Free One Day You'll Be Mine: Steamy Contemporary Military Romance by Alana Hart, Lauren Lashley Page B

everything.”
    By the time he’d gotten this all out, it was close to midnight.
    “Where is Hollis now?” I asked. “Because he’s clearly not here, and you are.”
    “He’s at my place now.” Presley hunched slightly. “I drugged his meal, so he’s going to be out for the rest of the night.”
    “You what?!” I roared, standing up. I wasn’t a violent woman, and I had every right to be anything but loving toward my husband. But the fierce protector in me wouldn’t sit still while this man professed to slip my husband some kind of drug.
    “Seroquel,” he stated. “Nothing illegal. He’s just going to sleep really hard tonight, wake up, and think he overslept. That’s all.” I stepped toward him, when he held his hand up and pleaded. “I promise. He’s going to be fine.”
    Kelli stepped between us, shaking her head. “Natalia, sit down. Please. I’ve taken Seroquel. He’s right. It’s literally a sedative to the uninitiated.”
    I glowered at Presley, who looked more and more worn and torn up as moments passed. The strong Greek god now looked like an abandoned child trying to be grown.
    “How old are you?” I spat. I sat down when I asked, but only at Kelli’s insistence.
    “23.” He said. “I turned 23 in May.”
    I did the math in my head. May. That was right around the time Hollis started working later than usual.
    “You’re wearing his cologne.” I said, remembering that Hollis’ Blue de Chanel was on his person as he walked past.
    “That’s what he bought me for my birthday.” He spoke quietly. “I love the way it smelled. I didn’t realize it would help him mask his activities.”
    “This sangria isn’t strong enough.” Kelly took her glass to the head, and then took the rest of mine. She turned to Presley. “You need a refill?”
    “No.” Presley stood slowly. “I should get going.”
    He looked at me regretfully. “I’m sorry you had to learn like this. I didn’t know he was still happily married. But I love him. I don’t know where you two both stand, but I love him. I just have to figure out how I’m going to deal with him when he wakes up.”
    His audacity left me speechless and immobile. Without another word, he escorted himself to the door and walked out.
    Kelli locked the door behind him, and then held me until shock wore off and I collapsed into a snotty heap of tears from the bomb that just exploded in my home.

Chapter 9: Rose

    Ellis and I kept in contact nearly every day after the bomb attack. I realized I could never get too comfortable during communication with him.
    I tried not to watch the news. Everything on there was involved nothing but negative information, especially regarding ISIS and their lethal behavior against various people they’d held hostage. How many times would I be able to stomach knowing an innocent person lost his or her life, simply because he or she had fallen into this group’s hands?
    Things like that – Islamic extremists, terrorism – were why I was so proud of Ellis. He truly wanted to help the world, and he figured the best way he could contribute to global peace was by putting his life on the line for everyone.
    I fingered my wedding band as I looked at the picture on my nightstand. It was a picture of Ellis and me, along with my parents. My parents were quite skeptical of our relationship. My father served in the military. He claimed he “knew” what military men really did when they were away, and he didn’t want me to end up hurt. My mother, in general, was just very protective of me when it came to men. They came to love Ellis over time, especially as they got to know the charitable, honorable side of him.
    One of the reasons my father eventually accepted Ellis was his cultural respect. Raised as a white man in the south, Ellis wasn’t ignorant of race or cultural divides. He took things like cultural appropriation and “white privilege” seriously, not downplaying it, or shying away from issues that my