Soft Place to Fall (Navy Book 4)

Chapter 15

Will watched Carmen pace. She had every right to be angry with him and Josh, but they were used to operating solo, only those who absolutely needed to know should know, there were less chances of a slip up if fewer people knew the details. It was the reason that Josh hadn't included him in the details until today. But Will was used to it and didn't take it personally, there was a time when he hadn't been able to tell Josh, Kellan, or Lee what was going on during certain operations because it was a need to know basis, and they had thought he was dead because of it. The difference was that they hadn't taken it personally.

He knew he was explaining himself badly to Carmen, it was coming out in a muddled rush and that wasn't like him. Usually he was able to recap and lay out a plan with a few well-spoken sentences, but then again, he was usually working with his teammates who knew him as well as he knew himself, at least they used to.

She was beautiful when she was angry and now that she was out of her dress and wearing a pair of very well-worn blue jeans and a soft cotton shirt she looked soft and approachable, at least she would if she wasn't staring daggers at him.

"I'm doing a bad job of explaining everything, aren't I?"

"Was there a good way to tell me you've been lying to me since I met you?"

"Not all of it was lies." He let his eyes skim her curves, thinking how wonderful she would feel in his arms.

"The plan," she reminded him.

"I'm going to be your boyfriend."

"That's the plan?" She didn't look very impressed.

"And you're going to fire Josh." How was that for an explanation in as few words as possible.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"So that you can hire this mystery man your mother keeps suggesting." He stood and handed her the rap sheet on her mother. "Do you see anything on here that jumps out at you, maybe jogs your memory?"

He watched as she took a deep breath before sitting on the couch to look at the list. He watched her face grow cold and hard as she read it. "Looks about right, but I'm not sure what you want from me." She dropped the list onto the table in front of her.

"Your mother has to be helping the person she is helping for a reason, I know you mentioned drugs or money, but perhaps it's more, someone she used to know could be using something against her?"

"I couldn't say." She wasn't going to give him more than she had to and he couldn't really blame her for it. He had already seen the intrusive photos that Josh had sent on to him. When he had seen them the only thing he had felt was anger that someone had violated her like that, and he wanted to catch the SOB and make sure he paid for it.

"You're going to tell your mother that you've thought about it and you want to talk to this other guy, then you will have her setup a meeting." He watched her tense. "I'll be with you, as your boyfriend. Josh has sent me a copy of your schedule-,"

"How does he know my schedule?"

"He hacked your phone."

There was a tense silence and he watched her take a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"You hired him to protect you, he takes his job very seriously. He probably knows more about you than you want him to but it will help keep you safe," Will reasoned.

"And he's shared it with you?"

"No, he's only shared what's in the folder with me."

She stood and started pacing again.

"Carmen," he stood and walked towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders to stop her pacing, "I promise you from here on I will only tell you the truth, and I will tell you everything." He looked into her eyes trying to will her to believe him.

Carmen looked into his serious gaze and he could tell that she wanted to believe him, she wanted a friend, someone she could depend on, someone who wouldn't betray her. He saw tears start to build in her eyes and he hated it. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head, holding her close.

"You're not alone in this. I'm here and I will be until you're safe." And he would be even if it meant he had to go AWOL, for her he would do it.

She let him hold her and he felt her shoulders shake as she started to silently cry. He knew it wasn't something that she did all that often, if her mother's rap sheet was anything to go by she had had a tough childhood and it had made her tough.

He didn't know how long he held her for but he knew he felt empty as she pulled away and turned to discreetly wipe her eyes. He walked back across the room to give her space.

"So then what? I have a meeting with him and..."

"And then Josh does what he does best, he finds out who he is and how we take him down." And that was the hard part, it wouldn't be just him that fell.

"I hear a but in there."

"But he might take your mother with him."

Carmen shrugged and he hated the way she looked so beaten. He wondered if she knew he could see it in her. It would bother her if she did know.

"This means that tomorrow you'll go to the party with me?"

"Yes, I'll be with you the entire time," he assured her.

"You realize that there won't be any horses there, and that they eat with forks and knifes not their hands, right?"

His lip twitched, he was happy that her attitude was returning. "I'll manage, I might even go all out and use a napkin but I'm not making any promises."

He swore he saw her lip twitch in return.

"What do we do right now?"

"We can have a night in or we can go out?"

He watched her face grow worried as she thought of something.

"What is it Carmen?"

"They probably know you work for Josh. If this guy is able to do all that you said he can then there is no reason he wouldn't know about you and Josh."

"Perhaps, but I doubt it. My and Josh's relationship is classified, and as I've said he's not paying me so I'm not on his books and that might work to our advantage. As far as anyone knows I worked for Quinn and I followed you here. Josh sub-let this apartment in my name so there's no trace of him on it. But even if this man has managed to find out, it's not like it would be the first time a famous woman fell in love with her bodyguard, I think they even made a movie about it," he joked.

Silently, he thought it probably wasn't the first time a bodyguard had fallen in love with the woman he was protecting either and he would do well to keep control of his emotions. She wasn't his no matter how much he wanted her to be. Even if he had her he couldn't keep her, the real world and the military would suck him back up soon enough. 

But he would get his kiss damn it, even if he had to steal it.