Page 70 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
“Caleb, operation secure,” Richard says grimly. Then he adds, “You two are coming home with me.”
“But . . .” Lee starts to protest.
“No, no, nuh-uh,” he says. “I’ve been looking all over for you, hired detectives, the whole nine yards. You’ve turned up pregnant, and it’s not by the guy you were engaged to marry, and now you tell me Jason is going to put a hit on Kandis and me?Plus, you look like someone beat you severely. You’ve got some explaining to do, and so do you, Austin.”
“You know,” I say, holding Lee wrapped in my arms. I can feel her tremble. “You are making me really sorry I helped you find her. We’ve got her back for less than fifteen minutes, and you’re upsetting her. As for the rest of it, I love her. And I want to marry her.”
“It seems there are no shortage of guys who want to marry her,” Richard says wryly. “And if you’re responsible . . .”
“Boss…” the voice on the phone says.
“What is it, Caleb?” Richard asks.
“You’re doing that thing again,” the voice says.
“What thing?” Richard grumbles.
“That thing that almost kept you from marrying Kandis. Remember that thing?”
Richard groans. “All right. I’ll listen and get the whole story. But you two are still coming back to the house with me. What the heck are you doing living in a van, anyway, Austin? And with my sister? And why is her face bruised?”
“He rescued me,” Lee says, “And I fell off my bike.”.
“I found her on the beach,” I say at the same time.
“It’s a very nice van,” Lee adds. “Austin made it.”
“He what?” Richard asks. “I can’t possibly have heard that right.”
I give a nervous chuckle. “Not the whole van. I refinished the interior while I was looking for Julia.”
We might have discussed everything more, but the big vehicle crunches over the gravel drive in front of Richard’s house.
Kandis meets us at the door, Charlie in her arms and Julia clinging to her side. “We had given you up for lost,” she says. “And I was just about ready to put the children to bed.”
Then Kandis peers closely at Lee. “Rylie? Is that really you? What happened to your face? And your hair?”
A sleek sports car pulls up behind the Wagoneer, and a dapper gentleman in tan slacks and polo shirt hops out. “Rylie!” he cries out. “Darling! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You! Whoever you are, unhand my fiancée!”
I look the fellow up and down. He looks like a movie set Italian, right down to the thin line of carefully groomed mustache and slicked back hair that went out in the 1930s and should have stayed out.
He’s even wearing wingtip shoes. “Lee, is this who I think it is?” I ask, keeping an arm around her.
“That’s Jason,” she says. “I was supposed to marry him, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Not after the things he said to me. And the things he said about my brother.”
“You signed a prenuptial agreement,” Jason begins to bluster.
“About that prenup,” Richard drawls. “It’s still sitting on my desk.”
“I didn’t sign it,” Lee says. “It was after I wouldn’t that he started saying all the mean things and threatening my family. He even threatened Andrew.”
“Who’s Andrew?” I ask, wondering if I need a scorecard to keep all the people straight.
“My older brother,” Richard said. “You’ve never met him because he was in Africa. Some weird little place that isn’t even on the map.”
Another car pulls up behind the sports car. This one is a plain sedan, so ordinary you’d never notice it in traffic. Two men get out, then a third. My heart freezes.
The third guy is carrying an assault rifle. He’s got it pointed at the ground, and his finger isn’t on the trigger, but he looks like he knows how to use it and will be glad to do so.
