Surrendered (Heart of a Warrior Series Book 3) by Kariss Lynch Read Free Book Online Page B

sentry, standing watch. “She’s adjusting. But I think having this apartment will make it easier for her. She can even start moving our stuff in and decorating when she’s ready.”
    Megan joined him at the window, and he held up the key. “Will you hold onto this until she needs a reminder that she isn’t in this by herself? I’m leaving her some other surprises while I’m gone, and I’ll need your help with those, too.”
    He glanced at his watch. Almost out of time.
    Megan took hold of the key. “No one’s ever asked me to be part of something like this before.” Her brown eyes filled with awe and a hint of confusion.
    “Hey, you’re family to Kaylan now. You’re in the wedding. We want you to be a part.”
    She dropped her gaze, her hands toying with the key. “Family. I never really knew what that was like.” When she looked up, he saw anger brewing. Her mouth stretched in a taut line, a storm gathering behind those guarded dark eyes.
    “Why do you do it? Why do you fight for your country and leave your family?” Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “Is it worth it?”
    Nick leaned against the windowsill, wondering how to answer her question. He had asked himself the same thing recently. Given everything she’d gone through in Haiti, why ask Kaylan to endure the hardship of military life? Deep in his heart he knew the answer wasn’t that simple. He also knew he was inviting her to be part of something bigger than themselves—to fight on behalf of others like God called him to. He was inviting Kaylan to be part of the incredible pride, the honor, and the camaraderie that came from belonging in this community.
    But Megan’s question gnawed at him daily. What if he died and left Kaylan alone? What if he wasn’t there for his kids? Despite his questions, Nick kept coming to the same conclusion, and then peace flooded his soul, despite the fear. He could only tell Megan what he reminded himself every day.
    “The way I see it, I have two options. I can stay at home, find a good job, raise a family, and pretend like nothing is going on. Or I can fight, whether here or abroad. I chose to fight abroad so that something like 9/11 doesn’t happen again.”
    “But why? Why do you care when your family will pay the price for it?”
    He met her gaze, understanding the pain behind her questions. She’d grown up an Army brat, her mom left the family, and her dad was either deployed or drinking. Either way, she’d been shoved off onto relatives until she’d been old enough to take care of herself. “Megan, have I ever done anything to demonstrate I’m like your dad?”
    He watched her wrestle with his question. In Nick’s opinion, Megan’s dad had missed the best years of raising a pretty tough daughter, one who would have given him her whole-hearted support if he’d only shown her a little love.
    Slowly she shook her head. Her shoulders deflated a fraction. “No.”
    He nodded. “I go into harm’s way to fight for Kaylan and for you because I believe I’m doing something that matters, something that not everyone can do.”
    “Even when no one else knows what you do? What you sacrifice?”
    “If I did it for the glory, I wouldn’t be a SEAL. I do it because it’s right. I’m fighting for good in a world full of evil, protecting and fighting against injustice.”
    A shadow drifted across her face as the palm leaves outside danced in the breeze. “And how do you handle all the evil? You believe in God and yet look at all you’ve seen. How do you see the good?”
    “Are you thinking of what happened to you and Kaylan last year?”
    “And Kaylan in the earthquake and what you see on every deployment that you can’t tell her about. How do you see the good?”
    Nick took in the apartment around him, imagining it to be a safe haven, peaceful. A place for good memories. Home. None of that was possible if men like him refused to do the hard jobs. “All I can tell you is that when bullets are