Deadly Force Read Online Free Page A

knew that joining the SEALs could leave me a widow.”
    How many times had they had this discussion? “Being a SEAL is my life.”
    Was my life.
    He didn’t miss the flare of hurt in her eyes, but before he could backtrack and try explaining that she’d always been even more important to him, Maggie decided to shake off the rain.
    Water flew all over Bianca’s legs. She let out a yelp and jumped backward. “There are over a million feral cats in San Diego County and you adopt a dog?”
    Cal grabbed a dry towel from a bin above the bed and tossed it at her. She’d always been a cat person, feeding the strays in the neighborhood even after her mother had slapped her for “wasting food.” He shook his head. “A million feral cats in one county?” She was a walking book of facts and an expert at exaggeration. “Come on.”
    “You want to see the stats from Animal Control?” She dried her legs and feet while Maggie panted, looking at Cal and waiting patiently for her kibble. “L.A.’s even worse. The number runs around three mil.”
    So maybe she wasn’t exaggerating. Being married to Bianca was like being married to his own form of Google—except in an annoying, infuriating way. “The towel is for Maggie.”
    “Maggie?”
    He pointed at the Lab. “Dry her off, will you?”
    Bianca looked like he’d asked her to sleep with a terrorist, but after Maggie whined and wagged her tail half-heartedly, Bianca conceded and started running the towel over the dog’s fur.
    Cal filled Maggie’s bowl. As she inhaled it with loud, chomping noises, he sidestepped Bianca and headed for the shower. “Make yourself at home.”
    “Cal.” She touched his arm as he passed. “Can we get out of here? We don’t have to go far, just…away from San Diego.”
    The feel of her hand on his arm stopped him. The familiar scent of vanilla and almond came off her skin—the lotion she’d used since high school. His cock gave a twitch, his eyes automatically closing so he could breathe deeper.
    Home . She smelled like home.
    In that moment, his male instincts told him to follow her anywhere. His heart, however, knew better. He shifted his arm out from under her hand and opened his eyes. “And go where?”
    “How about we sail up the coast for a couple of hours?”
    “In this storm?”
    “ The Love Boat ’s not seaworthy?”
    She knew how many cats ran wild in San Diego but not the simple fact that taking a sailboat the size of his out in a storm was a bad idea?
    His senior chief had given him orders…stay low and near HQ until the investigation was over. Cal’s meeting with the military review board was in two days. They were going to crucify him but he deserved it. “I can’t leave San Diego.”
    She bit her bottom lip, looked away.
    This time, he reached for her, snagging her elbow. She jumped, wrenching it away, and he felt like an ass. She’d always had a knee-jerk reaction to people grabbing her, thanks to her bitch of a mother.
    Gently, he reached out and took her hand. It was cold, her fingers trembling. “Is someone really after you?”
    She looked down and closed her fingers around his. Her eyes were sad when she glanced back up. “I’ve missed you.”
    God damn . She couldn’t do this to him. Not here, not after everything she’d said to him the last time they were together. I want a divorce .
    For one half-insane moment, he almost wrapped his arms around her. Her body had always fit so perfectly inside the ring of his arms…
    “I came to see you in the hospital,” she said. Her voice was quiet, so quiet he almost didn’t hear the words over the wind and rain beating against the boat. “Your senior chief told me you didn’t want to see me.”
    The hospital? He’d been injured during the raid, a couple of bullets doing some damage as he pulled Tank to cover. “Ramstein?” He’d been transported there for medical care and a debriefing in the aftermath of Warfighter. “You came to Germany?”
    She looked