Embattled Minds (Military Romance) (Lost And Found Series) (18 page)

“Well, can we talk about it without yelling?”

She sighed and set her book to the side.

“No, because I’ll probably cry.”

Zeke sighed, feeling like shit, wishing she was close enough to touch. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“I know,” she said. “But don’t you think it was more traumatic for me to walk in here cold and see you like this? Or was that the test? To throw it all at me at once to see how I did?”

Zeke cringed, because that kind of had been his reasoning. He’d expected her to bail—had always expected her to bail—so he’d stacked the deck in that direction. “I’m sorry. That was a b-b-bonehead move on my part. You’re right, though. What I go through is sh-shocking, and this isn’t the end of it. I have several more…s-s-surgeries before I think I’ll be able to walk out in public without feeling like a fr-reak. I wanted to be sure I could count on you before I fell any more in love.”

Ember was shaking her dark head. “You’re not a freak. Quit saying that. Wait, what?”

He swallowed, aware his brain had spit out what it was thinking rather than what he wanted to say.

Her dark chocolate eyes widened and she sat back in the chair as if she didn’t believe what she’d heard. “In love? Did you really just say that?”

Zeke refused to take it back. “Yes, I did.”

Ember, on the other hand, looked pissed. “You did this because you loved me.”

He flinched, even though it hurt. “No…”

“What a freaking ridiculous…” she lunged to her feet, throwing her hands in the air, “senseless, egotistical Marine thing to do! All this protective, defensive bullshit has to stop. I won’t stand for it. I told you flat out that I loved you. I think I loved you when you kicked those college kids out after they grabbed my ass. I know I loved you that day in my office when you held me in your arms as if you couldn’t let me go and let me cry out my frustration. I love your looks, even though,” she glared at him, “you went and changed them without telling me.”

She shook her head and looked at the floor for a minute, before lifting tear-drenched eyes to his. “But your looks aren’t why I love you. You’re strong and resilient and have a heart of absolute gold, and I can tell when you touch me that you would walk over glass for me. Most especially, I love the way you treat my child, with respect and encouragement.”

Zeke slid out of the bed to stand barefoot on the cold floor in front of her. “I would walk over g-glass for you, in a damn hospital gown with my ass h-hanging out. And your son is brilliant. I look forward to playing Legos with him again.” He dared to reach out and tuck some hair behind her ear. “And I love you because you’re the only one that sees me, not the scars or the h-history, just me. You scare the hell out of me with how much you see.”

She grinned, tilting her mouth up for a kiss. “I do, huh?”

He kissed her carefully, yearning to sink into her more deeply. A nurse bustled in just then.

“Okay, now, that’s enough of that,” she laughed. “Let me check a couple things and I think the doctor is going to release you in the morning.”

She urged him to sit on the side of the bed and started to carefully peel the stretchy mask away from skin. Ember stood just beyond the woman’s shoulder, and he appreciated her being there. It seemed right.

He watched her face for any sign of disgust as the ragged, angry skin beneath the mask was revealed, but nothing appeared. She cringed and gasped in sympathy when one of the stitches caught, then seemed ready to beat the nurse, which made him snort.

“Do-don’t make me laugh, damn it.”

She winked at him over the nurse’s shoulder and smooched him a kiss. Such a sense of calm descended through his body that the nurse could have ripped the mask away and he wouldn’t have minded. He’d had brotherhood in the Marine Corp, solidarity, but he’d never felt it with another single person the way he did right now with Ember.

He waited until she met his gaze. “I do love you.”

Her face eased and relaxed into a smile. “I love you, too.”

“I want you and Drew to marry me.”

The nurse lifted the mask completely from him, sniffed and tactfully left the room.

Ember’s brown eyes were wide and luminous with tears. One slipped down her cheek. “And I can speak for Drew when I say we want to marry you too. He already told me you needed a family. Our family.”

Emotion tightened his throat and made his eyes burn.

“I never e-e-expected to find somebody willing to take all of me, like this.”

She shook her head and stepped between his knees, reaching for his hands. “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you a million times more. Your scars don’t bother me. I love them, because they tell me exactly the kind of man you are, willing to fight for your country and your brothers. If you never have another surgery, I’ll be fine with it. The outside isn’t the important part to me. It’s this right here.” She laid her hand over his pounding heart.

His damn eyes. He wiped the tears away and pulled her into his arms. “I’ll love you forever,” he vowed. She tightened her arms around his neck and pressed kisses to his skin.

He cleared his throat. “I do need to talk to yo-your d-dad, though. I’m doing this b-b-backwards.”

She nodded against him and pulled back to give him a watery smile. “He would appreciate that. And I would too.”

*****

They released him the next morning. As he and Ember walked out into the cold December day, he felt the stares of the people around him, but he didn’t turn away from the scrutiny. He just looked down at Ember and smiled.

Chad had parked in the loop to wait for them. He stepped out and leaned against the front fender. His eyes tracked down to their clasped hands as they walked toward him, then back up to scan his face. Zeke grinned, even though it tugged sharply at his stitches and stopped in front of him. “I may need a b-best-man in the not-so-d-d-distant future.”

Chad’s eyes got big with surprise and he let out an “Oorah!”, dragging him into a backslapping hug. Zeke laughed and took the assault, not caring that they were drawing more looks.

Then his buddy turned to Ember and wrapped his arms more carefully around her. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded. When they stepped apart, they were both teary eyed, making Zeke wonder what had been said.

Nodding his head, Chad turned to him. “I’ll be there for you, Tiny.”

Zeke laughed out loud and punched Chad on the shoulder, appreciating his life more than he had in many years.

The End

I sincerely hope you enjoyed Book 2 of the Lost and Found Series. I would appreciate it if you would:

LEND IT- to friends and family. It is lending enabled.

REVIEW IT- at the site you purchased it from.

RECOMMEND IT- to anybody you think would enjoy it. Positive reader reviews have a huge impact on the success of book.

I am a wife and mother of two. I am a stay at home writer, which I dearly love. I was a Deputy Sheriff in Ohio for nine years, and I found myself tapping that experience as I wrote Second Time Around, my first book. No, I didn’t tackle and cuff my husband, although there was that time in K-mart… Anyway, it was quite a change going from writing technical reports with diagrams, witness statements, inventories, etc., that would stand up in court to writing contemporary romance. I’ve always written, though, and it was always a dream to do something with that huge, leaning stack of spiral bound notebooks.

Embattled Minds is my twelfth release. I thank you so much for taking an interest in my work!

Stay tuned! There’s a lot more coming!

The Embattled Road – prequel to the Lost and Found Series

Embattled Hearts – Book 1 of the Lost and Found Series

A Needful Heart

The Awakening Society

Tempt Me – Book 2 of The Awakening Society

Wet Dream – part of the 1NS Series

Love On the Line – Book 1 of the Silver Star Series

Love On the Line – Book 2 of the Silver Star Series

Second Time Around

Urban Moon Anthology

For a complete book list with links, check out my website
HERE!

And be sure to connect with me online!

www.jmmadden.com

www.jmmadden.blogspot.com

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https://www.facebook.com/jmmaddenauthor

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@authorjmmadden

Or you can send me an email.

[email protected]

C
had went from reclining in his seat, debating whether or not to take off, to hyper aware as he heard a crash of glass and a muffled sound from inside the house. What the hell? He’d been sitting here for five hours, waiting for the woman’s supposed boyfriend to show up, and all had been quiet. The little girl had gone to bed several hours ago. Lora Malone had then puttered around the house, picking up toys and re-locking windows and doors.

She had locked the windows and doors four times now.

Fumbling the door handle with his bad hand, he jumped out of the car and started to cross the suburban street. Nothing moved. It was after midnight on a Tuesday. Everybody was in bed. The woman had been the only one moving around. She’d been pacing constantly.

For a second, he debated what to do. The decision was taken out of his hands when he heard a crash from inside the house, followed by a woman’s muffled scream. Adrenalin surged as took off running. The front had been clear for the past several minutes, so he circled the house to the back door.

“Oh, shit,” he grunted as he leapt the pile of glass that used to be her sliding glass door. Looking inside the house, things were upturned everywhere. Dark black potting soil was all over the bright white carpet. The ceiling fan was swinging as if it had just been hit. His heart pounded as he saw a smear of blood on the opposite wall.

A thump from somewhere down the hallway had him running again. What the hell was going on in here?

A second smear of blood told him he was in the right area, as he cleared the doorway to the master bedroom. For several heartbeats in time he couldn’t believe what he saw.

His client, the well-to-do, likable Mr. Derek Malone was beating the woman Chad had been hired to watch. Her left eye was already purple, and swelling shut. Blood had begun running down her forehead from a cut at her hairline. Derek had his hand clamped so tight over her mouth he was pushing her head down into the mattress. Her clenched fists were beating at his head ineffectually, and Derek was laughing as he reached for his fly with his other hand.

Chad saw red.

Lunging forward, he slammed his right fist into the side of Derek Malone’s face. The jerk never saw it coming. The force of the punch knocked him off the bed and against the wall, dazing him for a moment. When he looked up and saw Chad standing over him, he sneered.

“Get out of here, gimp. This doesn’t concern you. It’s between me and my wife.”

“Ex-wife, asshole,” the woman croaked from the bed, levering herself up. Chad was dismayed to see she was holding her right wrist, and her lip was split on the right side.

Chad’s inattention cost him. Derek leapt up and sucker punched him in the kidney, then tried a roundhouse to the jaw, but Chad jerked back just in time. Doubling his own fist, he smashed it up into pretty boy’s nose, breaking it instantly. Blood gushed, and Derek crumpled back to the floor, his hands trying to staunch the flow.

“You son-of-a-bitch,” he garbled. “You’re fired.”

Chad barked out a laugh and pulled his cellphone from his pocket. “Too late, Dude. I already quit.”

Dialing 911, he requested a squad car and ambulance.

“No siren,” the woman pleaded. Nodding, Chad passed on the request, and hung up. She was sitting up now, and Chad sympathized with her. She was obviously in pain, hunched over and cradling her stomach and wrist. Occasionally she wiped away tears that coursed down her cheeks. At one point she found the blood on her head, and sighed as she rubbed it away from her fingertips. Her whole demeanor screamed defeat, and it broke Chad’s heart to watch her.

Derek, on the other hand, was nonstop mouth. Chad was tempted to punch him again just to shut him up. When he started berating the woman for being weak, and asking for what he had done to her, Chad had had enough. Jerking him up by the collar, he frog-marched him out to the demolished living room to wait for the cops. He glanced at the woman before he cleared the doorway. “Will you be okay here alone for a few minutes?”

She nodded her head.

Within minutes, Denver P.D. knocked on the door. Chad flashed his state investigator’s license, and explained what had happened. Derek denied everything, of course, and told them he wanted his lawyer. They escorted him out in handcuffs, protesting the entire way.

The ambulance team had already disappeared into the back bedroom, and he found himself drawn back that way. The woman was blinking into a pen-light beam being shined into her one good eye, and the paramedic was asking her questions. The woman looked up at Chad for a brief moment, and there was such shame in her face that he almost stepped forward to console her. But he stopped when she looked away. It wasn’t really his place to console her. Hell, he had been hired to gather evidence against her. Derek had retained the agency because he feared for his daughter’s welfare, saying that Lora Malone was subjecting her to unsavory characters.