Her Chosen Protector
Night Storm, Book Three
Caitlyn O’Leary
Contents
Synopsis
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Caitlyn O’Leary
© Copyright 2020 Caitlyn O’Leary
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To everyone out there struggling to be calm and kind in turbulent times, your acceptance and bravery shines through. You are not alone.
Synopsis
Can he overcome his pain and heartbreak in time to save the woman he loves?
Life had always come easy to Navy SEAL Asher Thorne, until an overwhelming loss made him doubt his ability to protect the ones he loved. Devastated, he has no choice but to push on and do his duty.
Eden York’s job as a translator took a dangerous turn when she was asked to work on a highly confidential project in Venezuela. She thought she knew the risks, but with the fate of a nation at stake, they didn’t matter—she had to help.
Eden’s international team of experts is targeted by terrorists, trapping her in an unimaginable situation. When Asher’s team is sent in to rescue them, he wants to believe that this time will be different, this time he can protect someone worth saving, even if he has to sacrifice his own life to do it.
Prologue
Asher Thorne didn’t flinch at the distinctive sound of a grease gun being fired. The shots came at an even cadence as he tramped up the soggy, muddy logging trail toward his older brother’s cabin. As he got closer the shots began to fire more rapidly until they were soon just one ceaseless, incessant noise.
“You’re going to start a fire,” he shouted as he looked over the chaos in the clearing in front of the cabin.
“It’s raining.” Law’s voice was low, but Asher heard him even over the rain and gunfire. His baby brother had massacred eight spruce trees by Asher’s count—the branches, boughs, and needles were strewn everywhere. Lawson continued to shoot at one tall tree as he leaned his hip against the porch rail of the cabin. His strength made it easy for him to spray the gun forward and back, finally felling another tree.
“Is this making you feel any better?” Ash asked.
“Maybe. I haven’t decided.” His words were coated with bitterness.
Asher swung his duffel off his shoulder and walked past his brother up the stairs into Xavier’s cabin. It had been their brother’s sanctuary. The furnishings were sparse, but when Xavier needed a chance to unwind after a mission, this is where he always ended up. Ash had never understood the appeal of the ass-end of Manitoba, Canada. It wasn’t surprising that after his death he and Law had ended up here, trying to figure out what had been going on in Xave’s head.
The shooting finally stopped, and the stomp of Law’s boots sounded on the stairs right before the door slammed open.
“What the fuck was he thinking?” Law yelled into the small space.
Asher didn’t answer. Law must have been here a while, since there was already a fire going in the woodstove. Ash checked the contents in the pan on top of the stove.
“Don’t ignore me.”
“You’re tough to ignore,” Asher said mildly as he stirred the pea soup. Law hated the stuff, but it had been Xavier’s favorite. Asher really wasn’t surprised that his little brother was eating the stuff. It was basic instinct to do anything to feel closer to a deceased loved one, no matter how mad you were at them. Asher found a chipped bowl and a tin mug and ladled some of the soup. He placed it on the solid pine table that Xavier had built.
“Sit down,” he commanded his brother as he pushed out a chair for him with his foot. Law fished out two spoons from a drawer and handed one to Asher then sat. They ate in silence. When his brother picked up his bowl and sucked down the last of its contents with a loud slurp, Asher felt something shift inside his chest. For just a moment, his pain lifted.
Law set down his bowl and looked up, showing a sign of life. “It used to annoy the shit out of Maman when Xavier would do that.”
“Yeah, it cracked me up that even when he was well over six feet tall, she’d still whap him on the shoulder with her wooden spoon.”
“It was the only thing he ever did wrong in her eyes,” Law said. “He was such a suck-up.”
They both smiled. It felt good. For one blessed moment, it felt good. Then Law took a deep breath and blew it out slowly through his nose.
“How could he let her down so badly? How could he let us down? He was Delta for fuck’s sake!”
The bowl flew across the room before crashing against the log wall. Law was out of his seat, the chair on the floor, as he grabbed the hot pan off the stove and threw that against the opposite wall, a green spray of pea soup following in its wake.
“Why?” he bellowed. “Goddamn you, Xave. I still needed you!”
Asher felt his heart breaking. It was an actual physical pain in his chest.
Unshed tears glittered in Law’s eyes as he turned to Ash. “Why didn’t he come to us? What could have been so bad that he couldn’t have come to us?”
The pain in his chest tripled in size. It was the same question Asher had been asking himself since the day he’d heard about Xavier’s suicide. How could he have failed his big brother so badly?
“How could he have done this to Maman?” Law cried out. He stood there, his chest heaving, his arms stretched out from his body, his hands fisted. “How is she surviving this?”
“She doesn’t know,” Ash whispered as he cautiously walked over to stand in front of his large brother.
“You didn’t tell her that Xavier killed himself?” Law whispered.
Asher shook his head. “Since she’s over in Belgium, and you were on a mission, they notified me first. I told her. I said he died during a training exercise.”
Law gripped his shoulder. “Thank God you did that
. I talked to her, but she was so broken up, we never discussed how he died.” Law’s fingers clenched tighter. “We just talked about Xavier, ya’ know? Hell, half the time she was talking French so fast I couldn’t understand her.”
Ash had understood every word she’d said. He’d talked to her in French for hours. First, she’d lost dad, and now Xavier. He had to get her to the States.
“I don’t get it, Ash. I don’t understand how his life could have come to that. I just don’t get why he couldn’t have reached out to us. I spoke to him three days before. He kept asking about me. Wanted to know if I was all right. He picked at me to open up. I should have known to turn it around.” Law’s voice was thick with tears. He collapsed on the sagging piece of furniture trying to pass as a sofa, his head in his hands. Ash sat down next to him so he could hear his next whispered words. “It’s a gut punch knowing I failed him.”
He looked up at Asher with a tortured expression.
Asher couldn’t take it a moment longer. He pulled his kid brother into his arms, trying to think of the right words. Words that would exonerate Law. Give him solace. Something that would never be possible for himself.
“Law, you know Xavier. He was strong. He would never have admitted something was wrong. Our brother never knew how to bend, so the winds just kept coming at him until that day he shattered. I don’t think he ever saw it coming.”
It took a moment for Ash to understand what Law was saying into his shoulder. Finally, he understood him.
“Yes, Brother, I promise to come to you if the winds ever get too strong. I promise.”
Chapter 1
Asher had made sure to buckle into the jump seat next to Ezio when they’d boarded the plane. The man had just transferred in from the Omega Sky team, and even though there was a lot of hype surrounding him, it still remained to be seen if he could cut it on their Night Storm SEAL team.
Leo Perez was on Asher’s other side. He was reading a worn paperback by Steinbeck. The man would read and re-read a book until the pages fell out during each stint abroad. This time it was Cannery Row, the last mission it had been The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. Asher thought that maybe he should read something; it sure would be better than having all the “what ifs” swirl through his head.
“What do you think of that, Ash?” Cullen Lyons called out from the jump seat directly across from him.
It took a beat for him to respond. Luckily, it was Cullen, so he knew what he needed to say. “Sounds like a pile of lies to me,” Asher replied. He had no idea what Cullen had said, but that answer was usually a safe bet.
Raiden Sato raised his eyebrow, “There you have it, Nic. Thorne agrees with me—there’s no way that Cullen took the first place trophy in a karaoke contest in the middle of a swamp.”
“I said it was a wet t-shirt karaoke contest. Get the story straight, Raiden.” Cullen griped. “Over two-thirds of the audience were women and they liked what they saw.” Cullen flexed his biceps. “That, along with my superb singing voice, guaranteed me a win.”
“I’m with Asher; there’s no such thing as a wet t-shirt karaoke contest,” Kane McNamara said, never looking up from his computer tablet.
“Florida,” Cullen said to Kane. “You need to go down to the bars in Florida. They have everything. I had an option to sing with an alligator on a leash. I would have, except the girl who had just gone before me had dibs on him. She decided to take him home. Apparently, her mama and auntie had an alligator breeding program going on at their place and that bull would make fine babies.”
Everybody felt the landing gear lower, which stopped the conversation. That was fine by Asher. He was absolutely goddamn sure that Cullen would soon be telling them that there had been sparklers shooting out of his ass during his karaoke performance.
All things considered though? Asher had heard Cullen’s singing voice—chances were that he’d won plenty of karaoke contests. But seriously, an alligator?
Asher looked down at the luminous dial of his watch. Oh-one-hundred hours, and they were supposed to meet their transport at oh-four-hundred on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. Kane’s face was illuminated by his tablet; for once he looked satisfied by what he was seeing. That was a nice change. Maybe that meant they’d get more info when they touched down in the middle of El Avila National Park.
Hopefully, things were looking up for the group of humanitarians they were going into rescue. When Asher had first heard about the group, he’d been dubious about their motives. Bankers and accountants going into Venezuela to halt the mass exodus of people from the country and maybe, possibly, help them get back on track? Yeah, sure, next he’d hear about purple pigs flying.
But these people from the International Money Fund and the World Bank were the real deal. They had financial aid workers dedicated to lifting up the forgotten and suffering people around the world. These humanitarian money-types were the people that Ash and his team were going to save.
“Does he ever quit talking?” Ezio Stark asked quietly as he tilted his head toward Cullen.
Asher choked back a laugh as he looked at the new guy’s subtle grin. “When the mission calls for it, he can zip it. Unfortunately, Nic Hale kept switching Cullen’s channels and then lost the remote. Now, nobody can find the off button.”
Cullen looked over at the two of them, then scratched his nose with his middle finger. This time, Asher laughed out loud and so did Ezio. Asher looked to his left and saw Leo put his book away. He was practically vibrating with energy. The man was always jazzed for a mission.
The plane touched down smooth as glass. The pilot on this assignment was damn good. Setting this tube down like a hummingbird on some drug runner’s dirt runway in the middle of a jungle was slick.
Ash heard a click as Leo unbuckled his belt. Yep, the mission was starting. Asher reached for his belt.
Screeeeech….
The grating sound of bending metal sliced through his eardrums as the explosion sounded.
Leo pitched forward, landing hard in the center of the floor, before sliding and hitting Raiden’s legs on the other side of the transport plane. Both men grunted.
“What the fuck?” Cullen yelled.
“Shit!”
“Goddammit,” Kane sounded pissed. Something must have happened to Kane’s computer.
“RPG?” Ezio gave a good guess.
“Landmine.” Lieutenant Max Hogan’s voice cut through the pandemonium.
Asher knew that the fuel wasn’t stored over the wheels so they should be safe. He watched as Raiden jerked out of his straps and held onto Leo while Nic Hale held onto Raiden. Hopefully, Leo would be all right until the airplane came to a stop.
The big bird continued to skid forward on its nose, and Ash prayed they wouldn’t hit another landmine because this time it would hit right under the cockpit.
His prayers weren’t answered.
A second violent explosion burst out from the front of the plane, the fiery percussion hurtling through to the back.
Asher’s head slammed against the metal wall behind him as the plane tipped onto its wing. He must have blacked out, because the next thing he knew, he smelled smoke, and Kane was unbuckling his belt and yanking him up into a standing position.
“You with me, Thorne?” he yelled into his face.
“Am now,” he slurred. He needed to get it together. Now!
Ash looked around and spotted a backpack. Didn’t matter if it was his or not, he grabbed it and staggered after Kane towards the breeze of the exit. Smoke roiled around him. He saw flames licking up from underneath the door of the cockpit.
“Pilots?” He croaked out the question, as he crouched and jumped to the dirt of the runway. He grunted in pain. God, that hurt. He looked around to do a headcount.
“Where’s Max and Cullen? Are they going after the pilots?”
“They’re going to give it a shot.” Kane thrust his computer tablet at Raiden and grabbed Asher’s arm. Kane forced him at least fifty met
ers away from the plane to where Leo was propped up under a tree.
“I’m fine,” Asher heard Leo bitching. Nic had his hand pushing down on Leo’s shoulder.
“You’re not fine until Kane says you are,” the young SEAL ground out impatiently.
“Well, I’d be better if you wouldn’t press on the shoulder that Ezio just jammed back into place.” Leo’s sarcasm was clear.
“Fuck, Man. I’m sorry.” Nic immediately pulled his hands away from Leo’s body.
Leo gave a hoarse laugh like he’d pulled a big joke. Well, he couldn’t be too wounded.
“I’d say that’s one patient you don’t have to worry about.” Asher gave Kane a rough grin, trying to ignore the pain in his head.
“I’ll have to console myself with you. You don’t look so hot.” Kane was clearly troubled.
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” he said as he looked over Kane’s shoulder at the flames.
Kane turned his head too, and they both saw two figures running away from the plane.
“It’s going to blow. Clear out. Now!” Max roared. He and Cullen were running full tilt toward them.
“Get back,” Max yelled at them as he pointed behind them toward the forest. “Further back.”
Once again, Kane grabbed at Asher.
“Help Leo,” Asher ordered as he shrugged off Kane’s hand. He would have helped Leo himself, but he wasn’t in any shape to. He staggered toward a thick tree that was two meters in front of him and hunkered down behind it. He waited there for what seemed like hours—or was it just a millisecond?
Her Chosen Protector: Navy SEAL Romance (Night Storm Book 3) Page 1