Page 66 of Ex-SEAL Bad Boy

I’m a little surprised when I am allowed to go free at the end of the questioning. The feds are clearly locked in on bringing charges against my parents and are willing to go to any lengths to get it.

I drive around Washington for a little while, partly to clear my head.

It’s a little bit strange that, having grown up a metaphorical stone’s throw from the capital, I’ve never visited the city,other than for high school football games against some of the suburban schools in the area.

Looking up at some of the hulking neo-classical granite structures, I have to wonder how many people in them have ever worked for my parents. Apparently a lot more than I ever suspected.

I also visit the war memorials for World War II and the Vietnam War, two of the most prominent on the mall. I wonder if there will ever be one for those of us who fought in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Perhaps it’s still too fresh in the minds of those who create these memorials, but I know that I lost friends there, and they deserve to be remembered. They are certainly more worthy of being remembered than I ever will be.

I turn around for home with some trepidation. There is still the matter of attempting to repair my friendship with the brother of the woman I’ve only truly ever loved.

26

SOPHIA

It’s been several weeks since Ethan returned from D.C. a free man, hopefully for good.

There’s been remarkably little blowback from our adventure.

That’s not to say, I don’t ever look over my shoulder or wonder if I’m being watched.

Comes with the territory, I guess.

The words that Ethan muttered to me in the shower that last day on the run keep resonating within my brain.

You make me want to be a better human being.

I always say I never want to try to change a man, but what if he does so of his own accord?

It makes me feel special to have inspired that within him.

For the time being, Ethan has decided to stay at the family compound. It’s home for him, and since his parents are sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial, he doesn’t have to worry about them being around.

He’s still staying in the beachfront cottage rather than in the main house, and I can’t say I blame him. It’s much nicer.

I’ve moved in with him, although it’s not exactly what you’d imagine.

I have my own bedroom and bathroom.

It’s actually because I’ve just started my new marketing job in Virginia Beach, and his place is closer to work than my parents’ place.

Obviously, the situation between them and Ethan is still tense, but I think they’re coming around. As more and more dominoes begin to fall, and they are forced to admit none of it would have been possible without him, they tend to soften their position.

And it makes me happy.

Liam, on the other hand, is keeping his distance.

I try not to hold that against him. If my best friend took my brother and put him in a life-threatening situation, I’d probably be furious as well.

Speaking of best friends, Melanie has come around to accepting that Ethan and I are a couple and has even invited us to go out to dinner with her and her new boyfriend. I never did tell her about how Ethan described his breakup with her sister, and probably won’t do so. She thinks he’s just changed for the better, and in some ways, I guess he has.

Some things that happened in the past need to stay in the past.

Graham continues to call Ethan, begging him to come work for him, even going so far as to offer him a position as director, but Ethan believes it’s too much like what his parents were doing, putting their thumb on the political scales for their own benefit.

Graham is not a bad guy, and he doesn’t seem to be doing anything malicious, but that whole thing is a complete turn-off for Ethan at this point. Besides, he has no intention of popping up on the radar of the federal government for any reason.

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