Free Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Marking Mariah (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Liz Crowe

that same cool gray-green paint and a sort of combo mid-century modern-trendy furniture. He didn’t have the energy left to hate it. Besides, what did he care anyway? The couch seemed long enough to accommodate him. He lurched toward it, his eyes already closing.
    “Where’s my sweet lady,” a deep voice boomed from the front of the house, making Terry wince.
    “What’re you doing here, Mike?” Renee called out, her voice high and strained. He sat, sprawled, waiting for it.
    “Thought I’d catch you at home first,” Mike O’Leary said, his low voice hitting Terry’s memory banks like a ton of bricks. “C’mere, gorgeous.”
    “Not now. Seriously, Mike, stop.”
    “Nope, no stopping. You made me take that pill this morning and I am so pent up I had to leave the office before I embarrassed myself.”
    Oh my sweet Lord, Terry thought, sticking his fingers in his ears and dropping over onto his side. This is exactly why they say you can’t go home again.
    “No, honey, don’t. I need to, hey, cut that out.” He could hear Renee’s voice and giggles through his fingers, so he gave up and pressed two pillows to either side of his face, praying they’d leave for their stupid tee time and let him sleep.
    But when something poked his shoulder, he opened his eyes and sat up, meeting his father’s blue gaze. Renee hovered nearby.
    “So, what did I do to be so honored with your presence?”
    Terry rose slowly to his feet. He’d gotten his height from his father’s side of the family so the two men stood eye-to-eye. “You came to Texas, to the hospital, I’m told,” he said. “Sorry you couldn’t be bothered to stick around to make sure I came out of it all right.”
    “Your doctor assured me you would. And based on the way you greeted me when you saw me sitting next to your bed, I figured you didn’t care if I stayed or not.”
    Feeling light-headed, he grabbed the back of a nearby chair. “I… I don’t remember anything about that.”
    “Whatever,” his father said, crossing his arms. “So, obviously you came out of it all right. What brings you here? Between missions or whatever you call it?” His steely blue eyes remained flat, devoid of emotion. For a split second, he wondered what in the hell Renee had seen in the man.
    Terry swallowed hard. When he’d gotten the unwelcome news about his discharge due to the severe concussion and ongoing pain issues, he’d not even given half a thought to telling anyone, least of all his father. The only people he gave a crap about already knew because they’d been with him when it happened.
    Standing here, like a little kid trying to explain a broken window, or a teenager, sneaking in and getting caught reeking of pot and sex, made him dizzy with anger. He put a hand to his head, as if that might ward off the headache.
    “No. I’m out. Discharged. So, here I am, the prodigal son returned.” He held out both arms, grinning like an idiot.
    “Discharged,” Mike said, his eyes narrowing. “Why? You get in some kind of trouble?”
    “No, Daddy, I got my bell rung, remember? You saw me with the damn cage around my head in the hospital, remember? After they’d drilled into my skull to release the pressure? Pretty serious shit.” He gulped back the onrushing nausea that usually preceded a whopper of a headache . Not now, he thought, clenching his jaw. He couldn’t show weakness now.
    His father looked down at the floor, hands on his dark suit-clad hips. As Terry tried to erase the memory of what the man had said to Terry’s high school girlfriend a few seconds before, his mouth opened and he spoke before his sluggish brain clicked into gear.
    “Sorry I interrupted the afternoon delight with your sweetie britches over there,” he said, still grinding his teeth as his vision began to gather fog from the outside in. “If you don’t mind me asking, Daddy, did you give all my old girlfriends a ride on the old pony before culling that one from the