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2024-04-05 13:42:03ALINE
“Are you sure you’re okay?”I sighed and closed my eyes. This wasn’t the first time Freedom had asked the exact same thing. It wasn’t the second or third, either. I’d lost count around five or six. Pretty much, some form of the question had been woven into our conversation from the moment she’d answered her phone.I loved her, but I was now glad that she hadn’t been waiting for me on the plane. It was awkward enough being trapped on a sixteen-hour flight with Eoin. It would’ve been a nightmare with Freedom. Eoin might not have thought very highly of my intelligence, but at least he wasn’t babying me or hovering. In fact, he hadn’t even looked at me since we’d gotten on the plane.I was glad for that, though. I wasn’t sure how I felt about what’d happened between us at the hotel last night, and I was grateful that I had more than half a day to wrap my head around everything, including him.If Freedom had been here,
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EOINI pulled out my phone, so I didn’t have to watch her walk awaywithout a look back. She’d slept almost the entire flight home, but I hadn’t minded. It’d meant I didn’t have to come up with excuses for why I wasn’t talking to her. I could just pretend that nothing had changed since I’d flown out of this same airport.I called Da first.“Hey, Da. I’m back.” I went back into the plane to get my stuff.“Good to hear from you,” he said. “You’re in L.A., then?”“Yeah, L.A.” I slung the bag over my shoulder. “Plane’s at the airport. Thank you for loaning it to me.”“You can use it to fly home at any time.” He paused before adding, “Are you thinkin’ of staying in L.A. for a bit?”I’d made the most of the long plane ride, using the time with Cain to work out whether or not I’d be a good fit with his team or if I should look at other agencies. The only thing I’d been sure of, after this
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ALINEI wanted to be home, even if it was my childhood home and notmy apartment in Stanford, but instead, I was sitting on a hard exam table at a hospital. I’d known being here was inevitable, but it didn’t make it any easier.“I want to take a couple x-rays just to be sure there aren’t any cracked bones,” Dr. Stein said as she jotted a few things down on her clipboard. “Just a precaution.”She’d tried to avoid looking directly at either Freedom or me, which I’d originally just thought was something she did until I saw her make eye contact with two of the nurses who’d come in over the last twenty minutes. It took me until now to realize that her problem was simple…she didn’t know which of us to actually address.Freedom had wanted me to come here instead of our family doctor in case I needed the sort of treatment that we could only get at a hospital, and Dr. Stein had recognized us from some of our mother
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EOINHoping it’d help with the jet lag, I’d agreed with the guysthat I’d rather debrief today than come in tomorrow. Jet lag always sucked, but I hadn’t realized how much my sleep issues would make things worse. I hadn’t had any nightmares while we were gone, but I still wasn’t sleeping for shit.Everyone, even Cain, had gotten at least some sleep on the flight back. I’d dozed, drifted in and out in that place where I was almost asleep but aware of where I was and what was going on around me. It was enough to keep me from going crazy but definitely not what I needed. The only real rest I’d had the entire time we’d been over there had been sleeping next to Aline.And then I’d woken up, and all hell had broken loose. At least the plane had been quiet, and no one had been trying to kill me.“What’d you think about your first mission?” Bode Monroe went by the nickname Bruce because he came from a family like mine, one with
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ALINEI had grossly underestimated my family.I’d known that my parents were going to be excessively overprotective when they first saw me, but this had gotten ridiculous. Like ‘following me to the bathroom and waiting outside the door until I came back out’ ridiculous, and Freedom was hovering almost as much.I’d hoped that after we’d left the hospital with a clean bill of health for me that she would at least back off a bit, help run some interference with our parents. Instead, she’d talked to them as if I wasn’t even there, telling them most of what had happened with the doctor.If she would’ve said anything about me having had sex with Eoin, I would’ve walked out, but since she kept that secret, I tried to sympathize with what she must’ve been going through while I was gone. Even though my kidnapping hadn’t been anywhere near her fault, I knew her well enough to know she felt guilty. And while I loved our parents, I di
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EOINThe second Aline saw me, I knew she was going to leave, so Iwasn’t even surprised when she grabbed her sister’s arm. What did surprise me, however, was when Freedom shook her head and started walking toward our table.Shit.Freedom had balls; I’d give her that.Except Freedom wasn’t the one I couldn’t take my eyes off of.“Fancy meeting you here,” Bruce said with a grin. He stood and grabbed two chairs from a nearby table. “Join us. First round’s on the newbie.”I glared at him. “I already bought a round.”“For us,” he pointed out. “You’re not going to refuse to buy these two lovely ladies some alcohol, are you?”“Is she even legal?” Dez asked. “We don’t want to get in trouble for corrupting someone who’s not old enough to drink yet.”Aline rolled her eyes. “I’m twenty-two, and for that comment, I think you should be the one to buy me a drink.”Cain laughed an
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ALINEI MANAGED TO MAKE IT HALFWAY TO THE HOTEL BEFORE THE PANIC SETin. Maybe tomorrow morning, I’d regret sleeping with Eoin again, but Freedom was foremost on my mind at the moment. Kissing Eoin and asking him to take me somewhere had been spontaneous, the culmination of everything that’d been building inside me for longer than I cared to admit, but not from a sexual standpoint.No, this was all about power. I’d had mine taken from me for nearly a week, and it had made me realize just how much I’d willingly given up to my parents and Freedom simply because it was easier. Yes, it had grated at times, but it’d never been worth the confrontation that would be inevitable if I ever chose to dig in my heels.The Ritz-Carlton wasn’t the most expensive hotel in L.A., but it was far from cheap or shabby. If I hadn’t seen his family’s private plane, I might’ve been surprised that he could afford to spend so much on a single night, tho
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I stepped away but kept watching as he toed off his shoes and socks before stripping off his pants and underwear at the same time. If I hadn’t felt the non-denim fabric, I might’ve thought he’d gone without. I had a sudden vision ofwhat it would be like to straddle his lap as I had the other night, but this time, in a skirt or dress…with nothing underneath. A quick unzipping, and he’d be in me.I let out a shaky breath and told myself to focus. I’d save that particular fantasy for another time. Right now, I didn’t need to imagine anything because every inch of that gorgeous man was stretched out in front of me, all mine for the taking.I undressed before climbing on the bed, both to enjoy his gaze on me and because I didn’t want to have to stop for anything when I was ready for more. I started with his legs, the hair coarse under my palms as I moved over muscular calves.A change in the texture of skin on his right side made me pause, and I
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EOINThe ringtone that woke me up wasn’t one I automaticallyrecognized, but some part of my brain knew that it was someone I should talk to. Moving more out of instinct than anything else, I picked my phone up from the nightstand. I accepted the call before I’d completely processed the name I’d seen on the screen.“Sorry to wake you up, but I knew you’d kick my ass if I left you out of this.”Cain sounded way too awake for whatever hellish hour it was.“The hell?”“We’re going back.”I sat up and shook my head, trying to clear out the last of the cobwebs. “What are you talking about?”“I heard back from my army contacts.”Now I caught what I hadn’t before. Cain was pissed and worried. Never a good combination.“The other prisoners that group was holding, they were gone by the time our guys showed up.”“Fuck.” Aline didn’t need to hear this. I got out of bed
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EOINI’D JUST BEEN READY TO CALL ALINE WHEN A TEXT CAME THROUGHthat she was coming back and we needed to talk. I went back and forth between anxiety and relief while I waited for her. We couldn’t keep doing this.Our lives were linked, and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting until we had our shit figured out before deciding to start a family. The baby was on the way, and no matter what she and I disagreed about, I had no doubt that we were on the same page when it came to being the best parents we could be. To do that, we needed to work this out sooner rather than later.Since I didn’t know if Aline had her key, I unlocked the door and then spent the next fifteen minutes or so pacing from one end of the living room to the other and back again.When she came in, I wanted to just blurt out an apology and explanation, but I also didn’t want to come on too strong. How the fuck did people do this? How did they know what to say or how to say it? I didn’t know the ans
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EOINTHE MOMENT THE WORDS CAME OUT OF ALINE’S MOUTH, I COULD SEEthat she wanted to take them back. Not because she regretted accepting my proposal or didn’t want to live with me, but because blurting it out like that had been like dropping a bomb.Now, we were just waiting for it to explode. I could read it on their faces. I read it on her face too. She realized the impact of what she’d done.And then Freedom turned on me, her expression furious.“What the hell did you do?!” She pointed at me, her clear blue eyes flashing. “How dare you take advantage of her when she was upset! Out on her own for the first time and vulner–”“We’re engaged,” Aline cut her off, clearly deciding to get it all out now that things were in motion for a confrontation. “And I’m pregnant.”Freedom’s jaw dropped, and her face went white. Aline’s jaw tightened. “So, back off.”“What?”The word came out as a whisper, confirming for me that Aline had never spoken to Freedom that way before.“Eoin is m
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EOINIF I DIDN’T QUIT SNEAKING LOOKS AT ALINE, SHE WAS GOING TO CATCHme and want to know what the hell I was doing. Then I’d be put in the very awkward position of either lying to her and her figuring it out or telling the truth and pissing her off. Neither scenario ended well for me.She’d agreed to tell my parents about our engagement and the baby, and I was going with her tomorrow to spend Christmas Day with her family. Both of those were things that I wanted, but I kept feeling like some other shoe was going to drop and ruin it. That she’d suddenly recognize the fact that she could do so much better than me and decide that, while she might want the baby, she didn’t want me along with it. Or she’d think about how pissed Freedom was going to be when she saw me and realize I wasn’t worth the headache.Death wasn’t the only thing that could take someone away.So, I kept watching her, paying close attention to every expression, to every shift in body language.I’d been worried at Marti
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EOINTHE SCENT OF PEACHES WOKE ME UP, AND IT TOOK A MOMENT FOR MEto remember why my bed smelled like fruit. Aline. My eyes opened, my need to reassure myself that she really was here greater than me wanting to sleep a little longer. Once I saw her, I couldn’t look away.We were both on our sides, her back to my front. Her body was curled up, making her look even smaller than she was, and a surge of protectiveness went through me. I slid my hand from her hip to her stomach, wondering when I’d be able to feel the changes to her body, when the baby would start to move, how big it was right now.Was it a boy or girl? Would Aline want to know before or have it be a surprise? When would we be able to tell?I had a lot of research to do, I realized. I wanted to do this right, and that meant not leaving everything up to Aline. Some of the questions colliding together in my brain were the kind that she and I could talk about. I could find the answers for all the others myself. S
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EOINI PUT MY PHONE DOWN ON THE COUNTER AND GOT A BEER FROM THEfridge. If I wasn’t driving anywhere tonight, I didn’t need to worry about how much I drank. If I couldn’t be with Aline, taking care of her, getting a little drunk sounded like a good idea. Not so much that I’d be hung over tomorrow, but enough to take the edge off.It was a hell of an edge. Pregnant.I was going to be a father.Maybe. Aline could decide to terminate the pregnancy, but after how her parents had struggled to have kids, I didn’t think that was going to be the route she took. If she did, I’d be there with her, but even as shell-shocked as I was right now, I was hoping she’d have the baby.My baby. Fuck.I needed to sit down, but the few chairs I had were covered with shit from my storage unit. The floor would have to do. I leaned back against my refrigerator and took a long drink.I’d never really thought about being a father. My parents never pressured any of us kids about giving them
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EOINI DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY ALINE WOULD – AGAIN – THINK I DIDN’Twant her. I knew her family was really overprotective of her, but I couldn’t imagine that translating into any type of emotional abuse. She was a certified genius and one of the most selfless people I’d ever met. And she was gorgeous. The fact that she’d been a virgin – barely even kissed if Freedom had been right about that too – confused the shit out of me because she had to have had guys all over her.Just the thought of any other man near her made my arms tighten around her. I still had my hand in her pants, could hear her ragged breathing slow and even out…and I was jealous of men I didn’t even know, men who might not even exist.Men I didn’t want to exist.I wanted to be it for her. The only man who’d ever know what she looked like when she came.Shit.The thought should have terrified me, but it didn’t. Even though I was painfully hard, I was content to stand here, holding her, rubbing her back with my free hand.
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ALINEEOIN’S PLACE WAS GORGEOUS. AND HUGE. NOT AT ALL WHAT I’D BEENexpecting, even after he’d told me that he’d leased a condo rather than an apartment. I’d already known that he’d come from a wealthy family, so it wasn’t the cost of a place like this that surprised me. It was more that this didn’t seem like the sort of place that a single, not-quite-thirty, former military man would live. This was more of a…family home.A beautiful one, but I was starting to feel like seeing all of it, being here with him while such a large question was looming over us, was untethering me from reality. I had experienced this strange disconnect only a few times in my life, most of them recently.“Hey.” His hands were on either side of my face, his skin hot against my cheeks. “It’s okay.”I looked up at him, and then his mouth was on mine, firm pressure without being aggressive, and the contact sent a wave of warmth washing over me, pushing away thoughts of anything else.This man could distract
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EOINMY BROTHER, ROME, HAD OUTDONE HIMSELF WITH THIS CONDO, ANDI’d made a point of telling him that when he’d met me there before I’d gone to pick up Aline this morning. I hadn’t, however, told him about what was going on.I wanted her to meet my family. I knew that by now, but I didn’t want it to happen with a question mark over our heads. So, until we got those test results, only Alec knew that this was a possibility. No matter what happened, though, I wanted her to see my new place because, at some point, I planned for it to be our place.Some of my tension had left when Aline had told me that she was okay and that the IUD debacle hadn’t been my fault, but it’d been such a small bit that as we moved into Playa Vista, my stomach was one giant knot of nerves. Most of it was because we still didn’t know for certain whether or not she was pregnant, but there was still a part of it that had to do with how she felt about my new home. I wanted her to love it.I took her hand as we w
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ALINEI DIDN’T KNOW IF I’D THROWN UP FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO BECAUSE Ihad morning sickness or if it’d been nerves, but either way, it hadn’t been pleasant. I’d been able to force down some crackers, and they’d helped with my upset stomach, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to completely quell my anxiety until I had the results of the blood test. Even if I was pregnant, the waiting was far worse than either answer would be.Eoin seemed to share my sentiments as he arrived nearly twenty minutes early, and apart from the drive, hadn’t been able to sit still. Even in the car, he’d been moving, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel or on his leg, flipping through radio stations, that sort of thing.The latter would have annoyed me normally, but nothing about this situation was normal. And if I were to be entirely honest, I didn’t mind the radio being on because neither of us had said more than a few words, and I preferred the background noise that prevented a total awkward silence betw
