Page 104 of Her Marine
“It's nice that he has some options. I know it won't be the same as what he did before, but at least he can still serve in that way.”
Killian nodded as he watched Journee pull some oven mitts from the drawer as the timer on the stove counted down the final minute. She hadn't asked him what he'd been doing when he got hurt, and he knew his friends and cousin well enough to know they wouldn't tell her.
While they all had a semblance of an idea of what he did, Ace probably knew more than the others because he'd done something very similar as a Seal, but they didn't know exactly. They would also want to let him tell her, and he planned to. Well, at least what he could tell her, but she hadn't asked. He was sure it was because she'd figured it out to some degree.
Journee took the cookies from the oven as the timer went off and set them on the stovetop. She turned the timer and oven off, and Killian watched her put the mitts to the side.
“How did your meeting go?” she asked, pulling a plate from the cabinet to put the cookies on.
“It was a standard debriefing. Except he offered me early retirement.”
“You and Axel would have that in common,” Journee responded, pulling a spatula from the drawer.
“Yes and no. When Axel retired, he was on temporary disability. He was hurt but unsure if he was ready to leave permanently. So, with how they retired him, it gave him five years to draw income, and at the end, he'll either be discharged or return to duty.”
“Wait,” Journee stated, turning to him. “When did he retire?”
“A little over four years ago.”
“You're telling me that in a year, essentially, he may have to return to duty? I wonder if Kaydence knows.”
“I doubt she does,” Killian responded. “Because they'll give him a choice, and he'll discharge.”
If they'd had this conversation before Axel met Kaydence, Killian wouldn't have been sure what his friend would have chosen. It would have been a fifty-fifty chance. Now, he could say with certainty that Axel would discharge and wouldn't think twice about it.
“Axel's ready to get out.”
Journee nodded. “But you're not.” She turned back to the cookies and moved them from the baking sheet to the plate.
It hadn't been a question, and Killian had never considered it. When he'd joined, it had been with the intention of making a career of it, of ranking as high as he possibly could until he was of retirement age. But when he'd gotten his last rank promotion, which would have pulled him from his unit, he realized he didn't want to go any higher because he enjoyed what he did. Commander Fields had not only gone to bat for him to be able to stay with his unit but also to receive the rank promotion. It was the first time to Killian's knowledge that a Major led a special force tactical unit when typically it was a Captain.
“I've honestly never thought about it. I get why Axel was ready, but he and I do different things. He was deployed to war-torn countries and fought on the front lines. And while I conduct training and primarily focus on administrative and logistical matters. It does sometimes include—”
“Going on stealth missions to kill the United States' biggest Saudi Arabian terrorist.”
“I was going to say it sometimes includes intelligence matters, but that works. Though, if you want to know about that mission, you'd have to ask Slate or Ace.”
“I'm going to assume you're telling me to ask them because they're former Seals and not because they carried out the deed.” When he didn't say anything, she turned to look at him. “Right?” Killian raised a brow at her. “Killian?” she questioned with a gasp as if he'd just told her some state secrets.
“I'm kidding. Yes, because they're former Seals.”
She glared at him playfully before taking the spatula to the sink and washing it. She rinsed it and put it in the drainer before grabbing the plate of cookies and setting it on the bar.
“Just because you aren't constantly on the front line like he was, doesn't mean you don't put yourself in danger, but I get it. Retiring can be tough when it isn't something you're ready to do, and then there's the issue of living off a fraction of what you were making.”
Killian wasn't worried about the financial aspect of retiring. He'd receive almost five thousand dollars of his monthly salary, add that to the low monthly salary and the quarterly dividend percentage he made as a silent partner in the security firm; he'd make at least the same amount a year that he did currently. More if he went from silent to active. So, no, money wasn't one of the things he had to consider.
He followed Journee's movements as she pulled the milk from the refrigerator and two glasses from the cabinet. She sat them down on the bar, poured them each some before placing it back into the fridge.
“Could you do this again? Would you do it again?”
“Yes,” she responded, her eyes coming up to meet his because she knew what he was referring to.
“Going through it once is hard,” Killian stated. “Going through it multiple times can drain you, make you not want to deal with it.”
Journee quirked an eyebrow at him. “I'll go through it as many times as I have to as long as you're okay each time. As long as you return to me,” she replied, walking around the bar. Killian turned the stool so she could stand between his legs. She placed her hands on his chest as she looked at him, brow furrowed, before shaking her head with a smile that made Killian feel like he'd been brought to his knees. “You know, for someone who doesn't seem to miss anything. It surprises me that you haven't realized that I lo—”
“Don't,” Killian cut in, halting her words. “Don't say it.” He watched the smile fade from her face as she went to pull her hands from his chest, but he caught them holding them there. “Tigress, it isn't—”
