Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Beauty (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros. Book 5) by MJ Nightingale Page B

times. We make choices based on experiences. We follow orders because we are trained to. I’ve never felt any anger towards my rescuers. Neither did any of the others. All we ever were was grateful.”
    “The others?” Melody was very curious as to what Cat meant by that statement.
    “Yes, the others. Your husband rescued over forty of us that evening. There were six people rescued in the Maryland house where I was, and the one your husband helped to liberate, but that investigation released 34 others in Washington, and Virginia. I am still in contact with some of the others. I was there for a long time with them in the safe houses. They became my family.”
    Melody heard the European accent even more. Cat’s voice sounded cultured. Melody knew her ancestry was Dutch, though she had lived in many places between her youth and now. “Well, I’m so glad to hear that. Tex, though, he has had you on his mind a lot. He was worried about you most of all because he said your reaction to being rescued wasn’t normal.” She stopped herself when she saw Andreas’s eyebrows shoot up. She corrected herself. “Or rather, like the others.”
    Cat’s laugh was high. “Normal. What is normal, my dear? I had been in captivity since I was twelve. The others had not been in so long, or could remember their lives before so much better than I. I just did not know what came next. They knew normal. I did not. Like I said, it was shock. But I’d be happy to explain that to John myself.”
    “You would?” Melody had been working up the courage to ask that, but hadn’t figured out a way yet. She was thrilled when Catarina had suggested it herself, although from the looks of it her husband still wasn’t so sure. He looked a tad green around the gills at his wife’s suggestion. Melody forged ahead with her quickly prepared speech before Andreas could convince his wife otherwise. “When he saw you on that balcony, he recognized you right away. It has been weighing on his mind heavily since then. He’s never forgotten you and has always felt guilty about waiting so long to pull you all out of there. This vacation, well, it means a lot to us; you see we have been trying to get pregnant, and his job is so stressful. And for two years we have been trying and so far we haven’t had any luck.” Melody tried to avoid looking at Cat’s swollen stomach, though from the corner of her eye, she saw the woman subconsciously stroke her extended abdomen. She continued when she saw Andreas reach out towards his wife, placing a protective arm around her. “Our doctor suggested that we get away from everything, but with my husband that is so hard to do. His work, the work he does now, he keeps people safe, and he takes that job with him everywhere he goes, 100% of the time. We are supposed to be relaxing, and I’m sorry if this sounds a little selfish, I just want him to be able to put this ghost, this guilt behind him, so that we can get back to focusing on us.” Melody felt her throat constricting thickly with emotion. She was even fighting back tears. She hadn’t realized just how much having Tex’s baby meant to her. But this was what it was really all about. That, and having Tex forgive himself for the wrongs he thought he had committed.
    Both Cat and Andreas were looking upon her with sympathy. But before they could speak, Melody had one more thing to say. “And I think it’s because he feels like he let you down all those years ago, that he became a SEAL, became the man whose sole purpose in life is to protect others. Seeing you on that balcony has just . . . torn him up with guilt. But he is a good man who thinks only of others.”
    Andreas had a moment of panic. That would be the second time his beautiful wife had been recognized from his balcony that looked out over the bay. The last time had resulted in her getting kidnapped. But that was behind them now. Sal/Spiro/Darryl/The Rosedale Romeo was no longer a threat. He never would