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CHAPTER EIGHT

“What?” Maggie asked in disbelief.

The last week had been quiet. Almost too quiet. She hadn’t gotten any threatening calls from Roman, work had been smooth, and she’d loved getting to know Shawn better and better. And his kisses made her knees weak and her lips tingle. She wanted more but wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed, since he was a virgin. She didn’t mind that he was inexperienced, but she wasn’t sure if she should take the lead. He was an alpha, that was clear. Would he be turned off if she made the first move?

It looked like it was a moot point for the time being.

“We’re being deployed today,” Shawn said in her ear. It was just before lunchtime, and Maggie had thought he was calling to ask what she wanted him to bring her to eat, but instead he’d dropped a hell of a bomb.

“Deployed? For how long? ”

“Shit,” Shawn muttered. Then he sighed. “We haven’t talked about this part of my job, but unfortunately, I can’t tell you much of anything. That’s the nature of being a SEAL. Many times we don’t even know ourselves how long we’ll be gone. But our missions aren’t like your friend Adina’s deployments. They typically don’t last for months.”

The panic Maggie felt was a surprise. She hadn’t known Shawn, or his friends, for that long, but the thought of not being able to talk to him every night like she’d been doing, or see him, felt wrong.

She’d learned a lot from Remi and the other women, however. This was what it was like being with a military guy. Besides, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to being alone.

As if Shawn could read her mind, he said, “Remi, Wren, and Josie will be here for you. And Caroline, Summer, and the other women too. And their husbands. You aren’t alone, Maggie. I promise.”

“I know,” she whispered. And she did. The way everyone had embraced her had been nothing short of a miracle. She’d never had so many friends before. And it felt great.

“I wanted to be able to tell you in person, but the orders came down and we have to leave almost immediately.”

“You’ll…be careful?” It sounded stupid, but suddenly Maggie was afraid for Shawn.

“I’m always careful. And now I’ve got something, someone, to come home to, so I’ll be even more vigilant.”

Wow. That was… Maggie wasn’t sure what that was. But hi s words made her toes curl and for the first time in years, she felt as if she really mattered. “Shawn,” she whispered.

“I know, this sucks. But it’s what I do. Usually we have more prep time, but sometimes this happens. I’ll be back before you know it. Again, if anything comes up, call Dude, Cheyenne’s husband. He’ll be able to help you.”

Maggie wanted to ask what he thought might come up, but she knew what he was referring to. Her ex. She’d told him the other day that she hadn’t heard from him in a week, and while she was relieved, it also made her worry that he might be planning something. Of course, that admission didn’t make Shawn happy. At all.

For the first time since they’d met, Maggie wondered why she was working so hard to keep her ex’s name a secret from Shawn. Yes, she was scared of what Roman could do, but if people knew about him, who he was, then if anything happened to Maggie, maybe Roman would be considered just a little more seriously.

“When you get back, we should talk,” Maggie blurted. Now that Roman’s last threats weren’t so recent, she felt braver about telling Shawn who he was.

“We will,” he told her. “I need to go, we have a lot to do to get ready since this mission came about so unexpectedly. Be safe while I’m gone. Maggie?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to miss you. I’ve really enjoyed the talks we’ve had every night.”

Maggie sagged. “Me too,” she admitted.

“I’ll call as soon as we’re back on base. Okay? ”

“Okay.”

“Take care.”

“You too.”

Maggie reluctantly clicked off the phone and sighed. Already she felt more alone than she’d been since the day she’d met Shawn and his friends.

By the time she got to My Sister’s Closet for her shift, word had obviously gotten out that Shawn and his team had been sent on a mission.

“How’re you holding up?” Julie asked.

“Honestly? I’m not sure how to feel,” Maggie said.

“If it’s any consolation, it gets easier. Not your man willingly going into danger when everyone else is running away from it, but him leaving. And I’m not really one to talk, as my husband was a commander and by the time we got together, he was thinking about retiring, but that’s what Caroline, Fiona, and the others say. Wait, we should call them. No! I know! Let’s have a sleepover!”

Maggie blinked at the other woman. “A sleepover?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah! They’re really fun. Caroline usually has them at her place. She has a basement that’s pretty big and lots of comfy furniture we can crash on. We can invite Remi, Josie, and Wren too. I’ll call her now!”

Maggie wanted to protest. Tell her that at thirty-five, she was way too old for sleepovers, but the other women had to be at least ten years older than she was. And the more she thought about it, the more the idea of hanging with the women she’d met at Aces in a more intimate setting sounded fun.

When was the last time she’d really had fun? Probably a week ago, when she’d met all Shawn’s friends at the bar.

To her amazement, the sleepover was planned before the end of the day. The group text Maggie was in had been active with Wren and the others asking a million questions, and she’d even heard from Caroline about how excited she was to host the get-together.

It was planned for the following weekend, and Maggie was looking forward to the outing with more enthusiasm than she’d had in a very long time.

A week later, Maggie found herself sitting cross-legged on a queen-size bed in Caroline Steel’s basement, surrounded by ten other women. For dinner, Caroline had made four huge charcuterie boards and everyone was stuffing their faces with finger foods.

Maggie had needed this. She’d started falling back on old habits during the last week…sticking to herself and getting too deep into her own head. The texts from her new girlfriends and the occasional phone calls from Remi, Wren, or Josie had kept her from going out of her mind. And her job at the clothing store at least got her out of the apartment.

Shawn being gone made her realize how much she needed human interaction. The two years behind bars had almost broken her. Yes, there were plenty of chances to interact with others, but most of her fellow inmates weren’t trustworthy. And that made all the difference in the world. Maggie realized that she could trust not only Shawn, but his friends as well.

And these women? Maggie had never known the value of true friendship until meeting them. How having someone to talk to could make the difference between having a shitty day, and one that was merely annoying.

She chuckled to herself. She was becoming quite the philosopher. It was ridiculous.

“What’s so funny?” Cheyenne asked.

“Nothing. I was just thinking about how different my life is now than even a few months ago.”

“Girl, that part of your life is done. Gone. You aren’t going back,” Wren said firmly.

Everyone else agreed immediately.

Maggie loved them for it…but that wasn’t quite true. She was one mistake away from standing before a judge and possibly being sent right back to prison. But she wasn’t going to get into how all it would take was for Roman to decide he wanted to follow through with his threats and she’d be incarcerated again. “Thanks, guys.”

“Can I ask a question?” Remi asked.

“I think you just did,” Summer said with a giggle.

“I mean another one,” Remi said with a roll of her eyes.

That set everyone off, and it took a moment for the room to quiet enough for Remi to actually ask her question .

Maggie braced, figuring she was going to ask her something about prison. No one had really come out and asked about all the things most people took for granted. Like using the bathroom, showering, how meals worked, and what she did all day.

But instead of turning to Maggie, Remi looked at the older women, the SEAL wives who’d been involved with the Navy for years. “Does it get easier? The deployments?”

“I got this,” Caroline told the other women, before meeting Remi’s gaze. “I would love to sit here and say that yes, it does. But at least in my case, the opposite was true. Each time Matthew left, I found it harder and harder. Maybe because I had a better idea than most of the situations he and his teammates were heading into. Maybe because I loved him harder and deeper with every day that we were together. Maybe I was just sick of him leaving me alone. I don’t know. But no, they don’t get easier. That’s not to say that I wasn’t more proud of him every time he left. And grateful that he and the others were out there doing what needed to be done. If not him, then who?”

“I was thinking about this the other day, when I saw that three hostages in the South Pacific—I forget which island—were rescued. They’d been taken from the hotel where they were staying and held for ransom. What would happen if men like ours weren’t willing to do what needed to be done? To put their lives on the line to help others?” Cheyenne said.

“What would I have done?” Josie asked. “No one was looking for me. And Nate could’ve escaped, but instead he went through more torture because he wouldn’t leave without me. I’m in awe of him and his friends.”

“I think the question is…can you handle what Kevlar does?” Jessyka asked Remi gently. “Because sometimes, being a SEAL wife or girlfriend sucks. But most of the time it’s like any other relationship. You have fights, you’re glad to see each other after a long day’s work, you worry about money, and you love each other for who you are.”

“I just…this latest mission…it feels… weird ,” Remi said.

“I agree,” Wren said. “I mean, I haven’t been with Bo for very long, but in the past when they got a mission, they usually had longer to plan. It makes me worry that they went into a situation they weren’t ready for.”

“They didn’t get at least twenty-four hours?” Alabama asked.

“No,” Wren said. “Bo called from work and said they were leaving in like two hours. He didn’t even get to come home to say goodbye.”

“Hmmm, that does sound unusual,” Summer agreed.

“It is odd,” Julie said. “Look, I don’t have all the answers just because I’m with a former commander. But generally the leaders try to give their people time to talk to their families. To say goodbye. Two hours either means something major is happening somewhere, and there was no time for anything other than debriefing and getting them on a plane…or someone fucked up.”

The room was silent for a moment. Then Caroline grabbed her phone and started scrolling.

“What’s up, Caroline?” Fiona asked .

“I’m just looking at the news. Seeing if something happened somewhere.”

Everyone waited and watched as Caroline stared at her screen. Finally, she lifted her head and shrugged. “Just because I can’t find anything major doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.”

The others all started talking at once, trying to figure out why the team might’ve been sent out so quickly, while also reassuring Wren, Josie, Remi, and Maggie that the guys were fine and would be back soon.

But Wren’s question made the hair on the back of Maggie’s neck stand up. What if…

No, it was a crazy thought. He wouldn’t…would he?

Yeah, he would.

The question was, did Roman really have the clout and power to send a team of Navy SEALs off on a mission they weren’t fully prepared for? It was terrifying to even think about.

Instinctively, she looked down at her own phone. She hadn’t gotten any calls from Roman in almost two weeks now. She’d hoped that meant he’d grown tired of messing with her. But what if he hadn’t? What if this was his way of telling her that she and everyone she cared about would always be under his control? That she’d always have to look over her shoulder and wonder if he was there, waiting, lurking, preparing to fuck her life in any way he wanted.

She shuddered.

“Maggie? What do you think? ”

Jerking her head up, she looked at Cheyenne. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening. What do I think about what?”

The other woman gave her a sympathetic smile. “About not talking shop anymore and making hot chocolate and watching a movie.”

Maggie agreed wholeheartedly. The thought that seven men might have been put in danger because of her made her nauseous. If anything happened…

She couldn’t go there. Shawn and the others were very good at what they did. Even if—and it was a big if—Roman had something to do with them being deployed, they’d be able to handle it. Maggie had heard enough stories about the men in action from Remi, Wren, and Josie to know that down to her bones.

But still, she couldn’t stop wondering about Roman. Would he really use his power to get the guys sent off to some foreign country?

She’d have to be extra careful. On alert. Maybe he’d sent Shawn away so he could more easily get to her. The thought of him planting drugs in her car again, or in her apartment, or spiking a drink so she’d fail a drug test…there were lots of ways he could screw with her so she’d break one of her rules of probation. The thought made her want to hide under her covers in her apartment and never come out again.

Following behind as all the women headed upstairs to the kitchen to make hot chocolate, Maggie shivered. What if Roman came after one of them ? It was bad enough that she’d spent as much time behind bars as she had. What if he did something to get one of her friends sent away?

She wouldn’t be able to handle that.

It was time. Time to talk to Shawn. She’d already decided to tell him who her ex was, but she needed to tell him everything . As soon as possible. She had no idea if he and his friends would be able to do anything to keep her safe, but at least they’d know. Maybe, just maybe, Shawn would be able to do something to stop Roman from ruining someone else’s life.

But on the flip side…Roman could ruin Shawn’s life.

No. She had to believe Shawn when he said he could take care of himself and that he had friends who’d be able to help her. Because anything else was straight out of her worst nightmares.