Forget Me Not by Marliss Melton Read Free Book Online

would be proud of her.
    Why, she wondered, wasn't she glad that part was over?
    With the feeling that he'd-taken a bullet in the gut, Gabe sat stunned on the kitchen stool. Bit by bit, his surprise shattered, sending shards of hurt under his skin and straight into his heart. This was why he'd never gotten close to anyone. Helen wielded a terrible power over him. He could barely breathe, his chest ached so much.
    He tried to distance himself from the emotion. Why should he care what she thought? He'd just met the woman, as far as he remembered. He didn't know the first thing about her—what her favorite food was, what kind of music she listened to, hobbies, nothing. So what difference did it make that she considered their relationship over?
    At me same time, he knew the answer: without her, he was even less than a former SEAL. He was a washed-up warrior, too beaten up to be recycled.
    He gazed into his lemonade with the feeling that he was drowning. Then irritation kicked in and he wrenched his gaze upward. God damn it, he knew he wasn't lucky enough to have a wife like her just waiting for him to come home.
    He couldn't blame her for not wanting him. He'd seen himself in the mirror; he knew what he looked like. Only that wasn't the reason she was calling it quits. She'd accused him of living his life for his team, of not making time for his family. Supposedly it had nothing to do with his state of mind now, or his disfigured body. Yeah, right.
    He should never have married in the first place. He knew the kind of man he was; the kind of ruthless drive he had to excel. He even knew why he worked so hard—to make up for all those years he' d been a drain on the taxpayer's money. Given his family history, he knew he'd make a lousy husband and an even lousier father.
    But then he'd met Helen, and apparently she was too much woman to let go of. So he'd compromised his private oath and married her. He could have written the end of the story himself.
    And now who was sorrier for his neglect? He was. She'd discovered that her life was better without him. And he needed her like a ship needed an anchor.
    Anger flared in him, a welcome emotion compared to the pain that came before. Gabe rose on shaky knees to prowl around the kitchen. A sense of suffocation had him heading for the door. He needed fresh air to clear his head so he could think of a strategy.
    He let himself out, squinting as sunlight bounced into his eyes. A balmy breeze ruffled his overlong hair as he moved down the steps. At the same time, he was struck by a sudden sense of vulnerability that had him scanning the quiet street for hidden dangers. But soon the mere act of walking upright took his mind off his uneasiness. He wasn't used to freedom—that was all.
    Spying Mallory and the dog down at the beach, he moved painstakingly in their direction. As his tennis shoes filled with sand, he kicked them off and plodded on, barefoot.
    Moving along the chain-linked fence, he noted the signs posted at intervals, warning: PROPERTY OF THE U.S. NAVY. ALL UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT.
    He suffered the same sense of inadequacy he'd lived with as a child. Being disabled, he could still get on base, but he wasn't authorized to set foot in Special Ops now, not without an invitation. He was an outsider, burdened with the dreadful possibility that he'd betrayed his country. As the DIA agent had implied the other day, why else would a SEAL lose his memory, except to forget the ignominious moment he'd disgraced himself?
    Fuck, no. He shook his head in powerful denial. No matter what, he wouldn't have shared government secrets. He'd been trained to withstand torture, to keep silent.
    He glanced at the two fingers where his nails were growing in. So pins had been jammed under his fingernails or maybe a hammer had smashed them till they bled. Big deal. He wouldn't have spilled his guts over that.
    What if they'd pulled his tooth, though? He slid his tongue into the groove where his