The Billionaire's Navy SEAL (Sutton Billionaires Book 5)

by Lori Ryan

  Logan found himself squirming now, realizing Sam had probably read about each of his injuries as well. She might even be aware of the struggle he had even walking some days, after having taken a hell of a lot of shrapnel to his thigh and hip.

  Luckily, their food arrived, providing a reprieve. He dug into the chips that filled one half of the green basket set in front of him. Logan steered the conversation back to work for the rest of the half hour and Samantha treated him to more of her “unfiltered” thoughts, including her musings as to whether Jack would be firing her after overhearing her rant that morning.

  Logan had to grin at that. He’d heard stories about Sam from Zach long before he saw her at the wedding. Maybe that was why she’d fascinated him so completely right off the bat? Because he’d built her up in his mind over the years.

  Sam had been instrumental in rescuing Jack’s wife, Kelly, from human traffickers intent on auctioning her off. Logan was fairly sure that involvement meant no one at Sutton had the authority to fire Sam. Not even Jack Sutton himself.

  Logan was quiet as he watched her eat the apple pie she ordered with her sandwich. He hadn’t taken her advice of having dessert, opting to have a second lunch instead. She had been right about the sandwiches. The place was good. But watching her eat the gooey confection in front of her made him want dessert.

  Or her. One or the other. Or both. One on top of the other.

  Ugh.

  He cleared his throat, searching for some topic to clear his head. “Corpsmen are some serious shit. After everyone else is sitting down catching some Zs or eating, they’re still going around checking everyone, patching shit up. They’ve got stamina like you wouldn’t believe. Guts to match.” He’d known some amazing Corpsmen during his time overseas. Respected the hell out of all of them.

  Sam nodded, her brows knit together. “It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to be in a war zone, having never gone through it, you know?”

  They were quiet again, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Just thoughtful.

  “How did you know what to do back there? When you pulled me away from the crosswalk?” Logan didn’t know where the question had come from.

  The nagging sense that she’d known exactly what he was struggling with while waiting for the light hadn’t left him since they sat down. He didn’t know how he felt about it.

  In some ways, he was grateful she’d snapped him out of his own head. In other ways, it disturbed the hell out of him that she’d seen through him so quickly. He’d thought he was doing a better job of hiding things. And, the thought that others might catch on set his neck muscles to gnashing again.

  “Um …” Samantha squirmed in her seat.

  He couldn’t help but laugh. Why would she feel weird about it? He should be the one feeling uncomfortable in this conversation. And yet, here she was once again, setting him at ease with something he sure as hell shouldn’t be comfortable with.

  “I don’t really do well in relationships. Oh, wait! I don’t mean that that way. I didn’t mean to say we’re in a relationship, because obviously we’re not.” As he watched, her face blushed a furious red and she began to wave her hands in front of her as though she were trying to erase what she’d just said. “I mean, we work together. Not that I wouldn’t want a relationship with you. You’re hot. I mean, really truly hot. So, don’t be offended. I just meant relationship in the sense that I don’t relate well to people all the time. Not relationship like dating. I mean people think I’m weird and they don’t always get me and I don’t always get people or, well …”

  Logan took pity on her. “Sam.”

  “Huh?” She looked up at him, doe eyes huge.

  “Stop. I get it.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She nodded and took a deep breath. “So anyway, I don’t always get relationships and people and stuff. So, when Jack said some of you had a military background, I researched returning vets. I thought I could see what issues veterans deal with when they come back to the States. I found a lot of websites that talk about the kind of stuff you guys go through, so I could relate to what you were feeling. Only I don’t think I actually can. Not that I don’t want to, but I mean really, who can relate to a thing like war, unless you’ve lived in it? Right?”

  Now, he did squirm.

  “Oh! But, you don’t want to talk about that, right? Daisies.”

  “What?”

  “Daisies. I just planted daisies in a pot in my window. I’m not sure if they’re going to grow or not. I think I got them in early enough, but I’m not really great with plants. I mean, I get all the theory of them. I can look up all the information and follow the directions, but I don’t always seem to be able to apply all the information and get results, you know?”

  Logan nodded as he realized she was changing the subject and letting him off the hook. The result was a little mind-spinning as she launched into a lecture of the dos and don’ts of growing daisies in a pot, in the window.

  He had to admit, it helped. And, he couldn’t help but wonder at her assessment that she sucked at relationships and reading people. She seemed to be damned good at knowing exactly when he needed her to move on, and she did it. No questions asked. She might move on to some strange topic, like the care and growth of daisies, but she did it. He had a feeling she was a lot better with people than she realized.

  Chapter 2

  Three days later, Logan was halfway down the hall to the company welcoming party for him and his new technology team, when his phone rang. Someone had transformed the company’s reception area into a chic cocktail party. Dim lights and a temporary bar manned by two bartenders, and from where he stood he could see wait staff circulating with appetizers and tiny napkins.

  The caller ID on his cell caused him to step back to his office and close the door rather than head down the hall to join the rest of the company.

  “Hey, Cabo, I didn’t think you guys were stateside,” he said, by way of greeting. Jake Cabo had served alongside Logan for the majority of their missions. Cabo had been right there with him when Logan joined the special ops team that took orders directly from the Admiral at USSOCOMM, and Cabo had taken over as Lead Petty Officer when Logan had been medically retired.

  “Just got back. I wanted to fill you in on some old friends of ours.”

  Logan tensed. “Old friends” usually meant the kind that wanted to kill them. Logan would prefer not to have any reunions with old ghosts. His only response was a grunt, but that was apparently enough to encourage Cabo to keep going.

  “It seems the princess has come home. She seems to be taking over the family business.”

  Logan whistled. There was only one woman Cabo could mean. Klavdiya Bogolomov, although she typically used the name Diya Molov rather than her full given name. Whether that was for ease of use or to hide the connection to her father, he didn’t know.

  It didn’t matter. Diya Molov was the only surviving child of Nikolai Bogolomov, one of the US government’s most wanted, until Logan’s team had taken him out.

  “No shit. I always thought Nikolai kept her well clear of all his business. I figured we took down the entire empire when we took him out.” Logan didn’t mention they’d also taken out both of his sons, but he cringed as the thought ran through his head.

  He and Cabo both knew what happened. They didn’t need to relive that op, or any of the six-ways-sideways shit that had happened that night.

  “Well, we’re not entirely sure about all that, yet. We’re looking into it. It seems one of her cousins who was pretty involved in the business is serving as her right-hand man.”

  “Yoshi?” Logan asked, digging back through his head for any information on Nikolai Bogolomov and his family. The man had at one point been nothing more than a gun runner. By the time Logan’s squad got the order to capture or kill him, Nikolai had moved from running guns to terrorism, ultimately targeting American military installations abroad. The man was a coldhearted killer and the more massive the scale, the more his murderi
ng heart reveled in it.

  “That’s the one. Yoshi Bogolomov. He’s not the brightest guy and apparently he was happy to defer to Diya as new head of the family, throwing his brawn behind her brains. We’re not sure if they’re dealing in arms or if she’s taken on her father’s political causes.”

  “Huh,” was all Logan said. He knew damned well what Cabo meant by political causes.

  Nikolai Bogolomov supported a grab bag of the world’s terrorist organizations and was often the mastermind behind many of their plots. All of their intel indicated that Diya had not been active in the family business, nor had she seemed to share her father’s bent toward terrorism. She’d attended university and lived in England, far from the family home outside of Omsk, Russia.

  “Why call me about this?” The hair on Logan’s arms stood at attention. The antsy feeling he always felt at the back of his neck when things were about to go belly-up came on full force.

  “We’re still checking on the source and trying to get more info, but it seems she’s got her cousin looking into our squad. They’ve got a hacker. We don’t know if he got into official records. Intel says Yoshi might have found someone willing to talk to him. Someone who knows our names. But nothing’s confirmed yet.”

  Logan didn’t hold back with the string of curses before calming enough to ask the pertinent question: “One of our own?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer. “How the hell did that happen? No one should have access to that information. Those records are sealed. Shit, very few people in the military can get that intel. How the hell did an outsider get it?”

  “They should be sealed,” said Cabo, his tone grim, but resigned. “We don’t know for sure how the information leaked and we’re still trying to find out if it’s accurate. But, you need to watch your back on the off chance it’s true. If she’s got your name . . .”

  He didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t have to. They both knew what could happen if that kind of information got out. If Diya Molov was anything like her father, she’d head his way, guns drawn.

  “You know I like you, right?”

  Okaaaaay. Not exactly what Logan expected to hear from Chad. Logan glanced over at the big man standing next to him and frowned.

  They’d gotten to know each other over the past few months, since Chad and Zach were friends, but he had no interest in talking about Chad’s feelings. And Chad hadn’t really struck him as the touchy-feely type. The man had been an Army Ranger and he was a big man. He didn’t scream giant teddy-bear. He was more like one of those giant rock monsters in movies.

  “Uh, sure.” Logan took a step to the side, inching away from Chad. There was an odd glint to the man’s eyes.

  “I’m just saying, I like you,” Chad said and then let his gaze move to where Logan’s had been moments before. On Samantha Page. “But it needs to be said, if you mess with Sam, I won’t hesitate to implement a few of the more interesting techniques for dismembering bodies I’ve got tucked away.”

  Andrew Weston, the third in the trio of best friends who ran Sutton, sidled up on the other side of Logan. “Hear, hear,” he said quietly, raising his glass in a toast.

  Logan rolled his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, gentlemen, and let me assure you, I have no intention of messing with her, but please. Don’t delude yourselves into thinking you can take me. You’ve been out of the action for, what, ten years, Chad?”

  Logan had to admit the conversation might have turned a tad juvenile after that, with him and Chad murmuring insults at one another. Andrew cheered one side or the other as the mood seemed to strike him.

  It didn’t have to be said that Logan had heard the warning and respected it. They loved Sam like a kid sister.

  Logan might be unreasonably attracted to her, but he also knew his head was in the wrong damned place to be starting anything with a woman. Especially with a woman like Sam. One who mattered.

  He wasn’t even sure he should be walking around civilized people instead of locked up in a mental hospital talking about his feelings. He wasn’t relationship material.

  Jack joined the men where they stood, still debating the training and prowess of the SEAL teams versus that of the Army Rangers. All three men laughed when Jack opened with: “So, Logan, you know I like you, right?” as his eyes cut across the room to Sam.

  Logan shook his head. “Yeah, yeah. I got it. You’ll kill me in new and interesting ways. We’ve covered it. Chad’s most recent plan includes fileting me from head to toe and Andrew promised to bring salt to the party.”

  “Hey, I said salt and margaritas,” Andrew said with a grin.

  Jack laughed. “I thought we’d take you out on the boat, chum the waters, and see if a SEAL could swim faster than a shark.”

  Logan had to grin at the creativity of the men who stood laughing around him. He saw Sam glance toward their group and his smile stilled. What the hell. He might as well be honest with these guys and let them know they had nothing to worry about.

  “Listen, Samantha Page may very well be one of the sexiest creatures to walk the earth, but I’m not planning on dating her. You guys don’t have to—” And, that’s where he broke off, because he’d just watched Sam’s eyes go wide and round with surprise, as though she’d understood every word he’d said. Every damn word.

  “Jack. Would Samantha by any chance read lips?” Logan didn’t take his eyes off Sam, and she seemed to choke on her drink as he asked the question.

  Jack could hardly speak and Andrew and Chad seemed to be completely useless as they laughed at his blunder.

  “Sure does,” Jack finally said as Logan continued to stare at a suddenly red-faced Sam, across the room. “Why do you think she sits in on every negotiation I go to? Real handy trick.”

  Of course it is.

  Chapter 3

  Logan knew things probably should have been awkward with Sam for a while after that, but they got over it quickly. They were a little stiff the next time they talked, but she appeared to be happy to ignore his comments from the cocktail party. He was glad to go along with her plan.

  Two weeks into his stint at Sutton and he’d managed to avoid leaving the building most days. He brought lunch, and when his team met over lunch, he’d had it catered in with sandwiches from the bakery located in the lobby of the building. Since Jack’s sister-in-law owned the bakery, no one seemed to mind him throwing business her way once or twice a week.

  Sam dragged him out to eat at the bagel place a couple more times. They hadn’t ventured any farther than that, and she seemed content to wait on him to ask to go further. Each time, they went well after the lunch rush was over, making it easier on him.

  As they had the first day, they stood away from the crowd and away from the intersection as they waited for the light to change. It was the saving grace that allowed him to manage the outing.

  He was settling in with his team, getting the new arm of science and technology up and running at Sutton. Of course, a lot of the companies Sutton Capital had funded in the past were related to science and technology in some way. In the past, Jack relied on either the knowledge base of those in the company he was funding or on independent contractors hired for the project to guide him.

  With the new team, Jack had chosen people who not only had science or technology in their backgrounds, but who also had either a business background or who had leadership skills that would help the start-ups Sutton dealt with find their way. Logan’s field was communications, but he also had a powerful track record of leadership from his service.

  Logan and Sam were working on getting everyone on this new team assigned to work with companies whose industry matched their skill set.

  For the most part, that meant Sara Blackburn grabbed anything having to do with electronics, electromagnetics, or engineering; Jax Cutter and Dave Alexander took anything medical; and Kaeden O’Shea took anything else.

  Kaeden was a lot like Sam in that his depth and breadth of know
ledge was a little mind-numbing. The man was crazy smart and seemed to have a baseline knowledge of about every topic you could throw his way. Enough, at least to assess the merits of a company’s technology or research and help guide that company toward success.

  Logan was starting to feel a little more settled into Sutton Capital. And that was in large part due to Sam. Earlier in the week, Chad popped into Logan’s office and signed him into the feed for every security camera in the building. That gave him access to any camera angle he wanted to check on any feed, at any time.

  Logan knew having that access would mean he’d be able to take a deep breath during his work day and calm the grating need to check his surroundings. Perimeter checks on a building like this weren’t easy to fit into a workday.

  When he asked Chad why he’d given him access, the big man just shrugged. He said Sam thought Logan might want access. Chad didn’t think it was a bad idea to have another set of eyes on the building’s security, and given the high security level Logan had obtained during his military service, Chad felt comfortable with him.

  Logan just nodded his thanks and Chad walked away as though it was nothing. But Logan knew he owed Sam. She seemed to know what he needed, at times even better than he knew himself.

  A light knock on the door jamb of his office had him looking up into Sam’s grinning face. Speak of the devil.

  “How about some Mexican?” Sam held up a bag of takeout.

  Logan lifted an eyebrow.

  “You know, Mexican food? Remember the restaurant down the street I mentioned?”

  Logan laughed as his stomach rumbled in response to her questions.

  “That’s yes, right?”

  He smiled and nodded, extending one leg under his desk to push at the chair that sat on the opposite side. The chair moved out a few inches in invitation to Sam.

  “That’s a yes,” he said, and moved several piles of papers to make room on his desk. Sam opened the takeout containers and shoved a napkin and plasticware across the desk to him.