Wed to a SEAL (Hot SEALs) (Volume 8) (20 page)
Read Wed to a SEAL (Hot SEALs) (Volume 8) Online
Authors: Cat Johnson
Hissing in a breath, Rocky cut his gaze to Izzy to make sure she was still occupied before saying, “No surprise there, I guess.”
“Nope. The only surprise was his when I opened the door.” Jon smiled.
“And how’d that go?”
“Pretty good. I went all out. Cardboard moving boxes broken down and stacked outside for recycling. More moving boxes inside. Newspaper and stuff all over the apartment like I was in the middle of unpacking. I answered the door in my underwear with a beer in my hand. It looked pretty convincing if I do say so myself.”
Rocky lifted his brow. “Yeah. I’d say so. So what did he say?”
“He said he was looking for the woman who lived there. I played dumb and said I’d just moved in, but that the landlord had told me his last tenant had taken all her stuff and skipped out on her lease without any notice. The beauty is, that’s pretty much the truth.”
Rocky shook his head. “Wow. You’re good. You think he bought it?”
“Judging by his cussing and storming away, I think he did. I wouldn’t move her back into the apartment though, just in case.”
“Yeah. About that . . . ” Time for the big reveal. “We’re gonna do this. Izzy and I are going to stay married. Live on base. Have more kids.”
Rocky finally lifted his eyes to meet Jon’s gaze.
The man was grinning. “I had a feeling that was where you were headed.”
“Really? Because I’m not even sure I knew where this was going until yesterday.”
Jon lifted one shoulder. “Sometimes it’s harder to see what’s close to us. You needed a little distance.”
“Yeah. Guess so.” Syria had sure provided plenty of distance. But it was the feeling of coming home to Izzy that had clinched it for him. He wanted that feeling every day for the rest of his life. “So anyway, I called and confirmed we’re on the list for our permanent housing assignment and I’m planning on going to Legal to see about adopting Lola.”
Jon smiled. “I’m happy for you guys.”
“Thanks. And just so you know the water’s fine, in case you’re thinking of taking the plunge yourself.” Rocky kept his voice low so the girls wouldn’t hear.
Even so, Jon shot a quick glance at Ali in the living room before answering, “I got a few things to straighten out first.”
“All right. I hear ya.” Rocky kept any further comment on the matter to himself.
He turned to glance toward the living room. Izzy caught his gaze and smiled. He couldn’t have controlled his own smile if he’d wanted to.
“So, you tell your parents yet that you got married and got yourself a kid all without telling them?”
Rocky leveled a glare at Jon as the man yanked him back to reality. “No, not yet. And thanks for reminding me.”
“Anytime.” Jon grinned. “That’s what friends are for.”
The tinkling sound of Isabel and Ali laughing in the living room caught his attention. She looked so happy she was practically beaming.
Still watching his wife and daughter, Rocky said, “So if I were to consider getting out in a couple of years—”
“You’ve got a job with GAPS whenever you’re ready. Hell, I’d be more than happy to have you.” Jon answered the unfinished question.
Rocky finally yanked his gaze off Izzy and turned to Jon. “Thanks. Good to know.”
EPILOGUE
“The training’s going well.” The guilt of the lie he told his wife sat heavily in Rocky’s chest.
Through the cell phone pressed closely to his ear he heard Izzy draw in a breath. “Okay. Be careful. I love you.”
“Will do and I love you more. Talk soon and kiss Lola for me. Bye.” He disconnected the call and glanced at Jon.
The moon lit the night just enough Rocky could see Jon’s brows were lifted high. “Training, huh?”
Rocky shrugged. “What was I supposed to tell her? That my friend and I are roughing up her ex-boyfriend so he leaves town?”
Things had been going so well for them. In the past week Isabel had enrolled at the local college and they’d scheduled their first counseling session with the base chaplain—part of the deal for the man to perform their ceremony on such short notice.
Everything was moving in the right direction except for Tito. He hadn’t moved on at all, as evidenced by the fact he and two of his men were still hanging around the area.
Jon held up his hands, palms forward. “Dude. I’m not judging.”
Rocky rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We doing this?”
Jon snorted out a short laugh. “We’re all just waiting on you.”
He blew out a breath and nodded to the six-man team of GAPS operatives Jon—going above and beyond to help—had assembled.
GAPS had grown beyond the small group of Jon’s former SEAL teammates. Rocky didn’t even know some of the guys currently leaning on the vehicle waiting for Jon’s order.
They were all geared up for what looked more like war than just roughing up a couple of Miami thugs holed up in a Virginia Beach motel.
Business being slow this time of year for the owner of this place was working in their plan’s favor. There were two other cars in the lot, parked all the way down at the other end of the building. Only one other room of the eight-unit motel had lights on inside.
“All right. Let’s move.” Rocky reached to pull the mask down over his face, pausing long enough to say, “Remember, I get Perez.”
Jon pulled his own mask down. “You can have all three if you want. We’re just here to back you up.”
That was fine with Rocky, as long as he was the one to put the fear of God into that bastard who’d hurt Izzy.
Jon gave the signal and the team moved in, stacking up three deep on each side of the room’s doorway as Rocky had the pleasure of breaking down the cheap door.
It seemed like overkill as the team moved in on the three shocked men. In white undershirts, with their shoes and gun belts off, they’d obviously settled in for the night.
Too bad for them.
Rocky moved in on the man he recognized as Tito Perez from his mug shots. As the team subdued the two others with little effort, Rocky delivered a single punch to Tito’s face.
He heard the crunch as bones cracked and blood flew.
Tito cradled his nose in both hands, muffling his voice as he delivered a string of words Rocky knew enough Spanish to recognize as curses.
Finally, Tito said through what had to be a mouthful of blood, “What the fuck? Who are you?”
This was the part where Rocky had to employ his acting skills. He couldn’t say what he really wanted to—that if Tito didn’t leave Izzy alone Rocky would have no problem taking him out completely. But this area having its share of drug and gang problems gave him a good ruse to get Tito out of town.
“My boss says you’ve overstayed your welcome, Perez. This is his territory. You and your friends need to leave. Tonight.”
Tito frowned as the blood pouring from his broken nose soaked the front of his formerly white T-shirt. “Who’s your boss?”
“If you don’t know that, then you’re stupider than you look.”
“I’m here to get my girl back.” Tito’s words stole Rocky’s control.
Rocky channeled the rage. He had this guy right where he wanted him. Bleeding and broken, looking scared at the business end of a semi-automatic with Rocky’s finger on the trigger.
Remembering he was in charge here, Rocky gathered his composure and snorted out a laugh. It wasn’t hard. Tito really was laughable as he cowered on the bed making excuses.
“You keep making pussy a priority instead of business it’s no wonder you’re still a two-bit thug. Maybe my boss should do you a favor and take over your territory in Miami. Huh, Perez?”
Rocky heard Jon chuckle behind him.
Maybe the performance was a little over the top, but Tito needed a wake-up call. If this didn’t hit so close to home and his wife’s fear of this man wasn’t a constant presence on his mind, Rocky might have really enjoyed this little encounter.
Tito shot a quick glance at his two men, who hadn’t said a word. Not surprising. Two of Jon’s team had them each in a headlock while the others covered the room with their weapons.
“Okay.” Tito nodded, wiping at the blood under his nose. “We’ll leave tonight.”
Rocky nodded. “See that you do.”
Another surge of victory-fueled adrenaline hit Rocky hard as he backed toward the doorway.
“Take their weapons,” Jon ordered, taking control of the room now that Rocky was visually sweeping the motel’s lot to make sure their exfil was clear.
As per their training, the entire thing took barely five minutes.
With two men left behind in a vehicle parked off on the edge of the lot to make sure Tito did indeed do as he’d promised and left town, Rocky sat in the passenger seat of the SUV as Jon drove him and the rest of the team away from the scene.
“You did good.” Jon shot him a grin.
“Thanks.” He’d rather be shooting bullets than shooting his mouth off but it had all worked out.
A call came through the cell phone connected to Jon’s dashboard Bluetooth. He hit the button on the steering wheel to answer the call. “Rudnick.”
“Perez and his men just got into their car.”
“Good. Follow them to the state line and check in with me if anything changes.”
“Got it, boss.”
Jon hit the button to disconnect and shot Rocky another glance. “That didn’t take them long. Looks like we’re good.”
“Yeah. Thanks for everything.” Rocky turned to look at the three guys crammed in the back seat. “All of you.”
Jon grinned. “You’re welcome. It was good training for everyone.”
Speaking of training . . . Rocky remembered his lie to Isabel. He pulled his cell out of a pocket in his tactical vest and glanced at the readout.
Jon caught the move and smiled. “Go ahead. Call her and tell her you’re on your way home. I think we’re done for tonight.”
Rocky blew out a shaky breath, fighting the adrenaline that still gripped him. He hit redial and pressed the phone to his ear.
When Isabel answered, he said, “Hey, baby. I’m coming home.”
If you enjoyed this story please consider leaving a review and don’t miss the rest of the Hot SEALs!
Jon and Ali are finally tying the knot…or are they? Find out in
Romanced by a SEAL
, next up in the Hot SEALs series. Keep flipping to read the preview and remember to sign up at
catjohnson.net/news
for new release alerts. And in case you missed it, read how Jon met and fell in love with Ali in
Night with a SEAL
.
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