Page 75 of The SEALs' Single Mom Baby Surprise

I’m imagining my daughter growing older without me when the door at the foot of the bed opens. The man in charge steps in and sits on the edge of the bed across from me. His back is straight, hands folded together in his lap as he stares at me.

Calm and casual, he takes his time looking over every part of me, pressing the complete power he has over me as he stretches out the silence.

I take the opportunity to study him in return. Not that I have much experience reading people. At least, not like this.

His posture is so proper that he’s had to be raised by someone with power and money. The crisp nature of his clothes confirms it. But the cracks in his knuckles say he’s not opposed to doing the hard work if it’s necessary.

I’m sure he used to have to do a lot more of it to gain the respect of his men.

When his head tilts, I know he’s deemed me as a non threat in this condition. And you know what, he’s probably right. There’s not much I could do to him even with my hands free.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to give up.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from having to navigate the last six years is that I know how to adapt and survive.

It’s exactly what I plan to do.

Pushing myself upright, I mimic his posture, propping myself at the edge of my bunk, hands in my lap, back ramrod straight.

Releasing the clench of my teeth, I present myself as timid, passive, pliable.

His laugh is chilling. “Such a chameleon. I don’t believe this version of you for a second, Specialist Montgomery. Not with the way you lunged at your co-worker earlier or the fight you gave on your way in.”

He shakes his head as if amused.

My skin prickles in warning, and my shoulders hunch forward out of the instinctual need to protect myself.

“You see, you’ve been a pain in my ass and drawn attention to the goings on of my business. Things I’ve worked very hard to keep under the radar.” This man’s hands curl into fists and flatten out again along his thighs. “And you’ve made it difficult for my men to do their jobs. That’s bad for business.”

When he leans forward, I have to stifle the quiver in my breath. Being bad for business is the equivalent of being marked for death. Still, I refuse to drop my gaze from his. Like he said, there’s no need to project myself as weak even if I am terrified. I’m not fooling him that way.

Instead, I need to be as useful as possible without really helping him.

“So what I want to know is if you’re just a lucky girl or if you present a real threat. So, tell me how much you know about what you’ve found.”

34

JACK

After dropping Reese off with a sweet-looking Chelsea and confirming that she’ll be able to keep the girl for an extended period due to a family emergency, I rush back to help the guys in their search.

Finding the plane gone is like getting a one-two punch to the gut. I swear I can’t breathe for a full two minutes.

The boss grips my shoulder when I sit behind Sloane’s computer. Hastings is furiously searching through Kingswell’s because his car is still in the parking lot, and he’s gone as well. If that little fucker had a hand in Sloane’s kidnapping, I will beat him down and make him live through every second of pain she’s enduring.

I will make that punk pay.

Another squeeze of my shoulder has me coming out of my rage and focusing on locating Sloane.

Picking up my phone, I start making calls. My contacts list is expansive, and I don’t care if I have to owe a favor to every person and their agencies on it. I will find her.

My first call is to the FAA. If they have any radar records of the illegal takeoff from the stolen plane, it can point us in the right direction. But the trackers on that plane have been disabled, their flight under the radar detection.

Boone huffs into the office minutes after I hang up with the FAA. His face is red as he stomps by, nods at Cole, and shoves into his office.

“Let me talk to him.” The man’s gruff voice tempers my anger enough to focus again. “You put SECNAV on the phone, or I’ll march down there and make your life hell. Do you hear me?”

The boom of his voice makes me turn back to my contacts. The more eyes we get looking for her, the faster we’ll find her.

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