Page 57 of Under Fire

And thank God it was finally a new day.

He slowly edged away, knowing he had to get a change of scenery to figure something out—before his tightening balls forced him to pin her down and have his way. As he sat up in his bed, looking down at her sleeping body, curled up and serene, he realized that image would be burned in his mind for the rest of his life. There was something just so damn captivating about her.

Every time he looked at her, his veins pulsed, reminding him what he really wanted.

Her.

He flexed his jaw as he swiftly left the room, leaving her alone to rest. The woman didn’t need to be attacked in her sleep. When he checked his phone in his kitchen, his slowly awakening brain realized what day it was.

“It’s fucking Friday, of course,” he groaned to himself.The day of Crash’s wedding.

Warren ran his hands over his face, wondering why the hell he subjected himself to sleep deprivation when he wasn’t even on tour. Why the hell did he keep punishing himself? He scoffed at the thought, knowing the brutal answer. And that’s when he grabbed his earbuds out of the drawer, throwing them in to start his morning workout—the only thing that made him feel sane.

Sweat. Pain. Fatigue. His autobiography would have to be titledRelentless Pain and Hardship. The harder he pushed himself, the more he felt in control, the more he felt like he was living up to expectations of himself. A perfect SEAL. A perfect leader.No mistakes.

The morning rolled on, and the sun rose higher. Warren found himself panting for breath in his driveway, sucking in hot air, after a series of intense rounds of cross-training in his empty garage. He thought about the cop and when to call him. The fire at Alisa’s apartment was in no way an accident, he was sure. And that meant one thing only—someone was after her. To scare her seemed more likely, given the perfect plant of the cop asking questions right after.

Warren had no doubt in his mind that the cop was dirty, part of the larger plot to get after her. Warren trusted no one, assuming the worst right off the bat. He was never wrong about people.

And now—what to do about it?

He settled on trying to call the cop mid-morning or midday. He’d already flung out some fact-finding texts to his friends—friends who had other friends at LAPD. Everyone had friends.

He could get to the bottom of things on Alisa’s behalf, shielding her from it all. He knew he’d be better at it. And he had the whole weekend before shipping out. In that time, he could help her find a new place, help her figure out her life so she’d be safe while he was gone. He had lots of friends to help with that. But, before he could ruminate further, a call came through his earbuds.

“Yup,” Warren answered, seeing it was a blocked caller, likely someone from work.

“Chief.” Master Chief Rose’s voice came through the line.

Something in his tone told Warren it wasn’t going to be a good call.

“Sir.”

“I’m at the compound,” the master chief said, pausing before continuing. “I see a tent on the back of a Humvee…but no one in it. Well, at least—notanymore.”

Warren stifled a groan, knowing exactly what his boss fucking saw. The man was damn clever, perceptive.Knowing.

“Look—” Warren started, knowing he’d tried his best to clean up the cot and the truck, but it had been dark and he had been trying to hurry the fuck up.

“No, no.” The master chief stopped him, changing course. “That’s not what this is about.”

Warren paused, letting silence hang for a second until the master chief continued.

“This is about something that has become very clear to me. You have been behaving different this past week. Very different. There’s something going on with you, Warren.”

“I know,” Warren admitted, grazing his teeth on his lip. He wasn’t going to lie.

“Take a textbook SEAL—exemplary in every way—and suddenly, out of nowhere, he’s making bad decisions. Is he trying to throw away his career or is he going through something?” the master chief said. “I ask myself—this is a guy who’s deploying shortly on a high stress, maximum difficulty mission…andto lead a platoon. So, as your commanding chief, I’ve got to ask you—what the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t really know.” Warren exhaled slowly. “I met someone.”

“A woman?”

“Yes, afuckingwoman,” Warren snapped, then checked himself, shaking his head. “But don’t worry… I got this.”

There was a pause on the line, then the master chief said, “I’ve never seen you like this before…and I’ve seen you with girlfriends.”

“This girl is different.Verydifferent.”

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