Chapter 19
My father's recovery was nothing short of miraculous.
Within three days of the surgery, he was sitting up in his VIP hospital bed, complaining about the blandness of military hospital food and demanding that Grandmother Eleanor smuggle him some proper pastries.
The heavy, suffocating fear that had gripped my chest finally evaporated, replaced by an overwhelming, profound gratitude toward my husband.
But alongside that gratitude was a new, entirely terrifying problem.
I was in love with General Alexander Reeves.
Knowing it was one thing. Acting around him, while harboring this massive, contract-breaking secret, was proving to be a psychological nightmare.
Every time he looked at me across the dinner table, every time his deep voice rumbled through the quiet hallways of the estate, my heart did frantic, embarrassing somersaults.
It was Friday evening. The estate was quiet.
We were sitting in the grand library. Alexander was at the massive mahogany desk, reviewing highly classified border reports. He had unbuttoned the collar of his black shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, looking so ruggedly handsome it was distracting.
I was curled up on the leather sofa a few feet away, highlighting notes for my hospital internship.
The silence between us was heavy, comfortable, and completely domestic.
I set my phone face-up on the coffee table and stood up. "I'm going to ask Henri for some chamomile tea. Would you like a coffee?"
Alexander didn't look up from his file. "No. Thank you."
I nodded and walked out of the library, leaving the heavy oak doors slightly open.
I was gone for some minutes.
When I returned, carrying a steaming teacup, the atmosphere in the library had completely changed.
The comfortable, domestic warmth was gone. The temperature in the room felt like it had plummeted below freezing.
Alexander was no longer reading his reports. He was leaning back in his leather chair, his hands steepled under his chin, his sharp gray eyes fixed entirely on my phone sitting on the coffee table.
I froze in the doorway, my grip tightening on the saucer.
"Alexander?" I asked softly, stepping into the room. "Is something wrong?"
He slowly shifted his intense, steel-gray gaze from the phone to my face. The absolute stillness of his body was terrifying.
"Who is Daniel."
It wasn't a question. It was a blunt, heavy statement.
My stomach dropped. I quickly set my tea down and picked up my phone.
The screen was lit up with a new text notification.
**Daniel:** *Hey Grace. I know you said you were busy last week, but I can't stop thinking about you. Please, just one coffee? I can come to the hospital after your shift. I really want to see you. Just us.*
A wave of mortification rushed over me.
"He's... he's just the class representative from my nursing program," I stammered, my cheeks burning furiously. "He's a friend."
"He does not view you as a friend," Alexander stated coldly.
"I know," I admitted, my voice small. "I mean, Mia told me he had a crush on me, but I didn't believe her. And when he texted me last week, I politely declined! I told him I was busy settling into my new home."
Alexander stood up from his desk.
The sheer size of him dominated the library. He walked slowly around the mahogany desk, his heavy boots making no sound on the thick Persian rug.
"You politely declined," Alexander repeated, stopping two feet in front of me.
"Yes." I shrank back slightly, intimidated by the dark, possessive shadow crossing his features.
"And yet, the civilian continues to attempt an unauthorized breach of your perimeter."
"An unauthorized... Alexander, it's just a coffee invitation," I whispered, though my heart was beginning to race for an entirely different reason.
He stepped closer. I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.
"You are Grace Reeves," he said, his deep voice dropping to a low, gravelly rumble that sent a violent shiver straight down my spine. "You do not drink coffee with civilians who lack basic boundary comprehension."
"I wasn't going to reply to him," I promised quickly, clutching the phone to my chest.
Alexander didn't yell. He didn't need to. The raw, uncompromising territorial dominance radiating from him was more than enough to make my knees weak.
He held out his large, calloused hand.
"Give me the device."
I blinked. "My phone?"
"Grace." His tone left absolutely no room for negotiation.
With trembling fingers, I unlocked the screen and placed the phone into his palm.
Alexander didn't hesitate. His thumbs moved quickly over the screen with frightening precision. He didn't read my other messages. He opened Daniel's message, typed a reply, hit send, and then tapped the screen two more times.
He handed the phone back to me.
"Threat neutralized," he stated bluntly.
I looked down at the screen, my eyes widening in absolute horror and secret, thrilling delight.
**Grace's Phone:** *This is General Alexander Reeves.
My wife does not require your assistance with her notes, nor does she desire your coffee.
If you contact this number again, I will consider it harassment of a military dependent, and I will dispatch a security detail to your location. Have a productive evening.*
Below the message, in harsh red letters, it said:
**Contact Blocked.**
"Alexander!" I gasped, my jaw hitting the floor. "You can't threaten a nursing student with a military security detail!"
"I did not threaten him. I informed him of the consequences of his actions," Alexander replied smoothly, completely unfazed by my shock.
"He's probably terrified out of his mind right now!"
"Good. Fear is highly educational."
I stared at him, completely speechless. He was so arrogant. So blunt. So entirely unbothered by normal social conventions.
And heaven help me, it was the most attractive thing I had ever witnessed.
A fierce blush painted my cheeks. "You're jealous."
The words slipped out before my shy brain could stop them. I instantly slapped a hand over my mouth, terrified I had overstepped.
Alexander went perfectly still.
He looked down at me, his gray eyes narrowing slightly, tracking the deep flush of my cheeks and the way I was practically vibrating with nervous energy.
He didn't deny it.
He stepped directly into my personal space, leaning down until his lips were inches from my ear.
"I protect what is mine, Grace," he murmured, his voice dark and possessive. "And you are mine."
My breath hitched violently in my throat. My entire body felt like it was on fire.
He lingered there for a fraction of a second, the heat of his body wrapping around me, before he pulled back. His aura snapped instantly back into its cold, disciplined state.
"Your tea is getting cold," he noted bluntly, adjusting the cuff of his shirt.
He turned his back on me, walked around the desk, and sat back down to his classified reports, as if he hadn't just completely short-circuited my nervous system.
I stood frozen in the middle of the library for a full minute.
My husband had just threatened a college student with military action because he asked me for coffee.
I practically sprinted out of the library, ran to my bedroom, and grabbed my laptop. I aggressively typed a message to Mia.
**Grace:** *MIA. DANIEL TEXTED AGAIN.*
**Mia:** *Tell me you destroyed his hopes and dreams.*
**Grace:** *I didn't have to. Alexander intercepted the message. HE BLOCKED HIM. HE TOLD DANIEL HE WOULD DISPATCH A SECURITY DETAIL.*
Three dots appeared on the screen as Mia typed. Then disappeared. Then appeared again.
**Mia:** *I am printing this text and framing it. Your terrifying Husband is jealous. He is so hopelessly in love with you it is actually painful to watch.*
I stared at the glowing screen of my laptop.
*He is in love with you.*
I touched my burning cheek, remembering the dark, uncompromising possessiveness in Alexander's eyes.
Maybe... just maybe... the contract wasn't going to last a year after all.
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The morning after Alexander had intercepted Daniel's text message, I thought the situation was completely resolved. The General had issued a threat, the contact was blocked, and I assumed Daniel would simply fade back into normal campus life.
I vastly underestimated the foolishness of a twenty-three-year-old college boy.
It was 1400 hours-two o'clock in the afternoon. I was sitting in the sunroom, reviewing pediatric dosages for my internship, when the heavy oak doors opened.
Miller, the Head of Estate Security, stepped in. He stood at perfect attention.
"Madam," Miller said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. "There is a civilian at the primary perimeter gates. He is demanding to see you. He claims his name is Daniel and states that you are being held against your will."
My highlighter slipped from my hand and rolled across the table.
"What?" I gasped, the blood instantly draining from my face. "No, no, no. Tell him to leave. Immediately. Please, Miller, send him away!"
"The perimeter guards have instructed him to vacate the premises three times, Madam," Miller replied. "He is refusing to comply. Standard protocol dictates we forcibly remove him, but as he asked for you by name, I came to seek your directive."
"I'll talk to him through the intercom," I said frantically, standing up so fast my chair tipped over. "I'll make him leave before-"
The low, rumbling sound of heavy engines interrupted me.
Through the massive glass windows of the sunroom, I saw the imposing, matte-black military convoy rolling up the long driveway.
Alexander was home.
Why me
Absolute, blinding panic seized my chest.
"Oh my God," I whispered.
I didn't wait for Miller. I sprinted out of the sunroom, bursting through the heavy front doors of the mansion, and ran down the stone steps. The estate gates were a hundred yards away, but I could clearly see the standoff.