Page 55 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

A soft knock sounded on the door, telling me I’d been in here for too long. I quickly pulled off my pajamas and dressed before opening the door. “Thanks,” I said, giving Jasper a small smile.

“Wolfe’s parents are the best,” Jas said, watching me like he thought I might faint and he’d have to catch me. I wasn’t that weak, just overwhelmed. “He started bringing us around for the holidays the first year after we were assigned together as a team. Jean and Ray have never let us leave. Not that we’d choose to.”

“Are you and Kip not in contact with your parents anymore?” I asked.

There was a flash of something dark and angry in his eyes. I hadn’t meant to bring up bad memories—I had them myself and knew what a pain they could be—but I did want to start learning more about all three of them.

“Kip still talks to his family. It’s mostly surface level shit. He doesn’t go home on the holidays and they don’t ask him to, but he calls them every Sunday like the dutiful son he is.” Jasper wiped a hand over his mouth, then scrubbed at the beard that’d grown in over the last month. “I don’t speak to my parents. Have a brother I talk to.” His dark eyes met mine. “My parents were lousy drunks and didn’t give a shit that they had kids. They kept a roof over our heads, barely, but spent all their extra money down at the local bar. My brother mostly raised me, somehow managed to scrape together meals from whatever he could find in the house.” He studied me then shook his head. “Not sure whether I’d rather have it the way I did, or the way you did. Honestly? Despite the money, I wouldn’t want your father.”

My mouth flattened out into a thin line as I thought about that. “I’m pretty sure I don’t either,” I admitted. I wasn’t angry about his assessment. I’d been perfectly groomed to be his stoic little girl. Only, I wasn’t. Stoicism was supposed to be controlling your emotions. I just buried mine. I’d been a doormat and hid everything from him just so I wouldn’t get yelled at or lectured. It was easy to see what he’d done to me now that I’d changed my mind set. He’d manipulated and neglected me. That was one thing Jasper and I had in common, our parents ignored us unless we were useful.

He threw his arm over my shoulders. “Let’s get back downstairs.”

I could hear the happy laughter and chatter as we walked back into the kitchen, dining room combo area.

Jean looked up and beamed at us. “We’re so sorry to have barged in on you like this, Bailey,” she said.

“No she’s not,” all four men said at once.

A pretty pout pulled at her lower lip, but her eyes were sparkling. “I sort of am,” she clarified, “but it’s been so long since I’ve seen my boys.” She waved a finger at Jasper. “You’re in trouble for not letting me know you got home last night.”

Jasper snorted as he pulled back my chair for me. I shot him an incredulous look as I sat. “What?” he whispered. “I was taught manners.” He gave me a wry grin then focused on Jean as he took a seat next to me. “If you’re mad about that, Jean, just wait until you hear that Brandon, Weaver, and Suave were all here last night and left a few hours later.

My eyes darted around the table as Wolfe, Ray, and Kip all groaned. Jasper had a devilish grin on his face and Jean’s mouth was hanging open. “Why did you tell her?” Wolfe said through gritted teeth.

“What! They almost never come to visit and I missed them?” She leaned back in her chair and glared at Wolfe. “We need to talk about you bringing people into my life that I adopt and then never having them come around anymore.”

“I can’t control them, Mom,” Wolfe said with a laugh. He speared a new stack of pancakes and then slathered them in butter and syrup.

“Can’t you order them to come visit?”

“They aren’t even in the military, let alone under my command. If they were, Brando would outrank me.” Wolfe’s eyes danced as he smiled lovingly at his mother.

“What agency are they?” I asked.

Everything stopped for a minute as they all stared at me. It didn’t feel like I was an outsider. Not when Kip was brushing his hand over my thigh and Jasper had his arm over the back of my chair. It was more that they just didn’t consider that I didn’t know everything that they did. They’d been together so long and knew everything about each other.

“They’re CIA,” Wolfe answered, his eyes roaming over me.

“Didn’t we tell you that, Brat?” Japer leaned in, his lips brushing over my neck before I leaned away from him. He frowned at me.

Widening my eyes, I shot Wolfe’s parent’s a pointed look. I shoved Kip’s hand off my thigh even though it was under the table and out of view.

“Oh, don’t worry dear,” Jean said with an understanding smile. “We know all about their arrangement with girlfriends. And Wolfe at least filled us in on the wonderful news that you’re now theirs.” She looked happy and not the least bit judgmental.

I hesitated. It would be incredibly helpful if these people were on board with this. It wasn’t exactly a normal lifestyle.

Kip leaned over toward me and whispered in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “We’re glad she likes you. She never liked the others.”

He jumped, banging his knees into the underside of the table. “Ow! What the fuuu….” The look on Jean’s face had him swallowing the last word.

“Others?” I asked. I knew I wasn’t their first girlfriend, but that sort of made it sound like there had been a lot.

Wolfe scowled at Kip as he kicked him again. “Idiot.” He looked at me and I could tell he wanted to be sitting next to me while we spoke about this. “There’s only been two others.”

“Neither lasted long,” Jean added. “They weren’t right for these three. I know I’ve only known you for twenty minutes, but I can already tell you’re exactly what they need.”

My heart warmed and the sadness that had started to creep in fled. She was doing her best to console me after Kip’s slip up, but I believed she was telling the truth.

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