Page 26 of The Forbidden Bodyguard

I enjoy dining out at nice places despite being able to sleep on a mountainside and getting a few decent hours’ sleep. I prefer the sofa to the movie theater and think popcorn should be illegal. That shit gets stuck in your teeth for days.

While walking through a rainforest one night, I thought about what my life would be like when I finally made the jump. What I’d do.

Private security is the most natural next step for a SEAL to make. Especially working with Josh. It really was a no brainer.

But even this will have an expiration date.

My home has to be by water. My soul needs the ocean. I know guys who have started marine operations businesses. Moving expensive boats from one island to the other overnight to meet their wealthy owner. The money is good. Couple that with yacht delivery, contracting to the big building companies, and it’s a lucrative cruising business.

That could take me into my sixties without much thought.

So, I have plans, none of which I could share with Mom. Who knows if Dad would have stayed much longer on the team. For all we know, he might have had his own plans to leave before he was killed.

His best friend, Chad, a fellow SEAL who is like an uncle to me, has never said anything, but then again, I don’t think he would. He also tiptoes around Mom’s emotions.

It’s gotta stop.

We have all supported her never-ending cycle of grief, which has stretched on for over twelve years. That’s not healthy.

When she had Chad call me to talk me out of quitting, I could hear the reluctance in his voice.

“Hey buddy,” Chad said.

“What’s up?”

“Was talking to your mom...” I rolled my eyes but gave him the floor and let him do what he had to do. “This the right thing?”

“Yup.”

“You thought it through?”

“Got a job working with Josh at BHS.” I was driving and had him on speaker, so turned left onto the street and kept an eye out for the store I was wanting to visit.

“Yeah? I’m hearing good things about them.”

“Solid reputation. I’ll be based in New York.”

“You’ve always loved the Big Apple.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Guess you won’t be too far from your mom in Newport.”

“Yup.” I spotted the store and pulled into the closest park. “So, you going to call her back and assure her I’m making a good decision?”

“Will do.”

I grinned. “See you at Thanksgiving.”

“Take care, son.”

He’d always called me son, even when Dad was alive.

So that had been that.

Mom would be okay. I love her and will help her adjust to the changes I am making in my life. But I won’t live to make her and only her happy.

I understood her pride at being the wife and mother of a SEAL. Hell, making it through BUDs was no mean feat. The six months of intense training has a huge dropout rate—around eight percent, if my memory serves me right—and ends in the infamous Hell Week.

Let me tell you, it's goddamn hell, all right.

I’m more than equipped to deal with some tough guy who may have links to organized crime and thinks he’s marrying Stella.