by Honor James
He let out a deep breath, and then came to her. Taking her hand, he pulled her up to her feet. Sitting down in the chair, he tugged her down onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. Michael pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I really hope he hurries the hell up, I hate being in this place,” he muttered.
She rubbed her hands up and down his shoulders. Laying her head on his shoulder, she gave him a squeeze. “I know.” She didn’t know why he hated it, but she would let that go. “Just focus on me and being here with me. Nothing else matters. Right? Just you holding me and then us going for dinner. Right?”
“Yes Ma’am,” he said with a laugh. Rubbing his hand up and down her arm, he hugged her close to him. The sound of the door opening alerted her to her father’s arrival. Gigi knew that Michael would have stood up, had she not been firmly planted in his lap, she even felt his thigh muscles tighten under her in what she was sure was his instinctive need to get on his feet.
“Daddy,” Gigi said with a grin, but she didn’t move. “So.” She waited until he was seated, not missing the glare that he sent Michael, and asked. “What is going on? Why did you want us to come here today?” She had been to the Pentagon only a couple of times, so she was really not sure why he had asked them to come here now.
He shot one more look at Michael before focusing on her. “We finally know what’s been going on. Apparently Nicky Germaine, your-would be kidnap coordinator, works for a very powerful man by the name of Yanis Morgan. Mr. Morgan is in the business of creating bigger and better killing tools. He was working on a project that, had he won the contract, would have made him the military’s primary go-to guy for all the latest in gadgets. When my predecessor was summarily ousted and I was appointed, Mr. Morgan apparently got nervous. He’d had my predecessor in his pocket it seems, and with me coming onto the scene he knew he’d be viewed like all the other potentials. That was unacceptable to him. Mr. Morgan has heavy ties with the mafia, both here and abroad, and a military contract would have been lucrative in his mind. He also saw it as a way to get certain shipments around that nasty customs search since all military items are shipped base to base, without the standard custom searches. The grand plan was to kidnap you, Gigi, and use you as leverage over me to get me to play ball on their court. But you messed up the initial attempt, and ever attempt after that. Quite well I must say.”
“Well I am my father’s daughter.” Gigi blushed. She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Wait, why would they have tried to kill me? They killed my cat, so why would they have tried to kill me?” She still had the scar from that shot, and that had been one that had tried to kill her. She’d seen the look on the man’s face and he wanted her dead.
“Ah, yes,” her father said. Heaving a sigh, he leaned back in his chair. “Apparently he was the brother of the guy you took out on the island. He was very upset with you for getting his kid brother locked up. Originally he took it out on Rigby, but then he was part of the next attempt to kidnap you. You kicked him in the balls I think,” her father said. “That pissed him off, and according to Nicky he went off the reservation and tried to kill you. All against Mr. Morgan’s instructions though. According to Nicky, he was taken care of shortly after that fiasco, once and for all. I doubt the police will ever find his body, or whatever pieces may still be floating around out there.”
“Oh God.” She knew that she had paled because she felt the blood drain from her face. “Okay.” She whispered and swallowed hard. “Wait.” She then tightened her hold on Michael. “You aren’t sending Michael away for his last weeks, are you? If so, we will have words, Daddy. I mean it.”
“No, he’ll serve out the last of his time here,” her father said. “He’s working for me now, so for the balance of his time with the military, he will be doing what I tell him to do. In this case, he will be watching over you. His one and only task here is to keep you safe and cared for. Same as when he gets out, officially.”
“Well he would do that without the order,” Gigi said with a frown. “Don’t you trust in that?” She asked her father that question, watching him as he shifted in his chair. “And what about the rest of his team? How long until you can bring them home as well?”
“He would do it without the order, but I need to keep it official. It can’t appear that he’s AWOL during his last days of service. As to the rest, they will all be cycled Stateside when their tours are completed should they not decide to re-enlist.”
“They won’t,” Gigi said confidently. “They are going to go into business with each other. We just have to figure out what they will do together.” She looked at Michael and grinned. “That way I get to have Michael and a bunch of brothers, too.” She shrugged. “I love you, Daddy, but I am very happy to be able to have some brothers, too.”
The General popped up an eyebrow and looked to Michael. “Do they have any idea what she has in mind?”
“To adopt them?” Michael asked. When her father nodded, Michael snorted softly. “Yes, sir. She’s already made her intentions about keeping them all around very clear. Though Yoshi may be resistant to the plan since she broke his nose.”
“He’ll come around in time, I’m sure. All right.” He checked his watch. “Get out of here you two. I have a meeting with the Joint Chiefs in twenty, and I need to hit the head before I go to that bitchfest.”
Gigi laughed and moved in away from Michael after standing and walking to her father. She gave him a hug and kiss on his cheek. “I love you, Daddy,” she said and moved away from her father and back to Michael. “Ready?” she asked and slipped her hand into his.
“Almost,” he said to her. He nudged her back into the chair, shot her father a telling look, and then faced her again. In the next moment he went down on one knee before her, and pulled a ring out from his pocket. “Georgiana Regina Lucille Fletcher, I love you more than I can ever express in mere words. Would you do me the greatest of all honors and agree to be my wife?”
She sat there for several moments and just looked at him. Everything else fell away. She swallowed, hard. “Michael.” She whispered and then nodded. “Yes. Yes I will marry you.” She laughed in happiness, her tears falling now unchecked down her face. Tears of happiness and joy. “Yes. Forever. Yes.” She held her hand out and waited for him to slip the ring onto her finger before she fell into his arms.
When he put the ring on her finger, she pretty much attacked him. Michael just laughed as he stood up with her in his arms, and swung her around.
“About damn time,” her father muttered. “Now, give me a hug, Gigi. Then get out of here, you two have celebrating to do, and I have a bunch of whiny men to deal with.”
Michael let her go so she could go and show her father the ring and give him a hug. “You about screwed it all up with that “gift” of yours, Sir.”
“Nothing but a bit of a nudge, boy.” Her father gave her a kiss on the cheek. Then he moved to hug Michael until the poor man looked like he was being asphyxiated.
She was laughing and pulled Michael to her. “Come on, we have to make a Skype call to the boys to tell them that they have to be in town for our wedding. When are we getting married?” She had never dreamed she would fall in love, let alone be married, and now that they were both in her life she wanted it all. She wanted the 2.5 kids, the dog, the white picket fence, and the ring. God, the ring was gorgeous. She thought as she looked down at her hand with a smirk. “Come on, shopping and celebrating.”
“We’re getting married later,” Michael said. He let her tug him out her father’s office and through the halls. “We’ll plan it around whenever the boys are able to come home. Their tours are all ending at different times, so we’ll need to be a little creative unless you feel like waiting for roughly three years.”
“Hell no I don’t,” she said with a frown, shock on her face as she pulled back to look at him. “Please tell me that you don’t want to wait that long. I think I might have to beat you if you say yes by the way.” She was teasing, mostly.
“The sooner we are together and married the happier I will be.”
“We’ll see,” he said. She was relatively sure he was teasing. At least he damn well better be teasing her. “How about we figure out when we can next get them all home, either at the end of their tours or on leave. You’ll need time to plan things, so let’s say in the next six to nine months.”
“Oh, if we do Christmas it will be more like nine months. I think we could do that.” She knew she was now pushing things, but she had never had anyone want to marry her before. Goodness, she had never dreamed she would even accept marriage with her views on love and marriage, but it was different with Michael. It was different because she felt in her very soul that he was, well he was forever. He had taught her how to love, and that was the honest truth.
“Christmas works for me, it’ll give me time to get my brother used to the idea as well,” he said. When they finally reached the car he pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly. “I love you, Gigi. Thank you for agreeing to marry me. I didn’t mean to just dump it on you like that, but I knew I had to do something to gain your attention and get you to agree.”
“And thank you for being patient with me. For helping me learn that loving someone isn’t a bad thing. I appreciate all that you are and all that you do. I think we are good together.” She leaned in and hugged him once more, adding. “Now the hard part. Meeting your family. Your dad doesn’t hate me, right?” She still worried about that and likely always would.
“No, he doesn’t hate you. He’s not thrilled with me, though that’s nothing new,” he said. Grinning at her, he pressed another kiss to her lips. “Come on, we will go to dinner, and tomorrow we’ll go meet the soon-to-be in-laws.”
“Sounds good.” She gave him one last kiss and then slipped into the vehicle with him. It was time for them to have their forever-after. It was time for them to start their joined life together. Well, legally joined at least.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in the mid-seventies Honor has always had a love for the written word. Whether she is reading a book from another author or writing a story of her own, she is always letting her mind expand and delve into possibilities. It all started off as scribbles for her, then a phase of poetry before she found her true calling in the erotic paranormal genre where her imagination is only limit.
Since beginning her journey as a published author in 2011 Honor says she has learned a great deal about herself and writing. She believes that it’s a neverending journey, the mind always wanting to learn and to grow. With that comes a better skill and smoothness to her writing she’s discovered and begun to enjoy more with each story she creates.
Thankfully, as she puts it, she has a job that gives her plenty of opportunity to write whatever comes to mind with very few interruptions. Her biggest supporters are, as always, her family. Her two children and her husband are continuously providing her with laughter and joy, making the time she takes to write a little bit easier. Without them and their support she knows she wouldn’t be half the author she is today.
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