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

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Leo’s voice was gentle.

“Have at it. I’ve told you things that most of the people who’ve known me for the last five years don’t know.”

“If you dislike your father so much, why are you here rattling cages?”

Daisy grimaced, but then her expression smoothed out. She would win an award at compartmentalizing. “Like I told you before, it’s mostly for my siblings and the fact that I can’t let him be hurt. I love my siblings. I still can’t believe just how attached they are to him. I don’t get it. Personally, I think they need an intervention, but I’m not the type to do something like that. Live and let live. That’s a courtesy they extend to me as well, so we’re good.”

“I wouldn’t know what that was like.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“If my brothers and sisters weren’t in my business on a constant basis, I would think the pod people had taken them over. They have their noses in every aspect of my life.”

“Including your career?”

“Well, not what I do when I’m out in the field, but my sisters really want me to quit special forces. They want me to settle down and join the police force or fire department like my brothers. I’ll quote, ‘Leo, if you have to risk your life, do it local so you can settle down with a nice girl and have bebés.’”

Daisy snorted. “At least I never heard that from my siblings, or my mom or stepdad. I don’t know what I would do if they told me how to run my life. I think I would fall over in disbelief. So tell me, have you got enough background on me?”

“Even your mom?”

“Especially my mom. Her parents were a big influence on marrying the good doctor so young. They thought it was a prestigious match.” Daisy paused.

“What?”

She gave a half-laugh. “I was wrong. If anybody has an opinion about my life it’s my grandparents. They’re not impressed with what I’ve accomplished. They think I should settle down local and have some bebés.”

Leo gave a full laugh. “I told you. There’s always someone in the family with that opinion. Are you done massacring that eggplant? Can we order dessert now? And I’m not talking this damned tea.”

Daisy’s smile was a beautiful thing to behold.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“They use less sugar in their desserts. At least if they are truly like the ones that I’ve had baked for me by the Afghan women.”

Leo made a gesture for the waiter, then requested the dessert menu. After he left, Leo asked Daisy to recommend something. She explained the different desserts, and he chose the sheer yakh which was basically the Afghan version of ice cream flavored with cardamom and wild orchid.

“I can’t wait to tell my sisters I ate orchid ice cream. What are you having?”

“Gosh-e fil. It’s a pastry that’s lightly fried then topped with powdered sugar and other heavenly goodness.”

When the waiter came back, they gave their orders. That was when Leo’s phone rang. It was Kane. “I’ve got to step out and take this.”

Daisy nodded. He was impressed she didn’t ask a lot of questions.

As soon as he was out of the restaurant he answered. “Wait a minute.”

“Okay.”

The lobby was crowded, how in the hell had that happened? He went out to the front of the hotel, the heat blasting him like a furnace.

“Whatcha got?” he asked Kane.

“It’s definitely the Haqqani Network, not Al Qaida. They’ve got the reporter and the doc. They’re making noise about the doctor, they’re pissed. He’s been flying in the face of all sorts of Muslim laws. He’s been treating women without their husbands present—”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“It gets worse.”

“How can it get worse than that?”

“When confronted, he told Imans that they were trying to kill their wives and children. That they might as well be putting a gun to their heads, and that the prophet Muhammad would be ashamed of them.”

“He did not bring up the prophet. Tell me he did not bring up Muhammad.”

“Yep. He painted a neon yellow bullseye on his back. Right now we have Marine translators on the ground, and they’re trying to get intel from the Afghans or Taliban. Whoever they can, but they haven’t hit pay dirt yet. Their feeling on this is that Dr. Squires is going to be made some kind of example.”

“Beheading?”

“That’s their take. Again, they don’t have any intel yet. But yeah, most likely. The only thing stopping them is that our intel has the leader, Siraj Haqqani in Pakistan right now. They wouldn’t want to do this without him to witness.”

“But he’s associated with the Taliban, and they want the Taliban to appear clean these days. I don’t get it.” Leo was confused.

“They wouldn’t put Siraj on tape. He’d just be there for the joy of watching. Asshole.”

“Oh, got it. What’s keeping him in Pakistan?”

“Now that we do have good intel on. There have been some back-and-forths going on with the locals and the Haqqani. He’s leading it. As soon as it dies down, you can bet he’s hot-footing it to Afghanistan.”

“So we’ve got to find Squires before the execution.”

Great.

“Well, find him and rescue him.” Kane clarified.

Double great.

“You left the embassy an hour ago. Did you get much from the daughter?”

“She basically confirms everything that you just told me. Her father is an arrogant prick who will sidestep all cultural norms to do what his pride demands. Arrogant motherfucker. It’s going to end up getting him killed, and probably that reporter too.”

“Get your