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  “That would be great, Sir. I think I’d enjoy that.” As Janae was giving her father hug goodbye, Noah turned to Janae’s mother, holding his hand out to her as well. “It was nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

  “Well, I’m pleased I got to meet you as well. Who knew you would come back into our lives in such a way?” Her gaze slid to Janae as she spoke. Shrugging her shoulders, she splayed her hands in front of her in a gesture of surrender. “If my daughter’s happy, then we’ll accept her decision, and from the look in your eyes, I doubt my daughter stands a chance.” She smirked at him, as if she knew something he didn’t.

  “Ma’am, I plan to make your daughter my wife. I know it. She knows it. Now I just need to make her accept it.” Adjusting his daughter in his arms, he looked over his shoulder at their vehicle. “We’d better get on our way, Janae. It was nice meeting you folks. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.” Noah turned away and began walking towards the car, giving Janae a few more minutes with her parents to say their goodbyes.

  Once he’d settled Nicole into her booster seat, he climbed behind the wheel of his truck. His thoughts went to the woman walking towards their vehicle. He knew he had a lot of work ahead of him. Being married to someone in his profession wasn’t going to be easy. There would be long days and nervous nights as he was away on missions. He’d tried to save her from the heartache when he’d walked away the first time. Shaking his head derisively, he laughed as he thought about how well that plan had worked out for him.

  Walking away from Janae just wasn’t going to happen. She made him feel. She’d made him want more. When he’d left back then, he truly thought it had been the best thing. But something was missing from his life.

  Janae.

  It had always been her.

  He was ashamed to think about some of the things he’d done while they were apart. If he could scrape those memories out of his brain, he would do it in a heartbeat. He didn’t know what Janae’s life had been like while they’d been separated, but if their experiences at the ballet studio and church were anything to go by, she’d taken the brunt of the issues, pain, and hurt that came with having his child. For that alone, Janae deserved everything he could give her and more.

  Janae opened the door, climbed inside, and gave a huge sigh of relief. “Well, that went better than I thought.”

  Laughing, Noah shook his head. “You think so, huh?” Starting the truck, Noah put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of the long driveway. They waved to her parents as they stood on the front porch watching them leave. “Is everything okay? Your parents both had smiles on their faces when you came to the truck. Did things get settled?”

  “As much as they can be. They may not be completely happy with the situation, but at least they understand now. They know you never knew about Nicole. They understand it wasn’t intentional that you stayed away while I went through my pregnancy and raising our daughter alone.”

  Noah still couldn’t believe they’d gotten to this point. He was glad Heath had called him about Janae. If Stephanie hadn’t come clean, Noah would still be in the dark. “You know we’ll need to visit Heath and Stephanie soon, right?”

  Nodding her head, Janae looked over at him with an uncertain look on her face. “Yes, I know. Although, I’m a little worried about what he thinks of me now. Not only did I keep this secret from you, but I pressured his wife to keep everything secret from him. I know I did it for reasons I thought were best, but I don’t want there to be long-term issues. I know how close the two of you are.”

  Reaching over, Noah grabbed her hand within his. Squeezing it tight, he gave her a small smile as he continued driving. After a few seconds of silence, Noah spoke. “Heath is my brother, so we’ll always be okay. Once he found out about Nicole, I would expect nothing less of him. Stephanie… She’s like a sister to me, and I know her loyalty was torn between keeping your secret and telling her husband. I’m actually surprised she kept this from Heath for so long.”

  Noah also knew he needed to tell Janae about his family in Virginia. It was an unorthodox family consisting of a hodgepodge group of people who’d come together over the years. Some were still in the military, and some had finished their time and hung up their uniforms for good. Others joined the family by default, mainly through marriage. But his family in Virginia, those were the people—outside of Heath—that he’d give his life for. Now that he had Janae and Nicole, it was time to bring the two of them into the fold.

  “I’ve lived in Virginia for quite a few years now,” he opened. “While there, I’ve met people I consider my closest friends, my family.”

  “Family?” Janae’s voice was low and questioning.

  Glancing at her, he saw a look of worry on her face. He knew what was going on in her head. Did that family in Virginia include a woman he’d become close to? Someone who wouldn’t be happy once the news of Janae and Nicole got out? He almost smiled at the frown marring her brow. As if there could be anyone in his life who could mean as much to him as she did?

  He continued speaking, ignoring the thoughts he could almost see swirling around in her brain. “I think everyone will love you. There are four other guys who I’d call my brothers. We basically adopted a woman named Adele after she relocated to Virginia. So, there are six of us.” Navigating the roads, taking them back to her home, Noah thought about the steps he needed to take to move Janae and Nicole to Virginia.

  “A couple years ago, Adele went and got herself married to a Jarhead name Stefano, and I have a precocious niece named Sophia who’s somehow managed to manipulate every single one of us. Not sure how that happened, but I’m sure Adele’s husband had something to do with it. Next, Ethan found someone who could put up with him and married a wonderful woman named Vanessa, and has an amazing stepson named Damian and new little boy he named after me. Tyler, another Marine, will be retiring soon, and he recently got married as well.”

  “Wow, so you guys just came together out of the blue?” A smile hovered on her lips.

  “Sort of. A few of the guys do the same work as I do, and we met either on base or on missions. The others I met at a boxing gym we all go to back in Virginia.”

  “So, I don’t understand. You’re stationed in Norfolk, but you met some of these people in Alexandria. How does that work?”

  Noah was pleased Janae was attempting to get to know more about him by asking questions rather than making accusations. He knew mentioning Adele’s name would prompt questions about who she was and what she meant to Noah. It was odd for him to mention a female’s name in front of her, even in their time together before. While he knew her curiosity about Adele was probably burning a hole inside her brain, he was glad she was giving him more room and time to discuss the people in his circle.

  “As you know, Norfolk is a small town on the eastern shore of Virginia. Although our base is there, it’s not necessarily a place where I want to settle down. When I retire, I’ll need to be in a place where I can put my skills to work. Northern Virginia is that place. Adele’s husband approached me and the others about working with his security company once we retire.”

  Shaking her head, Janae just smiled at him. “You already have a job when you retire?” At his nod, she went silent, staring at him with those gorgeous light brown eyes of hers. “Tell me more about Adele. How did she and her husband meet? What kind of security company does he own?”

  Noah would need to be careful with how much he shared about Adele and her background. Even when she explained everything to him and the other guys, it had been difficult for him to accept. “Adele relocated to Virginia a while back. When the guys met her at Hank’s gym, they knew she would fit in with our group. She was looking for a change in her life and wanted to start over. Her husband, Stefano, is a guy who did his time in the Marine Corps. When he got out, he decided to put his skills to use in the civilian world while also making a ton of money from a lot of rich people.”

  “So, Adele is
just some woman you met and decided to claim as your sister?”

  Shaking his head at the simplicity of her statement, Noah smiled to himself. While that was the basic truth of who Adele was, she’d become so much more to not only him, but the other guys as well. She was their sister, no matter what. Meeting Adele opened their eyes. Helped five battle-hardened men see they didn’t have to close themselves off from the world all the time. That life was about more than fighting the next fight or going out on the next mission. “I wouldn’t say she’s just a woman we met. Adele was someone all five of us gravitated toward because she needed us. Not in the way you might be thinking. Adele moved to Virginia to fight her own demons. In the process, she met my brothers and me, and later, the love of her life.”

  Just as they arrived at Janae’s house, Noah’s phone rang. Pulling it out from the center compartment of the truck, he looked at the number and saw it was Tyler calling. “Do you mind if I answer this? It’s Tyler from back home.”

  “No, I don’t mind.” Janae went to get out of the car. But Noah stopped her as she put her hand on the door latch.

  “It’s okay, Sweetheart. Stay. Wait for me to help you get Nicole into the house. This shouldn’t take long.”

  Swiping the screen, he placed the phone at his ear. “Noah, here. What’s up, man?”

  “Hey. Where are you? We’ve been going by your house, and you haven’t been home. Ethan says you’re not answering his calls. What the fuck, man? You disappeared on us.”

  Noah could hear the frustration in Tyler’s voice, which was unlike his friend. “Brother, why do you have stress in your voice? What’s going on?”

  “Adele and Stefano want us to come by their house on Saturday. After Adele couldn’t get in contact with you, Stefano even tried to call. Now, you know if he’s trying to get in touch with you, Adele must be freaking out. So, where are you? Can you make it to Adele’s house?”

  Noah looked over at Janae, sitting in the truck next to him. He knew she could hear Tyler’s voice coming through the phone, but at no time had she given any hint that she was disturbed by what she heard. He knew what he wanted to say, what he wanted to do, but he wasn’t sure Janae was ready for that just yet. “I’m out of town right now. I’ll call Adele and that stupid husband of hers later today. But yeah, I’ll be there. Any idea what this is about?”

  Tyler’s laughter came through the phone, “I’m not telling you. You know Adele likes to keep her secrets, and this is one I fully agree with. If it’s gonna get your ass back here to Virginia, then I’m keeping my big mouth shut. Plus, you know Adele. She’s always trying to pull the family together to build memories. She says it brings us closer or some soft shit like that. The woman swears it’ll give us good things to hold on to when you guys go off to play shoot ‘em up bang-bang.”

  Smiling at Tyler’s words, Noah thought of how bossy Adele could be with five guys more than twice her size. Even with everything she’d gone through, she never let them forget she was just as tough as they were. “Yeah, that’s Adele. All right, man, I’ll be there.”

  “A’ight man, I’ll see you there. I’ll tell Adele and Monica the good news. So, are you finally gonna tell us where you’ve disappeared to this weekend?”

  “What’s Monica got to do with this? What are they up to?”

  Tyler’s uneasy chuckle came through the phone. “Nope. Whatever’s going on, I’m leaving it up to those two. My name’s Bennett, and I ain’t in it. You just get your ass to Virginia. Now stop changing the damn subject. Where the fuck are you, man? You never go off on your own like this. Keep it up, and I’ll have Daniel come find you. Make him force you to give up the goods.”

  A shiver went through Noah at the threat. There was no way he wanted Daniel digging into what he was doing. He needed more time to prepare Janae for a life with him. The time to introduce her to his family would come soon enough. He just had to make sure his new family was ready for the chaos they were about to get pulled into. It had only been a few days since he’d come back into her world, and he now realized his demand to know why she wasn’t prancing him out in the streets had been answered several times over. This shit was more complicated than going on a SEAL mission on two-days’ notice with only half of his team.

  “Stop being so damn nosey. Mind your business, Jarhead.” Noah hung up the phone to Tyler’s laughing. If he didn’t love that dude like a brother, they’d probably be at each other’s throats. Tyler was a ball buster and never failed to get in someone’s face, exactly at the worst moment possible.

  “So, which one was that?” Janae began unbuckling her seatbelt to exit the truck.

  “Tyler.”

  “And… who is Adele again?” Noah again heard the uncertainty in her voice as she opened the door to exit.

  Climbing out of the truck from his side, he walked around to where Janae was standing on the other side. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her tightly to his body. “Baby, you never have to worry about Adele. She is my sister. Nothing else. There is no one in this world she loves more, or who loves her more, then her husband. Well, let me change that. She loves her brothers more than life itself, but Stefano is the man she fell in love with. Now you… You’re the only woman to ever hold my heart. Always have been, even when you thought I’d forgotten about you.”

  Her eyes seemed sad as she looked up at him. “I heard you say something about you would be there, at some type of event. Are you leaving? If you have to go away for a bit, it’s okay. It’s okay, Noah, I’m not going to be that woman.”

  “What does that mean?” Noah smiled at her, because he knew exactly what she was talking about. He’d seen plenty of those women in Norfolk. The ones who constantly whined and pouted when their men had to go on missions. They could never seem to wrap their minds around the reality that their boyfriend or husband had a job to do. He knew going back to Adele’s get together at her house wasn’t anything associated with the military, but he still appreciated Janae’s wording.

  “It means, we just came back together. You had a life before this. Before Nicole. It means I’m not going to give you shit because something is going on back in Virginia that your friends and family want you to attend.” Lifting her chin, her eyes met his, “And it means, if you want to do something for work or for your family, I’m not going to be the one to hold you back. But I also won’t be the one sitting here waiting and pining for you if you choose not to return.”

  Shaking his head, Noah knew she meant every word. He was the one who’d come back into her life, not the other way around. He was the one who’d barged into her world, demanding his place by her side. It was a small thing, going back to Virginia next weekend. But it also raised other questions.

  When he left, would life go back to normal for him? Would he forget about everything that happened this weekend? The answer came swiftly. Absolutely not. He’d made his choice. He was going to be with this woman, no matter what.

  There was no way she was getting away from him a second time. Noah was committed to building a life with Janae, the way he should have all those years ago. And that beautiful little girl sitting in the back seat of his truck was never going to know another day without him in her life. He was always going to be her father, regardless of whether he was on a mission, stationed in another city, or anything else that attempted to pull him away from his family.

  “I will always come back for you, Janae. These years we’ve been apart no longer matter. You are my home. Nicole is my home. And no matter how many times I leave for work, I will always come back to you.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Janae

  Noah was back home with them, and Janae’s heart was full again. Him being away from her and Nicole for more than a week had been too damn long for her peace of mind. When he’d returned from attending the event his sister had at her house the other weekend, Noah had been in an especially good mood. Turned out, Tyler’s wife Monica was pregnant. Noah was excited about
being an uncle again, talking nonstop about the things he would do with the child once born.

  As they lay in her bed, she looked over at the man who made her dream of things she wasn’t sure she wanted. When he’d left her, she thought her world was over. Jacksonville was a little town trying to pretend it was big. Although the Marine Corps base was situated near their town, many of the people who grew up there still behaved as if their little town was the center of the world. That’s one of the reasons it was so difficult for her to be on her own. Everyone expected all the locals to act a certain way. Allowing someone in the military to get you pregnant, knowing they could leave at any moment, was never viewed positively.

  Trailing her finger down his bare, tattooed chest, she smiled at the sight in front of her. Noah was a good man, and he treated her like a queen. What woman wouldn’t want a man like him by her side? As they’d continued talking about what happened during the time they were separated; she’d come to know him differently than before. Back then, it was the excitement, the mind-blowing sex, and all the ways he could please her. And she him.

  As they got to know each other all over again, she realized there was so much more to Noah than she’d first thought. Her fingers continued tiptoeing down his body as he lay naked underneath the covers. Not only had he come home to her, but he’d made sure she knew just how much he’d missed her.

  Nicole had been in bed, dozing off to sleep the night he’d returned, but Noah made a point to go to her room to let her know he was back. Their daughter had been asking about him the entire time he was away in Virginia. True to his word, Noah called them every single night to catch up on their day. Even if it was a ten-minute conversation to tell them how much he missed and loved them both.

  She knew Nicole had been missing him something fierce. In her eyes, her dad had just come back into her life, only to leave again. Janae was savvier this time and didn’t react with panic and negativity. Because of his work, and the life he had in Virginia, it would take time for them to find their rhythm. North Carolina was just a hop, skip, and jump from where he lived, and for the time being, they would make this work for them.