Page 10 of SEAL Ever After

“Affirmative. And it’s not you that I’m concerned for,” Ryan said in a clipped tone.

Brent crossed his arms, his gaze flickering around the room. “It’s a sex-trafficking ring. You think they’ll come after our women.”

There were mumblings amongst the men as Ryan nodded. “Their entire business is women. They have your names—your real names. It’s not that hard to find out where military bases in the U.S. are and to start looking for you. If they wanted revenge, they’ve got it.”

“And what happened to the jackass military guy who tipped them off as to who we are?” Matthew “Gator” Murphy drawled, looking irritated.

“Nothing,” Mike “Patch” Hunter said. “That’s the whole damn problem. The system is corrupt.”

Ryan nodded. “There’s too many dirty players down there. I wanted to debrief on the op today and to share information on the other missing woman. But first, tell me what you know about the men who escaped—what you learned when infiltrating their territory. These guys have contacts down in Miami. They could send someone up this way if they wanted. It’s not a guarantee that something will happen, but I am going to insist that everyone be extra careful.”

“There are much easier targets than coming after us or our women,” Mike said.

“There are, but we need to consider the possibility,” Ryan said. “We’re well-trained, but you need to warn your families to be on alert until this blows over. The likelihood is they’ll forget and move on, as Ice already said. They’ll start up another damn sex-trafficking ring that the U.S. will have to bust. But they have your names—if they wanted to, they could track you down.”

“The world would be a better place without these sickos in it,” Brent spat out.

Ryan grunted in affirmation, knowing Brent had dealt with violence toward women in his own life. His sister had been murdered by a jilted ex-boyfriend years ago, and his girlfriend Ella had been kidnapped by her sleazy boss’s contacts. Brent had rushed down to Florida to save her.

“The Delta team is back from their op,” Ryan said. “I’ll notify them to be vigilant around base as well. Let’s be blunt here—it’s concerning that a dirty military member shared your names. We’re not sure how high up this goes.”

“Motherfuckers,” Mike muttered. “We should’ve just taken them out instead of bringing them in for questioning.”

“No,” Patrick interrupted, shaking his head as his steel blue eyes flashed with anger. “If other women were helped because we kept them alive and questioned them, then it was worth it.”

“Agreed,” Ryan said. “I know you’ve been up for hours and are ready to get home. Let’s go over any new information you can tell me about the men who’ve escaped and get you on your way. I’ll keep you apprised of the situation on the other missing woman. It’s possible you or the Delta team will be sent in to retrieve her since she’s an American citizen and we’re already involved. In the meantime, let’s wrap this up and get you home to your families.”

“I’m game for that,” Patrick said with a wry smile.

Ryan smirked. Patrick and Rebecca were newlyweds themselves. And if there was one thing he knew about his men, it was how protective they were of their women. No doubt they were all eager to get back to their families.

Sarah was at work for the day, but he couldn’t wait to see her tonight. They hadn’t had nearly enough time together this morning before he’d rushed back to base, and he wanted to spend the entire night celebrating their engagement.

The sooner they wrapped up the sticky mess from this last op, ensuring their families were safe and rescuing the second woman, the better off everyone would be.

Chapter 5

Sarah snapped a posed selfie, her new engagement ring sparkling on her finger, and texted Morgan right before she headed to work. Her best friend was seriously going to lose her mind after seeing the picture.

And the best part?

Aside from getting married to the man that she loved, Sarah would be moving here to Virginia Beach permanently. She’d be closer to her brother and his family, closer to her best friend—it was like all the missing pieces of her life were falling into place.

And shoot.

She hadn’t even realized what she’d been missing out on until Ryan had swept her off her feet all those months ago. When she’d opened the door that one night to find Ryan telling her the news that Patrick had been injured? That had been it. He’d pulled her into his arms, and she’d never wanted to be anywhere else ever again.

Humming to herself, she drove along the main drag of Virginia Beach toward her office building. It was faster to head from Ryan’s house directly there, but she couldn’t resist the allure of the ocean. Rolling down the windows of her Mini Cooper, she let the salty ocean air blow through her car.

Her long hair was tousled in the breeze, and she tucked it behind one ear, feeling the three tiny studs there. Briefly, she wondered if she should shock Ryan by getting something else pierced one day. Part of her wanted to see the expression on his face as he slowly undressed her and spotted nipple rings or something.

Hmmm.

Maybe someday.

She inhaled the scent of the Atlantic. It was a perfect day, with clear skies and sunshine, and she was literally about to burst with happiness. Probably the only thing better would be if she and Ryan didn’t each have to rush off to work.

But a wedding meant they’d have a honeymoon, too. And she loved the idea of running off to Mexico or somewhere exotic where they could make love all day and night, lost in one another.

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