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  When Max didn’t respond, Aidan slammed Max’s skull against the wall. “I asked you a question, asshole.”

  Zoe heard a siren in the distance, getting louder and louder with every breath.

  “Yeah. Yeah. I get you.” Max spat blood in her direction. “Stupid bitch. I warned you what would happen and you didn’t listen. This is all your fucking fault.”

  Aidan moved with lightning speed. He spun Max toward the dining room table, wrenched his arm high behind his back, and shoved him face first into the wood.

  Aidan jacked Max’s arm higher until Zoe thought it might break. “Unless you want to make a pit stop at the hospital to set a broken arm on your way to jail, I’d advise you to keep your fucking mouth shut until the police arrive.”

  She could’ve been shot.

  Aidan paced the kitchen floor. He’d been in combat. He’d faced enemy fire. He’d seen some of the worst acts the lack of humanity had to offer, and he’d never been as furious as he’d been when he heard Max’s voice from outside the door. The magnitude of the emotion running through him was foreign territory, and he was lost without a map. He didn’t like it. It felt dark and toxic, as though he’d swallowed acid and it was slowly eating away his sanity.

  Thank God he’d maintained the wherewithal to call 9-1-1 before he entered the house or things might’ve turned out differently.

  Guilt crept in, swirling its bitter flavor with the anger.

  He was late. He got caught up talking to one of the guys at the shop and lost track of time.

  He should’ve been there. Should’ve protected her like he’d promised. God. If he’d been any later … five, ten minutes…

  Aidan stopped in his tracks, the thought of Zoe being taken from him kicking his protective instincts into overdrive. He closed his eyes and took a breath, desperately searching for the calm that had been his constant companion for the better part of his life.

  “I don’t want to stay here tonight,” Zoe said softly. She was sitting at the kitchen table with one of the responding officers.

  I warned you what would happen. Max’s words replayed in Aidan’s head as he stared at Zoe’s red, swollen cheek. It was already beginning to bruise.

  Was that the text message Max had sent? If Max had threatened her, why the hell hadn’t she told him?

  Goddamn it. Not helping.

  “We don’t have to,” Aidan ground out, every word seemingly laced with the poisonous cocktail still flooding his veins. He cleared his throat and tried for a lighter—normal—tone. “We’ll stay next door.”

  She’d slept beside him for the last four nights. No way in hell he was going to sleep without her on his last night home. And certainly not after what she’d been through tonight. He wanted her close. Safe.

  “Sir? I need to get some information from you.” another officer said.

  Aidan propped a hip against the island and crossed his arms. God, he needed a fucking drink. “Yeah. Of course.”

  “What’s your full name?”

  “Aidan Matthew Stone.”

  “Address?”

  Aidan gave the man his address in California.

  The cop’s brow went up. “And what brings you to Las Vegas?”

  Zoe’s head snapped up. She stared at him, as if all of a sudden she, too, was unsure why he was there. In fact, she’d been staring at him as if she didn’t know him for the last twenty minutes.

  He tried not to take it personally. She didn’t know the side of him that took down her ex tonight. She didn’t know he was a SEAL. He’d started to tell her on several occasions, but for one reason or another, the truth had yet to come out. It was one of the things he’d planned to talk to her about tonight. Before she’d almost been kidnapped by a lunatic.

  And the way she was looking at him now, he didn’t know if she’d be interested in anything he had to say.

  “Mr. Stone? Your reason for being in town?” the officer prompted, gaining his attention.

  “I grew up here. My parents live next door. I’m home for a visit.”

  “And what is it you do in…” The officer looked at his notes. “In Coronado?”

  Aidan dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. This was not how he wanted Zoe to find out about his job, but fuck it. They’d have to deal with it sooner rather than later anyway, since he was leaving in less than fifteen hours.

  “Mr. Stone, this would go a lot faster if you would just—”

  “I’m in the military.” Aidan stared straight into Zoe’s eyes and said, “I’m a Navy SEAL.”

  14

  Aidan grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, grateful his parents had gone out for the evening and wouldn’t be home for hours.

  He twisted the tops off the bottles and set one down on the counter in front of Zoe. Somewhere between her house and his parents’, Aidan found his calm. In truth, the moment her delicate hand slipped into his during the walk over, the anger drained out of him as if she’d physically pulled the plug.

  She was the catalyst and the cure, it seemed.

  Aidan leaned against the refrigerator and studied her as she studied the label on her bottle.

  Now that they were alone it felt like more than a kitchen island separated them. She hadn’t said a word to him since declaring she didn’t want to stay at her house, and it was killing him.

  “Are you okay, babe?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I’m tougher than I look. I’m all right.”

  “How’s the cheek feel?” The frozen bag of peas she’d put on it while the police took her statement had helped with the swelling.

  “It’s sore, but not too bad.” She prodded the side of her face, her gaze darting between him and the beer bottle. “I’ll be fine.”

  He downed half his beer, waiting for her to say something. Anything. He couldn’t stand the silence between them.

  “What did Max mean when he said he warned you? Did you know he was going to show up?”

  “You remember those texts I told you he sent?”

  So, he had been right.

  “That’s when he threatened you?” When she nodded, he had to take a breath to keep from getting angry again. That motherfucker had threatened her. Hurt her. Touched her. Years of discipline and training were the only reasons Aidan hadn’t beat Max to within an inch of his life. Oh, but he’d thought about it. He’d thought about it hard. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Because that’s what my mom would’ve done.”

  Aidan rolled those words around in his brain, trying to make sense of them. “Sounds like a smart woman.”

  “She’s not. You already know she kept my grandad from me. She didn’t even try to work things out with him because she hated my father. I’m not saying she didn’t have a good reason to hate him, but she took that hatred out on an innocent man, and she hurt me in the process. And she doesn’t care. She waved it off as if time wasn’t precious. As if we have an endless amount to spend with the people we treasure.”

  Her voice cracked at the end and Aidan took a step toward her. She put up a hand to stop him.

  “No. You need to hear this. My mom … she manipulates people, Aidan. Men, mostly. She likes … well, I don’t know exactly what she gets out of playing the victim and pitting men against each other, but that’s what she does. Maybe she likes the attention or the drama she causes. I don’t know, and I don’t care. Telling you about Max’s threats a week after we met felt like the same kind of manipulation. Like I wanted you to swoop in and save me from the big, bad man or something.” She shook her head. “I won’t do it. I won’t use you the same way she does the men she dates.”

  “Then, don’t.” Aidan took a drink, considering her words. He got her point, but she was missing his. “You’re looking at this through the wrong lens, babe. You aren’t your mom. And I’m not like the men your mom dates, from the sounds of it. I don’t swoop, and I’m not easily manipulated. Take those things out of the equation, and all that’s left is you and m
e and the trust I thought we were building between us. If you’d told me, I wouldn’t have assumed you couldn’t take care of yourself. I know you can. Tonight was proof of that. But everyone needs someone at their back. Hell, I’ve got seven guys at mine, and I’m damn grateful for each one of them.” He was getting off track. “The bottom line is, I could’ve done a better job at having your back if I’d known there was an active threat.”

  “It all makes sense now. The jumping out of planes. The way you were with Max. The … things you said.” Her gaze travelled over him. “I wasn’t the only one who kept a secret, Aidan.”

  Yeah, but his secret hadn’t tried to kill them. “I wish you’d stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you don’t know who I am.” Aidan straightened and ran a frustrated hand over his head. “I’m the same man I’ve always been, Zoe.”

  Well, almost the same man. He apparently had a shiny new caveman attitude that shoved him right over the edge when another man laid his hands on her.

  “My job doesn’t change who I am. I was a SEAL when you met me, regardless of whether you knew it or not.”

  “I thought you were a mechanic.”

  He’d wondered about that. “I figured it was something like that.”

  Her gaze snapped up, locked with his. “You knew?”

  “Not for sure, but I had an idea.”

  “Why didn’t you set me straight? Was I some kind of game for you?”

  He put his beer down and had to grip the edge of the counter to keep from reaching for her. “Never, Zoe. I wasn’t trying to be deceitful. It was refreshing to spend time with you without my job getting in the way. You might not believe this, but there are a lot of women out there who target guys like me. Navy SEALs. They think it’s a glamorous life, full of prestige.” The reality couldn’t be farther from the truth. “They troll the bars around base and actively pursue any SEAL who shows the slightest interest.”

  “Sounds like you have some experience with those women.”

  He wasn’t going to lie to her. “My job makes it hard to have a serious relationship. It always seemed easier not to try. Being with a woman who has stars in her eyes about my job gets old, real quick. Usually around the time I get sent off somewhere I can’t talk about, for an amount of time I can’t give. Suddenly, I’m the worst possible boyfriend because the thing they covet takes priority over everything else. Even the women who didn’t target me for my job took offense to the secrets. It was my experience that there weren’t a lot of women strong and independent enough to handle that kind of thing. Then, I met you.”

  Aidan heard her sharp inhale. He walked around to her side of the counter, turned her barstool so she faced him, and then took her hands in his.

  “Being a SEAL is the best life I can imagine, Zoe, but it’s not an easy one. The military is demanding. Being part of a SEAL team, even more so. I can’t ever discuss where I’ve been or what we’ve been doing. There are no exceptions. We don’t work like other areas of the military. I’m basically on call 24/7, 365 days a year. I can get called away any day, any time. No matter what I’m doing or where I am, I have to go. That’s the commitment I’ve made.”

  Fuck, that sounded worse out loud. And it had sounded pretty damn bad in his head to begin with. He wasn’t giving her much incentive to give him—give them—a shot, but better she know now what life with him would be like.

  “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  “Because you need to understand what you’ll be getting into if we’re going to be together.”

  “If we’re what?”

  He nodded. “Cards on the table, Zoe.” This was Vegas after all. “When I leave tomorrow, I want to go knowing that you’re mine.” He cradled her wounded cheek in his hand, the heat there seeping into his skin, leaving its mark on him as well. He would take her pain, if he could. “Because, babe, I’m already yours.”

  “Aidan.”

  “I used to roll my eyes at my parents when they talked about the moment they met. But, I get it now. Because that’s how I felt when I first saw you sleeping on Boss’s couch. I knew my life would never be the same. I knew, Zoe.”

  “Aidan.”

  “I know it seems fast, but we’ve got to start somewhere. It might as well be here and now. If you think you can handle my schedule, or you’re are at least willing to try…”

  Jesus Christ. He needed to add rambling to the list of new and exciting personality traits he’d acquired recently. He hoped to fuck he didn’t start doing it at work. The guys would have a field day.

  “You asked me once if I trusted you,” Zoe said quietly. “And I told you I did.” She stared at their joined hands. “I watched you tonight, trying to figure out if that had changed, if how I felt about you had changed, after hearing the things you said to Max.”

  Aidan breathed a low curse. He’d been so angry, he couldn’t remember half of what he said. The half he did remember wasn’t great.

  “And?”

  “I don’t feel the same as I did before.” Aidan closed his eyes, not wanting to see the final blow as it came. “I feel more. More trust. More … whatever this is we’ve got going.”

  His lids shot open in time to see one side of her mouth curl up. She was torturing him on purpose.

  “You aren’t the only one who knew, Aidan.” Her smile grew. “I don’t know what it means for the future or how it’ll work, but yes. I want to keep seeing you. When you leave tomorrow, you can go knowing without a doubt that I’m yours, too.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I’ve been planning my speech all day.”

  Aidan pulled her into his arms. She came without hesitation, sliding her arms around his neck. “I’d like to hear it,” he said against her mouth.

  “How about I skip to the part where I tell you I got a letter today from the school in San Diego.”

  He pulled back to look in her eyes. They were so damn blue and full of hope, he couldn’t breathe. “You got in?”

  “I got in.”

  She’d be moving to San Diego soon. That would certainly make their relationship easier.

  “Come back with me,” he blurted before he realized what he was going to say.

  “Tomorrow? Don’t you have to work?”

  Shit. He had to report at the crack of dawn. “Yeah. I have no idea what kind of week we’re gonna have. That’s probably not the best plan.”

  She blinked. “What about the weekend? I could come on Friday and stay a few days. Maybe we could check out the campus together. Then, maybe you could help me decide on the best area to look for an apartment.”

  It would be a long-ass week without her. And he couldn’t guarantee what the weekend would look like, either. Fuck. “I’d love nothing more, but let’s make the plans tentative until we get closer to the time. I don’t know what work—”

  She pressed two fingers against his lips to cut him off. He kissed the tips.

  “If you have to work, it’ll be okay. I’ve got plenty of stuff to keep me busy if I come and you have to work. We’ll figure it out, Aidan.”

  “I lo—” Too soon. Too soon. “Come here.” He slanted his mouth over hers. Her tongue met his halfway, and they both groaned at the contact. The kiss quickly turned hot and frantic. Only his Zoe could go through what she’d been through tonight and be strong enough emotionally to try to climb him like a tree. Giving her what she wanted, he cupped her backside and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pressed harder against him.

  “Bedroom,” she demanded, the need he felt in his gut reflected in her tone.

  As Aidan carried Zoe up the stairs, he had no doubt that he was the luckiest fucking man in all of Vegas.

  Epilogue

  Two years later

  The sunset was as beautiful as she remembered.

  Zoe sat between Aidan’s powerful thighs, the two of them perched on their rock high above Lake Mead, her sketch pad open on her lap. Th
ey hadn’t been back to this spot in a while. Not since the night they’d eloped in Las Vegas.

  One year ago tonight.

  Zoe added the shoreline of the lake to her color drawing.

  “Capturing our sunset again, babe?”

  She hummed. “Something like that.” He’d see the finished product soon enough.

  Her active, gotta-keep-busy man had spent countless hours watching her work. Sometimes from the opposite end of their couch. Sometimes while they sat at the kitchen table having coffee. And sometimes watching from over her shoulder while he held her against him, as he did now.

  She never would’ve guessed watching her sketch would be entertaining enough to slow him down, but Aidan insisted that watching her work was the second best part of his day. The best being when they went to bed together at night. Newsflash, that was her best part, too.

  The first few months they were together had been tough. It had taken several months to sell her grandad’s house, but she’d gotten full asking price, so she hadn’t complained. Once she’d finally settled in San Diego, between school and Aidan’s work, they hardly saw each other. After six months, they sat down and revisited their priorities. Since Aidan lived close to the base, Zoe paid out her lease and moved in with him. Waking together every day and ending each night in each other’s arms had helped them find their groove.

  Zoe thought she’d never be happier.

  She’d been wrong.

  A few months later, Aidan had returned from a lengthy deployment with a ring in his hand. In typical Aidan fashion, he didn’t wait for what another man might perceive as the perfect time or place. He dropped to one knee and proposed to her the second he walked into the apartment, the door still wide open and his bag on the floor next to him.