Page 120 of Creed

A few years back, Creed was abandoned in the middle east when the military pulled out. It was the first time he was called back. We jumped into action and formed our own mission the second we heard about it. We formed the team at night and by morning we were in the air. We brought Creed home, and even faced charges in Washington for it. We were civilians that made our way into a war zone to fix what the current administration fucked up. The only reason we were let off the hook was because we held so many military contracts and the government wanted to sweep it under the rug, along with the secrets we already kept for them. Creed was brilliant. It was himthat designed and led the mission, it was him that took out the high value target, and it was him they didn’t care to bring home before they pulled out. He led a successful secret mission that neutralized a credible threat against several targets in Europe. Creed changed the trajectory of the way the world was heading. It would never show up in his military record, and he’d never see a metal. Instead, he was left to die with so many others.

Over the years, while we were serving and after, there was some chatter of one major terrorist plan that would hit all over the world at the same time. One that would make 911 look weak. It would take years to plant sleeper cells all over Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia.

The bad news was open borders all over the world. There was no way of knowing where to find those sleeper cells. They could have been your dentist, your child’s teacher, your neighbor, seriously anybody. As non-citizens were able to cross borders without being properly vetted plans were being put into place.

The good news was, they only had to find two men to shut the entire thing down. The problem was finding them. One wasn’t even a leader or anyone all that significant if you were looking in from the outside. One was a hopeful martyr, and the other was the keeper to all the secrets. He had every name and every location of every single sleeper cell. He also had the location of the leaders and their families. We lost 37 service members in Jordan, and I knew that meant we were getting close. Other than that, I was in the dark, but I had a feeling the mission was backed by other world leaders, not just our own. I understood Creed’s need to tie up loose ends. It was the mission that would have made lesser soldiers run away with their tails between their legs. The only one since Osama bin Laden thatgave every special ops member nightmares. The one they knew they wouldn’t return from, because it was the biggest terrorist operation since 911.

For the duration of Creed’s deployment, our command center would stay up and running at full staff twenty four hours a day seven days a week. Axton ordered it because he wanted to listen closely for any chatter that would involve Creed. Once the intel was known, we would most likely be contacted by The Secretary of Defense to quietly round up sleeper cells as a backup to our military, CIA, and maybe even some foreign agencies. I had a feeling Creed’s squadron would go dark before they even left American soil and that would be under his orders.

I held on to Morgan until she wore herself out, then carried her to the car. Axton drove while I sat in the back and held Morgan.

Morgan Rossi, damn when I saw her on that plane she was a blast from the past. My brother was in Morgan’s class in school. I noticed Morgan when my parents made me go to the preschool to watch my brother's Christmas program. She was probably about Addie’s age, and I was in the third grade. I still remember the first time I saw her. I thought she was the cutest little thing. The girl with jet black hair and almost clear blue eyes stuck out like a sore thumb.

I was four years ahead of her in school and I could remember her first day of her freshman year. It was when everyone else really noticed her. She was previously on some damn soap opera that nobody gave a shit about, and she hadn’t started her television series yet. There was always talk about a kid in our school system that was on television, but a soap opera wasn’t something most kids cared about so we didn’t think about it much. Then the day came where every single redblooded teen boy noticed. By the end of that year, the television series premiered and suddenly we had the hottest and most desired teen girl in the country walking around our school. Guys hung posters of her in their rooms, and they’d watch the series religiously just to see her in the swimsuits she wore in every episode. For a girl her age she had amazing tits, and I had to hear about it all the time.

Holy crap the girls hated her and treated her like shit. But the guys, lets just say there were boners popping up all over school, and it probably wasn’t just the students getting them. She was drop dead gorgeous, but also shy and kind. There I was, a senior with a girlfriend and I needed to know everything there was to know about Morgan.

She was a cheerleader her freshman year, but was bullied in the locker room. She became a tutor after school for the higher functioning special education kids. If a new kid came to school, she and Callie never let them eat lunch alone. She was the sweetest little thing I ever saw, but I didn’t want to date her. Nope, I was getting pussy from Deanna, the evil bitch.

Morgan was like finding the cutest little kitten. You wanted to adore her, not corrupt her. There was a desire to preserve her and keep her safe. I couldn’t name how many times I protected her from the creeps in school, and she didn’t even know it.

Morgan was a subject of contention between me and Deanna. She caught me staring at Morgan one too many times. I’d find out Deanna did something to Morgan and I’d dump her. Then of course Deanna knew how to suck my dick and make me weak, so I’d forgive her, and we’d get back together. I was a kid and thought with the wrong head most of the time. I couldn’t have cared less about Deanna, but I liked fucking her and justlet things with her happen. My fascination with Morgan wasn’t a sexual one, as hard as that might have been to believe it was true. She was adorable, genuine, and she wasn’t like other girls. She seemed fragile and sensitive. Like someone that needed to be protected and respected.

Nobody knew it, but Morgan was the reason I dumped Deanna for the very last time. I heard she jumped Morgan in the locker room and that was what it took for me to tell Deanna to fuck off. I never touched her again. Eight weeks later, I was arrested in front of the entire school for rape. Deanna was six weeks pregnant at the time, but everyone took her word over mine. I was able to graduate with my class because I was out on bond, and that was the last time I saw Morgan. She was at the graduation, and I got one small glimpse of her before I walked out of that school and never turned back.

Deanna was the reason my mom died with a stained reputation. It didn’t matter that Deanna lied and all the charges were dropped against me. The damage was done, and it wasn’t just me that suffered for it. Those closest to me, even my friends, were targets of bullies that just happened to be adults. Deanna was and always would be my greatest enemy. The dumb bitch thought she’d get away with it, until the judge ordered a paternity test. She told her parents she was a virgin until I raped her and got her pregnant. There were several guys that volunteered to testify on my behalf. They had all fucked her and that was proof she lied about her virginity in the police reports. Deanna started to feel the heat. She learned that if she testified with the story she concocted she would be arrested for perjury when the paternity test was done, long after my trial. It was during the fact finding that I learned she was six weeks pregnant when I was arrested. I hadn’t touched her in eight weeks, but Ihad no way to prove it. I also wore a condom every single time we fucked.

Not only did Deanna destroy my life, but she did hers as well. Since we both were only seventeen when it happened, my parents sued hers and won. I lost every scholarship I earned, and my parents took them for everything they had. It wasn’t about money, it was another way to prove the truth. I also hoped it would teach people a lesson about false accusations. After all that happened, Deanna lost her baby, and her parents threw her out. Her parents were wealthier than most people in our community. They weren’t as rich as Creed or Morgan, but they were comfortable. Her dad was an auctioneer, a real estate broker, farmer, and by the time we were in high school he owned a tractor dealership and a few used car lots in nearby towns.

I felt Morgan become heavier when she fell asleep. Once we got back to Creed’s I helped her inside then up to the bedroom. She was exhausted and needed some rest. I kept Addie occupied for the rest of the day while Melissa made dinner and took care of a few other things. Morgan never left her bed, all day or night. Jake Meadows, the bastard, kept coming around all day. He even went up to her bedroom, but that was when I had to put a stop to it. That bedroom was for Creed and Morgan. I’d never sit by and allow another man in that bedroom. I didn’t care that he was Creed’s cousin and Morgan’s friend. I wasn’t just there to watch out for Morgan and Addie. I was there to watch out for my brother as well

Eventually, I laid in bed and thought about Creed and Morgan. Creed was the most brilliant and diplomatic man I ever knew. He was smooth and skilled in the way he handled others. Rarely showed emotion, in fact, he never really smiled much. Sure, we had a good time, and we could make him laugh, buthe was grounded and understood the reality of life. He created Creed’s Lake to help soldiers who probably couldn’t acclimate to civilian life as easily as others.

He was a big guy, but didn’t have the kind of body build that would be intimidating at first glance. He was athletic more than anything, but it was the way he would look at people that felt threatening. He didn’t just have walls built to protect him from his emotions, the man was a fortress.

Then one day it happened right in front of our eyes. It was something that none of us, but Granger ever believed in. It was something to watch, for sure, it might have even been fascinating. All it took was one look at Morgan and Addie for him to transform into a man none of us knew. We would catch him smiling for no reason, we would have to snap him back to reality in meetings because he would get lost in his thoughts, and he was always rushing to get home. All he ever talked about was Morgan and Addie. I even saw him turn down contracts that would keep him in the command center at night. His heart didn’t seem to be in Creed’s Lake so much anymore.

I had heard about couples being consumed in love but never really gave it much thought. I might not have even believed it until I saw all the shit go down with Creed. Maybe he was just as sick and tired of life the way I was beginning to be. My place was quiet at night. Too damn quiet. The girls in the community were getting to be boring. Lockdown was almost unbearable, and I knew I needed more in my life. I just wasn’t sure what more meant.

Chaotic

Morgan

It had only been a week, but felt like a lifetime. There was no word from Creed, and it was like he just disappeared from the world without a trace. There was no phone number to call or text, and I could write but there was no guarantee he'd ever get my letters. I didn’t let that stop me. I promised myself I would sit down and write a letter every single day and mail them anyway. If there was a small chance he would get them then I’d send them. Josh said he likely made the choice to make the entire squadron go dark right away. He tried to comfort me by saying it was a good sign that something happened that made them think they were getting closer to finding their target.

I wasn’t doing very well. I cried myself to sleep every night then turned around and woke up crying. My emotions were off the charts, and I didn’t even cry that much when Callie died.

I tried so hard to hide it from Addie. It also didn’t help that Creed had Josh Magnus following me around like a lost puppy. He wouldn’t even let Jake near me if he wasn’t in the room. Josh took their little brotherhood thing a little too seriously. He even invited himself to my parents home when Ivisited. Oh, and to top that off, I was stuck with Patrick when Josh had to go into work at night.

Addie missed Creed and was upset at bedtime when he wasn’t there for story time, but Creed would probably break down and cry if he knew what she was telling the other kids. She told all of them that her daddy was a special soldier and was trying to help little kids everywhere be happy. I wasn’t sure where she picked that up, but it was cute. Mainly because she called him daddy and that wasn’t something Creed requested, but he definitely wanted.

As I would write to Creed, Addie would draw him pictures. Some were of the three of us on a boat, and others were of her making the nasty boys cry, which was a problem. Someone mentioned to Addie that Creed was the big boss man at Creed’s Lake. She took that as she was the big boss girl and could make her own rules. Valerie said it was a natural reaction to some of the abuse she suffered from Shane and witnessed her mother suffer. Addie had a need to control her environment. We were working on that issue. The funny part was how she could turn that off in front of all the Originals and she had all of them wrapped around her little pinky.

That was another issue. Adeline was becoming spoiled. It wasn’t just Josh, Drakos, Irons, and Axton spoiling her, it was also Patrick, dad, and Uncle Darren. Imagine a six year old girl having seven grown men worshipping the ground she walked on.

I couldn’t complain about not being busy enough. Nope, Creed took care of that as well. I guess he didn’t want me sitting around moping all the time and he did the one thing he could only get away with if he was deployed. I got a call one day to bring Addie to the K9 training center. Addie and I walked in the gate and a cute little German Shepherd puppy was there waitingfor her. I would have kicked Creed’s ass if he were home. Oh, and of course the guys recorded it so they could show Creed. One recorded Addie’s reaction and another recorded mine. I stood in horror as Addie loved on that puppy with hugs and kisses. He knew if he did it that way I’d have to go along with it and I’d have time to simmer down before he came home. Then, she named the puppy, and I gasped. How Addie knew some of the things she did was beyond me. With some things, she was like a walking encyclopedia and also drawn to darker things. She named her girl puppy Nikko, after the leader of the flying monkeys on The Wizard of Oz.

Creed just added one more huge thing to my already busy schedule. I had Addie to care for, was teaching all morning, then dealing with his brothers, and doing video interviews for the new movie release, selling my Malibu residence, setting up the homeschooling program that would start in a few weeks, and I had a photo shoot in Louisville the following day. Add cleaning up puppy poop and having a meltdown because she chewed up my favorite Jimmy Choo shoes and I was a walking disaster. Not to mention I always felt exhausted and emotional. I cried the other day because Josh loaded the dishwasher without rinsing the dishes first. Then, the big asshole, put the sugar on the snack shelf in the pantry. He looked at me like I was an alien from another planet, which only made me cry harder because I knew I was acting crazy.

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