Free A Taste of Liberty: Task Force 125 Book 2 by Lisa Pietsch, Kendra Egert

his massive chest.  They rose and fell with every breath he took.  “Angelo was kind enough to inform me today that he has proposed to you and you did not say 'no'.”
    Sarah's face grew hot.  She looked around at her teammates and saw expectant looks on their faces.  They wanted something. 
    Surely, they don't think I'll take him up on the offer?
    Vince tightened his arms over his chest and scowled at Sarah as though he were waiting for an explanation
    I'm not his damned possession.  Where does he get off putting me on the spot in front of the guys like this?
    “What the hell is this, an intervention?”
    Vince's eyes narrowed.  “We'd like some answers.”
    “To what questions?   You’ve got me cornered here but nobody's asked one question yet.”
    “We want to know when you were planning on telling us.”
    “Telling you what?”
    “That you're thinking about quitting.”
    “Oh, and every time one of you thinks about retirement, you get all touchy-feely and tell everyone about it?  Give me a break!”
    “This is different.  If we're planting you undercover, we need to know where your loyalties lie.”
    “My loyalties?   My loyalties!”   Sarah jumped out of her chair and pointed at Vince.  “I pulled your unconscious body off a fucking time bomb and you have the balls to question my loyalty?  How dare you!”
    Vince roared.  “Hey, we talked about a backup plan, but we didn't mean marry the first guy who asks you!  I understand things change.  We all do.  We just think you should let us know when those changes affect us.”
    So that's it.  He can have his but as soon as I get an offer, my loyalty is questioned.
    “Yeah, things change alright.  Sometimes things change quicker than overnight, but you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Vince?” 
    “I don't know what is wrong with you.”
    “Well, you must because you know everything, don't you, Vince?  You know what?  If you know everything, then you'll already know my answer for Angelo, and my telling you would be redundant.  So go fuck yourself.”
    Will lit a cigar and puffed pensively.  “Alright.   That's enough.  We're not getting anywhere this way.”  He turned to Vince.  “Why don't you just sit this one out?”
    Will held his cigar between his index and middle fingers and used it to punctuate what he said.  “Now listen, pork chop.  Nobody here is going to tell you what to do.  Contrary to the leatherneck's current demeanor.”   He shot Vince a hard look.  “And apparent lack of communication skills, we wanted to talk to you about this because we care about you.”
    Sarah sat on one of the patio chairs and lit a cigarette.  “Okay, talk.”  She avoided any eye contact with Vince.
    “Look, kid, first of all, you're a damned fine operator, and I rather like having you on the team.  Secondly, and this is my personal concern as a friend, we all know your personal history of bad relationships with men prior to the Camp picking you up.  I'd hate to see you fall back into that.”
    Sarah tapped an ash into the ashtray on the table beside her.  “Thank you, Will.  Noted.”
    Brian squatted on the patio, laced his fingers together and leaned on his elbows, resting on his knees.  “I'll admit to being totally selfish here.  It normally takes a long time for a team like ours to gel.  I saw it with the SEAL teams.  We've got a good thing here, darlin ', and I'd hate to lose it.  Oh, and I might miss you a little.”
    Sarah smiled at Brian and gave him a slight nod.  “Noted.”
    Chris jumped in.  “It is totally your decision, and I never stand in the way of true love, but it takes ten years to break in a good agent.  But, like Will and Brian said, you were exceptional at adapting.  On a personal note, your golf game is coming along very well, and I've grown accustomed to your company.” 
    Jason stood from his chair and smashed his cigarette into the ashtray on the table.  “You guys are a bunch