The Power of Love Read Online Free Page A

Mommy is a great teacher. I keep getting As on the tests she makes me take.”
    His eyes were misty as he looked down at their baby. With a tender hand, he passed it over her hair, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “That’s good to hear, darling. You’ve been good for Daddy and Mommy since I’ve been gone?”
    “Yep. I’ve done all my schoolwork, and if I get my homework done, then I can read. And I don’t have to go in the playground.” She shuddered. “It was dirty there.”
    Gia burrowed her face into Luke’s chest. “I’ve given her OCD,” she whispered into his shirt, expecting a huff of laughter or a teasing retort.
    Only it triggered nothing. Nada.
    The crisp cotton of his button-down rubbed against her nose. He smelled of detergent, soap, antiseptic, and Luke. It was the latter that she wanted to pull in more than oxygen, but it was telling that he wasn’t wearing BDUs but civvy clothes.
    He was no longer a soldier, so that made sense, still… It was odd and not in a good way. After all these years of seeing him in fatigues, occasionally in his spare time too, it was strange to see him wearing something normal during the day.
    Like he was on a time delay and maybe he was. Only God knew where his head was, and who could blame him. Luke finally reacted: he snorted. “If anyone gave her OCD, it’s Josh.”
    “Yeah, we’ll blame him,” she mumbled around a laugh. Gia took a deep breath, once more sucking in the delicious essence that was her man. “God, I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so damn badly. It’s been hell without you.”
    “I’m home now,” he murmured huskily. When he lifted a hand to cup the back of her neck, he groaned in pain, but sucked it up to continue, “Everything’s going to be okay.”
    She looked up at him. Eyed the lines of strain about his mouth, the pinched cheeks, and the new frown lines dissecting his brow. Everything didn’t look like it was going to be okay. Regardless, she had to ask, “You promise?”
    Gia didn’t want to be needy, she didn’t want to pester him for reassurance, but at that moment, she felt like Lexi. An ingenue in a crazy, fool’s world. Luke and Josh had protected her so much from their careers that she had little to no idea what they actually did. Now, she felt out in the dark and out in the cold when those careers were playing such pivotal roles in her world.
    Now she thought about it, it was pathetic that she didn’t know more about what they did. How could a woman who had been their partner for close to six years not know at least some of the ins and outs of their careers? The only thing she could use to excuse herself was the fact her guys weren’t regular lance corporals. They were high up in the ranks, officers. Luke was, or had been , a lieutenant colonel, and Josh was a brigadier general.
    They probably made them sign the Official Secrets Act to use the bathroom, so keeping the woman they considered their wife in the know wasn’t exactly on the list of priorities.
    She looked at him beseechingly. Silently asking him for a promise she knew he couldn’t keep. It was rotten of her, but she’d take the half-truth today. She needed that reassurance. With everything around her up in the air, she needed this man to be what he’d always been: her rock.
    “As far as I’m able, I promise. I’m lucky they didn’t court-martial me.” His smile was bitter. If anything, it told a tale of its own, but she ignored it for the moment, as relieved by his words as she’d been the first time she’d heard that particular piece of news. No court-martial meant no jail. Which meant nothing and no one could take him away from her.
    She said as much. “At least you’re home. That’s where you need to be.”
    Luke gritted his jaw. “I’m glad I’m here, but this is…” He swallowed, for the first time broadcasting his emotions: rage, fury, and at their base, disillusionment. “They didn’t want it getting into the press. Plus,