Sheltered by the SEAL: The Inheritance (HERO Force Book 2)

by Amy Gamet

  Jax rounded the corner into Jessa’s hospital room, a bouquet of bright flowers in his hand. She was standing at the window, fully dressed, her bag closed on the bed.

  “Good morning. Are you two ready to go?”

  She grinned at him and nodded, a hand pressed to her stomach. “More than ready.”

  She’d been in the hospital almost a week with doctors making sure the baby was stable before they allowed Jessa to get up and walk around.

  Jax had been here the better part of every day.

  Rooting for their baby to survive had brought them closer together. They played stupid games and watched Jeopardy on TV. Jax liked it, and he’d already made up his mind he didn’t want any of it to end.

  He handed her the flowers. “For you.”

  “Thank you.” She sniffed the blossoms and smiled.

  “I’ve been thinking, maybe you should move in with me,” he blurted.

  “What?”

  “This week here with you. I’ve enjoyed it.”

  “I’m not sure that’s enough of a reason to move in together.”

  “I can think of more.”

  “I like you, Jax.” She looked at the floor then met his eyes. “A lot. But I barely survived my first experience with HERO Force. I can’t go back to living like that. Waiting for you to come home and always fearing the worst.”

  “So expect the best, not the worst. I love what I do, and I’m good at it. HERO Force is making a difference in this world. A positive difference.”

  “Then do it, Jax. But don’t expect me to keep the home fires burning, because I can’t do it. Not again.”

  Jax stared at her long and hard. “Even if I love you?”

  She raised her chin.

  “Even if you’ve made me happier in weeks than I’ve been all my life?” he asked. “I meant what I said that first night you stayed in my bed. My life is better now— with you and the baby— than it’s ever been before.”

  “HERO Force is a deal breaker for me, Jax. I’m sorry. I care about you so much, but I just can’t do it.”

  “This isn’t the kind of love you can keep at arm’s length, Jessa.” He wasn’t used to expressing his feelings, wasn’t used to putting something so personal into words. “It’s the kind of love that swallows you up whole and will change everything in your life if you let it.”

  She took his hand. “Will you let it, Jax? Will you let it change your whole life?”

  She was asking about HERO Force. If he would give it up for her. The thought made him crazy, but so did the idea of losing her. He didn’t see how he could live without either one of them.

  He brought her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it, aware of just how much he had to lose. “It’s not an easy thing to do, what you’re asking.”

  “I know.”

  He nodded, unable to tell her what she wanted to hear but equally unable to deny her request. “Don’t give up on me yet, Jessa.”

  “I’m having your baby. I’m not going anywhere.” She shrugged her shoulder. “Anymore, that is.”

  41

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  Cowboy walked in Jax’s office. "What's up, chief?"

  "We got a call from a liaison for the British monarchy. It seems Princess Violet is getting married to a member of the French National Assembly next week, and she’s adamantly refusing to bring her security detail on the honeymoon. They've asked for someone from HERO Force to travel along on the same cruise, keeping an eye on the royal couple, preferably without their knowledge.”

  Cowboy furrowed his brow. "Maybe I'm behind on the tabloid gossip, but I've never even heard of Princess Violet."

  "Daughter of Prince Bertram, sixth in line to the British throne."

  "Ah. So, like the Beverly Hillbillies of the monarchy."

  "That's exactly right." Jax laughed. "I figured you wouldn't mind a working cruise through the Caribbean."

  Cowboy leaned back in his chair. "I think I might be able to squeeze it in my schedule."

  Jax stood and grabbed his jacket. "Have Logan set you up with the reservation and whatever you'll need for surveillance and possible defense."

  "Expecting any trouble?"

  "Nope." He walked to the door. "I'm on my way to the doctor." He smiled widely. "Jessa’s got another ultrasound today."

  "You guys ever find out the sex?"

  "No. Jessa's convinced it’s a girl. I'd be happy either way." He took his keys from a hook on the wall. "Oh, and one more thing. The cruise is for couples only."

  Cowboy grinned wickedly. "I think I might be able to find a lady to accompany me."

  "Have Logan get somebody from the Academy. Just in case."

  Cowboy nodded. "Will do."

  "Leo, I've been thinking about bringing some women on full-time. Maybe another SEAL, too. Jessa's really digging in her heels about me spending so much time with HERO Force.”

  “Still won’t marry you, huh?”

  He shook his head. “Swears she’ll never marry another guy from the team."

  "Do you believe her?"

  "I think if I cut back my hours, maybe promote a worthy member of the force and hire some new blood, she just might let me slide." He checked his phone. "I've gotta run."

  Cowboy stood up. "I'm pretty worthy, you know."

  Jax laughed. "Do a good job in the Caribbean. We'll talk when you get back.”

  42

  "What the hell do you care if I go out with him or not?" asked Charlotte.

  Logan held his head in his hands. "Do you have any idea what this job means to me? Cowboy is like my boss—"

  "I thought Jax was your boss."

  "Well, yes, technically. But Cowboy is more senior than me, and he's the unofficial leader of the team. If you go out with him, I'm fucked."

  She frowned, her fuchsia lipstick accentuating the downward turn of her mouth. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "All of your relationships end badly."

  "Of course they do, idiot. If they didn't end badly, they wouldn't end."

  Logan took a laptop and several files out of his briefcase. "Tell me you're messing with me, that you're just pretending you don't understand why this is a problem. Because if you're being sincere, I don't even know how to explain it to you."

  She pulled out a chair and sat next to him at the table. "He likes me, Logan."

  "So what? Lots of guys like you."

  She shrugged. "Sure, lots of loser assholes like Rick. Not too many stand-up guys like Cowboy."

  Logan sighed heavily. She was pulling out the Rick card, and he didn't appreciate it. Her ex-husband had done a real number on her. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. Why don't you go on a trip or something? You got all that money in the divorce settlement. So hop on a plane and go see the world. Experience new things. Maybe even meet a guy better than Cowboy."

  She met his eyes. "You think so?"

  "You want to know what I really think?" He put his hand over hers. "You're pretty damn special, sis, and one of these days you're gonna find a great guy who knows it."

  "Thanks, Logan."

  "You only live once, right?" His cell phone rang, and he took it into the other room. Charlotte looked at the papers spread out in front of Logan's computer. Cruise ship reservations for Cowboy to the Caribbean next week on a couples-only cruise. Her eyes went to the screen. There was the confirmation for Leo Wilson and Abigail Browning. Charlotte frowned.

  What would she give to be on that cruise with him?

  You only live once.

  She shot a glance at the doorway, Logan still deep in conversation at the far end of the house. Before she could talk yourself out of it, she sat in front of his computer and scribbled down the cruise information. Logan had suggested she go on a vacation, hadn’t he? Well, she was going to go on a vacation with an adventure built right in.

  She left the room, a giggle on her lips and a newfound spring in her step. Charlotte O’Malley finally had something to look forward to.

  43
<
br />   Sylvia Cortez spoke in broken English, a little girl on either side of her on the worn sofa. “I don’t understand.”

  Jessa rubbed her stomach, the size of which had easily doubled in the last three weeks alone. With just a month to go until her due date, she smiled at one of the girls and thought of her own daughter. “Is there someone who can translate for us?” she asked.

  Sylvia spoke in Spanish to the taller of the two girls, who ran out the front door. Sylvia turned back to Jessa. “You like coffee? Decaf?”

  “No, thank you. I’m fine.” She picked up the book, gently fingering its pages. Logan had found Maria Elena’s next of kin after an exhaustive search, and Jessa knew it was unlikely this family had ever met their distant cousin, but Maria Elena was about to give them a great gift nonetheless.

  A tall, handsome boy came inside with the girl who’d gone in search of a translator. “Juan,” said the girl.

  Jessa stood and shook his hand. “My name is Jessa McConnell, and I’ve been looking for Sylvia for a long time.” She handed the book to Sylvia with a smile. “She’s been given a great inheritance from a distant cousin.”

  Jessa explained who Maria Elena was and what had happened to her. The boy’s eyes went wide as he repeated what she’d said in Spanish.

  “This book proves Maria Elena was entitled to a one-eighth share of a large law firm in Boston.”

  She nodded to the boy, who translated again.

  “The lawyers would like to buy out your share for fourteen million dollars.”

  The boy gave a loud yelp and Jessa laughed. Sylvia leaned forward on the edge of the couch. Jessa watched Sylvia’s face as the boy translated the good news.

  The woman burst out screaming and the girls broke out in smiles. “Inheritance?” Sylvia asked, reaching for Jessa’s hands.

  “Yes. An inheritance just for you and your family.”

  Sylvia jumped up and down, laughing, pulling Jessa’s hands with her. “Rich?”

  Jessa laughed. “Yes, you’re rich.” She thought of the terrible things the inheritance had brought to her own life, but then again, she wasn’t the rightful heir.

  And it brought you Jax.

  They’d been spending almost all of their time together. At first she’d insisted he not stay over more than twice a week, as if the boundary could keep her heart out of danger. But she was never able to push him out the door when all she wanted was to snuggle into his arms.

  Now Jax was asking her to marry him, and as much as she didn’t like him working for HERO Force and him traveling so much, she knew she’d be hard pressed to say no much longer.

  She just had to find a way to deal with the fear.

  She drove to the cemetery and sat on a bench beside Maria Elena’s grave, telling the other woman about Sylvia and the family who would receive the money from the law firm settlement.

  “Thank you for letting me use your name, Maria. You changed my life for the better.”

  Jax had told her something similar once, that his life was better with her in it, and she smiled at the memory. Her eyes went back to the gravestone. Maria Elena was born just one year before Jessa.

  Life is short. Don’t you want to live it to its fullest?

  It was so hard to separate Jax from HERO Force in her mind, to peel apart the man and the danger he surrounded himself with every day.

  “What if he gets hurt? What if he dies?”

  I will be happy I loved him for as long as I could. Just like Ralph.

  No one was guaranteed a long life. No one was guaranteed anything beyond this moment.

  “And I want to share this moment with Jax,” she said. She wiped a tear from her cheek. She wasn’t going to waste another moment, not a single one. “Thanks, Maria.”

  Moving her awkward body as fast as she could, she made it back to her car and drove to HERO Force headquarters.

  44

  Jax was reading over the draft of his new business plan for HERO Force. Cowboy would take over Jax’s role, with Jax moving to a purely supervisory position.

  Unless he really needed to blow something up.

  “Jax?”

  He lifted his head from the papers on his desk to find Jessa standing in the doorway. “Hey. What are you doing here?” He knew how much she hated this office, how much it reminded her of the past. “Everything okay?”

  She nodded, closing the door behind her and walking toward him. “Everything’s perfect. I gave Sylvia Cortez the good news.”

  “Oh, yeah? That must have been fun.”

  “It was. And then I stopped by to tell Maria it was all taken care of. I think she was happy.”

  He grinned at her assignation of moods to the dearly departed. “I’m sure she was.”

  “But I realized, there’s one more thing I have to do before I can move on with my life.” She walked around his desk, perching her hip on the edge, and he stroked her leg from her ankle to her knee.

  “What’s that?”

  “I have to tell you how much I love you.”

  He sucked in a breath and held it. He knew it. Of course he knew it, but to hear the words after so much time was like getting a gift he hadn’t expected to receive.

  She bit her lip, and her eyes shone brightly. “I’ve thought it a thousand times. I’m sorry it took me so long to say.”

  He stood up, hope swelling in his chest, and put his arms on her waist. “Does this mean you’ll marry me?”

  “Let me finish. I love you, and I accept that HERO Force is just as important to you as I am.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  She kept talking. “You do incredible things here. Yes, they’re dangerous, and yes, that drives me absolutely insane, but they’re incredible nonetheless. I don’t want you to stop.”

  “I said, it’s not as important to me as you are, Jessa.”

  “It’s not?”

  “I’m cutting back my hours at HERO Force. Putting Cowboy in charge. He’s earned it, and I want to make sure I see my daughter grow up. I want to be there for you.” He’d already let his obsession with HERO Force destroy one marriage. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

  Her face lit up. “You’re sure?”

  “I’m positive. I love you, Jessa.” He let his hand trace her face from her temple to her jaw, and kissed her. He was swamped with gratitude.

  Her kisses were grew more passionate, and he smiled at his very pregnant, very horny, soon-to-be-wife.

  She yanked her face away from his. “Uh oh.” Her eyes were wide. “My water just broke.”

  Adrenaline shot into his bloodstream. “That’s not supposed to happen yet. Are you sure?”

  “Oh, I’m sure all right.” She came to a stand, looking behind her. “Oh, God, I’m sorry about your desk.”

  “That’s not my desk. That’s Cowboy’s desk. You ready to have a baby?”

  “What if it’s too early?”

  “It’s only twenty days, honey, I think she’ll be fine.”

  “Right. You’re right. It’s only twenty days.” She took a deep breath.

  He’d never been happier in his whole life than he was in this moment. “Then let’s go have a baby.”

  Charlotte didn’t plan on this much trouble when she decided to crash Cowboy’s cruise

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  Amy Gamet

  Also by Amy Gamet

  Meant for Her

  The One Who Got Away

  Artful Deception

  Meghan’s Wish

  Love and Danger Box Set

  Treasure on Moon Lake

  Fortune on Moon Lake

  Return to Moon Lake

  Love on the Lake Box Set

  Stranded with the SEAL

  Sheltered by the SEAL

  Harbored by the SEAL

  Married to the SEAL

  Justice for the SEAL