Page 1 of Coveting Catherine

PROLOGUE

"Leo, promise me. You'll watch over him. I don't know… I have a bad feeling about this. I can't explain it." Catherine pleaded. Leo and her brother, Eric "Olaf" Reese, returned home from their last mission on edge. She felt the tension radiate off both men as they readied themselves to leave again. She sighed, resigning herself to the life of a soon-to-be wife of a Navy SEAL.

Leo wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her his self-assured smile. "Don't worry, Kit Kat. I got Olaf's back. In a few months, he'll be my brother for real. I won’t let anything happen to him." Leo proceeded to make slow love to her, making the dread disappear from her mind. His confident and strong hands held her tightly as he commanded her body to do his bidding. The following day, she said goodbye to the two most important men in her life.

Two weeks later, a Navy chaplain knocked on their door with another officer to tell her family of Olaf’s death. Leo disappeared. He didn't show up for Olaf's funeral. Texts and calls remained unanswered. For every day that passed, Catherine became angrier, confused, and lost. Where did the man go who professed to love her family when they needed him the most? Surely, he carried his phone. A couple of team members showed up for the funeral appearing haunted and claimed they knew nothing of Leo or his whereabouts.

Ten days later, a knock at the door sounded throughout the house. Once full of laughter and love, it felt like a tomb of dismissal silence. Catherine walked down the staircase to see her mom greeting someone. The flash of a white dress uniform caught her eye and made her stop on the stairs as her mom called for her dad. Henry Reese practically ran toward the door, hearing the tone of his wife's voice. The door opened wider. Catherine walked down the remaining steps to witness her parents hug Leo, and her mom burst into tears. Rage enveloped her. She stomped to the entryway and pushed the screen door open, sending it crashing against the house. Startled, her parents pulled away from Leo.

"We'll leave the two of you. When you're done, we'll have dinner." Carol soothingly told Leo as she rubbed his arm in passing.

Catherine waited until her parents walked back inside. Her blood raced through her body. The pounding in her ears got louder. She clenched her fists at her side as she waited for the door to close. As soon it clicked shut, she shoved Leo.

"How dare you. You promised to keep him safe, Leo." She hit his chest as her frustration bubbled to the surface and exploded, bringing her simmering emotions over the edge. Catherine pounded on his chest with her fists. Leo stood straight, his arms hanging loose at his sides, not attempting to stop her. "You promised."

His red-rimmed eyes pooled with unshed tears as he swallowed hard and nodded. His easy-going, relaxed face appeared tired and haggard as he started to speak.

"Kit Kat, I’m sorry?—"

"I don't want your apology. I want Olaf back," she demanded.

Catherine refused to imagine a world where her brother didn't exist. Olaf took the role of her big brother seriously. He allowed her to tag along to the movies with his friends, drove her and her gaggle of friends to the mall, and always gave her the peanut butter cups from his Moose Tracks ice cream. The day he introduced Leo to her, he laughed as Leo's eyes bugged out of his head as he stuttered his name. Olaf winked at Catherine as she put Leo at ease, as if Olaf knew some grand secret.

They started a lifelong friendship, and the Reese family adopted the scrawny kid with holes in his T-shirt and sneakers. Under Carol's mothering, Leo packed on weight, and she always conveniently found clothes meant for Olaf. When they didn't fit, she never seemed to find the receipts and suggested Leo keep them.

Henry Reese provided the stability of a father and encouraged Leo to check into the military. His grades improved, and he became a small-town hero. At graduation, the Reese family cheered for the two boys as they accepted their diplomas and planned to enlist in the Navy the following week.

Leo's family never cared or showed up as he left for training. The young men cemented their futures as Navy SEALS and stayed in contact as their career path led them in different directions. Leo visited every chance he returned. When he asked Catherine out, his father called him into the study and lectured him on his expectations for dating his daughter. When they announced their engagement, her family wasn't surprised.

"He was my best friend," Leo whispered. Guilt radiated from his body as he let Catherine take her wrath out on him. The confident SEAL appeared haunted and confused.

"You weren't even here when we put him in the ground." Catherine twisted the small diamond on her left hand until it fell into her palm. Gripping it tightly until it left an imprint in her hand, she shouted, "You didn't bother to come to the funeral to console my mom or watch my dad shake as they handed him that damn flag. I don't want to marry you, Leo. I refuse to marry the man who let my brother die."

Leo stepped toward her. His hand reached out, and his thumb brushed the tear on her cheek. Catherine jerked back as if he scalded her with his touch. His face crumbled as his eyes squinted shut, trying to hold the pain inside. Catherine didn't care. Leo made his bed when he broke his promise.

"Take it." Catherine shoved the ring at him. When he refused to accept it, she threw it at him. "Go, Leo. You aren't welcome here anymore."

"Kit Kat, I know you're hurting. Listen to me for a moment?—"

"I don't want to hear excuses. My brother is gone." She sobbed. "Nothing will bring him back. It's over."

She turned and headed for the house. She barely registered his agonized whisper.

"I love you, Kit Kat. Till my dying breath, you'll always be mine."

She slammed the door. Her parents stood in the hallway, utterly stunned, as they heard Leo's truck start and pull away.

"Catherine Ann Reese, what have you done?" Her mother exclaimed. "That boy is hurting. Our Leo needs us?—"

"He's not ours, Mom. He promised to watch over Olaf. I can't believe you're on his side. Olaf was your son, not Leo." Catherine exasperatedly replied. "You welcomed him with open arms. Why aren’t you mad? You should've refused him at the door. You…you …"

"Honey, he felt guilty enough as it is. He can't tell us what happened because of his job. Eric knew what he signed up for when he became a SEAL. Don't blame Leo," Henry Reese attempted to use logic.

"I can't believe you right now. It's like I don't even know who you are…" Catherine backed up, grabbed her purse and keys, and walked out the door.

She needed a drink to get Derrick "Leo" Armstrong out of her head and, most importantly, out of her heart.

CHAPTER ONE

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