Free Retribution: An Alpha Billionaire Romance (Secrets & Lies Book 3) by Lauren Landish Page A

too. Goodnight, Melissa.”
    He leaves the room, disappearing into the darkness, and I watch the blackness for a full minute. Depression threatens to sweep over me again, but just before it can, I feel a golden thread, a precious jewel inside, like Pandora having Hope still in her box after she closed the lid.
    He said he loves me, too. Maybe it's not what the storybooks say, maybe it's not what I was hoping for, but Nathan did say he loves me. I can hang onto that at least.

Chapter Eight
Nathan
    T he next morning , I wake up early and head out. I feel terrible about what I said to Melissa last night, and I can't face the looks from everyone else this early. Instead, I grab an early breakfast and leave a note behind. Need some stuff from the hardware store. I'll be back ASAP.
    I know it's a flimsy excuse, but with the nearest town to where we are being the suburb of Asheville called Swannanoa, I can at least get some time to clear my head. Besides, I can get some more gas cans for the generator, I know Katrina at least will appreciate the extra electricity. And maybe I can buy a DVD for everyone to entertain themselves, and then I can...
    What the hell am I thinking? I'm being a damn fool is what I'm being, and I'm running like a scared rabbit. Still, I take Carson's truck and drive slowly down the hill to the logging road that connects my property to the Blue Ridge Parkway. From there I can drive down to Swannanoa, maybe not the most direct route but it’s the easiest.
    I get to Swannanoa just after eight, still a little while before most of the stores open, and head to the CVS first, since they open early. I kill about twenty minutes looking through the movies they have for sale, most of which I would never buy. Put it this way, if I have the choice of life on a desert island with one of these movies to watch or staring at the seagulls, I'll probably choose the seagulls.
    While I'm wondering if I can get through a Mack Bolan novel without going into hysterical fits of laughter, my cell phone buzzes. I'm surprised, I forgot I even had it in my jacket pocket, but it's a habit, I guess. I take it out and look, intrigued when I see I got an e-mail.
    I tap my inbox, my fingers trembling when I see who the message is from. Isis Bardot. My finger hovers over the e-mail, wanting to open it, when I remember who and what Isis is.
    “I'm sorry Colonel, but I'm turning down the Army's offer.”
    Colonel Christman looks somber, but nods in understanding. “I see, Sergeant Black. I heard your recent mission to Kurdistan had some... difficult circumstances.”
    I nod. I'm not even in the United States, I'm in Vincenza, Italy at Caserma Ederle, or Camp Ederle as some of the soldiers who can't really even choke out basic Italian call it. Technically the Special Forces doesn't have any units in the area, but as the headquarters of the Army's African Command, and the home of a detachment from the 82nd Airborne, it’s a good base for us to work out of.
    “Very difficult, sir.”
    Colonel Christman sighs and sits back. I've worked with him in the Green Berets for a while now. “Sergeant Black... Nathan, you're a good troop. You've been in the Berets since you were what, an E-4?”
    “E-3. Why are you asking, sir?”
    “I'm just curious... what are you going to do now? No offense Nathan, you're good, but you've got an MOS that doesn't exactly lend itself to the civilian world. You don't have a college degree, so you can't get in with one of the ROTC batts. And let's face it, our skill and trade isn't one that really works in the regular world,” the Colonel says, scratching behind his ear.
    “Doesn't really matter, sir. I've still got my GI Bill, and I've been smart with my money. I've got a nest egg.”
    “Nest egg,” Christman repeats, signing and tapping the paper on his desk, my form that says I'm not going to re-enlist. “If you say so, Nathan. I can't force you obviously. I'm just going to give you a warning. You're going to