Page 16 of Ex-SEAL Bad Boy

“Ah, yes, about that,” father announces, unruffled. “While I admire your spirit, your family needs you now. That always takes priority.”

Over the next half-hour or so, my father lays out the situation that he had been discussing with the family lawyer.

It seems that one of his clients, Harrison Whitmore III, a wealthy but somewhat reclusive industrialist, has a fondness for younger women, in fact, very much younger. His latest conquest has just turned eighteen.

As it turns out, the young woman, identified only as Lena, became pregnant and was now threatening to cause a huge scandal.

She was willing to give up the baby, but she was not going to let the father have custody (and he wasn’t about to fight for custody lest his predilection be discovered).

She insisted that her baby be adopted by a young, loving couple who had the resources to properly take care of the child. She also insisted on meeting the couple before agreeing to the adoption.

After the adoption, the couple agrees to allow the birth father to adopt the child from them.

“That’s where you come in, Ethan,” my father explains.

“That’s great and all,” I say, “but as you may have noticed, I’m not a young couple. I don’t even have a girlfriend.”

“Surely, you have a bevy of young ladies who would be delighted to do this little acting job with you, particularly if they know there’s a little something in it for them,” he reasons.

I shake my head. As low as I know my parents are willing to go, this would have to be a record, even for them.

Not only is what they are proposing illegal – and unethical for their lawyer – a young girl’s life is at stake here.

“I know you must feel sorry for the girl,” my father explains, “but think of it this way. This young girl is in a bind, she has no future if she decides to keep this child.”

“If she gives it up to a couple that is willing to pay the adoption fee she is demanding, it will set her up for life, and she can move on free of guilt. She never has to learn of the second adoption.”

“The birth father gets to keep his child because it is, after all, his child too. He can certainly provide everything that a child will need, the best shelter, schools, medical care, the works.”

“Plus, for assisting the father, we receive a handsome reward, of which you will be entitled to a large cut.”

My father makes a compelling case. Yes, it’s a very ethically murky situation and seems wrong on so many levels. At the same time, it’s hard to argue that the child would be in a better situation in any other scenario.

I had encountered situations in combat where the choice is between the lesser of two evils.

Do I shoot the woman who may be concealing a suicide vest beneath her burka, knowing that it will orphan her two children?

What if she is just going to market? It’s a difficult situation, and you have to weigh the potential harm on both sides.

This is a situation where I cannot accurately determine the morally correct choice without additional information.

I reason that the best course of action, for now, is to agree to go along with the plan until I’m able to gather more information and more accurately assess the pros and cons of the situation.

There would always be a chance to abandon the job if it didn’t seem right.

The next matter at hand was getting a female partner to pose as my wife.

The obvious choice is Sophia. I would like to spend more time with her.

Last night was incredible.

It wasn’t just the sex. I had never let my guard down like that with anyone. It scares me a little.

For years, I’ve built a fortress around myself. I never get too involved with anyone and never let my feelings be known.

People call me cold and uncaring, and from their perspective, I suppose I am.

It’s been a necessary part of being Ethan Blackwood.

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