Chapter 3

Slate cleared the table later that evening, the lasagna that had been on their plates completely devoured. He’d been shocked when he’d opened the fridge earlier to discover that Lena had cooked dinners for them. He knew she used to prepare Jett’s meals, but this was better than he’d expected. A few premade grocery store dinners would’ve sufficed, and he wasn’t sure how she’d found the time. They were an hour from the airport, and as far as Slate knew, she’d flown back to New York for a couple of days.

No doubt they’d all be returning soon for the wedding, everyone in the know except the bride.

Ashleigh took a sip of her red wine, smiling as she moved around the kitchen. “This reminds me of the weekend we met. Snow on the ground. Wine. Lasagna. Although mine didn’t compare to Lena’s.”

“That’s because you only had some of the ingredients,” he said, setting the plates in the sink for now.

His gaze slid to her, taking in her flushed cheeks, delicate features, and then trailing down over her body. The soft sweater she wore over her dark jeans hugged her breasts enticingly. She was gorgeous in anything she wore, and Slate always had trouble keeping his hands to himself. “It does remind me of that weekend,” he agreed. “A snow-filled escape in a secluded little spot in the woods.”

“You planned that, too,” she said accusingly as Slate chuckled. “It’s been a year since we met. This wasn’t a coincidence that you wanted to come here for Christmas.”

He lifted a shoulder. “What can I say? That was a damn good weekend.”

Ashleigh’s cheeks heated, and Slate felt male pride rise within him. She’d been flushed and nervous around him at first last year, but when he’d carried her inside and held her by the fire? Best fucking night of his life. He’d stripped her bare and held her against his body under the blankets to warm her up. Once she’d stopped shivering, it had been sensual lying there beside the flames with a beautiful woman in his arms. Except she’d fallen asleep, and he’d retreated to his own room. Exploring all her womanly curves had come later—and damn if he still couldn’t get enough of her.

Slate crossed the room, grabbing the wine bottle. He refilled her glass, ducking for a quick kiss. “I never came back like I’d planned until now. It would’ve been lonely without you.”

“You planned to rough it the entire weekend and survive on canned food and MREs.”

He shrugged. “That was before I met you.”

She shot him a look of disbelief. He’d come to prep the cabin for the winter, but his brother had ended up hiring someone after the snafu Slate and Ashleigh had run into—a snafu where they were chased by homegrown terrorists. “At least they made it out here this year. It’s not too convenient for Jett and Anna with it being on the west coast.”

“Jett’s got contacts all over the world. It makes sense for him to have homes on opposite coasts. He can stay here to take meetings or offer the space to his associates if needed.”

“Oh. True. I’m actually surprised Anna enjoys coming here.”

Slate raised his eyebrow.

“Oh, come on. You know Anna. She lived in Manhattan for years. They met at an upscale bar where all the Wall Street types hung out. The property here has more amenities than it seems, but it’s not exactly a luxury ski resort.”

“Point taken.”

“It’s still hard to fathom their life sometimes. I know you’re involved with dangerous missions, but you get to stay in one place and oversee things. Sometimes Jett is gone, I assume traveling with his men. Anna prefers when he runs things from headquarters.”

“I deployed frequently when I was a SEAL,” Slate reminded her. “It’s a hard life, but one I adapted to. It’s also why I was alone for so long. I was too busy for a relationship after my divorce.”

“Well for that, I’m thankful,” Ashleigh joked.

Slate’s phone buzzed, and his lips quirked as he saw Anna’s name on the screen. He took a pull of his beer, reading the message.

Anna: How’s my bestie? Please tell me she doesn’t suspect anything.

Slate: The bride and groom stockings were a bit obvious, no?

Anna: Just some foreshadowing. Our girl is a writer.

Anna: Think of it as a little foreplay before the main event. ;)

He nearly choked on his beer. His brother had his hands full with that one. Ashleigh raised her eyebrows as he coughed once. “That was from Anna. And no, you can’t see the text. That would ruin my surprise.”

“You’re no fun,” Ashleigh teased, but she was laughing as she tried to move past him into the living room. Slate growled, trapping her in his arms. He kissed her, loving how she immediately yielded to him.

“Go relax while I clean up,” he gently ordered. “I’ll be in soon.”

“Promise?”

He flashed her a look, and she smiled innocently and turned away. Slate’s eyes caught on her ass as she moved away from him, her hips swaying with every step in those tight jeans she wore.

Hell.

It took all his restraint not to immediately rush after her. He needed a moment to make sure everything was in place, however, because he planned to spend the rest of the evening giving her his full, undivided attention.

Ashleigh’s laptop and the novel she’d been reading were already sitting on the coffee table. She’d made herself right at home as he’d started a fire and then heated up their dinner. There were a few presents already wrapped under the Christmas tree, and he’d enjoyed seeing her eyes light up in surprise. Anna and Lena had helped him plan everything out to perfection. He’d selected the gifts, but Lena had wrapped them immaculately and done more decorating than he’d ever have thought to ask for. The entire cabin looked like something out of one of those Hallmark Christmas movies Ashleigh loved.

He swiped the screen on his phone, scanning over the dates on his calendar. There’d be no rehearsal dinner given the wedding itself was a surprise. He was counting on Anna to whisk Ashleigh away at the appropriate time to get her ready. Jett had booked his family a private flight, so at least they wouldn’t need to worry about airline delays around the holidays.

Slate shook his head. Jett and Anna had a surprise wedding as well, that one all Anna’s doing. Ashleigh would never suspect he’d pull off the same damn thing.

Anna had already arranged for someone to do the women’s hair and makeup, Anna declaring she’d tell Ashleigh it was a “hair trial,” whatever the hell that was. Slate knew his fiancée would begin to suspect something was up, but by then, everything would be in motion. He’d be at the venue in his dress uniform, just waiting for his bride.

He quickly scrolled through his emails next to make sure everyone else would be arriving as scheduled. Ashleigh’s sister lived in Seattle with her own family, so they were already in town, although Ashleigh thought they were traveling. Her parents would be flying in. Her other best friend Jen was coming. Some of Slate’s men would be in attendance as well, along with his family members and old friends.

His phone buzzed in his hand, and Slate frowned as he saw that it was one of the SEAL team leaders from base. “Striker here,” he said as he lifted his cell to his ear.

“Sir, I hope you’re enjoying your vacation,” Everett “Ace” Walker told him. “I trust you made it safely to Washington?”

“Affirmative, and I know you wouldn’t call me this soon after my arrival unless there was an issue. What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been monitoring several of the chat rooms as we discussed prior to your R&R. In addition, your brother’s employee West Renkin over at Shadow Security has his team tracking several things. We got an alert.”

“What kind of alert?” Slate asked in a low voice as he swiftly turned and walked further into the kitchen so Ashleigh wouldn’t overhear. There was no need to worry her on their first day of vacation. It was bad enough that he was already dealing with a possible new shitstorm.

“As you’re well aware, your name is out there. We’ve been monitoring to see if we get any hits online. This alert specifically involves a homegrown, ISIS-inspired terror cell.”

“What’d you find?” Slate asked, irritation roiling through him.

“While the men directly involved in targeting U.S. military installations, tracking you, and kidnapping Ms. Moore a year ago were arrested, someone is still monitoring your movements. Tracking you from afar. Your name and Ms. Moore’s were posted on the dark web earlier this afternoon.” Ace cleared his throat, pausing. “It seems that you and Ms. Moore applied for a marriage license?”

“God damn it,” Slate muttered. He hadn’t considered that something like a marriage license could be so easily found online by someone with the right set of skills. Found and then posted where the fuckers who still wanted revenge against him would see. “We did apply for one, although I told her it was to get my military benefits in order should anything happen to me,” he said in a low tone.

Ace chuckled. “I guess congratulations are in order, sir? I presume you’ll be returning from your extended vacation as a married man.”

“You’d be assuming correctly,” Slate ground out, his gaze moving to the open doorway. “That’s why Raptor’s team will be unavailable for a few days,” he said, referring to Blake “Raptor” Reynolds and the first Alpha SEALs Coronado team.

Ashleigh hadn’t made a sound from the living room, but he didn’t want the unexpected call ruining his surprise. He paused for a beat, then heard her typing on her laptop. He relaxed a notch. Ashleigh was safe and sound, right here at the cabin with him. There was no need to grow alarmed, and no reason to think she’d suspect this was anything more than a romantic getaway at Christmas. “The license, however, was issued by the State of California, not Washington. It wouldn’t lead anyone to locating me here again.”

“Understood, sir. However, there’s another problem aside from the marriage license being posted. While the hackers weren’t able to obtain your flight data again, given the airlines increasing their network security after last year’s breach, your name and the hotel you’ll be staying at in Seattle were posted on the dark web as well, including the specific dates you’ll be there.”

“Motherfuckers,” Slate ground out. “The men in the terror cell we dealt with last year were all arrested or killed. How the hell is anyone still tracking me? I haven’t even taken a goddamn vacation since then.”

“Someone with connections to the group must’ve still been tracking your name and what they could find out about you. While the FBI arrested a large number of men, you and I both know how wide their network is spread. Some members were dormant, part of sleeper cells. They’ve been waiting for retaliation.”

“This is bullshit,” Slate ground out. “What the hell kind of lax security do the hotels and airlines have? That’s a major data breach and violation of customer privacy.”

“Their databases aren’t strong enough,” Ace agreed. “They’re not classified networks like our secure systems. Given that you’re in the same secluded location with Ms. Moore again, I wanted to keep you apprised of the situation. West was able to delete the data with your name and hotel destination in Seattle, but it’s already out there. It could mean nothing. You’re easy enough to locate in San Diego if someone truly wanted to do you harm, but I wanted to warn you that the information had been posted.”

“I appreciate it,” Slate said, his fists clenching. “I’ll have Jett and his team get on it. I’m going to change our hotel reservation in Seattle as a precaution. The cabin we’re in now has cameras around the property as well as alarms. Jett updated security here after the last incident. It’s not even listed as being owned by him anymore, instead showing in online records that it was sold to a corporation. It’s a shadow company, but those men tracking me wouldn’t know it.”

“Hopefully they’ll think it’s no longer in your brother’s possession,” Ace agreed. “I’ll set up an alert for that as well. If the address shows up with any connection to you, however, we’ve got a problem. Given the sale to the shadow company was relatively recent, Jett’s name may come up in any searches they make as well.”

“His name is already on his own company’s website,” Slate pointed out. “It’s no secret. He’s got security at his home in New York and Shadow Security Headquarters. Ashleigh and I are alone.”

“We’ll cover your movements,” Ace assured him. “Like I said, we’ve deleted the hotel reservation posted online that showed you’d be in Seattle later this week. As far as they know, you’re still in sunny California right now.”

“I already made sure the vehicle I rented can’t be tracked.” Slate said, his thoughts churning. “That doesn’t do a damn bit of good if they already have this address from last year and assume I’d come here again at some point. Jett thought about selling this place and buying a different property, but with the enhanced security measures and those terrorists dead or behind bars, we weren’t concerned. As you noted, it’s easy enough to find me in San Diego if someone truly wanted to do me harm.”

“It is,” Ace agreed. “But the fact of the matter is, they’ll know you’re isolated and possibly distracted in a hotel room. Someone is still looking for you, no doubt seeking revenge. Don’t let your guard down.”

“You know I goddamn won’t,” Slate said, irritation roiling through him. He’d protect Ashleigh no matter what, but he certainly didn’t need this complication.

“I already spoke with Commander Williams, so he’s aware of the situation,” Ace said. “We’ll continue to monitor things to see if they post anything else. Given West’s team already deleted the data we found, they’ll be tipped off that we’re aware of their actions. In the meantime, watch your six.”

“Thanks for the intel. I’ll be in touch,” Slate replied before ending the call.

He grumbled under his breath as he called Jett. The last thing he needed while attempting to surprise Ashleigh with a wedding were some goddamn homegrown terrorists after him again. Hadn’t she just mentioned her concerns earlier when they were getting a rental car? Women seemed to have a sixth sense about things, but her hesitation earlier had to simply be nerves. There was no way she’d have some intuition about their being in danger when he’d only found out about the issue moments ago.

He needed to ask Lena to make new hotel reservations. Slate had booked a luxurious suite for Ashleigh and him to enjoy, but clearly, that had been a mistake using his own name. He’d cancel that reservation and have Lena make a different one in another name. If affiliates of the men he’d brought to justice a year ago had been waiting for Slate’s name and travel itinerary to show up online in order to track him when he was away from San Diego, thinking he’d be more vulnerable then, they’d be in for a surprise. That didn’t mean they’d get the drop on Slate or his fiancée—far from it. He’d bring Jett into the mess and end this bullshit once and for all—then marry the woman of his dreams.