Her Chosen Protector: Navy SEAL Romance (Night Storm Book 3)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  It was too heavy. He stepped back a moment and put his goggles back on. He needed to take a closer look at the door itself. That’s when he saw the casing was now mangled metal that basically welded the door shut. Nothing but C-4 was going to get them out of there, and he heard the secret police getting closer.

  “The vault,” Eden said as she yanked at his arm.

  “What?”

  “We’re screwed. We’re either going to be captured and tortured or die. I don’t like any of those options. To the vault.”

  Is she insane?

  She yanked at his arm again.

  “Explain,” he demanded as he refused to move.

  “No time.” She started down the stairs.

  Dammit, she knew he would follow her. And he did. As soon as her bloody shoes slipped on the stairs, he was there to steady her. He pushed through the door to the basement. She kicked off her shoes and ran down the hall until she got to the bars that encased the vault. She looked down at the keycode. She was scrambling for something in her skirt pocket.

  Keycode! Rafa!

  “Kane!” Asher yelled into his mic.

  “He’s busy. It’s Leo. What do you need?” Leo’s voice was a sea of calm.

  “I need the gate to the vault opened. It’s a keypad. Unlock it now. Then unlock the vault.”

  “Coming right up.”

  The longest ten seconds of his life ticked by, and then a green light came on the keypad. Asher shoved open the gate and rushed Eden inside. The gate crashed closed behind him. “Lock it, Leo.”

  “Done.”

  He and Eden skidded in front of the vault’s combination keypad. “Open the vault, Leo.”

  “Wait a minute.”

  There was silence.

  Asher saw Eden looking intently at a piece of paper in her hand.

  “Fuck!” she cursed vehemently. Nothing new in that.

  “What?”

  “It’s too dark. Give me your flashlight. I can’t read Suzanne’s writing.

  He’d dropped it during one of the tank assaults. “Don’t have it. What are you trying to read?”

  “It’s the combination to the vault. Suzanne gave it to me and Leland, said we might need to hide in it as a last resort,” he heard the panic in her voice.

  He reached into his tactical vest and pulled out a glow stick. He jerked off his night-vision goggles.

  “Rafa doesn’t have the combination,” Leo said. “Trying to get ahold of Señora Azua at the hospital.”

  “Never mind,” Asher said as he popped the stick and a green glow lit up the numbers on Eden’s piece of paper. Her hand was trembling.

  The door to the basement banged open. Shit, I should’ve shot the lock.

  “You key it in,” she said.

  He did. It worked. The door was heavy. But he got both of them inside and the door shut before the enemy arrived and that was all that mattered.

  “Leo, we’re in.”

  No answer.

  Asher tried again.

  “Leo, we’re in the vault. What’s the status of everybody else?”

  Nothing.

  He looked around at his solid steel surroundings. Of course, he wasn’t being heard. In the eerie green glow, Eden grinned at him.

  “You think that was funny, huh?”

  “Yeppers. Did you figure it out?”

  “You mean the fact that my radio won’t work in here? Yeah, I think that’s finally penetrated.” He stifled a grin, waiting to see if she’d catch onto his stupid play on words.

  She laughed. “Good pun. You know, I like you, Asher.”

  “Thanks, I like you too, Eden.” And he meant it. Smart, good sense of humor in the middle of the madness, and she was willing to lay her life on the line for someone else. He shook his head and felt light-headed. Was it because of a possible concussion, or the woman in front of him?

  Eden bent her head. He got the feeling that she was a little embarrassed. Who would have guessed? Then she looked up and smiled at him. “I gotta tell you, I really, really like the fact that there is carpet and a table and chairs in here. Suzanne has done this up right.”

  He held up the glow stick and looked around the large vault. It was huge. The entire back wall was covered with safety deposit boxes from floor to ceiling. In the middle of the room was a huge conference room table, with ten plush chairs. At the far right end was a door.

  Eden sat down at the long table, in one of the plush armchairs, and reached under her skirt.

  Reached under her skirt.

  Reached under her skirt.

  What the hell?

  Then he saw she was rolling down one of her stockings.

  It took all of his willpower to keep his tongue from rolling out of his head. She’d totally caught him off-guard with that move, and he hadn’t realized just how much she’d turned him on.

  Calm yourself, Thorne!

  “These are shredded and covered in blood, I’ve been needing to take them off,” she let out a tired sigh of relief as she stretched her toes.

  He started to watch as she began rolling down the next stocking. She wasn’t doing anything overtly sexy, but Asher still had to look away, or risk drool dripping on the carpet. The woman had legs that went on forever.

  “No gold bars.” He heard her yawn.

  “Huh?” Asher hoped it was safe to turn back. It was.

  “Didn’t you always think there would be stacks of gold bars in a bank vault?” Eden asked. She yawned again as she stretched her neck. Instead of staring at the way her breasts thrust forward, Asher looked at the pile of silk on the floor.

  “I think you’re thinking of Fort Knox. The gold is probably in some of these boxes, not just lying around.” He nodded at all of the numbered boxes surrounding them.

  “Interesting,” she mumbled.

  He watched as Eden crossed her arms and lowered her head on the table.

  “Tired?” he asked.

  She shook her head into her arms. “No, not tired.”

  “Bullshit. You’re exhausted.”

  Asher crouched down beside her. “It’s okay to let go. Wind down.”

  “I told you, I’m not tired.” She turned her head in her arms. “Am not.” He had trouble hearing her, her voice was so low. “Just need…”

  “Need what?”

  Nothing

  He waited for her to continue.

  She closed her eyes, then opened them half-mast. “No more witty banter. It’s done. Blood and body parts.” Her voice trembled as she said the words. “I don’t like this. I hated Maurice. Okay, hate’s too strong of a word,” she said as she closed her eyes, then opened them one more time. Tears shone in her eyes. “But no way in this world was he supposed to die.”

  Asher gently touched her back and felt her melt into his touch. He brushed soothing circles into her taut flesh as she continued to talk.

  “Please don’t be nice to me. I might totally break down. There’s no breaking down for York girls, especially not me.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m about ready to have a meltdown, and I’m a SEAL. Are you special operations and I don’t know it?” He teased low and gentle.

  She pushed trembling fingers against her temples as her gaze shot over to look at him. “Cut it out, Asher. I know that game. I’ve played it. Just give me a minute. Just a second. Don’t be nice to me, or I’ll lose it. But if you give me a minute, I’ll be good to go. I won’t be thinking about either Estella or Grace dying.” She tried to shrug off his hand, but he wasn’t having it.

  She was in need. He’d already let Xavier down; he sure as hell wasn’t going to let this woman down too.

  He looked at her confused expression. “You need to cut yourself some slack. I promise to only be nice and comforting for just a moment, then you can go back to being a York Girl.” He pushed his fingers beneath her hair and kneaded the back of her head. Anything to give her comfort.

  “Eden, almost everyone got out of the bank alive, you have t

o remember that. You were one of the major reasons they did.”

  “No, I wasn’t. You and your team were.” Her words were slow and slurred.

  “You saved Suzanne.”

  “Raiden did,” she protested.

  “This argument is stupid,” he muttered. He swung her chair around, so her bare knees were touching his chest. A mass of chocolate-colored hair tumbled around her face and shoulders. Asher plucked away the strands that were stuck to her tear-stained cheek and slid them behind her dainty ear.

  Why was he surprised by the depths to this woman? All of the clues had been there. She couldn’t have been that willing to put her life on the line without a deep well of compassion. Of course, she felt things deeply. Why in the hell would he once, fucking, again, think that someone who showed strength wouldn’t need his support? How big of a dumbass was he?

  Especially since he so dearly wanted to provide her comfort. He looked into the liquid depths of her eyes, trying to form a connection. Wanting to ensure that she was seeing into him as well.

  “Truth. Can you see it? Hear it? Tell it?”

  “I don’t know.” Her whispered words sounded so defeated. “I’ll try.”

  “You’ve been amazing. You’re the best thing that’s happened on this operation. Your brother Pete couldn’t have done better.”

  Her lip trembled.

  “Yes, he would have. He would have caught on sooner about Carlson and Becker.”

  “Eden, will you look at me?”

  Green eyes glittered up at him. “Seven hours ago, when me and my team started talking to you on the phone, you blew us away. You steamrolled right over Carlson who was supposed to be the all-knowing security on this caper. Then to find out he’s the bad guy, but you still overrode him, is fucking amazing. You’re all about protecting people, even at the cost of your own life. Who in the hell are you?”

  Eden turned her hands in his and gripped them. She shoved her face into his so that they were damn near nose to nose. “I’ll tell you who I am, one messed-up woman who is actually scared and sad. And I hate sad. And scared is the stupidest emotion on God’s green Earth. It sucks!”

  God, doesn’t she know that this is the attitude that breaks you?

  He released one of her hands and slowly reached up to cup her cheek. “You’re absolutely right, mad is much better.”

  Her smile was all gritted teeth. “I knew you’d understand.”

  “But when scared and sad is what we’re dealt, then we have to address it.”

  She took a deep breath. Her eyes searched his. Asher really felt like he’d gotten through.

  She sat up straight. “I think my minute is done. What’s the next step?”

  Eden knew she’d taken him by surprise. What else could she do? The idea of falling into his arms and getting a hug from him overwhelmed her, and that was something she did not do.

  Nope, not me.

  But in her twenty-eight years, he was the first man who she ever considered leaning on outside of her family. How in the hell could her gut be telling her this damn fast that he could be trusted?

  Listen up, girly. This is your heart talking, not your gut.

  Eden grimaced. She really didn’t need a freaking internal dialogue at this moment in time.

  She snapped her fingers in front of Ash’s face. “Come on little buddy, what’s next?”

  She heard him sigh as he stood up. She got that reaction a lot from her dad and brothers. She ignored him and pushed up from the table, so they were side by side.

  “What’s next is, I see if my sat phone is working through all this concrete and steel.”

  “Chop, chop.” She smiled up at him.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “I know. It’s one of my most endearing traits.”

  When he pulled his satellite phone out of his tactical vest, he grinned. She caught sight of a dimple. “We have reception.”

  Eden gave a fist pump.

  “Leo?”

  “Jesus God, you’re alive. Why didn’t you call in sooner?”

  She shoved her head next to Asher’s so she could hear the conversation, then he hit a button so that it was on speaker.

  “What’s the status?” Asher demanded to know.

  “I don’t have names. But four of the five bank guards are out. Patel didn’t make it, but Carlson did. We’re missing one bank employee named Graciela Ramirez and three of the coalition.”

  “Eden’s with me.”

  “Then two of the coalition.”

  “Maurice Schlessinger is dead, who else is missing?” Asher asked.

  “Sharon Foster,” Leo answered.

  “Are any of your team injured or dead? Is Ezio hurt?” Eden immediately wanted to know. She thought about the hissy fit that Sharon had been throwing. Hell, she could have gotten other civilians and some of the SEALs killed with her crazy-assed behavior!

  There was a pause before Leo answered. “No, ma’am.”

  She blew out a sigh of relief. And then she replayed her thoughts.

  Oh God, I didn’t just say that.

  She started trembling.

  Eden felt it coming again. It was welling up, like an unending tsunami.

  “Ash,” she started, then clamped her mouth shut.

  “What is it?”

  “She’s the one I called screamy-meemy. Everybody I was mean and awful to, died.”

  I’m a hateful, judgmental bitch.

  In less than a second, he had her hauled up against him, his lips in her hair. “Don’t ever say that. Don’t even think that.”

  “But they did, they died.” If it weren’t for Asher’s arms, she would have crumpled to the floor.

  “Not you. Never you, Eden. You saved lives.” He held her tighter. It was as if he were trying to will the words into her soul.

  “Asher,” Leo called out.

  Ash flipped a switch on the phone. “I’m here, what else is there?”

  “It’s a madhouse at the bank.” Leo choked out a weary laugh. “Hasn’t stopped Carnival, though. Nope, they’re just taking their parade down another street.”

  “And us?”

  “We haven’t figured it out. The tank has backed out of the lobby and is now idling outside of the gate. The police are swarming the place like ants. They’re crazy—the building is six stories high. The thing is not stable, they should get the hell out of there.”

  “Are they coming for the vault?”

  “Like I said, they’re everyplace. That includes the teller area on top of the vault. That area is stable, for the moment. Kane doesn’t know how long that will last. It’s the south side that’s the problem. Kane wants to take it down. It won’t hurt anyone on the street since it’d come down within the gate, but Max is all itchy. Everyone knows he wants you to be doing the charges.”

  Eden peeled away from Ash. She was good now. Tired. She was tired. That explained all the meltdowns. She felt him watching her as she drifted towards the huge row of safety deposit boxes. What was tucked away in each box? How many people’s lives were tucked away in each individual box? It boggled the mind. Lives.

  Sharon.

  Maurice.

  She should never have left Montana.

  “…save the battery.”

  “Okay, check back in a half-hour.”

  “Will do,” Asher agreed.

  Eden looked over her shoulder to see Asher put his phone in its pocket on his vest, then peel out of his vest and rest it against the leg of the ornate wooden table.

  “Eden, you need to sit back down and rest a bit. We’re going to be here a while.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Rafa explained this place is on a timer. It’s not supposed to open until Monday morning. Suzanne is in surgery. Once she’s out, they’re going to try to figure out if they can override it.”

  “Hector?”

  “What do you think?” Asher asked with a harsh laugh.

  Ash was right, the bank manager was useless. She watched as Asher meandered over to where she was standing. Eden knew that he was being careful. Treating her like some kind of baby bird or something that would fly off.

  “I’m fine,” she spit out. “You don’t have to walk on eggshells.”

  He stopped short. “Come and sit down, Eden. If there is one thing I’ve learned, you have to conserve your energy when you can.”

  She leaned back against the wall of safety deposit boxes, her toes digging into the red carpet. “It’s kind of plush in here. Do you think it’s so the high-faluting customers feel all special when they deposit their goods?”

  “Could be,” he answered slowly.

  She looked all around the vault. “What’s over there?” She pointed to a door.

  “Eden.” She recognized that tone of voice. It was a warning that she was pushing her luck. She really didn’t care. She didn’t want to rest. If she rested, she’d think. She wanted to know what was behind that door.

  She pushed away from the boxes and stood straight, and the room swam. She shook her head, trying to keep upright. Asher was there in a second.

  She gritted her teeth as he helped her into one of the chairs and pushed her head between her knees.

  “Take deep breaths.”

  “Go find out what’s behind the door,” she demanded.

  “Don’t be a brat.”

  She gave a weak laugh. “I’ve heard that before.”

  “I’m sure you have. But you’re a beautiful brat.”

  “I haven’t heard the beautiful part before, so I know you’re full of it.” He was stroking her hair and she enjoyed every moment of it. She felt tears starting to form, so of course she pushed his hand away. “Open the door, it might be gold bars. Inquiring minds want to know.” She took another deep quivering breath.

  “Stay put and I’ll look, is it a deal?”

  Eden didn’t know if she felt cared for or shattered when his hand stroked her hair before walking away and trying to turn the doorknob. Dear God, how is he burrowing in so deep? He probably had no clue.

  “It’s locked.”

  “Of course, it is.” She waved her hand at him. “Do your SEAL thing and open it.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Asher grin. At least she was still a smartass. Points for her. But seriously, her body was crapping out on her. Eden lifted up and then rested her cheek on the flat cool surface of the table. The wood felt good. Maybe just a minute or two with her eyes closed and then she’d be back to her fighting weight.

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