Packing Heat: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance (Barone Crime Family) (31 page)

D
epartment of Defense charity dinner
. Really, it was a clusterfuck of rich old white dudes and their awful fucking wives all jockeying for position with the top brass. Most of them ran defense outfits and wanted those sweet government contracts, and so they were willing to part with a few thousand in order to gain the potential to make millions.

I’d only been to a few, but they made me fucking sick. They were everything I hated about the military, all the glad-handing bullshit, sucking each other’s dicks, smiling and laughing and pretending like they weren’t just trying to outbid each other. All I wanted was to be out in the field with my rifle, but I was stuck in this damn dining room with a bunch of rich old assholes trying to talk up the military.

At least I had Selena with me. I didn’t expect much from her, in all honesty, but she was fucking stunning. As soon as she walked into the room and we were ushered to our table, every single eye in the room was glued to her.

For good reason. She didn’t know it, but she looked stunning in that fucking dress. Livy had a good eye for that sort of thing, and her choice was really paying off. The old shitheads couldn’t tear their eyes away from her tits long enough to bug me with questions.

Meanwhile, Liv got to sit at the bar and watch from a distance, that lucky bastard.

“And how was it out there, in the field?” the old guy asked me. I had already forgotten his name, but I knew he was probably worth billions.

“Exciting,” I said. “It’s the best feeling in the world to fight for your country.”

“And you liked killing them bastards?”

I flinched. Selena quickly stepped in.

“Nash loves fighting for freedom,” she said.

“And you, young lady, what do you think of all this?”

“I think it’s amazing that you’re all here trying to support the troops.” She flashed him a dazzling smile and he was hypnotized by her cleavage.

It was my job to be charming, to be the face of the military. There were a few other officers scattered throughout the group courting wealthy donors, trying to convince them to fund the military’s sizeable lobby.

I didn’t like kissing ass. I could be charming when I wanted, but usually just for my fans. They were easy to please, because they actually liked me. These old fucking dinosaurs, though, they just wanted a piece of me, some good story to tell their buddies back home.

“So tell me, how’d you end up with a guy like this?” the dinosaur asked Selena.

She smiled and touched my arm. “We both have a passion for America. We really bonded over our love of freedom.”

The man laughed. She was stringing him on, and every other head at the table was turned directly at her.

Frankly, she was fucking marvelous, doing a much better job than I could have. I let her do the charming, the talking, and I just sat back and enjoyed the show.

After a half hour of this, I looked up across the room and suddenly sat very still. He was leaning up against the bar and smiled at me as soon as I saw him, gesturing for me to follow.

“Excuse me,” I said, and stood. “I’ll leave you in my wife’s capable hands,” I said to the group.

I quickly walked off, through a back door, and headed out into the alley.

He was standing by the dumpster smoking a cigarette. He looked just like I remembered, though I hadn’t seen him in a long time. We spoke over the phone sometimes, but not often, only when it was important.

“Good to see you again, soldier.”

“Sir,” I said, saluting.

“At ease.”

I relaxed. “Why are you here, sir?”

“It’s a fucking donor party. I’m kissing ass, just like you.”

I nodded. “Sir, I thought you’d be above that.”

He laughed. “I’m that kind of domestic propaganda. This is more or less my job.” He took a few steps closer to me, taking a long drag on his cigarette. “How’s it going in there?”

“Fine, sir. My wife is handling them.”

He nodded. “I heard about her. Why?”

“Why what, sir?”

He stopped close to me and finished off his cigarette, tossing it aside. He was an older man, in his sixties at least, tall and lanky. His hands were large and his voice was deep. He was wearing civilian clothes, but I could still picture the three stars pinned on his collar.

General Eli Benton was my commanding officer and one of the top-ranked covert military commanders in the country.

“Why marry the girl?”

“Love, sir.”

He nodded. “You don’t have to lie to me, you know.”

I clenched my jaw. “She’s useful, sir.”

“Good. Just so long as you don’t lose sight of the mission.”

“Sir, I’m the face of the military. I understand my mission.”

“We still have a public relations crisis in this country, Nash. The people no longer glorify the military like they once did. We need you to be our good old boy, to be the model of military discipline. We need you to be a hero.”

“Sir, yes, sir. I understand my mission.”

“Good. Will this girl get in the way of that?”

“No, sir. Americans love family. She helps with my cover.”

He nodded again and took another cigarette from the pack in his pocket. He lit it slowly. “Good. Be careful, Nash. Your mission is important, but not that important. If you’re not doing what we need, you will be discharged.”

“Sir,” I said quickly, “about that.” I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “Permission to speak freely.”

“You weren’t already?” He laughed. “Say what you want.”

“Sir, I want to be reassigned to active combat duty.”

General Benton stared at me for a second, taking a long drag on his cigarette. “Why?” he asked.

“Sir, fame doesn’t agree with me. I want to be back out there fighting for my country.” I paused and looked at him seriously. “It’s what I’m good at, sir.”

“You’ve done well in your current mission so far. Why would we want to let you back out in the field?”

“I can be useful there, sir.”

“Despite the dangers? This is an easy posting, you know. No bullets.”

“I like the bullets, sir.”

General Benton nodded slowly. “Very well. I’ll keep that under advisement. If you continue to do your work.”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“Dismissed.” He turned away, smoking his cigarette.

I snapped a salute and went back inside, my mind buzzing.

General Benton, here.

And now he knew what I really wanted.

As soon as I was inside, I spotted Selena. She smiled as she saw me, and for the first time in my life, I felt doubt.

She didn’t know that I wanted to leave, to go back to fighting abroad. But what did that matter? She wasn’t really my wife. She just wanted the money, and she would probably be relieved if our little marriage ended early.

I walked back over to the table slowly, watching her. She was practically glowing, laughing at some bad joke, playing up the crowd, working the table. She was gorgeous, fucking beautiful, and she was my wife.

But really, I was married to my job. I was a Navy SEAL, not some fucking asshole that sat in front of cameras all day long.   

I wanted to feel the weight of my gun, feel the thrill of battle again.

I sat back down next to her, and she placed her hand on my thigh. I felt my cock stiffen immediately, and that doubt was still there, nagging me, deep in my chest.

“Are you okay?” she asked after a minute.

“Fine,” I said. “You’re doing great.”

She smiled, a genuine, warm smile. “Thanks.”

I leaned back, my mind warring with itself, and watched her do her thing.

S
itting
around and talking to old guys about how great America was, and how great the military was in particular, was not my idea of a good time.

But apparently, I was good at it. I’d had those old guys hanging on every word. Probably because they were too busy staring at my breasts, but whatever. That was fine with me. I wanted to try to earn my keep with Nash, and that was finally something I was better at than him.

Although he had disappeared at one point. I’d watched him excuse himself and then head out a back door that led out into the alley.

I wanted to pursue that thought further, but I was just too tired. I picked at my room service dinner and stared at the television. Nash was in the shower, or maybe he was just lying down; I wasn’t sure. It was nearly one in the morning and I wanted to sleep.

Being someone’s fake wife was much more tiring than I would have guessed. I had assumed it would be a lot of smiling, a lot of pretend flirting, a lot of kissing. Instead, I was like a politician, sitting in front of cameras and lying and shaking hands.

Not to mention ignoring the pretty sluts that threw themselves at Nash. I sighed, shaking my head. I was being unfair and I knew it. He hadn’t ask for any of that to happen. In fact, he was doing his best to discourage it without seeming like he was an asshole.

I was being stupidly jealous, and although I knew it, I couldn’t help it. I was just too tired to keep my mind trained on anything else.

At least the hotel room was nice. It was big, with a large central room just like the others. It looked like we’d be staying in suites for the time being, and I was not looking forward to the day when Nash’s publisher got cheap and stuck us in a regular room.

I heard the door to the bedroom open, and that yanked me out of my thoughts. I looked back and stared at Nash.

He was dripping wet and wearing only a towel.

“Hey,” he said. “Got any food left?”

“Uh, put some clothes on.”

“What?” He walked over and began to pick at what was left of my meal. “I have a towel on.”

“Barely,” I said, staring at him. The towel was practically slipping off, and if it went any lower, I was pretty sure I’d get a good glimpse of his thick cock.

“Nothing you haven’t seen before,” he said, grinning.

“Just because I’ve seen it doesn’t mean I want to look at it now.”

“Sure it does. I see the look in your eyes.”

“There’s no look,” I said.

Although there was definitely a look. I couldn’t help but stare at him.

“Whatever you say,” he grunted. “I’m ordering a drink. Want anything?”

“No.”

He walked over to the phone and asked for a bottle of whisky and two glasses. He hung it up and leaned against the wall, looking at me.

“You did a really good job earlier,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“I hate those fucking dinners. I’m not a big fan of kissing ass.”

“Isn’t that what you do in the military?”

He laughed. “Some of those career guys, maybe. But I’m a SEAL. We do our missions and we do them well, and that’s good enough for most people.”

“So why aren’t you out there anymore?”

He shrugged. “Told you. I got shot, almost died. They pulled me off active duty.”

“Do you miss it?”

He was quiet for a second. “Yeah, I really do.” He looked so somber, so serious, that I was actually surprised. Maybe he was opening up to me for once.

But that glimpse past his cocky exterior quickly disappeared as his arrogant smile returned. “I’m finding ways to cope, though.” He moved toward me.

“Nash,” I warned.

“Nervous?” he asked.

“Not at all. We just, we can’t.”

He crossed his arms. The towel was inches away from dropping off. “We can’t what?”

“You know what,” I said. “Can you grab your towel please?”

He laughed, adjusting it slightly. That barely helped. “I don’t know what you thought, but I was going for the remote.”

“Oh,” I said, and I wasn’t sure why I felt disappointed.

“But if you want me to remove this towel and let you suck my cock, I’d be happy to.”

“No, thanks,” I said, handing him the remote.

He laughed and flicked through the channels. I leaned back and yawned, half asleep. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. He answered it and returned with his whisky, sipping from his glass.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“I can get myself to bed,” I said, standing.

“You sure you don’t want a hand? I’ve been thinking about you all fucking night.”

I smiled. “I’m sure.”

“You looked incredible in that dress. God, I’m fucking hard just talking about it.”

I glanced down and wished I hadn’t. His big cock was pressing the towel upward, starting to get erect.

“Nash!” I said.

“You get me fucking hard as hell, girl.”

“Good night.” I turned and walked into the bedroom, slamming the door.

His laughter chased me back in there. I was soaked myself, and it took all of my willpower just to resist him.

But I had to keep resisting. He was dangerous, but worse than that, he wanted to leave. Even if our marriage was a total sham, there was no future there. Nash wanted to go back to war and that was that. One day he’d get his wish and I’d get my paycheck, and we’d both walk away happy.

Except I didn’t feel happy.

As I climbed into bed, I only felt frustrated.