Protecting Jessyka (SEAL of Protection) (Volume 6) (22 page)

With her words, Benny knew Jess was going to be all right. He didn’t see any angst in her eyes at taking Brian’s life. He knew it might hit her later and she might feel remorseful, but he was thankful she wasn’t broken as a result. He’d still suggest she get counseling until they were both a hundred percent sure she was okay, but for now he was relieved as all get out that she seemed to be okay. Benny kissed her forehead and brought her back into his hold. “You’ll get your night, gorgeous. I promise.” After a beat he asked, “How much pain are you in?”

“On a scale of one to ten?” Jess asked groggily, snuggling deeper into his arms.

“Yeah, on a scale of one to ten.”

“Around a twelve.”

Benny made a distraught sound in his throat and made like he was going to get out of bed.

“If you move one inch I’m going to have to hurt you,” Jess grumbled, tightening her arms around him. “Yes, I hurt. But all I want to do is lie here with you. Feel you against me. I didn’t know if I’d ever have this again. I took the pills, they’ll kick in soon enough. I’ll be okay. Please, Kason. Give me this. I
need
this. I promise I’ll feel better when we get up. I haven’t run in years and my body is reminding me why I shouldn’t go on long romantic walks or run through the woods away from a crazy psychotic asshole. Please? Just hold me?”

“If it’s not better later, you’re going to the doctor.”

“Promise. Thank you. I love you.”

“And I love you too, gorgeous.” Benny kissed her on the top of the head. “Sleep. Tomorrow, well later today, we’ll start the rest of our lives together.”

“That sounds good.”

Benny held Jessyka as she fell asleep. He knew they had a lot to figure out in the next few days. The team had to give their statements to the police. Jess would have to continue to deal with the legal ramifications of having killed Brian. Benny didn’t think it’d be an issue based on how Brian had hurt her before. Benny also hoped there would be some evidence in his townhouse about his drug activities.

They’d also have to deal with Tammy. If what Brian had told Jessyka was true, she was just as guilty in the pimping out of her daughter as Brian was. Benny also knew Jess would have to psychologically deal with everything she’d learned that night. They’d spent the last few hours hyped up on adrenaline and he knew she hadn’t had time to process everything that had happened.

But Benny figured she’d be all right. Everything he’d told her tonight was true. Jess was tough and smart and she’d done well in trusting Tex to bring his team to their rescue. She’d been put in a horrible situation that neither he, nor any of the other guys had even thought about. They hadn’t thought someone would use
them
to lure the more vulnerable women into a dangerous situation. They’d have to do some soul searching about that. They’d all thought tracking the women would keep them safe, but it was obvious they’d missed the huge flaw in that thinking. Brian was an idiot, but he’d managed to find the one thing that would present Jessyka to him as if on a silver platter. Jess had done the best she could in a fucked up situation, and the bottom line was that she’d trusted Tex and the rest of the team to get to both of them in time. Thank god they had.

Benny held Jess long into the morning as the room slowly brightened. He watched her breathe in and out and he never felt happier. She was alive. He was alive. They loved each other. He felt like the luckiest man alive.

Chapter Twenty

“You know you were a bonehead, right?” Wolf asked Benny, completely relaxed with one arm thrown over Caroline’s shoulders as they sat at a table in
Aces
a week after Benny’s kidnapping.

“Shut it,” Benny responded to his team leader and friend.

“Seriously,” Dude joined in, not willing to let it go. “I wasn’t allowed to go into that basement and get Shy out by myself, I don’t know why you think
you’re
superman or something and could rush in singlehandedly and save your woman.” Dude’s words were teasing, but they all knew there was more than a kernel of truth to them.

“Look, I could sit here and give you all a load of shit about how I thought I had it under control and how it wouldn’t have been a big deal if I hadn’t been taken by surprise, but we all know that’s a load of crap. I fucked up. I admit it. I should’ve immediately called one of you, or hell, even Tex, to see what the situation was. I’ve been trained better than that. Hell, if anyone on one of my teams did that shit I’d have blown a gasket on them.”

Benny looked down at Jess. She had one hand resting on his thigh and he could feel the heat from her hand burning into his leg. He almost lost her. She’d had to do the unthinkable and kill a man, because he ignored all his training and leaped before he looked. “All I can say is that when Brian said that Jess was in danger, I could think of nothing but getting to her as fast as I could.”

His teammates all nodded, knowingly. They’d all been there. They understood better than anyone else. “But I’ve learned my lesson. No more lone wolf shit from here on out. Even if, God forbid, this happens again. We’re a team. Always. We all need each other. I won’t forget again.”

“See that you don’t,” was Abe’s response. His harsh words were tempered with a smile. Benny relaxed, glad the well-deserved ass kicking was out of the way.

“I have no idea how I got so lucky to be sitting here with all of you today,” Jessyka told the men and women around her honestly and with emotion clear in her voice. “I mean, I always knew the military was a close-knit group, but I had no idea it’d be like this.”

When Caroline went to say something, Jess held up her hand to stop her and continued speaking. “I saw you week after week in the bar. I watched as each of you guys,” she motioned to the men, “found a woman who was perfect for you. Abe, you always put the women you dated first, but they obviously didn’t care about you. Then you found Alabama. I watched as she made sure you had refills of your beer, she ordered you food when you came to the bar after working all day, she even made you go home before everyone else when she knew you were tired.”

Jess watched as Alabama leaned her head against Abe’s shoulder and he kissed the top of it and turned his attention back to her. “And you, Cookie. You had to go all the way to Mexico to find Fiona, but you were tenacious in your quest to make sure she always felt safe. In return, she always does her best to give you what you need, whether that be giving you the chair against the wall, or a shoulder rub when you’re tense. Mozart, you were suffering. You held a grudge against everyone and it was obvious to see. Summer helped you let that go and cling to love instead. In the end, your love for her was more important than revenge for yourself.”

Jessyka hurried to finish. The looks the guys were giving her were going to make her start bawling any second now.

“And Dude, I know you never realized it, but you never used your left hand for anything, you always kept it in your lap. You didn’t realize that the fact you only have part of a hand didn’t mean jack squat to anyone around you, and if it did, they weren’t good enough for you anyway. Cheyenne was made for you. She never saw you as incomplete or wounded. She only sees your heart.

“Caroline, you and Wolf were the catalyst that started all of this.” At their looks of amusement she continued. “I know, you think I’m crazy, but I wanted to be just like you guys. The other guys here did too. They saw what a good, healthy relationship was supposed to be like. Shortly after you moved here, the rest of the guys stopped being such horn dogs and started paying attention to what they really wanted in their lives.

“I knew you were all friends, but I thought that was as far as it went. I had no idea that not only are you all friends, you’re family as well. I wanted to be a part of this, but never in a million years dreamed I would be, not like this.” Jess turned to Kason. “I love you so damn much. I’d do anything for you. I’d walk right into the hands of a crazy psycho every day of my life if it meant keeping you safe.”

Benny growled at her and leaned over and lifted Jess into his lap so she was sitting sideways and still facing their friends.

Jess continued talking from within Kason’s arms. “I used to think that therapy was for wimps.” When Hunter looked like he was going to say something, Jess continued quickly. “And I thought I’d be fine after what happened . . . but thanks to Fiona urging me, and some soul searching, I’ve realized that it’s okay to need to talk to someone about what happened. My situation is way different than Fiona’s, and Alabama’s, and Summer’s and even yours, Cheyenne, but just because I find talking to the doctor about what I did, and what Brian and his sister did, soothing, doesn’t mean I’m crazy or that I’ll need to see a shrink for the rest of my life. I have more respect for the eleven of you sitting around this table than I ever have for anyone in my entire life.”

Jessyka took a deep breath, glad she’d said what she needed, and wanted, to say before anyone could interrupt her. The couple of visits to Fiona’s therapist had helped a lot, even though she didn’t think, at first, she needed to see her. She’d most likely continue to see her to talk through everything that happened, but for now, she was good with everything.

“I think, however, that we’ve all had enough drama in our lives. Can we please, maybe, just live like normal people without being lost, kidnapped, or used for someone’s revenge for at least a few weeks? I mean, what else could we go through?” Jess finished exasperatedly.

Everyone moaned and shook their heads.

“Jesus, Jess, you can’t say that shit,” Cookie groaned. “Seriously, you’ve just jinxed us.”

“No way, we’re through. We’re destined to live easy-going normal lives from here on out. After all, we’ve all found men of our own, we’re good,” Caroline said this as if she was laying down the law.

“That’s true. Now that we’ve found our men and settled down, we shouldn’t have any more drama,” Cheyenne agreed with Caroline.

“We haven’t all found our mate though,” Jess pointed out.

“Uh, I hate to burst your bubble, gorgeous, but none of us are letting you girls go. You’re stuck with us,” Benny said while nuzzling the side of Jess’s neck.

“Tex,” Jessyka said matter-of-factly. “He’s a defacto part of this team too. And from what I understand, he isn’t with anyone.”

The group was silent for a moment, then Dude spoke up. “Hon, we haven’t really sat down with Tex and talked through any of this shit, but he’s even more sensitive about his leg than I am with my hand.”

It was true. Tex talked a good game when it came to the prosthetic he wore ever since he’d been medically retired from the Navy, but everyone was aware that he joked a little too much about how he was crippled and laughed when women turned him down once they found out about his injury.

“But Dude, Tex is a part of this team. He
has
to find his perfect match. Face it, if we all somehow found each other, he will too.” Jess leaned back against Benny, resting her head on his shoulder and her cheek on his chest. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and idly played with his hair at the nape of his neck. “I don’t know how, and I don’t know where, but you guys have all said it yourself. Tex can find anyone no matter what. I have a good feeling about this. He’ll find his woman, one way or another.”

* * *

Thousands of miles away, on the other side of the country, Tex tapped rapidly on his keyboard.

Mel? Are you there? Haven’t heard from you in a while.

After a few minutes with no response, Tex tried again.

I’m worried about you. Please. Talk to me. I miss your sarcasm. ;)

When there was still no response, Tex tried one last time to connect with the woman he’d been chatting with online for the last few months.

If you don’t answer me, I’m going to have to do something drastic to make sure you’re all right. I know you never wanted to talk on the phone, or exchange photos, but I have to know you’re okay. I’ve already given you my cell number, please call me.

Tex got up and adjusted his prosthetic before walking into his kitchen to grab something to eat for dinner. He brought his plate back into his computer room and glanced over the three monitors sitting on his desk, then he looked over at the GPS coordinates that were constantly displayed on a map. He smiled. All his friends, and their women, were currently at
Aces
, most likely eating and hanging out as friends did.

Tex loved each and every one of them, and he was pleased he played a part in keeping them together. Using his computer and his skills to track people down, made him feel good, when most days he didn’t feel very worthy. He’d missed feeling as if he was part of a team when he retired. He lost the adrenaline rush that came from successfully completing a mission when he’d left.

He’d been cut off from everything he’d loved and hadn’t had a chance to figure out what he was going to do with his life. The Navy had been his life. But he’d always been good with computers. And between his computer skills and some of the nefarious people he’d met in his life, he’d found his new niche.

If he felt jealous of his friends and the wonderful women they’d found to spend the rest of their lives with, Tex would never let on.

Tex thought back to the conversation he’d had with Jess, Benny’s woman, the other night. She’d called to thank him for noticing so quickly something was weird the night Benny had been used as a lure to get her out of
Aces
. She’d ranted and raved at him that it was asinine to only track the women. She’d had a compelling argument, telling Tex that if he’d been tracking Benny the night he’d been kidnapped by her crazy ex, she never would’ve had to put herself in danger.

When Jess had put it that way, Tex couldn’t disagree with her. Thus, the six big bad Navy SEALs he’d gotten to know very well over the last months, were now all owners of shiny new tracking devices.

The men had balked about wearing the trackers when they were out of the country on a mission, but Tex had pointed out that he was the only one who knew about the devices, and it couldn’t hurt to have the extra protection when they were in foreign countries doing the dirty work that was too dangerous for most other military teams. They’d agreed to put the devices in their packs as a concession. Tex wanted to point out that packs could be lost or stolen, but the women had been so relieved, he’d dropped it.