Matty: A Navy SEAL Romance Page 12

  The minutes rushed by as they hurried to complete the clues. They escaped the lab with only four minutes left on the clock.

  Once outside, they cheered.

  “Nice work, Jenna.” Matty pulled her into a hug. With his cheek pressed against her soft hair, the sweet scent of it filled his nose.

  He didn’t want to let her go and held on longer than he probably should have. Angelo caught Matty’s eye and gave him a speculative glance.

  Matty ignored it. He’d told Angelo earlier about the situation with Jenna’s ex. Matty had repeatedly mentioned that they weren’t a couple, yet it was hard not to consider them as such. The four of them out together seemed like a fun double date.

  He had forgotten that he was pretending to be her boyfriend.

  Because it was starting to feel all too real.

  Chapter 13

  Jenna

  After she escorted the first client to an examination room with Sophie on Monday morning, Jenna sat at her desk and checked the calendar for the remaining appointments that day. What a great day she’d had with Matty yesterday. When she pictured him at the cat shelter, even helping out scooping litter boxes, she smiled. Even if he said he was a dog person, he loved animals in general. He couldn’t hide that as he gave the cats all the attention they’d craved, the same way he’d been doing with Trixie and Lola.

  She’d brought up the K-9 organization thinking it would be perfect for him, but he’d shut down. Why? What had happened in the SEALs that haunted him?

  The door to the vet office opened. When she looked up to greet the client, the high from her date vanished like a popped balloon, replaced by a sinking feeling.

  She pursed her lips. “Now you’re coming in to my work?”

  “I came to see you.” His expensive shoes echoed on the tile floor as he walked over to her desk.

  A curl of revulsion wrapped around her spine and tightened. She glanced around the waiting room and outside, but for what? Was she going to call for help because her ex walked into the clinic? That might be overreacting.

  “You need to go. This isn’t happening.” She motioned between them.

  He drummed his manicured fingers on her desk. “I saw you and that meathead at the club the other night.” His expression contorted with revulsion. “Getting cozy.”

  She gritted her teeth. “That’s not your kind of place, so I doubt it was a coincidence you were there.” Her breath came quicker. “Are you following me?”

  “He went home with you,” Roberto added in an accusatory voice, as if he wasn’t even listening to her. “He’s been staying there. I know.” He glared at her as if waiting for her to wither and confess.

  Her mouth dropped open. She stood from behind the desk and placed her hands on it as she stared back at him. “How dare you spy on me?”

  “I have a right to know who my wife is sleeping with.”

  “No.” She raised her index finger. “Ex means former. You have zero rights when it comes to me.”

  “How could you do that to me, Jenna?” Pain and fury twisted his voice with a dangerous edge. “Fuck someone else?”

  She stepped back, grateful she had the desk between them. He wasn’t giving up his claim on her. Her fake relationship with Matty hadn’t scared him off. In fact, it appeared to make him all the more possessive.

  She muttered a sound of disbelief. “You, of all people, are saying that?” She’d never know how many other women he’d slept with while they were married, and she no longer cared. “I’m moving on with my life, Roberto. You need to do the same.” She lifted her chin, aiming to project an inner strength that felt as wobbly as if her spine was made of licorice. “Without me in it.”

  “Til death do us part. We made a vow.” He stepped closer and leaned over the desk. His cologne wafted over to her like a suffocating veil. “You are my life. And I am yours.” He breathed heavy, nostrils flaring. “When are you going to wake up and see that?”

  Roberto’s breath fanned her cheek, and she shuddered. She backed away and picked up the phone with trembling hands. “Leave now or I’m calling the police.”

  He snorted. “We own the police.”

  She clutched the phone and stared at him, trying to read if it was a bluff. Had he gotten in deeper with the mafia? Or had he always been so involved, and she’d been blind to something she didn’t want to see?

  He walked to the door. “This isn’t over, Jenna.”

  Matty

  “That’s it.” Matty seethed. He paced through Jenna’s living room, hands balled into fists at his side. “I’m going to have a little chat with your ex.”

  As he walked to her front door, she grabbed his arm. “Matty, please. Come sit down.”

  He furrowed his brows. “Why are you stopping me?”

  “Don’t go,” she begged.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I can’t let you get into trouble because of me.” She released his arm and gestured to the couch. “Please don’t make me regret telling you what happened today. Come and sit so we can talk about it.”

  Matty stared into her pleading eyes for three long seconds yet his hand remained glued on the doorknob. “I just plan to talk to him. Be a little more persuasive.”

  “Exactly.” She nodded with a knowing expression. “I know what being persuasive means. And it can only make things worse.”

  “How so?”

  Jenna took his hand and led him back into the living room. “I’m afraid of what will happen to you if this escalates.”

  Matty scoffed. “You have no idea of the people I’ve faced, Jenna. Much more dangerous than some manicured clown on a power trip.”

  “If you threaten him, this can only get worse. You might get arrested, or hurt, or worse. I told you, Matty, he’s connected. Maybe more so than I ever realized, or he’s gone deeper since the divorce.”

  “I don’t care if he’s the mafia boss of all of New England. I faced hell as a SEAL and won’t cower to this fucker. And I won’t let him bother you any longer.”

  Jenna put her hands on his chest and gazed up at him with pleading blue eyes. “I’m begging you not to start anything. Don’t make me regret ever dragging you into this.”

  “Jenna…” His voice came out strangled. The way she looked at him that way and touched him did odd things to him.

  “I never would have agreed to this plan if I ever thought it would come to this,” she added. “Our arrangement was supposed to be an act. Let’s not make it real with someone getting hurt.”

  Fuck. All his muscles balled into tight knots with the urgency to act. He wanted to storm into that fucker’s apartment on the waterfront and warn him never to step near Jenna again. And he yearned to take her in his arms and kiss her.

  Conflict warred within him, the yearning to make her happy battling against the fierce drive to protect her.

  “What do you expect me to do, Jenna? Just sit back and let him continue to stalk you?” Matty’s lips curled as he shook his head. “I can’t let that happen.”

  “I’ll get a restraining order.” She ran her hands down his chest. “But, please, please promise me you won’t go to him.”

  How could he resist Jenna when she asked him like that? Her gentle touch could convince him to take a high-altitude leap out of an aircraft without a parachute.

  He forced himself to step back and clear his head before he did something he’d regret—like kiss her senseless.

  “Fine, Jenna. I’ll hold off for now. But if he bothers you once more, that’s it. I will confront him, and I will make him sorry that he’s ever hurt you.”

  Jenna

  The plan had failed. That’s the conclusion Jenna settled on over the last couple of days. Had she been blind to think that Roberto seeing her with another guy would convince him to move on? It had only made him worse. Despite what he’d said about owning the police, she had to talk to someone. That couldn’t be true, could it? There had to be someone who could help her.

  What oth
er choice did she have? She couldn’t let Matty get hurt over this.

  She looked into getting a restraining order online and booked an appointment to meet with a lawyer later that week.

  At around eleven, a family rushed into the clinic. The father held a limp gray in his arms. “I don’t think he’s breathing.”

  “Please save him,” a young girl begged.

  Shit.

  While she took the cat from his arms, she asked what happened.

  “He was meowing strangely and started drooling,” the mother said. “Then he wobbled and collapsed.

  Jenna carried him to Sophie, explaining what she knew.

  Over the next several minutes, she followed Sophie’s instructions on how to help try to revive the cat.

  He wasn’t breathing. He had no pulse. His pupils weren’t dilating.

  It wasn’t looking good. With each passing second, the truth came clear. It was too late. They couldn’t save this one.

  Sophie swore under her breath. “I have to tell them.”

  Jenna swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. She pictured the girl she’d talked to out there with her parents. She couldn’t be more than twelve. The sadness in her eyes was vivid as she was afraid for her cat. And hoping—hoping—he would be okay.

  He wouldn’t. The worst had arrived.

  Jenna braced herself before heading out with Sophie.

  She walked into the waiting room. They glanced up with sad, expectant eyes. Then they stood.

  This was the worst part of the job. Nobody wanted to break news like this.

  “I’m very sorry,” Sophie said. “We did everything we could.”

  The girl’s eyes widened with shock and then she crumbled. Her anguished wail tore at Jenna. God, she wished she could do something to take away that pain, but what the girl needed was time. Time to adjust to the shock. Time to understand. Time to grieve.

  When her sobs quieted, Jenna asked the family, “Would you like to come and say goodbye?”

  When they agreed through teary eyes, she led them to where their beloved cat lay still.

  The girl stroked her cat. “I can’t believe you’re gone.”

  Jenna blinked back tears. She knew. Knew what it was like to lose a beloved cat at that age. Her black cat, Cara, had been a part of her world she never thought would vanish. After all, she’d been around since before Jenna was born. And then Cara was gone.

  Jenna choked down a massive lump in her throat and pushed away those memories. She had a job to do. She couldn’t break down along with the family, no matter how she empathized with them.

  But she knew—even once they accepted the loss, the scar would always remain. That little girl might be like Emma one day, swallowing her grief while she tried to move on.

  At least when she went home later, Matty would be there. Just knowing she’d see him at the end of a tough day like this soothed her.

  But he wouldn’t be there forever. Was it a bad idea to seek comfort with someone who was only around temporarily?

  Chapter 14

  Matty

  It didn’t take long after Matty picked up Jenna from work to sense something was wrong. She was unusually quiet on the drive home. Once inside her apartment, she called for Trixie and Lola, and her voice came out at a higher pitch. She then showered her pets with more than the usual affection and spoiled them with more treats.

  Something was up. When she turned back from filling their water bowls, her eyes glistened. She wiped them with the back of her sleeve, as if she didn’t want anyone to see them.

  “What’s wrong?” Matty asked. “Did he come by again?”

  “No.” She gestured with a wave. “It’s nothing like that.”

  He gave her space and didn’t pry, but kept attuned for signals. She said she was going to her room to study. After a couple of hours, he knocked on her door.

  “I can pick up dinner.”

  “No thanks. I’m not hungry.”

  She hadn’t skipped dinner while he’d been here. Something was definitely up.

  When she joined him in the living room later and watched a rerun of New Girl while he read the latest sports updates on his laptop, he sensed her dread.

  “You sure you’re okay, Jenna?”

  “It was just a rough day at work.” She forced a smile.

  Minutes later, she shuddered on a shaky breath and turned from the screen.

  What was going on? He glanced at the TV. It showed Winston and his cat Ferguson.

  Matty turned to her. “Jenna?”

  She kept her face averted. “I’m being ridiculous. It’s silly.”

  He closed the laptop, placed it on the desk, and sat on the sofa next to her. “I’m fond of the silliness,” he quoted Monty Python.

  A grin broke through her teary expression. “It’s not silly, actually. But sad.”

  “What happened, Jenna?”

  She blinked as if forcing away tears. “We couldn’t revive a cat today and it was particularly rough.”

  His heart panged for her. “I’m sorry.”

  “This girl was devastated. I felt so bad for her.” She wiped her eyes. “I shouldn’t react like this. I’ve dealt with situations like this before. But this, it hit me hard.”

  He squeezed her thigh. “Your compassion is one of the things that makes you so incredible.”

  “The girl was around my age when I lost Cara.” Her voice hitched. “Do you remember Cara?”

  She’d been crushed when her cat had died. Something uncomfortable churned deep inside his chest. Her sadness was triggering grief he’d been fighting to keep buried. “I remember.” He struggled to keep his voice steady.

  “She must have been blindsided.” Jenna sighed. “Her shock and devastation brought it all back for me.”

  His muscles tightened. He knew that feeling. Shock and devastation had accompanied him like a shadow after Gunther’s death. “I’m sure your compassion helped.”

  “I hope so.” She dragged her eyes to his. “I love animals but days like this are tough. I hope I was able to make it a tiny bit easier for the family.”

  He brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. “I’m sure you did.”

  A sudden and intense flash of the final seconds with his K-9 pierced Matty. Gunther had run ahead, tail wagging, excited to stumble upon something.

  And then—boom! The brightness blasted through the dusk. The thunderous clap swallowed all other sound. The scent of the world burning. Dying.

  Dead.

  Gunther. No! God, no. There was no way he could have survived that blast.

  Gunther was dead.

  Matty fell forward, releasing a pained sound like a wounded animal.

  “Oh my God, what is it, Matty?”

  Her voice pulled him from the flashback. Her touch so gentle on his back. He lowered his face into the crook of her, scenting that rose smell that was Jenna.

  What the hell was wrong with him? He was trying to be there for her. She was confiding about something that had pained her, and instead of consoling her, he broke down?

  “Matty—”

  “Don’t.” his entire body was flushed, covered with sweat. Shaky. “Can’t.” Fuck, he couldn’t even utter a complete sentence.

  “Please don’t push me away.” She stroked his back. “You were there for me.” Her gentle touch matched her voice—so soothing. “Let me be here for you.”

  A choked sob escaped him. Hot tears stung his eyes and broke through—tears he wouldn’t permit to come before now. SEALs had to be strong, be there for each other, just like Gunther was there for them.

  Why couldn’t Matty have saved his partner?

  He shuddered and then focused on slow breaths. For the first time since the incident, he felt there was someone who might understand his loss, someone who cared about animals as much as he did, someone who wouldn’t think it was just a dog.

  Gunther was never ‘just a dog.’

  “That day,” he began, and his voice ca
ught. “That day when I was injured...” He rubbed his mouth and blew out a rough breath.

  “Take your time.” Her soft tone was patient.

  Her encouragement pushed him to the next step. All he had to do was say one sentence. If that went okay, he’d follow with another. After all, they were just words, right?

  Words linked to a memory. The worst one in his life.

  Every muscle in his body felt taut. It was like he was clamped in a vice forced to relive the horror. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. The blast of light and then all the gray.

  The gut-wrenching truth that Gunther hadn’t made it.

  Shit, shit, shit. He dropped his head into his hands. He wanted to shut it all away, bury it back deep and not think about it ever.

  That’s what he had been doing for months. It hadn’t changed a damn thing. Was numbing himself to these intense emotions fair to Gunther? Nope.

  Matty had adopted that military mindset of shutting uncomfortable feelings away into invisible compartments. But maybe the right thing to do was man up and feel. He owed it to Gunther to not forget.

  Matty took a deep shaky breath. He could do this. One more inhale and then exhale.

  “I was working with our K-9, Gunther.” His voice sounded strange, detached. “We were scouting for any explosives in advance of our team. Gunther went ahead. He was excited. He’d found something.” His breath hitched. “I followed him—and then I had the feeling—the feeling that every SEAL dreads. One that means the situation is about to go FUBAR.”

  When she furrowed her brows, he explained. “Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.” He grunted. “And it did. An epic shit show.”

  She nodded. Her hand remained on his back. Warm. Comforting. Steady. She was there for him, just as she said she would be. Her touch gave him the strength to reveal a truth he’d kept buried for so long.

  “An explosion. It blew me back—”

  His ears rung with blast that was so powerful, it felt like it shook his soul.

  So much gray. Debris falling. He blinked and blinked, but it didn’t clear the scene.