Page 4 of Sean

“Never?”

“Nope.” He didn’t bother to elaborate. His solitary existence was nobody’s business but his own. The life here suited him.

“I’m sorry to invade your peace, then. I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t…”

“Desperate?” he supplied.

“Yeah,” she admitted as he put a sandwich in front of her. He made up a plate of cheese cubes and orange slices and took it to the kids before joining her at the table. She was already eating, which he was glad to see.

“I’m sorry to dump this in your lap,” she said. “You obviously value your privacy. Hopefully, Wilson will be arrested soon. That’s all I can hope for.”

“Ethan filled me in to a point.” He knew this Wilson had threatened Ethan’s wife and the woman Owen was in love with. That didn’t sit well with Sean. Ethan and Owen were former SEAL teammates. A threat to one was a threat to all, so he’d do what he could to help them and Julia and the kids. But to do that he needed more intel. “What else can you tell me?”

“You probably know that Wilson was married to my sister,” she started, going on to explain how she had come to live with them and look after the kids after her sister died—and how, after Helen had found the drugs Wilson was smuggling, Julia had accidentally overheard him on the phone, directing one of his henchmen to harm Helen.

“The henchman was Mason?”

“Right. I warned Helen—and Sophie, because Wilson had mentioned her, too. Wilson knew that she was helping Helen investigate. They went into hiding…and so did I. I knew Wilson would realize I was the one who had tipped them off, and I wanted to be long gone before he could get his hands on me. I didn’t trust him with the kids, so I brought them with me. You know the rest.”

He did. Sophie’s article, and the accounts he’d gotten from Ethan and Owen, had filled him in on how the investigation had played out.

There was one question he had to ask, even though he could guess the answer. “What happened to your sister?”

Julia put the rest of the sandwich on the plate. Her already serious expression took on a tinge of sorrow. “Mira died two years ago in a car accident.”

He knew what that felt like. He’d lost a sibling too…in an accident. He wanted to offer some comfort, but there were no words to combat that kind of pain. Before he could stop it, JP’s face rose in his memory. His kid brother was smiling, proud of himself that he’d gotten through the first phase of SEAL training. That was the last time Sean saw him. He’d been on the other side of the world when word got to him that JP was dead. He shook off the memory, pushing it away like he always did, and focused on what Julia needed from him. “What about other family? Someone else you can turn to?”

“There was just my mom, Mira, and me. Mom had a stroke a few months back. She’s doing okay, but she’s still in a rehab facility, so I can’t turn to her for help. And I wouldn’t want to drag her into this.”

“So it’s just been you and the kids. That’s tough. You must be pretty damn strong to have pulled it off so well. I know guys in special forces who would have struggled being undercover and solo for all this time, especially with kids in tow.”

That got the tiniest smile out of her, which served to accentuate her delicate features. Her skin was pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes, but she looked less fragile than when she’d gotten out of the car.

“I’m sure that’s not true, but I want to sincerely thank you for taking us in.” She gestured to the plate in front of her. “And taking care of us.”

He should say something gracious. He’d been raised with manners, after all. But somewhere in the nightmare of the past four years, Sean had lost his ability to interact well with people, to find the right thing to say. He’d spent so much time alone that finding the right words no longer seemed natural. Instead of fumbling out something awkward, he rose and took her plate over to the counter.

“Let me show you around some more.” He started in the kitchen, pointing out where he stored his food and the dishes. His washer and dryer were off the kitchen, so he took her there next. He didn’t need a dining room, so he used that space as a home office—he worked as a military consultant on movies and TV shows. It was fairly steady work that he could do remotely, which worked well for his preferences. He stopped in that doorway and pointed to a locked closet. “You and the kids can go anywhere but keep them away from that. It’s gun storage. Secured at all times, but still.”

“This room will be off limits. They’ll respect that. They’re good kids, really.”

“I’m sure.” He led her back through the living room. Amos and Lucy both looked up with a smile, abandoned watching the movie, and started following them. As he showed them the rest of the house, he found himself noticing for the first time how bare it was. He had minimal furniture, nothing on the walls, just blinds on the windows. He hadn’t thought anything of that until seeing it through her eyes. Not that she said anything, but he could see her taking in the details. She was a photographer, Ethan had said, and he doubted she missed anything.

After he finished the interior tour, he took them outside. He had a small deck with steps down to a patch of lawn before the woods began. He indicated the boundaries, telling the kids to stay on the grass. No going into the forest or around the front of the house for any reason. He didn’t want them to be seen from the road.

After a while, they returned inside, and he took the opportunity to detach himself and go into his office. He wasn’t used to so much time with others, and he sure as hell wasn’t used to having a beautiful woman around, or kids for that matter. He honestly wasn’t sure which was getting to him the most. He was on foreign soil here despite being in his own home. He needed a minute to himself—and anyway, he owed Ethan a call.

“Hey, man,” Ethan greeted him. “Helen said Julia got to you safely.”

“Yeah, she’s with me.” And it’s unsettling as hell.

“Good. Helen’s been worried. We’ve all tried to convince Julia that she needed help. That message from Wilson must have been the final straw.”

“So how long is it going to be before the authorities catch up with the son of a bitch?”

“We don’t know,” Ethan admitted. “Just gotta wait and see.”

So, the situation was indefinite. Yeah, that was going to be challenging for all of them. After he thanked Ethan and promised to communicate again soon, he checked his email, responding to a few work messages. By the time he was done with that, darkness had fallen outside.

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