Page 9 of The SEALs' Single Mom Baby Surprise

“Maybe he’s my secret lover and it’s none of your damn business.” Her voice turns into a threatening hiss, like she’s primed to strike if I push her one more inch.

“That’s not what it looked like to me. You didn’t know him. He frightened you.” I step closer, forcing her to look up at me.

The hard line of her jaw doesn’t bode well for me, but I’ve cracked harder nuts. “He didn't do much more than you’re trying to do now. Intimidate me. Keep me from doing my job.”

“And did you get a name?” This close to her, I can smell the sweet honeysuckle of her shampoo.

“You’re the investigators. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

I’m not really an investigator. At least, that’s not my main job. Gathering information, sure. Profiling people, absolutely. Solving crimes? Not really my bag. I just sweep in and save people who are in danger.

Like Sloane will be if there is something to what she’s found. And she needs to open up, to trust us, not stand in our way.

“Listen, I don’t know what he said to you, and there’s no way I could, so why don’t you tell me? There’s no point in keeping secrets.”

She grits her teeth because we’re keeping secrets from her, too. It’s a double-edged sword.

Normally, I wouldn’t push her like this. I’d have more fun prying information out of her and enjoy every inch she shoved back. I like a woman with some fire in her veins. One who’s not afraid to unleash it on me.

“Tell me.” I close more of the gap between us, watching as her pupils dilate—with hate or lust, I’m not sure. Maybe a combination of the two.

“He told me to drop it. And he knew my name before I introduced myself.”

I nod. “What did he say, exactly?”

“To stop looking into his supply orders or there will be consequences.”

Yeah. She’s stepped into a game that is way out of her league.

“And his name?”

Another flare of her nostrils. “Caspian Vorn.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Sloane spins on her heels and speeds back to the office. She’s pushing back through the door when I reach it, clipboard and pen in hand and a mutinous expression. Her shoulder nearly knocks into me on her way past, but I turn to watch her go, wondering if one of us should stay close.

Just in case.

5

SLOANE

With the first delivery sorted—no thanks to the new intruders in the office—I print the last month’s worth of manifests to check while I wait for the next one to come in. It’s a lot to slog through, but as the pages print, Warren comes to sit with me at my desk.

His silence is foreboding. “Listen, I know how much you like it when hierarchy and politics get in the way of your job, but I want you to trust these three. Okay?”

“Why are they really here?” I blurt it out, at my wit’s end with having my space invaded, my computer gone through, my moves monitored and questioned. With the way Shepard looks at me like he knows how I tick.

It makes me want to slam my fists against his chest until they’re bruised. He could probably take it, too, which only infuriates me more. I’ve been running hot all morning.

He smiles that sad dad smile at me. He’s done much more than my own dad did for me, especially since I haven’t heard anything from him since Reese was born. That’s why his going around me rankles so much.

Does he think I’m too brittle right now? Old, deep hurts well up. I push them down the best I can.

“Above my pay grade. Fine. I’m only a civilian, after all. Why should I know anything important?”

He lets his silence spread for a moment as I stew over the fact thatIfound the issues, and I’m just being pushed aside like I have no brain, no drive to figure it out on my own. How could I possibly?

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