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“Yep. Mom walked in looking like a million bucks to teach Ian and all those handsome young SEALs.”
“But, wait. How did that impact you?”
“Oh. Well, I came to Coronado for Thanksgiving, and Ian proposed to Mom. I hate to even say it, Gail, but I was awful to her. I was terrible to Ian, but I was really awful to Mom. There was this huge guy there, a SEAL, who said some things to me that weighed heavily on my heart. About Mom and Ian.
“I went back to Boston, where I was living and working. My boyfriend was getting physical with me, so I wanted to break it off. Anyway, he ended up kidnapping me and beating me so severely I couldn’t move. I was chained inside an abandoned house, naked, beaten, and dying.”
“Oh, my God! Kelsey. What happened? I mean, obviously, you’re here, but what happened?”
“Well, Ian, being the amazing, wonderful stepfather that he is, sent a SEAL to look for me.”
“Wait. Not the big one that said things to you before you left?”
“One and the same,” she grinned. Cruz laughed.
“Noa Lim is one of the biggest bastards you’ll ever meet. He was a Division One college football player. Had offers to play in the pros and wanted to be a SEAL instead. He found Kels inside that house, lifted her like a baby bird, and got her to a hospital just in time. The men were still after her, but we got a little help from a few friends.”
“That’s us,” smirked Rafe.
“Yea, them,” laughed Cruz. “Once it was safe to move Kelsey, they drove from Boston to San Diego.”
“And you fell in love along the way?” smiled Gail.
“Oh, honey. I think I fell in love long before that. Noa was worried it was me falling for my rescuer, not for him. But he was wrong. I loved that man almost instantly. Even when he was saying all those things to me after Thanksgiving, I think in my brain, I was thinking, ‘this is the kind of man I should be with.’ We’ve been married ever since.”
“Wow, that’s just crazy,” she said, shaking her head. She looked around the room at the men. “And are you all married?”
“I’m married to one of the gorgeous sisters to those look-alike idiots over there,” smirked Cruz.
“And damn lucky for it,” laughed Antoine. “I married a woman that I rescued from a trafficking ring. Her nephew was with her, and I was lucky enough to adopt him and make him my son.”
“I married a woman we found hiding on our property. She’d been attacked, brutally. Worse than you, honey. Married her and adopted six of the finest children ever,” smiled Gaspar.
“Met and married the best damn chopper pilot in the world. Savannah is my whole damn world.”
“Same story, different girl,” laughed Gabe. “My Tori is an ex-sheriff’s deputy. She joined our team for personal reasons, so did her brother.”
“I never thought I’d meet the girl of my dreams,” smirked Bull. “I’m old as dirt and feel like it most days. Lily was locked in a shipping container because of something she saw. I rescued that sweet thing and couldn’t leave her.”
“And he sings like an angel,” smirked Kelsey.
“Kels!”
“What? I’m telling the truth. Ever heard of Amanda and William?”
“Oh, my God! I love your music. That album you did with Mia Rogers was amazing. Her violin playing is haunting.” The all smiled at her, nodding. “Wait. Is Mia on the team as well? Isn’t she blind?”
“She is blind,” said Kelsey. “She’s not on our team, but her husband is.”
“That’s just all so remarkable. Tobias said his grandfathers, father, and uncles are all on the team as well. It sounds like a dream to me. I mean, to have family that you’re that close to. That you can tr-trust,” she said with a short sob.
“Oh, honey. Don’t think about them,” said Cruz, gripping her hand. “We’ll take care of them and figure all of this out.” She shook her head, looking at the identical brothers across the room.
“Y-you said you have a sister.”
“Sisters. Plural,” said Gaspar. “We have six sisters.”
“Could you, would you ever…”
