AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The whole cloud hanging over him complicates my plans to give Evie a fair shake for Dad’s sake, regardless of whether or not I can stand her.
But after that dinner...it’s hard to have any doubt that she’s bad news. I can’t help wondering what it was like actually growing up with her as a mom.
Are Chris’ assholery and sexaholic tendencies just symptoms of the rot she left behind?
I shake my head, hating that I want to push the pieces together and knowing full well I shouldn’t.
Distance is the best thing for me—a cold dark chasm between our lives.
Easier said than done.
Something about watching him blow out of my life like this shocks my heart worse than anything he’s said.
I’m worried for Chris, for myself, for Dad.
If Evie made my new stepbrother the man he is—an ego-grenade who has to risk his life to prove his worth, however noble—what will she do to Dad before this cringe marriage withers on the vine?
A notification on my phone from school silences my questions.
Professor Thosser means business, prodding me about my thesis again.
Heck, he’ll expect an outline in another few weeks, well before my final semester starts, and I’m scraping the bottom for good ideas that could make or break my future.
I remember the last thing Chris said.
Don’t need the stress between missions.
Hm. Just what was he doing in the SEALs?
What does he do now?
Have those hands that melt me with every touch killed people?
Have those eyes like a forest fire watched friends die?
He’s a rare breed, living a life I can’t imagine.
Oh, but I do.
And when I do too much imagining over the next hour, I can’t help bolting out of bed and walking over to my desk. I pull up a chair and open my laptop.
A quick search scouring the web for recent articles about SEALs turns up what I want.
The big raid outside Damascus.
It was all over the news about a year ago. We even talked about it in my international politics class.
US Special Forces went after several terrorist groups, but they’d also gotten in the middle of an Iranian operation brought in to help the Syrian government.
Iranians and Americans traded fire for the first time in decades.
When the dust settled, there were three servicemen killed—all SEALs—plus the wreckage of several high-tech gliders left behind.
It almost caused a broader war. A SEAL unit was definitely involved in the raid in a country the US isn’t technically at war with. The top Pentagon brass kept the details close to their chest, deflecting the media’s attention.
I stare at the words and maps on my screen, pushing a sharp lump down my throat.
Is this it? One more ugly tragedy in Chris’ life?
