sister’s bed. Mak came into the room.

  Pitbull greeted her and she gave him a soft smile and squeezed his arm.

  “Helen would like to see you,” Mark said.

  Pitbull sighed.

  “I know. But she really wants to say something to you.”

  “All right.” He turned to Mak. “Could you watch the girls?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  They went to Helen’s room, and she was propped up in bed, her arm in a sling and her bruised face still a bit swollen.

  “Errol. Thank you for coming.”

  She looked at Mark, and her features softened, his smile and nod fortifying her.

  “I want to say I’m so sorry. I let my shame rule me, and I was awful to you…I almost killed us all.” Her voice hitched, and his good nature got the best of him as she sobbed. He walked to the bed and took her hand. She squeezed his in a death grip, her tear-filled eyes pleading with him to forgive her. “I told my parents everything and Mark too. They were so kind and supportive. I was a fool to think they would be disappointed in me.” He handed her a tissue, and she gave him a grateful look, wiping at her nose. Then she looked at Mark. “You tell him.”

  “I’ve taken a promotion here in San Diego instead of moving to LA and separating you from Samantha. I know with your schedule and your deployments, it was going to be a challenge to visit her.” He moved to the bed, and Pitbull let go of Helen’s hand so he could take it. “We—” He looked at her. “We decided that you should tell Samantha that she’s yours. We will support you and help her understand what happened on our end. We know your hours are unpredictable, so we’ll be flexible in custody of her. We’ll share her with joint custody. When you want to see her, let us know and we’ll adjust our schedule.”

  Pitbull’s throat got tight, and he looked away to compose himself. Looking back, he said, “That’s decent of you. Thank you.”

  “We thought you’d want to have her for a few days. Tell her in your own time and get her used to the idea that you’re her father. You can bring her to the hospital to visit her mom.”

  “Yes, I would love that. Thank you again.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” He kissed Helen on the mouth and followed Pitbull out of the room.

  “Thank you for your service. I know that sounds lame, but I mean it in the deepest way possible. My dad was in the Marines, and I was always proud of him. We want to put the past behind us. Helen and I want to start a new life with more kids.” He smiled. “I love her so much. I’ll see she never has to worry for anything again.”

  “I have no doubt.” Pitbull offered his hand, and Mark took it as they shook.

  Back in the hospital room with Samantha, Mark and Pitbull let her know that she was going to spend some time with Pitbull and Mak.

  They stopped by the barbeque to celebrate Paige’s and Chris’s return. Hemingway looked fit and well. Chris was there also, looking better than the last time he’d seen him.

  After the party, they went back to Pitbull’s apartment. He’d already told Mak what Mark and Helen had told him back in Helen’s hospital room. She told him she was going for a run so he could have some privacy with Samantha.

  “So, kiddo, you doing okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m glad Mommy’s okay. But I love spending time with you. You did promise.”

  “I did.” He patted the couch. “Come sit down. I need to talk to you.”

  “Okay.” She settled next to him, and he smiled.

  “Sometimes things happen, and they are out of our control. Do you understand what I mean?”

  “Yeah, like when my wagon went down the hill after I went over a bump and lost my hold.”

  “Yeah, like that.”

  “Sometimes things happen to people they don’t expect. Your Mommy and me had that happen to us a while ago. She and your daddy were having some problems and almost got divorced, but when she wasn’t with him anymore, we became friends and together we made you.”

  She blinked a couple times as he let her absorb what he was saying.

  “What does that mean? You—you’re my real daddy?”

  “I am your dad.”

  “Wow! Really?” She threw herself into his arms and held him tight around the neck. “I sometimes secretly wished you were my dad. My dad was mean to my mom and I didn’t like it or him. He hit hard.”

  He rocked her. “That’s all in the past, Samantha.”

  Mak came in the door, and he reached out his hand, and she came to sit on the coffee table. Samantha turned to look at her and smiled.

  “Your stepdad to be isn’t taking that job in LA. He’s staying here in San Diego. We’re going to get to have you every other week and visit on the weekends. How does that sound?”

  “Amazing. My wish came true! Do I get my own room?”

  He laughed and hugged her against him. “I suppose you want pink.”

  She stuck out her tongue and shook her head. “Nope. Blue. I like blue better. Especially the color of your T-Shi
rt. Navy blue.”

  “I think we can deal with that, right, Mak?”

  She nodded, and he pulled her onto the couch and snuggled his girls against him.

  Pitbull’s palms were sweaty when they made the trip up the walkway to get the full view of Iguaçu Falls. Even before they got a good look at them, the falls made themselves heard with billows of white foam steaming up out of the lush gorge in the distance.

  He reached into his pocket and made sure the little velvet box was there. He and Samantha had picked it out, and he was so amazed how well she’d kept the secret, but now she was almost bursting with it.

  He and Mak had moved in together, her three-bedroom home accommodating them all. They had transformed one of her spare bedrooms into a room for Samantha with a compromise of light gray walls with pops of navy blue, the ceiling navy as a compromise.

  He wanted to come back to Brazil where they had found each other, changing each other’s lives in such astounding ways. They had visited his parents in Wisconsin before heading to Brazil. His parents dropped the bomb that they were selling the farm and retiring to move to San Diego to be closer to him, his brothers, and their newfound grandchild. Samantha fell in love with them and the cows.

  It was mutual.

  She’d already met his brothers and loved them as well, marveling that her dad was a triplet.

  “Now?” she whispered to him, tugging on his sleeve.

  “Not yet,” he said, watching Mak get engrossed in the view of the falls. It was spectacular. As they approached, the sound was thunderous.

  “Wow, it’s a mountain of water,” Samantha said, her voice breathless.

  Mile-long curtains of water thundered, churned, and poured into multileveled pools. The play of light and water cast rainbows everywhere, saturated archways of color.

  “It’s so pretty,” Samantha said, then looked at him. “It’s perfect.”

  He nodded, laughing when she mouthed, Now?

  He took Mak’s hand to draw her attention away from the falls and onto him. When he went to one knee, she covered her mouth and glanced at Samantha. She went down on one knee too, and Mak’s eyes filled with tears of joy.

  He pulled out the box. “Makayla Littlestar. I can’t imagine my life with anyone but you.” He opened the box and she gasped. “Will you marry us?”

  She went down to her knees and gathered them close, holding on to them so tightly he thought his heart would burst. He had everything right here in his arms, and he had his brothers-in-arms at his back, fighting by his side. What more could he want?

  Mak finished up her paperwork and looked up. Kai was staring at her. “What?”

  “You’re humming.”

  “I’m not,” Mak said with a slight smile.

  Kai threw a Post-It at her, but Chris caught it on his way past. “You are humming. ‘Catch a Falling star,’ I think.” He glanced at Kai and lobbed the Post-It back at her, but she also caught it.

  “That’s it. That’s what she’s humming. ‘Catch a Falling Star.’”

  “I guess I am humming it. The last leg of our trip—”

  “Where you got engaged.” Kai was beaming.

  Chris smiled. “She loves that part of the story.”

  “Actually, no.” Mak sat back with a laugh. The flash of her ring, a band of diamonds, so elegant and simple, caught her eye. “When we went to Arizona to see my parents and brothers, we spent a lot of nights under the stars, and that song is one of my mom’s favorites. Samantha loved it and she sings it all the time now. It gets stuck in my head.”

  The trip had been so wonderful. The tribe had welcomed her back with open arms, the medicine man performing a “sing” or healing ritual. There were songs, prayers, dance, and sand painting to restore hózhó. It was a celebration that only solidified what was already in her heart.

  “She’s so cute,” Kai said.

  “She is, and smart as all get out.” She looked at her watch. “I’ve got to go. Pitbull is coming back today, and we’re going to the field to pick him up.”

  “Have fun.”

  Fifteen minutes later, she knocked at the door and Helen answered. She smiled and said, “Come in. She’s looking for her DS.” Then she went to the stairs and yelled. “Samantha? Maksy is here.”

  Mak smiled. About halfway through their trip, Samantha had started calling her Maksy and it had stuck.

  “Okay! I found my DS! Hi, Maksy! I’ll be right down.”

  Elise came into the hall and hugged her around the legs, and she reached down and swiped her hand over the little girl’s silky head.

  “Hi, sweetie.” Mak crouched down and pulled out a peppermint candy, and Elise took it with a winsome smile.

  “What do you say?”

  “Thank you, Maksy.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Elise kissed her on the cheek.

  “Errol is coming home today?”

  Mak looked up at Helen as she rose. “Yes, we’re going to get him at the field.”

  Helen’s eyes went a little unfocused, and she stood there for a minute. Mak wondered if she was thinking about her deceased husband. “What they do is so very important.”

  Mak nodded. “It is.”

  “I don’t miss it.”

  Mak smiled. “It’s not the best, but we manage.”

  “I have no doubt you do. You were made for each other.” That was the highest compliment the woman had ever paid her. It was good to see her and Mark happy. Mark was good for her.

  Samantha hopped down the last two stairs with her backpack and suitcase.

  Helen gathered her against her and kissed her. “You have fun with your dad and Maksy.”

  Samantha smiled. “I always do.”

  She chatted about school and one of her science projects while Mak drove. The anticipation of seeing Pitbull after a week was off the charts. She hated when he was gone but accepted it as part of who he was.

  When they drove through the gate and parked, she and Samantha got out. “Can I go talk to Ceri?”

  “Sure.” Mak waved to Jo, who waved back. She leaned up against the car, and it wasn’t long before the plane roared, coming into view as it gradually lowered in the sky until it touched the runway.

  The back of the plane opened up and men began to emerge. Fast Lane waved as he walked to his truck. Mad Max stopped with Jugs so Samantha and Ceri could pet him. 2-Stroke met a tall, steely-eyed man, and they got into his sleek black truck, two dirt bikes in the back. Saint and Dodger were laughing. Dragon and Pitbull came off together, Dragon peeling off toward his family.

  Samantha spied her dad and there was no stopping her as she sprinted toward him. He hugged her hard, his gaze finding Mak’s. He looked so good, scruffy and mussed. But still so handsome it hurt.

  He walked over, and she wrapped her arms around him. They kissed, then kissed again. “How did it go?”

  “It went. Got a bit hairy a couple of times, but we prevailed.” They went to get into the truck. “How about here?”

  “Same old same old.”

  “I’ve got something for you,” he said, pulling a folder out of his bag. He handed it to her. She opened it to find a short dossier on the two pilots.

  “Michael Davis.” The name of the pilot. She choked up. “Kevin Brown.” The co-pilot. She studied their service photos, their serious young faces hiding the courage they’d shown when the chopper went down. She looked over at Pitbull and said softly, “Thank you.”

  He nodded and held her hand all the way home.

  After dinner, Samantha said, “Daddy?”

  Mak knew that tone and so did Pitbull. He focused his attention on her, turning serious.

  “What if I want to change my name?”

  “To what?” Pitbull asked, and she gave him a seven-year-old impatient look. “To Ballentine. I am really a Ballentine.” Lifting her chin to look at him, she met his gaze with that level, grown-up look of hers. “So I think my last name should be changed.”

  Ma
k looked over at him, and she could tell this had really thrown him. She leaned over and said, “We are all going to be Ballentines. Right, babe?”

  He nodded as if he still couldn’t speak, then he cleared his throat, his voice husky when he responded in that same level tone. “We’ll have to talk to your mom about it, but you are a Ballentine.”

  Samantha shrugged. “I already told her, and she’s okay with it.” She didn’t say anything for a minute. “I reminded her that she changed her name when she married Mark. She understood.”

  “She said that? Without coercion?”

  “Yeah,” Samantha said and started clearing the table and that was that. After Samantha had done her homework and taken her bath, they had story time.

  “It’s Maksy’s turn to tuck me in.”

  He kissed her and turned off the light. The nightlight, a ball that projected on the ceiling, illuminated glowing white stars above them. They had compromised and painted the ceiling navy blue. It looked like a night sky.

  Mak tucked her in and kissed her on the cheek. Samantha hugged her. “I’m pretty lucky.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I have two moms and two dads. I love you, Maksy. Good night.”

  Mak had to give herself a minute before she could answer. Her voice wobbly, she responded, “I love you too. Good night.”

  Pitbull was waiting for her in their big bed. “You think you’re getting lucky tonight, sailor?”

  He chuckled. “It’s a definite possibility. You can’t keep your hands off me.”

  “Oh, would you like a little reality to go with that ego?”

  He laughed again. “It’s not ego. It’s confidence.”

  “Oh, is that what it is,” she said, her voice going husky as she closed and locked the door, removing her clothes in a slow striptease. “Did you miss me?”

  “Like hell, babe.”

  She walked to the bed and pulled the covers back. “You’re naked.” Smiling, she looked down the length of his body. “And happy to see me.”

  He grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. His mouth was on hers and she buried one hand in his silky hair. She’d never dreamed she could be so in love. In love with him, Samantha, and life.