Her Sensual Protector: A Navy SEAL Romance (Night Storm Book 5), Caitlyn O'Leary [uplifting book club books TXT] 📗

Daisy shrugged. “They each have their own story to tell, and so does my mother. And I have mine. When you combine them all, I don’t think my conclusion is that far out of reach.”

“So if you’re not a fan of your biological dad, why are you here rattling cages?”

“Because I love my siblings and they want our father rescued. I might not like him, but I certainly don’t wish him dead. So my family and I agreed that I was the best one to send. Rattling cages is something I excel at.”

2

Leo’s lips twitched. The way she talked, he didn’t doubt it. Still, she might have taken on the dweebs in the embassy, but what she didn’t know is that her quasi-father had been kidnapped by the Haqqani Network, and it didn’t get any uglier than that.

She raised one eyebrow. “Handsome, I see the wheels turning. Anything you want to share with me?”

“You think I’m handsome?”

“I told you I don’t lie. You’re hot. Somehow I can’t help but wonder if that was taken into consideration when they knew you would be dealing with a woman.”

“A smart, beautiful woman who rattles cages and speaks Dari. Quite the combo kit, Ms. Squires, or can I call you Daisy?”

“I think since I just said you were hot, calling me Daisy would be appropriate at this point,” she laughed. “But I must say, you do lay it on a bit thick.”

He took a slow sip of tea and she watched him. “I just call it as I see it. I’m taking a page out of your book, no lying.”

“No lying sounds good, really good.” She put both hands around her teacup. “Tell me how you fit into the picture. I’m assuming you’re here to assess whether my father can be rescued. Am I right?”

“Something like that.”

“Hey, you just promised not to tell any lies,” she complained.

The waiter came and poured more tea into their cups for the second time.

“At this rate, I’m going to float out of here,” Leo complained.

“The rule is, you have to turn over your cup, or they’ll keep filling it.”

“How am I ever going to get to do that, they don’t give me a chance to empty it?”

“My advice is that you drink faster.”

Leo knew she was laughing at him.

“Leo, what’s your assessment? What are you going to tell your superiors? Is a rescue possible?”

“Yes.”

“Then why no rescue for the reporter?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

“Can you take some guesses?”

“Not my place.”

“For someone who wasn’t going to tell me any lies, you’re not very forthcoming.”

“But, I haven’t lied to you.” He watched to see if she would see the difference.

She picked up her teacup and smiled. “Good to know. So you’ll answer what questions you can, and pass on the questions you can’t, is that it?”

Leo nodded.

“I see you’re not drinking your tea,” she said as she nodded toward his cup.

“I figured out a third option. If I just leave it full, they can’t pour more into my cup.”

She grinned. “You’re right.” She took a long sip of her tea, then turned her cup over. “Are you hungry?” she asked.

“Always.” Anytime he had a chance to eat something other than an MRE, he was in.

“A meal or a snack?” she asked.

Leo considered. He still had to report back to Max and meet with the team. “Have you had lunch yet?”

Daisy shook her head.

“Let’s order food.” He lifted his hand and the waiter came over. “Can you bring menus?” Leo asked in Dari. The waiter nodded and immediately came back with menus. He explained the specials in English.

Leo went with the cinnamon lamb kebabs and Daisy chose the eggplant dish. The waiter said he would be back out with some spicy chickpeas to start.

“You grew up in an embassy, huh?” Leo said. “What was that like?”

“Mom married Alistair when I was six, and he was the ambassador to Tajikistan at that point. His appointment lasted for twelve years.”

“No wonder you’re so comfortable with the Dari language. Tajikistan’s national language is Tajik, so learning Dari was pretty easy, huh?”

“Exactly. I learned Russian while I lived there too. When I went to the International School, everything was in English but Tajik and Russian were the two compulsory second languages.”

“Do all of your siblings speak as many different languages?” Leo asked.

“Pretty much. My older siblings spent a lot of time with my parents in Africa while the esteemed doctor was chasing everything from HIV to Ebola. They speak a lot of different African languages, while I grew up speaking more Middle Eastern languages.”

Leo heard the bitterness in her voice, but her countenance didn’t seem ready to share, so he didn’t ask about it. Instead, he decided to stay on safer topics.

“But you do speak African languages according to your file.”

Daisy grinned as she grabbed some chickpeas. “That must be one hell of a dossier you have on me. It couldn’t have been the CIA who put it together, otherwise, the two CIA guys in the embassy would have known who I was. I didn’t realize that special forces were investigators.”

Leo smiled and helped himself to some chickpeas, happy that they had brought a bottle of mineral water to go with it. Spicy, crunchy nuts and sweet tea together sounded awful. He poured the water into both of their glasses.

“Yep, they definitely pegged you right in that thick dossier when they said you were smart. Which guys did you have figured as CIA?”

“There was the prick who kept trying to bully me. He was playing bad cop. I’d say this was his first field assignment. Then there was the one in the blue suit who didn’t say a word, but he