Free Sacrifice Love: Saints Protection & Investigations by Maryann Jordan Page A

room, I got the call and was offered the chance to go overseas to help out with the Special Forces again. I knew it wasn’t fair to start something with you and then leave for six months. I thought we’d have time when I got back. I figured we’d slip back into our same old friendship and then I’d make my move.” Heaving a heavy sigh, he admitted, “Like I said, I screwed up. Then, when I came back, you two were married. I was…shocked. I mean, I never saw that coming. I didn’t figure Adam was the marrying type and…fuck, it was a punch to the gut.”
    Dani blinked back tears at the memory of her and Adam meeting him at the airport when he returned from overseas. The two men bear-hugged before Adam let him go and she got a chance to hug him also. Chad had leaned down and whispered in her ear that he had something to share with her, but before he said another word, Adam blurted out that they were married. She remembered the look on Chad’s face—stunned…and hurt. And now she understood why.
    “Oh Chad, I wish I’d known. I had feelings for you too, but never had a chance to act on them. I was selfishly angry when you left to go overseas. I felt you were walking away from me. I know that wasn’t what was really happening…but it felt that way.”
    “I never asked, Dani, but when did you and Adam fall in love?”
    She held her breath, observing his blue eyes carefully as she answered slowly. “We didn’t. We were never in love.”
    She watched as his face registered confusion, followed by disbelief. “I don’t understand. If you weren’t in love, why did you marry?”
    Her gaze shifted to the side, staring at nothing, her mind racing over the past. Sighing, she moved her eyes back to his and admitted. “A reason as old as time.” Seeing his still confused expression, she added, “I was pregnant.”
    This time, Chad reared back, the information overload almost too much to bear.
    Before he had a chance to ask more questions, she decided to rip off the emotional Band-Aid. Painful, but no holding back.
    “I was lonely after you left, Chad. And so was Adam. Oh, he’d joke about it, but I knew deep inside, he missed you. And honestly, I think he was a little hurt that you chose to go back to work with your old military unit instead of staying with him. I know that sounds childish, but he was really envious of your previous military background. You possessed that certain…calm, leadership quality he lacked.” She looked up, but saw his jaw was tight, so she plunged ahead.
    “We went out one night, drinking. It was stupid,” she admitted, her hands twisting in her lap. “We drank too much and made a really bad decision. I don’t remember much of the night, but the next morning I woke up in his bed. I did the walk of shame and we tried to pretend it didn’t happen. And then? Yep, we were so irresponsible, I got pregnant. My first fear was catching something from one of his many one-night stands, so I got tested immediately.” She gave a rude snort, admitting, “Who am I kidding? I was one of those girls.”
    Chad reached out touching her arm lying on the back of the sofa. “No matter what, Dani…you were never one of those girls. You were miles above anyone else Adam had ever been with. And he would have known that.”
    She gave a little shrug, sighing once more. “So, I told him about the pregnancy and he suggested we get married. I thought it was crazy. We weren’t in love. He wasn’t a one-woman man. It was wrong on so many levels. But he kept saying that he didn’t want his kid to grow up without a father.” After blowing another errant strand of hair out of her face, she leaned over, grabbing her purse and dug around for a moment, finding a hair elastic. With a few sweeps of her hands, she twisted her long hair up into a sloppy bun.
    The action appeared to give her peace and he could not take his eyes off her beauty. He tried to imagine her pregnant, confused, upset, and dealing with