Formatted Seal Of Honor edit2 (4 page)

“She, and it’s December first. We wil be doing the four-dimension sonogram,” Jordyn said with

a smile. “A picture of her face for my baby book.”

“You make sure to bring it by and show me. We’l have a cup of mint pineapple tea and some

sugar cookies.” Mrs. Pond smiled. “Maybe now this one won’t be a Grinch and he’l decorate his

house for the holidays.”

“I’l ask him nicely, and I’l bring the picture for you to see,” Jordyn teased. “May I ask why you

read in your pineapple grove? There are better shaded areas to sit and relax.”

“Oh, honey, I’m not relaxing. I’m reading to the fruit,” Mrs. Pond explained. “They like a spicy

romance once in a while. Bye, youngsters, go put her feet up.” Mrs. Pond walked back in the

direction of the grove.

“Told you…nutty,” Zack muttered and Jordyn elbowed him in the ribs.

“Be nice. I like her,” she said.

“I do too, but it’s stil weird that she reads to fruit,” he said and steered her inside. “You go rest

and I’l forage for our dinner like a good man should.”

“I could get used to this,” she cal ed as she went down the hal .

“I hope you do because I plan to do it a lot,” he yel ed back to her and she laughed as she went

into the master bedroom.

It was so natural to kick off her shoes and slide into his bed like she was meant to be there al

her life. She rubbed her bel y as the baby flip-flopped while she got settled. “Shh now, Marianne, let

Mommy sleep for a bit.” It seemed she had picked a name and it was completely off the list she had

formed in her head. Sergei had given her the gift of life and in a weird way he sent her on the path

she was on now. The plane ticket gave her the opportunity to meet Zack and now he was going to be

Marianne’s daddy and somehow she knew Sergei would be happy for them and that they were

protected. She fel asleep with her arms curved around her bel y and a smile of contentment on her

face.

* * * *

The sun setting over the crystal blue water of the sea was breathtaking. The orange glow

danced across the rippling, lazy waves. The color blended with the gray-green foam and the water

droplets that looked like diamonds surged towards the soft sand. Her feet sank into the sand that

was stil warm from the sun of the day and the water ran across her feet. Zack held her hand and they

talked in soft tones while they strol ed. He’d given her a pair of his PT shorts and a tank shirt to wear

in the water since she didn’t have a bathing suit. Jordyn thought she looked ridiculous in the clothes

that were too big even though she was pregnant. But when Zack kissed her until her toes tingled and

told her she was perfect, she no longer minded how she thought she might look. How could one man

be so perfect? He was gentle, kind, passionate and lit a fire in her she thought never existed.

She had loved Sergei, but he never made her feel the way Zach did. Maybe it was working

towards that, maybe she didn’t know him long enough. She would never know. She recal ed wishing

for a prince charming when she was growing up, hoping for someone to whisk her away and save

her from a life where she felt unwanted, a life in foster care.

In high school she figured out real y quickly that guys saw girls like her who lived in a government

home as a trick, a quick lay but not much more. They’d whisper sweet words but then take the good

girls to the prom and on dates. The foster home girls were the ones they tried to have sex with in the

park. It happened to her once but never happened again, but when you’re eighteen and foster care

turns you out on the streets, you find a place to keep warm even if it means sleeping on the couch of

some stranger. Finding work was hard, saving up money was even harder just to try to get your own

place and maybe go to community col ege. While on their walk on the beach, while digging their toes

in the soft sand, she revealed it al to Zack and he did the same. They formed an even closer bond

by sharing what they had gone through growing up. He had two homes now and fancy things, yet he

had just as screwed up a childhood as she did.

Jordyn steered the topic of conversation to a lighter one. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Mint green,” he answered.

She laughed. “Mint green? That’s very specific.”

“It’s not as dark as hunter green and not a milky weird pastel,” Zack explained. “What’s yours?”

“Rich dark red, think velvet royal drapes the color of deep red wine,” Jordyn said. “I saw the

movie
Anna and the King
and fel in love with al those rich red tapestries. For a long time, I wanted

to move to China and become an English teacher.”

“Lucky for me that didn’t happen. I’d have hated to have roamed the world looking for you,” Zack

said.

She laughed. “You wouldn’t have known me,” she pointed out.

“But my heart would’ve felt a piece of it was missing and I would have searched until I saw your

eyes, then I would have known instantly you were the one.” Zack wrapped his hand around her

shoulders and kissed her temple.

Jordyn sighed. “You say the nicest things.”

“I just tel the truth,” Zack said. “Okay, let’s swim before the sun goes down any further.”

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she said hesitantly.

“I’l hold on to you tight, I promise. Trust me,” he said.

The thing was that she did trust him and Jordyn fol owed him into the water and, true to his word,

Zack held on tight. With her back to his chest, he put his hands under her arms and braced her

easily while she lifted her feet. He helped her to float and al the while his hands were at her back. An

hour later, they got out of the water and he wrapped her in a thick, warm towel and put one around

himself. Jordyn had to admit he was right. The tension in her back from the pregnancy had eased

quite a bit.

They walked the few blocks back and were coming up the sidewalk talking when they noticed a

car in the driveway. A black sedan with tinted windows. Fear instantly clutched at her chest. Zack

slowed his steps and stuck her securely behind him.

“Stay close to me, and if anything happens head up through the grove to Mrs. Pond’s, then cal

the police as wel as the MPs on base. I programmed the number into your phone,” he said in a low

voice.

“Zack, I can’t leave you here!” she whispered urgently.

“Do as I say, Jordyn. I can take care of myself, but I can’t if I’m worrying about you.” His voice

was harsh even though he kept his voice low. He looked down at her for a moment and those ice

blue eyes were deadly.

Two men and a woman got out of the car. Jordyn recognized Sergei’s mother instantly. Zack

moved toward them, but instructed Jordyn quietly to stay far enough away and facing in the direction

of Mrs. Pond’s pineapple grove.

“This is private property. I’l ask you to leave now,” Zack said.

The woman smiled before speaking in a heavy accent. “I’m sorry for the intrusion, but this is my

daughter in law and she is carrying my grandchild. We’ve been very worried about her.”

“I was never married to Sergei and is trashing my apartment how you show worry?” Jordyn said.

“Oh, my goodness, your apartment was broken into? Oh, my dear, you should have come to

me,” Sergei’s mother said. “You and my grandchild are my—”

“First off, cut the crap,” Zack interjected harshly. “Let’s get things straight. This is my wife, and

the baby she is carrying is mine. You have no claim on her, only the thought that the child may be your

son’s. No court is going to hold that up. Secondly, you’re a dime bag mobster and, trust me, the cops

and I know your name and the games you play.”

“Real y? Then you know the damage I can do. Hawaii is an island with few resources to stop

me,” Sergei’s mother said. Her voice was now cold. “If you want her, keep her. She means nothing to

me, but I wil have my grandchild.”

“You think Hawaii has few resources, huh, that it is just ful of little islanders?” Zack smiled

slowly, deadly. “Let me enlighten you. I’m not just some scared little immigrant you can terrorize. I’m

Commander Zack Hennessey, United States Navy and a SEAL. What that means is that when I step

into my house I’l be cal ing military personnel and tel ing them of your little visit. They wil in turn

contact the Oahu special task force and then New York and then the ICE authorities.”

The older woman opened her mouth to speak and Zack cut her off. “Shut up!”

The two men stepped forward and he snarled. “Try it and see how hard I put you down. The thing

about Navy SEAL training is that I’m trained for various types of warfare and, trust me, I have no

problem crushing your skul into my driveway. I won’t hesitate for a second defending my wife from

scum like you.”

Jordyn looked up at Zack and his face was set like it was sculpted from stone. It was amazing

that just a little while ago he was being so gentle with her, because right now the man that stood with

his arm protectively blocking her was as dangerous as they come.

“You’d keep me from my grandchild? What kind of man are you?” she screeched.

“You’re as much a grandmother as Hitler was a nice guy,” Zack snapped. “You live a life

steeping fear into other people for your gain. Instead of grieving and moving on, you threaten a

pregnant woman and imply ripping the child—her child—from her womb. I’m going to tel you this,

you may be stupid enough to come back or send your goons, but you wil fail.”

Zack stepped closer, not caring about her two bodyguards. His hands were clenched against

his side, but he raised a finger to point at them. “My promise to you is this, if you ever come back

here, if Jordyn so much as fal s and scratches her knee, if our child catches a cold and I feel it’s your

fault, I’m coming for you.

“You don’t want to be on my scope because I’m trained not to be seen. I’l find you, I’l find your

family's family and the family of that family and every extended person you have ever helped, gave

money to or sat down to dinner with. I wil inflict so much suffering on your house you’l reel from it.”

Zack turned his gaze to each of her bodyguards. “Starting with you two. I have the means to find and

crumble your little organization, so think on that as you get the fuck off my property.”

Sergei’s mother looked at him for the longest time, as if she was trying to gauge how serious he

was. Jordyn noticed that Zack never blinked, his face never changed and his body stance never

wavered. Whatever she saw in his eyes must’ve terrified the older woman because she visibly

swal owed and when she fixed the scarf thrown over her shoulder, her hands shook.

“This may not be over,” she said and stuck her nose in the air as she turned back to the car.

“I think it is. Go home, Brighton Beach Dame, and know that you’re now on the radar of both

military and government agencies.” Zack smiled coldly. “And even worse, there’s me.”

She flicked her hands at her bodyguards and they hustled to get her back into the sedan. Zack

watched them head down his driveway before his stance changed and his body visibly relaxed.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Jordyn nodded. “What if they come back?”

Zack took her hand and they continued up to his house. “She won’t be coming back. Man or

woman, I’ve dealt with people like that and the ones to worry about keep my gaze. She told on

herself, she looked away, she’s thinking on the possibility of losing everything she has and the

people who could testify against her. She’l go home and try to shore up her defenses and feel

secure.”

“But she isn’t going to be able to do that, is she?” Jordyn prodded. “I feel so sorry for the people

she has under her thumb in New York.”

“Hel no, I’m not letting her go back to being a terror in New York or anywhere else. Her

organization wil fal . The cops and other law enforcement wil start building a case against her.

Surveil ance insider people who are brave enough wil talk. Trust me, we’l be seeing her on the news

in handcuffs before the end of next year.”

“God, that’s good. Sergei said she was a real y bad woman. If her son was afraid of her,

imagine everyone else,” Jordyn said.

“You don’t have to worry anymore, sweetheart. You and I, we’re going to be just fine, I swear it.”

Zack pul ed her into his arms and looked down at her. “Do you believe me?”

“More than anything in the world.” Jordyn smiled. “I’m glad you walked into the coffee shop,

Zack.”

“Wanna know a secret?”

Jordyn nodded.

“I never went to the Java Hut before. I usual y got my coffee on base, but that morning I was

running late and just stopped in for a quick fix.” Zack grinned. “But when I met you, I forgot about

Starbucks and stopped in to see you every day.”

“Then I’m glad you cheated on Starbucks with the Java Hut,” she teased. “You’re a coffee floozy.

”

“To be with you, I’d be anything,” he said. “Now, let’s get showered and have some ice cream.”

“Zack, promise me this wil work out. I’ve had so many tarnished princes that I don’t think I could

deal with another.” Jordyn sighed as he unlocked the door and walked her down the hal . “Maybe it’s