Hot SEALs: Discarded Heart (Kindle Worlds; Danger Incorporated Book 2.5) by Olivia Jaymes Read Free Book Online

out to be the bad guy.”
    “I did the same thing,” Cal offered, still not convinced she didn’t want to see him drawn and quartered. The last time he’d been in Applewood there had been so much fury and hurt in her eyes when she looked at him. “I kept telling myself that you were never sincere about moving to Chicago to be with me, that you never wanted me to succeed. It was easier than admitting that I was being selfish while you were being altruistic.”
    Mika lifted her head, a snort on her lips. “I’m no saint, Cal, so don’t paint me into that corner. I stayed with Sarah while she was sick because she was my sister and I loved her. And when she died I took over caring for Alex. It wasn’t charity. It was what any decent family member would do for another.”
    “Not everyone would have done what you did,” he said gently. “Trust me, I’ve seen the lowest of the low in my job. What you did was selfless. You put aside your own life and happiness to do this amazing job. Now that I see Alex I know that you did the right thing. It wouldn’t have been the same if you brought him to Chicago.”
    She’d promised to follow him there when Sarah passed on but then Alex had only been a baby. Her parents hadn’t been in the best of health and caring for an infant was asking too much of them.
    So she’d adopted him and decided that bringing him up in Applewood was the best thing. A place where she had a job and family and friends to give her all the support she needed with the challenge.
    Her lips trembled and her face had gone pale. “Every day I thought about you. Every single damn day I wanted to come to Chicago. But it was never the right time. We were…I don’t know…comfortable, I guess. It was simpler here. Alex was happy. My parents were happy.”
    Reaching out, he placed his hand over hers, the skin soft under his fingertips. How could he have forgotten how wonderful she felt?
    “How about you? Were you happy?”
    “I’m not unhappy, but honestly I stopped thinking about my own happiness a long time ago.” Her lips were turned down at the corners and she looked so sad Cal had to steel himself from pulling her into his arms. “I put Alex first and I know that it was the right thing to do. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. I thought about you…so many times. I don’t want you to think it was easy for me. That’s why I kept telling you I was coming to Chicago. I wanted to believe that I really could. That is the truth, but it only made you hate me. You thought I was stringing you along.”
    Cal had thought it and hearing her now made him ashamed that he’d ever believed she’d do something like that. He should have known that she was torn by her loyalty and love for her family and her love and desire for a future with him.
    “I was a complete asshole and I’m sorry. Really sorry. I put you in an impossible position and I didn’t see it at the time.”
    “What about you, Cal? Were you happy?” Their fingers tangled together and the warmth from her skin penetrated straight to his bones. “For the longest time I didn’t want you to be but now I truly hope you have been. I want you to have a good life. While mine hasn’t been perfect it’s been good.”
    Rubbing his jaw, Cal let out a bark of laughter. “That’s a good question. One I’m not sure I know how to answer. There have been happy times. There have also been times in my life that I wouldn’t want to repeat for anything in the world. Doing this job…being undercover for months or years…living a lie twenty-four seven does things to you. You can lose yourself so easily. Sometimes I wonder if I even know who I am anymore. All I know is that I was caught up in the political games and the competition. Bringing in the bad guys wasn’t the point any longer. Winning was everything.”
    “And now?”
    “I’m pretty sure I’ve lost.” Cal hadn’t heard from his superiors in weeks. “They’ll probably ask me to