Finding Kenna (SEAL Team Hawaii #3)(87)

Kenna walked straight into his arms, sighing in contentment. She loved how excited she always felt to see him, and how he seemed to feel the same. Pulling back, Kenna smiled at Marshall, then turned to his friends.

“Hey. It’s good to see you guys.” Kenna gave Jag a small smile. “Carly’s sad she missed you.”

He shrugged. “I would’ve been pissed if she’d stayed just to see me when she felt like shit. I’ll see her another time.”

“For the record,” Kenna continued, not able to keep her mouth shut, “she’s gonna come around. She’s just a little skittish right now.”

She swore she saw Jag’s shoulders relax a fraction at her words. “I can’t blame her. Her ex really did a number on her.”

Kenna nodded.

“As much as I want to stand here and chat, you probably need to get back to work,” Marshall said. He kissed her briefly, then said, “You’re still cool if we hang out at the bar?”

“Of course,” Kenna told him. “I’ll stop by when I can.”

“We’ll be fine,” Marshall said. “Just do your thing.”

Kenna watched the three men head off for the bar area and couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

“Shit, woman, those are three fine-looking men,” Vera said. “If I wasn’t into girls, I might give you a run for your money.”

Kenna laughed at the hostess. “For the record…only one is my boyfriend.”

“Damn, I was hoping you were into some kinky shit,” Vera said quietly with a wink before heading back to her spot at the podium near the front of the restaurant.

Shaking her head at her coworker’s antics, Kenna got back to work.





An hour later, Aleck couldn’t keep his eyes from Kenna as she moved around the restaurant. He’d spent almost every minute since his arrival thinking about what he wanted to do to her later that night, when they got back to her place.

“Glad to see things with you guys are working out so well,” Jag said from next to him.

Aleck forced his attention from Kenna to his friend. They were sitting at a table near the bar, shooting the shit, enjoying some downtime.

“She’s amazing,” Aleck said. “What’s up with you and Carly?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Jag shrugged. “Complicated.”

Pid snorted. “I think that’s the understatement of the century,” he muttered.

“I’m pissed because her ex has terrified her so much, she’s practically a recluse. The asshole even left a note on my car when I came to see if Carly was at work the other day. He’s escalating…and Carly still thinks if she ignores him, he’ll just go away.”

“Wait, what? A note?” Aleck asked, putting his glass down on the table a little too hard.

“Yeah. It just said, She’s mine. It wasn’t signed, but I know it was from him. Who else could it have been from?” Jag asked.

Aleck’s mind spun with the implications of Jag’s revelation. He couldn’t help but think about the note that had been left on his car. He’d assumed it had been from Kylo Braun. But what if it wasn’t? What if Shawn had left that one too?

He opened his mouth to tell Jag and Pid that he’d received a note as well, but just then, a strong gust of wind surged in from the beach, knocking over a mostly empty glass on a nearby table, and making the woman sitting there squeal in surprise.

The storm had moved in with a vengeance—and a shiver rolled through Aleck as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He felt exactly as he did right before the shit hit the fan during a mission.

His gaze swept the restaurant, searching for Kenna. He needed eyes on her. To see for himself that she was all right. It wasn’t a feeling he could explain, but he knew without a doubt that danger was near. Way too fucking near.





The predicted storm had moved in and the staff at Duke’s was kept busy unfolding the plastic barriers around the perimeter of the restaurant. They closed them at night, but they were almost always kept unzipped while Duke’s was open. They’d waited a little too long, however, and currently the wind was whipping through the bar and restaurant, sending napkins flying and glasses crashing. Luckily, the dinner rush had come and gone, and the patrons sitting nearest the beach moved toward the interior of the dining area as the staff did their best to zip the barriers as quickly as possible.

Kenna had just zipped up the last plastic window when she heard a commotion behind her. The first thing she did was look toward the bar, where the guys were still sitting. Marshall was staring at her with an intense look on his face that she couldn’t interpret.

She had no time to wonder about it before a woman’s screech registered.

She turned toward the sound—and froze in shock at the scene that greeted her.

Striding quickly through the restaurant, straight for her, was Shawn. Carly’s ex.

And he did not look happy.

He was wearing a vest that looked a lot like the one she’d seen in Marshall’s picture from when he was deployed. It had just as many pockets—but what caught her attention was the large box strapped to the front.

There was a red light in the center that blinked on and off.

Even as he approached, Shawn reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a pistol. He stopped four feet from Kenna, pointed the gun straight at her face and growled, “Where’s Carly?”