ChapterOne
Lieutenant Braden Moyle glanced over his shoulder for what felt like the twentieth time tonight. It was a mild seventy degrees on an early September evening in Chicago. He was walking to his home near the Great Lakes Naval Base after a nice date with an attorney he’d met a few weeks ago. Somebody had been trailing them all night—maybe that was why the dinner conversation and even axe-throwing after had been lackluster. He’d been pretty distracted trying to figure out why he’d been catching hints of Delta-family blue eyes around every corner. He’d also gotten glimpses of long blonde hair, but he didn’t have a complete picture or more than a feeling that he was being followed. Whoever it was, they were good at shadowing.
Since he’d made a fateful trip to Summit Valley, Colorado with some buddies a few months ago, his life had changed. He’d received a couple promotions and was now Lieutenant. He’d been offered a much higher housing stipend and moved out of the barracks into his own little home in a nice neighborhood close to base, shopping, and restaurants. He wasn’t complaining about the benefits; he worked hard and had earned them. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if retired Admiral Davidson Delta had anything to do with his career going so well, or if it was all Admiral Seamons, Braden’s CO and a man he admired as much as his own dad and grandpa.
His mind was full of the Deltas tonight. He hadn’t been able to get the retired Admiral Delta’s piercing blue eyes out of his mind nor rid himself of the eerie feeling that Braden wasn’t done with the Delta family or the secret he’d stupidly tried to go after. Braden had always had the talent of reading people and he’d instantly known Davidson Delta was not only a military legend but a great man. He’d also seen that Admiral Delta was not someone anyone should mess with.
He’d steered clear of everything Delta after that trip to Colorado. He’d promised Admiral Delta that he would, and Braden had been taught from birth on up by his parents that honesty and integrity were of the utmost importance.
And now somebody was trailing him. He worried it was about the Deltas because of the blue eyes. He was pretty certain it was a woman, or a small man with really long hair. He wanted to stop and confront whoever it was, read their eyes and see what their intentions were.
He walked casually around to his back door, avoiding the front porch that was lit up from the street. The person was still out front, so he unlocked the back door, loudly banged it open, flipped on the laundry room light, walked in place, and then shut the door.
Sliding off the back porch stoop into the shadowy spot next to his door, he leaned against the wall and hoped they wouldn’t glimpse his outline. He wished he’d carried a weapon on his date, but who would’ve thought an innocent dinner and axe-throwing with a woman who almost hit herself with the axe would lead to him waiting to see if his shadow would break into his house?
Within seconds he was rewarded by an average-height, fit woman in dark clothing with a long, blonde ponytail setting a duffel and a purse on the ground and then stepping onto the back porch stoop. She pulled a couple slim tools from her pocket and turned toward the lock.
He almost grabbed her then, but he wanted to see how far she’d go. She was familiar to him, and a tingling sensation told him this was what he’d been waiting for the past four months. The Deltas had sent someone after him. Why? They didn’t trust him?
After Admiral Seamons’ wife had been arrested only a few days ago, he’d been uneasy and wondered if something more was coming. Especially with rumors of Olivet Seamons actually being in cahoots with King Frederick, the dictator who was trying to take over Europe. It was heavy, and he worried for Admiral Seamons. He hadn’t imagined he should be worried for himself. What had changed the status quo with the Deltas, and had the retired Admiral sent somebody after him?
The blonde tried the door handle and it turned in her hand. “Trusting and hot,” she muttered. “Wish I could keep this one.”
Braden’s eyebrows rose. Was she talking about him? Who was this woman?
Sliding her tools back into a small pouch at her waist, she revealed a 1911 pistol strapped next to the pouch and Braden’s blood ran colder. Had she been sent to kill him? He’d done nothing but work hard, keep his nose down, and remain loyal to his country and the Navy since his one rash decision of going after the Delta secret for a fun adventure.
Why would they send someone now? Could this person work for King Frederick and have found his connection to the Deltas? He would’ve thought that was far-fetched, but Frederick seemed to have far too many loyal lackeys and spies. Braden had even heard rumors that Admiral Seamons’ wife was not the only one in cahoots with King Frederick. And he’d heard rumors that Frederick was after retired Admiral Davidson Delta. Though the people who’d philosophized about that didn’t know why, Braden thought there might be a hostile connection between the two men. Braden was sworn heart and soul to protect his country. His gut was telling him the Delta secret, his tail tonight, and the conflict in Europe would all become even more important to him and his country’s safety.
Suddenly, the woman’s body seemed to stiffen. He tried to take shallower breaths. Had she heard him? He wished he could get a glimpse of her face, but even more importantly a deep look into her eyes to read her intentions. Should he disable her now? As an officer, he’d been able to take advanced training courses in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship and had excelled at both. He could easily take her gun and find out why she was breaking into his house.
Before he could decide if he should make his move now, or after she’d gone into his house, she pivoted and leaped at him.
He stumbled back in surprise. The woman plowed into him, knocking him flat on his back. The breath was knocked out of him. He’d been taught to respect and protect women, but he wouldn’t let her take him down that easily.
He did a reversal and flipped her onto her back, pinning her down with his much heavier body and trapping her hands above her head.
The light from the porch illuminated her face, and what a face it was. She was stunningly beautiful, and she looked almost exactly like Jessie Delta, a sweet girl he’d met in Colorado that fateful weekend. Except this woman was blonde, not brunette. She could’ve dyed her hair, though.
But no. There was something different about this Delta woman’s eyes. They were not as innocent as Jessica’s. As if she’d seen much more of the world than she wanted to. And the world hadn’t been gentle with her soul in the process. But there was more in her eyes, a lot more that was for him and him alone. This woman needed him, and he needed her. That idea shocked him enough he almost released her.
“Well, hello, handsome,” the tough beauty he had pinned down said with a teasing smirk on her face. “That’s one way to get my attention.”
“Jessie? Or her sister?” he ventured, loosening his grip on her but not lifting his weight off of her.
She laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle that somehow made him feel all lit up inside, despite the crazy circumstance he found himself in. He was certain now it wasn’t Jessie, but this was one of the Delta family for sure. He forced himself to ignore the incredible sensation of being so close to this intriguing woman. His racing pulse and quickened breath might reveal how attracted he was to her. He could easily read that this astute woman noticed both.
“Good guess,” she said patronizingly. “Jessie is my baby sis, a straight-up angel, and way too nice to do this.”
She ripped one of her hands free and slugged him hard in the side. Braden grunted in surprise.
She didn’t give him enough reprieve to grab her hand but hit him in the same spot again. The hit was so brutal he couldn’t help but be impressed and wondered if she’d broken a rib. How had she learned to hit like that? He didn’t want to hit a woman, so he scrambled for her hand, tugged it back above her head, and pinned her down completely again.
“Stop,” he told her sternly. “And tell me what you’re doing here.”
She smiled at him, a smile so sweet and alluring he was momentarily stunned. The smile hid the darkness in her eyes, and he wondered if he’d actually imagined her pain, or if she was an expert at hiding it.
“That was me being kind, sailor,” she said. “If you don’t want me to insult and ruin your manhood, I suggest you roll off of me right now.”