Navy SEAL Seduction (22 page)

Francis laughed, a high-pitched, maniacal sound. “Caroline, Jackie. All the same. Bitches. Like my mother, who left my father to screw another man. They think they can trap you with sex. Caroline was pregnant. She threatened to expose me, tell my dad. He can’t risk that kind of scandal. I had to do it, Lacey. I had to do it. And then I told Paul, and Paul promised he’d clean up the mess. He offered to hide the body. He was always helping me. He always scored for me, got me the best stuff. He knew people who had kilos of it.”

Francis’s trust fund went straight to his nose. She’d always thought his boundless energy came from high spirits. Now she knew better.

He kept talking, babbling about Caroline and how he did love her, but she was so demanding; they were all demanding.

“I tried to get rid of her, Lacey. That little bastard of Jackie’s.” His wild gaze whipped over to Fleur, who had crept out of the lounge chair and stood by her bedside. “We could have had a go at it if not for her. She saw me. She knew. I hired two men Paul recommended. But that bastard Navy Boy of yours dodged the bullets.”

Fleur whimpered. Lacey inched closer to the bedside table and the steaming hot soup. Closer.

Francis raised the pistol. “I’m sorry, Lacey. She has to die. Don’t you understand? My dad can’t afford a scandal.”

Now!

Picking up the mug of hot soup, Lacey threw it in his face. “Run, Fleur,” she yelled.

Francis screamed, clawing at his face as Fleur raced away. Lacey rolled out of bed and hit the floor, trying to crawl away. She felt a brief pain as the IV popped free of her hand and tried to get up, but she was too weak.

Horrified, she saw Francis swing the gun toward her daughter, running to escape the ICU.

“You little bitch!” Francis screamed. “I’ll kill you.”

And then she looked up and saw two size twelve combat boots and heard the lethal pop of a Sig Sauer firing.

Francis collapsed onto the linoleum floor before her eyes, his face frozen in a mask of shock.

“No one messes with my woman, Tennis Boy. Or my little girl,” Jarrett said in a deep voice. “No one.”

He went to Francis, checked his neck and then raced over to Lacey.

Others now ran into the ICU, but she only had eyes for Jarrett.

“Fleur?” she whispered.

“She’s fine. She runs pretty damn fast. Zigs and zags, making her a harder target.” Jarrett brushed back her hair. “Her mom taught her well.”

His gaze narrowed and he swore quietly as he took in her bleeding hand where the IV had pulled free. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to another bed and set her down.

“Damn woman, I leave you alone for a few minutes and look what happens,” he said in a mock sigh. “What am I going to have to do to keep you out of trouble?”

Smiling, she touched his face. “Marry me.”

EPILOGUE

T
he wedding promised to be the social event of the season. Nearly 800 people had been invited, many of them politicians and Navy brass. No press, but the media would get the official wedding photos of the bride and groom. The president had been invited, and had to decline but hinted he “might” swing by the reception to wish them luck and share a glass of Dom Perignon.

A far cry from their first wedding, when she and Jarrett had eloped to Las Vegas.

The scandal and shock of Francis’s death had rippled through DC like a tidal wave. Alastair Monroe had gone to Paris after the funeral, retreating from public life. Her father had been the most stunned of all.

But Alexander Stewart was enormously grateful for Jarrett, his future son-in-law.

It’s going to be okay.
The chant reverberated through her mind as she checked her appearance in the mirror at the bride’s room in back of the cathedral. Fleur, bedecked in a sleeveless white long gown, a replica of her mom’s, a circlet of red roses in her hair, practically bounced up and down with excitement.

It was Fleur who insisted on expediting the wedding. She’d already started calling Jarrett “Daddy” from the day of Lacey’s hospital release. Jarrett pulled out the half-carat diamond ring, got down on one knee and proposed. Not to Lacey, but to Fleur, asking permission to “marry your mom.”

Fleur said yes immediately, nearly as quickly as Lacey had.

Being a senator’s daughter pulled strings and they hired the best wedding planner to stage this elaborate event in only four months. Lacey had hoped for a quiet, small wedding, but her parents insisted on this. Dad had “wanted to show off my new son-in-law.”

He’d never been more proud of Jarrett. Her father was a silent partner in Jarrett’s new business. Jarrett had completed his last spec ops mission. In six months he would resign and enter civilian life as he fully assumed charge of Project Security Operations Specialties, Project SOS for short. The agency offered protection to corporate executives and civilians, and taught self-defense techniques and gun training. Sam and Gene were already officially employed, and Jarrett planned to bring on additional hires, like Ace, who intended to retire at the end of the year.

She had appointed another board of directors of Marlee’s Mangoes in St. Marc and a new president. Her new charity, Hope for Marlee, was based in the United States. The NGO aided battered women in distress and helped to find them new hope and new lives.

Lacey smoothed down the lace on her dress, checked her veil. Her bouquet of red roses and baby’s breath had white lilies, as well. The formal ceremony had her tied in knots, but Jarrett had been beside her all the time. Every time she fretted and expressed the desire to run away to Vegas, he’d flash her a wide smile and then pull her into his arms, murmuring, “It’s going to be all right.”

Those words were usually followed by a wink, and then Jarrett pulling her into the nearest private room for a bout of quick sex that erased all her fears and made her forget about the wedding. Last week when she’d nearly gone into tears after hearing her dress might not be ready in time, she had been at her parents house in DC having lunch with the entire wedding party. Jarrett mouthed across the table, “It’s going to be all right,” and then winked. He had quietly excused himself, dragged Lacey into the big upstairs bathroom and locked the door. They had returned twenty minutes later, Jarrett all smooth professionalism, but his hair slightly rumpled. Lacey couldn’t help the dreamy smile on her face.

Trying to summon the same smile now, she took a deep breath and stepped into the vestibule with her dad.

As the bridesmaids in their red satin floor-length gowns proceeded down the aisle, and Fleur tossed the red rose petals down the white carpet, Lacey stared at the altar.

Six Navy SEALs stood next to Jarrett in full white dress uniforms. “Our ice cream suits,” Jarrett had joked. The same squad that had rescued her from the sinking bow runner now stood ready to witness their leader remarry her. Rows of “fruit salad,” the medals they had earned, marched across their uniforms. Above the medals was pinned the Budweiser, the gold Navy SEAL trident.

Her bridesmaids, all cousins and friends, had nearly swooned when they found out they would be escorted by Navy SEALs.

As best man, Ace would be paired with her matron of honor, his sister, Aimee.

The men looked distinguished and handsome in their dazzling white uniforms, and the church was packed with notable guests, many of whom were strangers to her. A bout of nervousness seized Lacey. She tried to smile, but her face felt frozen. All these people staring at her! As a politician’s daughter, she was accustomed to social events, but not one where she was the center of so much intense speculation. Lacey wondered if she looked good enough. The bullet wound was hidden by her dress, but the surgery had left a scar on her arm that remained visible. At first she wanted the sleeveless dress because it was lovely, with the yards of satin and white lace, and the high collar that would match the one on Jarrett’s uniform. And she’d seen the sleeveless dress as a symbol of her future and her refusal to hide life’s scars.

But now with nearly 800 guests looking at her, she had a moment of doubt. Lacey almost wished she had insisted on carrying out her plans to elope. And then she saw Jarrett. Tall, proud and handsome in his white uniform, the soft overhead lighting shining down upon his dark head, he had eyes only for her. He did not look at her dress, nor her flowers or her scarred bare arm.

Jarrett looked right into her eyes.

The music swelled as she walked down the aisle. As she drew closer, Lt. Jarrett Adler mouthed, “It’s going to be all right.” Then his crooked grin widened as he pointed to the vestry on the right and winked.

And then she smiled and knew everything was going to be all right.

* * * * *

Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

Do you want to earn
Free Books
and More?
Join
Harlequin My Rewards
points program and earn points every time you shop.

You can redeem your points to get more of what you love:

Free books
Exclusive gifts and contests
Book recommendations tailored to your reading preferences

Earn
2000 points
instantly when you join—getting you closer to redeeming your first free book.

Don’t miss out. Reward the book lover in you!

Click
here
to sign up
Or visit us online to sign up at

http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010001

We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Romantic Suspense title.

You want sparks to fly!
Harlequin Romantic Suspense
stories deliver, with strong and adventurous women, brave and powerful men and the life-and-death situations that bring them together.

Enjoy four new stories from Harlequin Romantic Suspense every month!

Connect with us on
Harlequin.com
for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!

Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com

ISBN: 9781488005039

NAVY SEAL SEDUCTION

Copyright © 2016 by Bonnie Vanak

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical,
now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

www.Harlequin.com