Targeted: Newlywed Navy Seals Risk It All! (Truth and Lies Series Book 1)

by Pinki Parks

  Tristan opened his mouth to reply, then shut it, then opened it. “Um-” his phone vibrated in his hand and a message from Ava flew across his screen, Thinking of you.

  Tristan cleared his throat and said, “Nothing exclusive.” He grabbed his coffee cup from the barista and walked alongside the girl. She slipped one of her hands into the front pocket of her coat, and she said, “Interesting. Well, I was wondering if you wanted to,” she paused and held up her coffee cup, “have a cup of coffee with me. Are you busy?”

  Tristan scanned through his relatively open schedule for the day and said, “I can have coffee.” He followed her over to the table on the other side of the restaurant and eased into the seat across from her. He set his elbows on top of the chipped paint of the tabletop and took in her perfect, dark eyebrows and the way that her hair framed both sides of her face. Her full lips pressed against the outer rim of her coffee cup, and she asked, “So, what’s your name?”

  “Tristan Marquez.” Tristan snatched a sugar packet out of the canister on the edge of the table and ripped it across the top.

  The girl grinned and Tristan asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “I knew it. Which parent is Spanish?”

  Tristan chuckled, “How do you know that I’m not just Spanish?”

  She giggled and said, “Because I’m not either. My father’s Cuban, my mother is white. You speak Spanish but you look like you could pass for anything.” She extended her hand towards him and his fingers grazed against the soft skin on her palm as he shook her hand.

  “My name is Gabriella,” her fingers lingered in his hand for a moment before she grinned and said, “Would it be forward of me to ask for your number?”

  Tristan’s phone vibrated against his thigh once more. He didn’t need to look at it to know that it was Ava. He fished his phone out of his pocket and said, “No. It’s just a number.”

  ***

  Tristan groaned as his hand curled around the barbell, and he shook his head at his reflection as he tugged the weight towards him. Kevin, a genuine gym rat that spent so much time at the gym that they should have offered him a position there, floated around him. He bent his knees and threw his hands together before sliding his hands underneath a barbell. It was a slow gym day, the perfect kind of day for Tristan to brush up on a few sets while he sorted through his thoughts. The coffee that he’d shared with Gabriella earlier that afternoon had left him with more than enough energy to expend. She’d been disappointed when he didn’t take her up on his invitation to join him at the gym. While a steamy shower to wash off all of the sweat that they’d accumulated could have been exactly what he needed, he knew that he’d just be picturing Ava’s full soapy breasts, and the sultry, penetrating look that she wore right before she came.

  Kevin smirked as he thrusted it above his head, his massive arms framed either side of his face. Tristan shook his head and snatched a towel off of the back of the resistance machine beside him. He frowned and said, “You’re going to kill yourself if you keep going hard like that.”

  Kevin scoffed and said, “How else am I going to compete?” he jerked a finger towards Tristan and said, “You’re not trying to be a lightweight forever, are you?”

  Tristan rolled his eyes and smoothed towel over the curves of his muscle, he dragged it around the sweat that collected on his collarbone. He eyed himself in the mirror, a lean, well-built man looked back at him. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he felt that he looked more put together than most guys his age, with an obvious dedication to his body and self-improvement. His heart sank in his belly upon realizing that he’d gone severely off track these last few months.

  How could I have forgotten about that internship? Originally, he hadn’t intended on applying for any internships for years. His professor from his Introductory Law class had taken him to the side as he was leaving, and insisted, “You have to apply.”

  “I’m not experienced enough to work under a lawyer like Alex Greene. I’ve barely scratched the surface-”

  “Alex is a good friend of mine. Half of your classmates were more concerned with their phones or each other, but not you. You’ve showed up to every class looking as if you’re about to interview for the biggest position in your life. You record my lectures, you take notes. I think that Alex would be lucky to have you.”

  “I don’t know if-”

  “Just apply.”

  Tristan had kept the news to himself for several weeks after that. He’d been floating on air are the idea of working at a real law firm for a real lawyer. Anna would implode if she knew, Tristan hadn’t even been allowed to go on the class trip to Virginia in high school, how would she react if she knew that he might be moving to D.C. for the summer, or longer? Mateo would kick him in the ass for not jumping at the opportunity, for not being eager to jump to the plate and be a perfect example of Latino success.

  Tristan’s eyes were dark as he connected with his reflection in the mirror, his mouth fell open as small grunts fell past his lips. He lifted each barbell until his arms ached and sweat threatened to spill into either of his eyes. In the mirror, he caught the interested stares of two, bubbly blondes as they lingered by the front desk. Their eyes consumed him hungrily, while Kevin fell into his peacocking routine, furious that he couldn’t even get a glance.

  Tristan shook his head as the weights fell from his hands and clattered to the floor. The sound echoed throughout the gym and Tristan plopped on the mat beside them. Kevin scowled and said, “There’s two bangable chicks that are eyeing you, why don’t you go and talk to one of them?”

  Kevin scoffed and said, “I would.”

  “Go on a dating website or something then, Kevin. They’re not for me.”

  “Women that workout a lot with hair down to their asses aren’t for you? I don’t get you.” Kevin’s leg fell back behind him as he fell into a lunge. He lifted the weight towards his chest and groaned.

  “They’re too obvious,” he mumbled. Ava wouldn’t have ever been that obvious. She was coy, reserved, and classier than most women. Tristan chuckled when an image of Justine pacing in circles with her phone pressed against her ear flashed through his mind. Ava wasn’t messy.

  But would she still be here if I went to D.C.? What if she found the guy that was good enough to introduce to her colleagues? Tristan jumped to his feet and ignored the curious gazes of the girls across the room. He brushed past Kevin and came to a stop in front of the 100-pound barbell.

  A herculean scream hit the walls of the gym as Tristan lifted it into the air.

  Chapter 22

  Ava screwed her face up into a look of confusion as she bent over and cradled the plastic tub of the salad spinner with both hands. She had about eight thousand dollars’ worth of appliances that she kept in her pantry because they were gifts from wealthy clients. Not a single person that gifted her any of the items that collected dust knew that Ava Lawrence, despite her business savvy and overall success, was a pitiful cook.

  Why does anyone bother with this? You can just order a salad. She shook her head and pulled the salad out of the spinner and spread it onto a couple of plate. Her hands trembled as she peered around her kitchen for the wine that she’d pulled out a few hours before. Tristan would be arriving any minute, and it was the first time that he’d spoken to her in almost a week. He’d been avoiding her calls since he stormed out of the office, and finally picked up when she chanced a call earlier that day.

  She had the idea in her head that when you wanted to really apologize to someone, it couldn’t hurt to make a homemade meal for them. Ava tugged her hair loose from the high ponytail she’d thrown it in, and hustled over to the stove, where their main course, sautéed salmon, sizzled and popped in the skillet.

  Ava backed away from the skillet as she wedged the spatula under each piece of fish. She tossed it onto the bed of greens and stepped back to admire her work. I’ve done worse, like the time that I burnt water in college. T
his is actually edible. Ava’s head snapped up when she heard a sharp tap against the door. Ava’s feet pounded against the floor as she hurried to the bathroom, she spread a tube of lip gloss across her lips and hurried back into the living room, she cupped her flushed cheeks as she came to a stop just in front of the door.

  She pulled the door open and Tristan stood on the other side, he wore an apathetic expression as he strolled into the apartment. Ava kept her smile in place as she said, “Thanks for stopping by for dinner. I’ve been wanting to talk you all week.”

  “I know,” Tristan said, “I got all of your text messages.”

  Ava frowned and shook herself out of her thoughts. “I actually tried to cook. I made salmon, it looks like it’s edible. Let’s go into the dining room.”

  Tristan sighed and watched as she hurried into the kitchen and carried the plates back into the living room. He followed her into the dining room, a separate room just off of the living room. A polished, silver chandelier with gold accents hung from the ceiling. Ava rolled her hands against the knob on the wall, and a dim, romantic light lit up the glass dining table.

  Ava settled into the chair beside Tristan and pushed his plate towards him. “I’m eager to know how my first attempt at cooking went. Go ahead, try it.”

  Tristan shrugged his coat off and slid his knife through the end piece of his salmon. He chewed it as if he was eating a cheap piece of candy that stranger offered him. Ava scanned his expression as he finished chewing and swallowed.

  Tristan shrugged and said, “It’s fine, Ava. Are we just going to sit here and eat fish?”

  Ava mirrored his movements and said, “I thought that was the point of dinner. Do you want wine?”

  Tristan took another bite of his salmon and said, “No, I don’t. Ava, are we going to talk about what happened the other day?”

  Ava sighed and her fork and knife clattered against the plate. She sat back in her chair and roughly pushed her hair away her face. “What do you want to talk about? Do you think I’m a coward? You think that I’m not taking you seriously? Even though I’ve let you into my life more than people that have been around me for years.”

  Tristan’s eyes flashed with rage as he said, “That might be true, but you said that you were actually going to give this a try. Why can’t you introduce me as the person you’re dating? Why do you have to-”?

  “It’s not that simple!” Ava screeched. She jumped out of her seat, her hands were balled into tight fists as she thrust them into the air. “You don’t know what it’s like to be a woman in my position. You can’t fathom the possibility that if I make one misstep in my public image, my company could lose countless opportunities!”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just be a person? Like everyone else? You have billions, Ava. Maybe it’s time to stop worrying about what everyone else would think and just be happy.” Tristan swiped his hand across his forehead and said, “Do you want to know what happened the other day?”

  Ava looked towards the window, where the city still moved through the dark. A group of people fell over each other as they left a bar with flashing neon lights on the sign. She turned towards Tristan and said, “What happened?” Her heartbeat echoed in her ears as Tristan admitted, “I had coffee with a girl the other day. Turns out that she goes to the University with me, and she’d seen me around. Her name is Gabriella.”

  Ava rolled her eyes and said, “And I suppose that this is where you tell me that you’ve realized that this is where we stop working? You’re going to run off into the sunset with Gabriella?”

  “No. But I’ve never been more aware of the fact that I have options, Ava.” He pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. He towered over her as he said, “I realized that I didn’t have to wait for you to decide when I was worthy enough to have in your life.”

  “You’ve always been worthy. The problem is that you’re proving me right, and you can’t handle this,” she gestured between them, “don’t you get it? I don’t want to be the one that kept you from having a family, a career…”

  An irritated grunt fell past his lips, and he said, “I want a future with you! That’s the thing, was Gabriella beautiful? Was she available? Was she closer to what my parents want for me? Sure. But she wasn’t anything like you.”

  Ava’s chest rose and fell as she crossed her arms over her chest, then uncrossed them. She bit down on her lip as she rushed towards Tristan and threw herself against his chest. Her hands clenched his shoulders, and she said, “I can’t believe you had coffee with someone else.”

  Tristan’s arms hung limply by his side as he said, “I didn’t know what to do. Everything was happening at once, and I didn’t know that I’d get an offer for an internship and-”

  “Internship?” Ava repeated. She took a couple of steps away from him and said, “Did you come here to tell me that you’re leaving?” Her voice was shriller than she intended, and her chest ached with pain.

  Tristan shrugged, but worry was written all over his face. “I got an offer for a really good internship. I submitted my application six months ago, and I thought they turned me down. It’s for the summer. Could turn into something longer.”

  Ava frowned and said, “Did you expect me to beg you to stay?”

  “No!” Tristan bellowed, “I expected you to be upset, I expected you to say that you might even want to come with me, or that you’ll still be here when I come back!”

  Ava groaned and hurried towards Tristan. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smashed her lips against his. Tristan’s lips were still as she peppered kisses across his face and cheeks. Heat radiated off of his body as Ava’s teeth grazed his skin. “Tristan, I know that I want this. I don’t care about the other stuff.”

  He slipped his arms around her waist and ran his tongue along her lips. He slipped his hands underneath her shirt, his fingers flexed across the pale skin on her belly. “What if you start caring about what everyone else thinks again? What if you don’t want me to go?”

  “I don’t want you to go but I think you should. It’s only a few months. It’s nothing.” Lots can happen in a few months. Ava’s inner voice kicked in. She told him what he wanted to hear. A reassuring voice was what he needed. He had enough on his plate. Ava tilted her head to the side as Tristan’s lips ran up and down the length of her neck. Her full lips parted and a moan floated towards the ceiling. “I want you. I always want you.” She looked into his eyes and confirmed “and no one else.” She had reminded him of his goal back at the park when they first went for a walk.

  An animalistic growl came from Tristan as he bent his knees and picked her up. Ava yelped as they crashed into the dining room table, the salmon and plates went clattering towards the floor.

  The decorative candles in the center of the table jumped as they made love.

  “I don’t care where you go. I want you to have everything you want.”

  He reached over and took her smaller hand in his. He pulled her towards him and breathed, “Good.”

  Chapter 23

  “Ava! I love that dress! Is that a new one? She’s going to come back with like forty pounds of new clothes!”

  Ava grinned and ruffled a few strands of Allison’s silky hair. Allison sat beside her on a bar stool, her little hands gripped the edge of the seat as she twisted the round bottom back and forth. Ava leaned into her laptop and waved at Vivienne. “I think that she likes it! We were in town the other day, and she really wanted it.”

  “Tsk, tsk, that’s the first lesson, Ava! Allison wants everything, she’ll swindle you out of your fortune!” Vivienne grinned and sat back on her knees. She was video chatting from her bedroom at their parent’s home in Hawaii. Over the last six months or so, Vivienne had taken a job in town that required her to take night classes. When Ava and Tristan visited Hawaii back in February, Ava suggested that Allison come and stay with her while Vivienne had her hands full, especially since Allison had never really experienced cit
y living.

  Allison beamed as she pushed herself towards the laptop screen, “Mom! We got hot dogs, and we rode the subway, and we went to Aunt Ava’s favorite hot cocoa shop!”

  Vivienne knitted her eyebrows together and repeated, “Hot cocoa shop?”

  Ava waved her hand towards the screen and said, “We went for coffee, and she had a hot cocoa. Apparently, Keller’s, one of the best luxury coffee shops in town, is the best hot cocoa place!” Ava spread her hands out for emphasis and said, “We’re looking forward to your visit. Allison and I will love the company while Tristan is gone.”

  Vivienne’s smile faltered for a moment, and she said, “Are you going to be okay? I’m glad that Allison is there to keep you company.”

  Ava shrugged. “I’ll be alright, I’m just really excited for Tristan. He’s been out to D.C. for two meetings with these people, and they seem to be eating him up,” She set her elbows on top of the counter and said, “I just want it to work out for him.”

  “I’m sure it will,” Vivienne said, in the distance, a faint racket could be heard echoing throughout the house. Vivienne sighed and smoothed the worry lines in the middle of her forehead with her index finger and thumb. “Dad is on the roof again. He’s been trying to redo it himself for the last week.”

  Ava sighed and her eyes followed Allison as she slid off of the chair and bounced into the kitchen. The fridge door opened and Ava winced as her ears caught the squelch of liquid flying across the floor. “Be careful with that chocolate milk, Allison! And I told Dad that I would pay for that, I don’t know why he’s intent on killing himself.”

  Vivienne grinned and said, “No worries, Mom and I will get him to come around. It sounds like you’ve got enough on your plate right now. Talk later?”

  “Of course.”

  “Ava?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I really appreciate what you’re doing for me.” Vivienne said, she punctuated this by blowing a kiss and Ava held her hand out as if she caught it. Vivienne yelled, “Bye, Allison, I love you!”