CHAPTER NINETEEN
DECLAN
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I’m draining my cup of coffee, hoping Stella would either message or knock on my door, when the latter happens.
Smiling, I drop my cup on the table and stride over.
“Delivery for Mr. Sloan.” A courier stands holding a large flat parcel.
I blink for a moment, confused.
“Are you Mr. Sloan?” The courier frowns. “No offense, man, but I have to get going.”
I glance at the package.
“Sign here.” He props it against the wall and holds out a device.
I sign.
“Thanks.” I tug out a five-dollar bill, and he waves it in the air gratefully, then jogs down the hall.
Closing the door, I stare at the package.
It’s obvious what it is.
I have an inkling I know exactly what it is, as I rub the back of my neck and curse.
A farewell gift.
I don’t fucking want it.
I want her.
My curiosity gets the better of me—I’m not one hundred percent sure after all—and I rip off the paper. It’s impeccably wrapped, of course. The gallery would have done it.
When I get the last sheet off, I stare at the Belinda Cohen painting, and emotion floods me.
Stella knew I wouldn’t be in her life forever.
She’s been saying goodbye for the entire time. While I was falling deeply in love with her.
When I first admired this piece of art, the rough seas reminded me of my mother’s grief. Now it tells a whole new story.
But fuck that.
I know the ocean. I’ve spent my life on it as a Navy SEAL. It isn’t a rock or a goddamn tree. The ocean changes and has ebbs and flows.
It is a current that takes you on a journey. You can fight it, or you can let go of resistance and let it take you where it wants.
Well, I’m a fucking warrior.
“I’m going to fight for you, Stella,” I say out loud. “This is not goodbye.”
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“WELL, THAT WAS a fuck up.” I slump down into the chair in the BHS New York office and take a big sip of my second coffee for the day when I arrive.
“Here’s the file you were after.” Raven hands it to Ryder and shoots me a smile. “Hey Dec. How’s the new job going?”
I groan.
She glances at Josh and Ryder. “What did you do to him?”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me as I take another sip of coffee. Wiping my mouth with my sleeve, I watch as Josh stares at the petite wildcat.
“Withheld food and water for seven days. For asking stupid questions,” Josh deadpans. “Want to know anything else?”
Ryder chuckles silently.
“I’m serious.” Raven crosses her arms, not perturbed at all by the former SEAL Team Six operator. “He’s my buddy. Be nice.”
She is?
“I’m fine, Raven. Thanks.” I wonder if she’s noticed I’m six-foot-five and two-hundred-and-fifty pounds.
“I got your back, bud.”
“Roger that.” I take another sip, mostly to hide the smile forcing its way onto my lips.
She glares at Josh once more and walks out.
“I’m not sure if I should fire her or give her a weapon and put her in the Black Ops team.” Josh shakes his head.
“Do not give her a weapon, trust me.” Jayden wanders in and plonks his black satchel on the table. “Sorry I’m late.”
Two other guys I haven’t seen before stride in after him, chatting and laughing about something. Both are in their early thirties, dark-haired, an inch or two shorter than me, and built like warriors.
New recruits; gotta be.
“Grayson. Miles. Take a seat,” Ryder says. “You know, Jayden. This is Declan Sloan. Navy SEAL. He’s been on board a few weeks.”
“Grayson Ford.” He shakes my hand from across the table.
“Welcome aboard.”
Miles does the same. “McKenna, Airborne Ranger.”
“Nice. Worked with a few Rangers in our time, didn’t we, Josh.” I shake his hand.
“You two were on the SEAL team together?” Jayden asks, looking impressed.
“Yup. The stories I could tell.” I grin.
“But won’t.” Josh doesn’t look up from his phone as he swipes, as I silently chuckle. “Okay, let’s go through this quickly, as we know Stella is due at her father's this morning sometime. The team has already reported activity at the Voss residence very early this morning.”
“Activity?” I ask, my cup freezing in midair.
“Marino Security.”
Jayden and I share a look. He’s been fully briefed and rang me late last night to see how I was doing.
Shit. That’s how I was doing.
And getting the painting didn’t help. Stella thinks her life is set on course, and she has to marry that asshole.
I packed up my things and dropped the key with Gary before catching a cab to a new hotel nearby. Then I headed to the office.
While we have a team watching her building, knowing Stella has no private security and is so exposed has me on edge.
There’s a wild tiger inside me pacing and waiting for Marino to touch my mate.
If he tried, I’d leap and rip his throat out.
He’s not getting his hands on her.
She belongs to me, and if she hasn’t figured it out yet, I’ll damn well show her. When she’s in my arms, I feel at peace. I see my future, our future, and intend to see it happen.
I’ve walked beside her in my role as her protector, soaped her hair in the shower while caressing her breasts, and sat eating poached eggs at her kitchen counter.
Stella is my home.
The BHS contract I signed states that relationships with clients are frowned upon. Forbidden. Roles like this don’t come along very often. All private security companies ask for the same terms, and we all know one another. It’s a small industry.
I don’t know if Josh saw me kiss Stella last night.
I also don’t know if he cares.
But I know what’s important.
She is.
Clenching my fist under the table, I know my patience is wavering. We have one day—one fucking day—to convince her to walk away from this.
Or find a legal path to extract her.
Marino owns me.
Last night Victor confirmed what we suspected and are now piecing together. He’s the one forcing his daughter into marrying Marino.
But why?
“What sort of activity are we talking about?” I ask.
“Four guys headed up to Voss’s penthouse first thing and haven’t left. Whether they’re staying in the building is unknown, as they didn’t pull up in a vehicle.”
So they walked?
I doubt it.
“Marino is keeping tabs on the guy. He owns him, as he said,” I state. “But four of them in the one building seems like overkill.”
Why would he send that many guys to live there when he could circulate them outside like any stakeout-style operation?
The conversation continues as my brain keeps ticking over. Something is bothering me.
“We have two options here,” Ryder shares. “We bring the authorities into the mix, but initial discussions with Detective Waters tell us we don’t have much legal sway here.”
“That’s right,” Josh says. “He said, and I quote, a civil contract, aka marriage, needs consent. So if consent was obtained under duress, force or fraud, it can be annulled.”
Guess that’s something.
I don’t want Stella to go through with, regardless. It will be traumatizing for her. So how do we stop it? Getting into the estate to extract her will be difficult, but not impossible.
And illegal, but whatever.
“Yeah, but it must be instigated by one member of the couple.” Jayden stares at his screen. “The government treats forced marriages very seriously, but there needs to be proof.”
There it is.
We need her to speak up, or our hands are tied.
Even if we do extract her, whatever blackmail is going on will still exist. Someone could die.
Everyone in the room is well aware of that fact.
These sorts of people don’t mess around.
“This is interesting.” Miles is leaning over, reading Jayden’s screen. “Family or religious pressure alone is not automatically a crime and does not meet the definition of coercion unless there is a threat attached to it.”
“What kind of threat?” I ask.
They both read, their lips silently moving.
“Here.” Jayden points. “Injury, immigration reporting, that sort of thing.”
I shake my head.
None of it is relevant here.
“Fuck,” I grunt. “This is hopeless.”
“That brings me to option two.” Josh links his hands behind his back. “We break the law, hack into one or both of their systems and find proof that Stella is being blackmailed.”
Now ya talking.
My lips twitch.
“I like that plan personally.” Grayson grins. “Do we have the people to do that?”
I lay my arm along the boardroom table and tap my fingers.
Josh looks way too happy. I should’ve known he was up to something behind the scenes. He was always one step ahead of everyone.
“We do, and it goes without saying, this conversation never happened and doesn’t leave the room.”
Every head in the room nods.
His gaze turns serious and drifts to me. “Grayson, why don’t you get kitted up and join Declan and me when we go visit Mr. Voss.”
Yes!
“Roger that,” he replies with a grin.
“Good plan. Miles, Jayden and I have some training to do back here. Call us if you need more bodies,” Ryder says, and the three of them pack up their things and head out.
Grayson follows.
“Something is off with Marino’s men visiting earlier,” I say to Josh as his phone beeps.
“Looks like they’ve gone. If we’re right and Voss is being blackmailed into giving him his daughter...” He frowns. “They left in a white van that none of them noticed earlier.”
I glance at the clock.
It’s almost ten.
“What’s going on?” My instincts are on fire. “Something has changed.”
“You.”
“What?” I ask, my brows bunching.
“You. You are what’s changed. She’s in love with you,” Josh says.
I silently curse, threading my fingers through my hair.
“His men have been following you for weeks, and it doesn’t take a mind reader to see she’s mad about you.”
“Shit.”
He doesn’t say anything more, but I can read it on his face. Josh knows.
“Man, fuck, I’m sorry, I know what the—”
He holds up his hand. “Dec, it’s not necessary. We served for over a decade together. That rule is in place to stop the younger crew from fucking every starlet and billionaire’s daughter that comes onto our books.”
From what I’ve heard, pretty unsuccessfully, but anywho.
“I met my Cassy while she was under my care. As you know. Ryder met Savannah.”
Case in point.
“My point is,” Josh says. “It’s there to curtail fornication with clients as a sport.”
A laugh bursts out of me. Stella would die if she heard someone say that about our sexual relationship.
“So, I keep my job? Christ, Mom is already furious I got out. She thinks Dad would be disappointed in me for leaving the Navy.”
“Commander Sloan was an incredible man, but you can’t live your life doing what a dead man might want. With all due respect to the great man.”
Josh met my dad just before he died, but most Naval Special Warfare have heard of him.
He was a hero.
“Yeah, I’ve figured that out finally.” I rub my jaw. “So Marino is nervous his bride-to-be has a SEAL boyfriend. What do we think he’ll do?”
It’s not like I’m a cop. It’s unlikely he thinks I’ll rappel out of a chopper and drop into their wedding tomorrow.
I mean, I might. I’ll check my calendar, but I’m sure I could make it happen.
“I don’t know, but we need to get over there now.” He climbs to his feet. “Let’s go.”
I curse and gather my things. “Tony is a sociopath, Josh. I’m not letting him marry her.”
“Fair enough, but you can’t kill him.”
“We’ll see,” I say under my breath, but I know he hears me.
I also know, if it were his wife and he needed to protect her, Josh would do everything in his power. Including putting a bullet in a man who was a threat.
I’ll do what’s necessary.
But if it costs the life of someone Stella loves, will she forgive me?
Fuck.
We need to know what the threat is.