Page 42 of Dangerous Mission

Terri tried to remember a time she’d seen her mom cook. She’d never met her grandmother on her mom’s side. Grandma Eva had died of cancer before Terri was born. Her mom never talked about her dad. Terri figured it was a sore subject. Her dad’s parents lived up in the Rocky Mountains in a cabin. They came for Christmas and birthdays. Terri spent summers with them, hiking and fishing. Axel had even gone with her a few times. She winced, knowing it had been a while since she’d called her grandma, and with the news lately…“How much has the media blown everything up?”

Lucy sighed. “You can’t look at what people put out about you.”

“That bad?”

Her mom tilted her head. “Your father and I talked on the plane ride here. We can’t go back and change what we did. Both of us know we’re at fault for putting you in the public eye. Maybe it’s time you step back from everything. Go do what you want.”

“Let’s get through one issue at a time. If you guys want to change anything, let me make the decision, and we do it as a team. Not you two coming up with a plan. I’m not a teenager anymore.”

Her mom smiled. “You’re right, dear.” Her watch flashed. “It’s your sister. Why don’t you sit with your friends, and I’ll tell her you woke up.”

Angel and Lucy sat on either side of her.

“Tell me how bad it really is.”

Angel cleared her throat. “Axel has to meet in person with the commander next week.”

Terri’s stomach turned. She didn’t want to be the reason Axel left the navy. “He’s going to hate me.”

Angel rolled her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. The media has labeled him a white knight. They’ve also dug around and know who his family is. I’m really surprised the information didn’t come out a long time ago. I assume his parents kept the tabloids paid off, but this story is too big to hold back. If it weren’t the tabloids, your fans would’ve made the connection.”

Lucy nodded. “It was only a matter of time before the press broke the story. I’ve seen the way you look at that man. You can’t walk away.”

Her heart had belonged to him for years. “I know, but I will always do what’s best for him. This time I can walk away and keep some of my heart.”

“Like hell you’re leaving,” Axel growled from the doorway. His gray eyes narrowed in on Terri. “Can you guys leave me alone with Terri for a second?”

Terri’s heart raced as her friends left the room, and Axel stood so close that she could smell his mountain-fresh body wash.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I don’t want you to lose your position on the team. The team means everything to you.”

Axel’s eyes softened before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his hard chest.The damn man has no body fat.

“You mean everything to me. For years, you have. Yes, when I was young, I chose to leave. But not one day went by that you didn’t come into my mind. I can’t worry about my meeting until next week. We need to figure out who put the stuff into your drink, who let the media into the charity event, and who leaked the video we didn’t know existed.”

“It wasn’t Renee.” She wanted to reinforce her trust in her assistant.

Axel nodded. “We came to the same conclusion. She’s at her sister's. Xavier has a man outside her house. I grabbed your bags, and we’re going to head to the beach house.”

“I want to talk to my dad first.”

“He’s in the living room.”

Terri stepped around Axel and into the living room.

It was strange seeing her dad in jeans, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap. He took it off and ran a hand through his graying hair. No matter how old she was, he was her dad, and she threw her arms around him. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

He let out a low chuckle. “That’s my line, Shortcake. I should’ve told you I put Axel on your security team and was worried about you.”

She composed herself and took a step back. “You also should’ve talked about encouraging Axel to leave years ago.”

“Oh, your dad wouldn’t have done that,” her mother chimed in then narrowed her eyes. “Right, dear? We had this talk, and you were supposed to tell Axel to stay and join the campaign, but you told me he didn’t want to.”

“Hey, this is all in the past,” Axel said, walking into the room. “Nothing we can change.”

Her mother’s eyes hadn’t left her father's. “Timothy, tell me you didn’t.”

---