Page 7 of Honor ’N’ Duty

“Laia,” he managed in a voice so rough he didn’t recognize it as his own.

Her hair was pulled high and tight into a ponytail, emphasizing the beauty he remembered so vividly. Her lips glistened with pink lipstick a shade brighter than he remembered.

Yeah. Sap that he was, he remembered her lipstick.

Purple shorts—short being the operative word—revealed sleek legs. A white tank top that said: Greetings From Asbury Park scooped low enough to reveal the soft curves of her breasts. Hardly the conservative attire she’d always worn in family photos he’d seen of her with Josh. She could have been wearing a burlap sack, and he still would have been sucker-punched by the jumble of emotions that had instantly come rumbling to the surface the second he’d seen her.

“Mommy?” Rosa said. “Are you still mad at Uncle Kade? Smoke is here.”

Rather than go to Laia, Smoke sat protectively at Kade’s side. Smoke and Laia had never met, and with the two cops standing behind her, he wasn’t budging from his protective position.

Over Rosa’s head, Laia’s eyes locked with his. Everything he’d buried and convinced himself that he’d moved past came rushing back in a flood of memories and emotions.

Laia Velez was not only more beautiful now than ever, but the mystical, magnetic effect she had on him was still imprinted on every cell in his body. If anything, the memory of her in his heart and in his head was etched deeper now than ever before.

And he was in big, big trouble.

Chapter Two

Laia’s hands trembled, whether from rage or the thrill of seeing Kade again she couldn’t be sure, but her heart thumped wildly nonetheless.

The years had been good to him. If anything, he was more handsome than she remembered. All high cheekbones and chiseled…everything. He seemed taller and bigger than she remembered, too. Broader shouldered, leaner, more powerful, and with the same commanding presence, something she learned he’d acquired in West Point and later in the Army Rangers. The only signs of age were the fine lines at the corners of his striking hazel eyes. A burst of fiery amber surrounded the dark pupils with golden green irises—

Stop it, Laia.

She shook the thoughts free and lifted her chin. She should not be ogling her brother-in-law. The words she and Kade had exchanged on her wedding day had left a permanent scar on her heart. She’d nearly broken down right then and there and fessed up. But she couldn’t. The promise she’d made to Josh was one she couldn’t have broken. Even now it didn’t seem right to divulge their agreement. To anyone.

Since that day, she’d only seen Kade once. Three years after the wedding—at Josh’s funeral—the only words he’d spoken to her were his condolences, a quick I’m so sorry, then a peck on the cheek and he was gone, never to be seen or heard from again. Until now. The only things that had driven her to call him again were desperation…and fear. Fear that Josh’s past could put Rosa in danger.

“Officer Sampson?” Sergeant Braden boomed from behind her.

“Yes.” Kade held out his free hand to Sergeant Braden first, then to Officer Garcia, the tall woman who’d responded first to Laia’s 911 call.

How did they know who he was?

As Kade shook hands with the cops, the muscles in his forearms flexed below the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt—a tuxedo shirt. There could be many reasons why he’d be wearing a tuxedo. Surely, he wouldn’t have left his own wedding to come to her aid. Right?

She looked at his hands. No ring. Besides, her in-laws would have mentioned if he was about to be married. His marital status was none of her business, and it probably would have been better if he had been married. Yet the breath she let out next was filled with relief.

“Chief Hassan notified us you were on your way,” Sergeant Braden continued. “Anything you need, just let us know.”

So Kade did have friends in high places. Just last week, the house across the street had been broken into, some cash and gold jewelry stolen. The police hadn’t given the victims half the time they’d expended at her house.

“Thanks,” he said. “Can you fill me in?”

As Sergeant Braden began rattling off the procedural steps the police had taken since their arrival, Officer Garcia laughed softly. Rosa had begun plucking at Kade’s hair. Knowing her daughter and judging by the way her lips had twisted into an adorable pout, Rosa was clearly perplexed at how to braid a military-precision buzz cut.

Nothing about having his hair played with by a five-year-old while talking to the police diminished Kade’s concentration, not even when Rosa pulled hard.

“According to Ms. Velez,” Sergeant Braden continued, “nothing was taken, which is odd.”

Odd, yes, but thank goodness she’d had her laptop in the car with her at the time of the break-in. Without it, she’d never be able to finish her vet school application for the January semester.

“As expected, forensics found lots of prints,” Garcia said, “but we won’t know until early next week whether they all belong to Ms. Velez, her daughter, her neighbors, or the burglars.”

Rosa tugged harder on a strand of brown hair. “Ouch.” Kade’s hard, sensual lips lifted as he sent Rosa a mock scowl.

When his elusive dimples made a guest appearance, unwanted heat curled low in her belly. Despite her latent anger, watching him interact so naturally, so paternally with her daughter unleashed a yearning deep inside her, making her wish for things that could never be.