Page 28 of Protecting Vera

“I went on a trip to Hawaii. Kevlar happened to be there, and we ended up on the same snorkeling trip. Well, he went diving, and I was snorkeling at the surface. The boat took off without us. I was about to panic when he surfaced. We were in the ocean for hours. The boat came back out to make sure we were dead. He shared his air with me. One of his friends came out and found us. He’s very good at what he does.”

Shock filled Vera. “Why did they leave you?”

Remi tilted her glass and drank the last of her wine. “Sadly, it was one of the SEALs who was jealous of Kevlar’s success, and the jerk paid to kill him.”

“Oh God. You don’t think?—”

“The guys on both of their teams are good. Kevlar trusts all the men who work with Hop. He knows them well. And the guys on Kevlar’s team are golden now.”

“Damn, that’s wild. I guess it’s similar to Logan betraying me. Betrayal sucks.”

Remi nodded. “It does.”

Vera trusted Ben, but she still worried bout his safety. Maybe she would get used to it, eventually. Freaking out about something that had happened in the past to someone else wouldn’t help her get through Ben being gone. She could do this because being alone for weeks at a time was a part of being with the man she loved.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Vera missed Ben terribly, but she was making it through okay. She didn’t allow her sadness to get out of control, and she didn’t watch the news because anything negative made her sad and worried.

To keep her mind off Ben being gone, she focused on work. On Tuesday evening, she received a request for her to travel for work. It would take her to Austin. She thought about telling her boss she couldn’t but what was the likelihood of her running into Logan? He wouldn’t know that she’d gone back to Texas.

She thought about calling Ellis and telling her, but she decided against it. She could do this without any problems.

Her flight was set for Wednesday morning. She was visiting a customer site, providing some technical expertise during a sales visit. They could have arranged a video visit, but the customer wanted to meet with her. She was known for being good at her job. Many customers praised her ability to make them feel good about the product and services they were buying. She knew word got around, and she was proud of her ability to make customers feel better, but sometimes she wished they didn’t want her in person.

When she landed in Austin, she called Frizz to see if she wanted to meet up for dinner. To say Frizz was shocked would be an understatement.

“What in the hell are you doing back in Texas?” Frizz exclaimed.

“Work.”

“Shit. You should have told them you couldn’t travel. What does Ben say?”

“He’s away at the moment.”

“You mean my brother doesn’t know you’re out here? What about another SEAL? Do they know where you are?”

Guilt filled her. These guys had done a lot to get her out of Texas. “Frizz, I have to work. I know you don’t agree with me?—”

“No, it’s not that. I just care about your safety.”

“He won’t even know I’m here. I’m staying at a hotel close to the meeting, going to the meeting tomorrow, then flying home in the evening. I won’t even be here long enough to go visit my old haunts.”

Frizz blew out a breath. “Let me figure out what Justin is up to. I’d like to meet you for dinner.”

“I’ll text you the hotel information. It’s not far from where you two are.”

“Okay, but I’m angry you’re here. I do want to see you, but I’m mad.”

“I understand. Logan won’t even know I’m here. He’s an idiot.”

“Sure, but he’s an idiot who has tried to kill you more than once.”

“I’ll text you the address now. My ride just showed up.”

“God, girl. You’re standing outside at the airport. You need to be more careful.”

“Love you, Frizz. I’ll see you later.”

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