Seducing the Colonel's Daughter: Seducing the Colonel's DaughterThe Secret Soldier

by Jennifer Morey

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” he said anyway. “I’m not a blind man. He’s on his way to making the same mistake I made with your mother.”

  She really didn’t want to have this conversation with him. But she said, “He blames me for what’s happening.”

  “He doesn’t blame you. He’s angry with himself for allowing it to happen in the first place. I just hope he comes to his senses before it’s too late.”

  Sabine studied her father’s profile and grew uncomfortable. Did he think Cullen felt that much for her? “Is he going to lose his company because of me?”

  He turned to see her. “Whatever happens, it isn’t your fault.”

  “Is he going to lose it?” she persisted.

  “Maybe. He could also lose his position with the army.”

  She’d only caught Cullen’s side of the conversation when he’d gotten the call from his commander. “But he rescued me. I would have been slaughtered if it hadn’t been for him.”

  “Unfortunately, that won’t matter. Cullen is a weapon. The army can’t afford to have a guy with his background running rogue missions in unstable countries like Afghanistan. It’s a huge political risk.”

  Sabine was beginning to understand the magnitude of what Cullen had risked to free her. “It isn’t fair.”

  “It might seem that way now.”

  She angled her head in question.

  “Cullen needs to decide what he wants out of life. Is it Special Ops and casual relationships, or is it more than that? This whole thing is going to force him to make up his mind. I just hope he makes the right decision.”

  “He’ll never give up his career.”

  “Losing his company the way it’s structured won’t take that away from him. Neither will losing his position with the army. He might have to start over with a new company, maybe change his business strategy. Instead of dangerous clandestine missions, he can move over to infrastructure security. He can teach governments and big businesses how to protect themselves against terror attacks. Or he could move into an intelligence role rather than an operative one and send other men just like him on the secret missions. He can do that from anywhere. He might travel a lot, but he could live wherever he wants.”

  “What kind of company is he losing?”

  Noah chuckled. “Even I don’t know that.”

  She searched his eyes to see if he was telling the truth.

  “Cullen works through the government, Sabine. You don’t have to question his integrity. But it would be infinitely more damaging to him if the identities of his contacts were revealed. That’s why he couldn’t risk saying anything to you. He has other people to protect. Think of the media surrounding your rescue.”

  Her heart splintered under the weight of warmth. Not only was her father talking to her without reservation, but also he was revealing things about Cullen that confirmed what she’d known from the first time he’d held her.

  “How do you know all that?”

  “I don’t know much. I only know how the system works. And I know Cullen. He’ll sacrifice what he has with the army reserves to protect the people who make his company possible.”

  And that was the very thing that would drive him away from her. Losing something like that. His honor along with it. She turned to stare at the fireplace. “Roaring Creek isn’t enough of an adrenaline rush for him.”

  “It wasn’t for me, either,” Noah said from beside her. “But now I’m an old man and I know what a stupid mistake it was believing that.”

  “I just spoke with my secretary,” another voice interrupted.

  Sabine looked up to her right, where Cullen stood at the end of the couch. His face was dark with anger. How much had he heard of her conversation with Noah?

  “Odie was able to ID the men in the photo from Samuel’s field book.” He looked directly at Sabine through a heavy pause. “One is Casey Lowe, a supply helicopter pilot Aden hired. The other is a Polish gems dealer who frequently buys smuggled emeralds in Peshawar and sells them to a Colombian miner, who passes them off as his.”

  Sabine stood and approached Cullen. “Then what are we still doing here? We have to go see Aden, and this time make him tell the truth.”

  Cullen put his hands on her arms, stopping her from passing him. “I’ll take care of Aden. You’ll stay where I think you’ll be safest.”

  She sent him a warning look he wouldn’t miss. If he thought he could just tuck her away somewhere... “And where might that be?”

  “With me.”

  * * *

  After boldly landing the helicopter in a hotel parking lot in south Denver, Noah’s pilot waited for Sabine and Cullen to get far enough away before lifting off and flying back toward the mountains. Cullen carried his rucksack and her duffel bag and, beneath stares from everyone who saw the helicopter land and take off, led her to a bus stop not far from there. On the bus, Cullen forced her into the window seat of the first row. The whispers began. A young woman in her early twenties moved up the aisle and extended a notebook to Sabine.

  “Can I have your autograph?”

  Sabine smiled at her and took the pen she offered along with the notebook. She scrawled her name, then handed it back. The young woman didn’t take them from her.

  “Can I have yours, too?” she asked, looking at Cullen with unbridled awe.

  Cullen took the notebook and pen from Sabine and thrust it toward the young woman without signing. She timidly took it from him and turned away. Sabine signed two more autographs but no one else asked Cullen for his. The look on his face was enough of a warning.

  Cullen pulled her out of the seat at the next stop. They walked down 14th Street in downtown Denver and stopped close to the performing arts center. He was looking at a tall building to his left.

  “Why are we here?” she asked, since he wasn’t going to volunteer the information.

  “Aden lives in that building. Brooks Tower.”

  She looked at the building, the upper floors visible from here. “Are we going to see him now?”

  “Not yet.”

  Cullen took her hand and tugged her across the street. A doorman opened the door of Hotel Teatro, and Sabine found herself inside an old luxury hotel. Straight ahead, the lobby stretched to two elevators. Through a wide doorway to the left, Cullen led her to the front desk. He paid for a room, ignoring the attendant’s curious looks at both of them. The man said nothing and gave them a card key.

  Sabine stepped into the elevator ahead of Cullen, the door closing on a view of two bellmen’s smiling faces. Following Cullen out of the elevator, she stopped with him at a room door. She entered ahead of him, pausing in the narrow hallway to admire the spacious bathroom with large square tiles and a rain-style showerhead. Moving the rest of the way down the hall, she emerged into the bedroom. To her right, a dark wood desk separated an armoire and entertainment center. The room wasn’t big, but it was elegant. To her left, a single bed was centered on the opposite wall. King-size—but there was only one bed.

  She sent an accusatory look at Cullen. He ignored her, dropping his rucksack on the bed and removing a pair of binoculars.

  “There’s only one bed,” she said.

  He went to the window with the binoculars. “It was all they had left on this side of the building.” He drew the heavy curtains open and lifted the binoculars.

  “We aren’t sharing a bed,” she said.

  “I’m not sleeping on the floor.”

  Her heart skittered faster. “Well, neither am I.”

  He lowered the binoculars and twisted to look at her. “Then we’ll sleep on the same bed.”

  Despite her trepidation, a responding flutter tickled her. Needing a diversion, she kicked off her shoes and opened the entertainment center doors to turn on the television.

  F
or the next three hours Cullen studied Brooks Tower, spying on what she had to assume was Aden’s condo. Sabine found a movie to pass the time and was halfway through a second when he finally put the binoculars down and looked to where she leaned against the pillows on the bed. She lost interest in the movie. He seemed more relaxed now.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  For you, she thought.

  His eyes began to smolder in response to what he must see in her expression.

  “Yes,” she said.

  She watched him control his rising interest. “I know a good seafood place near here.”

  “Good idea.” She climbed off the bed. They needed to get out of this hotel room.

  A short walk to Larimer Street brought them to Del Mar Crab House. Sabine followed Cullen down wide stairs. A smiling hostess—who didn’t recognize them—seated them at a table near the bar. It wasn’t very crowded at almost nine-thirty. Sabine looked around at the tables. A family of four sat at a table two down from them, and a couple sat across the aisle. There were two people sitting at the bar and three other tables occupied by small groups of people.

  Sabine took in the brick walls with pictures. The restaurant was open and rectangular, like so many of the older buildings in downtown Denver. It smelled like seafood. Facing forward again, she noticed a candle in a glass container, glowing between her and Cullen. He watched her as he sipped his water. Being watched by him was an erotic experience. She leaned back and enjoyed the slow burn that took over his eyes. But only for a moment. Where would this lead if she allowed it to continue? With no small effort, she reined in the pleasure of his sultry appreciation.

  “Be careful. Roaring Creek might start to look appealing to you,” she teased.

  “It already does.”

  He had to mean something other than what she’d like to think. “You’d climb the walls with nothing to do.”

  “I can think of one thing I’d like to do.”

  She half laughed, too nervous to trust him. “What? Fish?”

  He didn’t answer, not verbally anyway. His eyes said it all.

  A spark of awareness rushed through her. She struggled to cover it. “If only you were a permanent resident.”

  That worked to cool his ardor well enough. She felt him withdraw. It also reminded her that he didn’t belong in Roaring Creek. She pretended to look around the restaurant, willing the sting of his subtle rejection down to a manageable level. His reaction proved he was the wrong man for her. How much more did she need to keep her distance? If only it were that easy.

  The sound of a news program filtered into her musings. She turned to a television above the bar.

  “More information has surfaced about the man who daringly rescued Sabine O’Clery from her captors in Afghanistan,” the newswoman said, a big smile bursting onto her face. “This hero is one to remember. Although the army has repeatedly denied any claim McQueen was once a Delta Force soldier, fellow Ranger Anthony Timmons says otherwise.”

  The screen switched to a ruthlessly short-haired black man. “It was years ago, but he was my platoon leader. I remember him because he was a scary dude. Big and serious and good at everything he did. Got promoted to captain about the time he applied for Special Forces. Lost track of him after that. He just sort of, you know...disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” the reporter interviewing him repeated.

  “Yeah. Nobody knew where he went or what he was doing. I kept sayin’ he joined Delta, but nobody’d believe me.” He laughed. “Now he shows up on the news and people aren’t in such a hurry to call me a liar. I didn’t know he joined the reserves, but it makes sense, since he runs his own Ops company now.”

  “You know it’s an Ops company? Do you mean Special Operations?” the reporter asked.

  The camera changed to a view of both men. “I don’t know it for fact, but with McQueen’s background it don’t take much of a stretch. That company is probably blacker than anybody will ever know….”

  The interview ended and the newswoman’s beaming face filled the screen again.

  That’s when the murmurs gathered momentum around them. The woman sitting with a man across the aisle from them said, “Oh my God, it’s them. They’re here!”

  “Mommy, look,” came from another table.

  Watching Cullen’s reaction, Sabine’s heart broke for him. His livelihood was crumbling and there was nothing she could say or do to stop it. When she realized she wanted to, feelings warred inside her. How could she have ever thought of him as a mercenary? She could barely think of her father that way anymore. The truth frightened her because it tore down defenses when she needed them most.

  Cullen stood, dropping several bills onto the table. “Let’s go.”

  Sabine didn’t protest. Nearly every eye in the restaurant was lasered on them.

  Jogging to keep up with him, she braced herself for his stormy mood. His boots thudded on the sidewalk with each of his long strides. He didn’t look at her once on the short walk back to their hotel. There, the doorman smiled and opened the door for them. She was grateful that he didn’t say anything, if he’d recognized them. They rode the elevator alone.

  It dinged on their floor and the doors slid open. Cullen preceded her into the hall. At the door to their room, he opened it and went in before her, going to stand in front of the window. Across the street and in the distance, the Brooks Tower loomed.

  She felt so bad for him. “Cullen—”

  “I’d rather not talk right now, Sabine,” he interrupted, without turning.

  Recognizing his need to be alone, she went into the bathroom to take a long shower. Knowing the truth about him had stripped away her defenses. Whatever his company did outside the army reserves, it was for the right cause. He was a hero through and through. How could she find the strength to stop feeling so much for him? She wanted him now more than ever. If only she believed she could have him. If only she believed he’d want her the same way.

  Chapter 11

  Cullen unfolded his body and stood up from the chair, irritated with his inability to ignore Sabine. She looked sweet and sexy in her nightgown as she warily made her way to the bed, smelling fresh from her shower. He picked up his ringing cell phone from the desk.

  “Yeah.”

  “What are you doing to yourself, Cullen?” Odelia Frank said.

  She must have seen the news and all it had revealed.

  “Lining myself up for a career change,” he joked with a bitter bite to his tone. “Did I forget to mention that? I’m sorry.”

  “You’re going to lose everything over this. You do know that, don’t you?”

  “I had a feeling.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “They’re hanging me by my balls, Odie. What do you expect me to do?”

  All he heard was Odelia’s breathing for a moment. “I don’t understand you, Cullen. It’s so unlike you to allow something like this to happen.”

  Cullen twisted his body to look at the reason he was in this situation. Sabine lay in bed, her eyes open and watching him, so beautiful that it gave his heart a warm pulse. “I’ll just have to find a way to fix it.”

  There was a long silence on the line. “Since you’re still in denial, let me spell it out for you. Without anonymity, SCS is finished. Like the bottom of a dry martini. All right? You can’t run a company like this one as a celebrity.”

  The sourness in his stomach started an ache. Odelia was right. He couldn’t run the kind of covert missions he ran and expect them to stay that way with the media following him everywhere. Even years from now, he’d risk the possibility of someone recognizing him at the wrong time. The senator, the two generals at the Pentagon and the colonel at U.S. Army Special Operations Command who made his company possible would all turn their backs w
ithout so much as a see-you-later. Contacting Cullen would be too risky. Even if he were able to protect their identities, he’d have no guarantee any of them would be willing to step forward and support a new company.

  “What are you going to do?” Odelia asked again.

  He couldn’t imagine a life without the army or his company. Complete disconnection from Special Forces.

  “I don’t know. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of no matter what happens. You’ve been a critical part of the team, Odie. I wouldn’t leave you out in the street.”

  “Don’t get wishy-washy with me, Cullen. I can take care of myself.”

  He smiled a little, looking at Sabine again. Her thick red hair was spread out on the pillow, and her green eyes still watched him. Holding the blankets up to her chin, sexy as all get-out. Despite everything, he still wanted her. More than before, probably.

  Sabine propped herself up on her elbows while she listened to his side of the conversation, her breasts perky and free beneath the nightgown.

  “Just a couple more things and you can get back to ruining your life with your future bride,” Odie said.

  “She’s not my—”

  “I got copies of Aden’s bank statements,” she said, cutting him off. “There were some peculiar, regular cash deposits.”

  “Yeah? What do you make of it?”

  “The transactions aren’t large enough to make it worth his while smuggling emeralds on his own, but maybe he was helping Isma’il in some way. Like providing the use of a mule.”

  “Lowe?”

  “None other. He could have flown the gems into Peshawar for Aden, who could have paid him to make the trips. He always withdrew a lot of cash before his trips to Afghanistan.”

  “Except Lowe got greedy and stole a pricey bundle of emeralds for himself.”

  “Aden had to be in on it. And neither of them thought Isma’il would kidnap Samuel and Sabine, which explains why there was no communication from Isma’il. At least, not overtly. But he must have gotten a message to Aden.”

  “Who ignored it.”