A Warrior's Heart: Lady Leathernecks, #1

By Amber J. Cabrera

Angelina Weber

An overachieving, enlisted female Marine devoted to going all the way in her military career. Hell bent and determined not to end up a small town statistic or a divorce war story, she vows never to marry. Opting instead for a rewarding life as a Combat Correspondent in the Marine Corps. Her main goal? Get deployed to where the action is- Iraq. Before checking in to her new duty station, she takes a vacation to the Florida Keys with her sister and best friend where she meets Tristan, a gorgeous but complicated man. His arrogance and charm represent every danger sign she has vowed to resist in order to stay on her career track.

Tristan Livoti

A Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, he has devoted himself to risking his life in the name of serving his country. His sole mission is to do his job well, complete his mission, lead his brothers into battle and bring them all home. He accepts his duty as protector of his country but also longs to settle down. Based on his experiences, most of the women he has met can't or don't want to be the wife of a deployed Marine. He wants to heal the pain and memories of war with the love of a feisty and challenging woman, someone to match his own temperament. However, with every failed attempt at love, his walls hardened and he refuses to let anyone in. This woman however, was getting under his skin...

Just A Fling? She is too smart to fall for this pretty boy...isn't she?

Regardless of the growing desire for each other, they agree on this vacation to institute the rule of no personal information shared, not even last names or what they do for a living. Angelina rationalizes that their desire for one another is just a fling and nothing more.

Once it is over, it's over- or so she thought. A month later, Angelina is deployed on a special assignment to Iraq, attached to a Recon unit as a female interrogator and journalist. She reports in to find out that Tristan is her new Unit Commander!

Questions and accusations abound. Sexual tension between them re-ignites despite their best efforts to convince the other of their disinterest. Meanwhile, suspicion of a traitor in their unit is realized. They must work together to fight a dangerous mission against insurgents who plague the civilians they are trying to protect while trying to stay alive and fight off any impropriety that could allude to their past. Will Angelina be able to balance her loyalty to duty with her loyalty to love?

Will they survive the war and each other?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amber J. Cabrera
• Release date: Mar 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386176107

Book preview

A Warrior’s Heart

Book One of the Lady Leatherneck Series

by

A.J. Cabrera

––––––––

Copyright © 2014 by

A.J. Cabrera

www.AmberJCraft.com

Cover art by A.J. Cabrera and Fiverr.com

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without the expressed written permission of the author.

All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

Hey, Ange, pass me a drink, Jordyn said.  Stirring from her daydream, Angelina opened her eyes, and stared bewildered for a moment.  Then she reached over to the floorboard beside her and pulled out a wet, cold soda from the cooler. Her sister had stashed it there earlier. Handing it to her, Angelina returned Jordyn’s nod and verbal Thanks, from where she sat in the driver’s seat.

Angelina Weber was the prisoner of an overzealous sister and a well-meaning best friend. 

Jordyn was monitoring her facial expressions from her rear-view mirror.  Aw Ange, you’ll have fun, I promise. 

Angelina rolled her eyes.

Possibly a little rest and relaxation was in order after 13 weeks of boot camp, two weeks of Marine Combat Training and then another three months of Combat Correspondent school. Angelina considered that maybe she could be patient a little while longer before checking in to her first duty station to enjoy a weeklong trip to the Florida Keys.  Not exactly her idea though, it was a gift from Kate and Jordyn, the two closest people to her in the world. 

Such an ironic life.

Angelina wasn’t even supposed to be here.  Her acceptance letter to law school had been received; her scholarship had been in place, and her bags had been practically packed. 

In some ways she thought that she should thank Jordyn.  Had she not been the free-spirited and sometimes absent-minded soul that she was, Angelina would not be here.  Her sister was many things- beautiful, fun loving, popular, but most of all impulsive.  Maybe dangerously so. 

Her last caper, by all definitions from the perspective of level-headed humans, had the potential to land Angelina in a four-walled padded white room.  Instead, it landed her in the Marine Corps.

Some would argue that there is little difference.

Angelina wasn’t sure why her sister decided on a whim to join.  Could it have been the high school recruiter who was just a little too handsome for his own good?  Or was it the uniform that threatened to ruin all young, influential girls for the rest of humankind?  Whatever it was, it got to her before Angelina and her mother had a chance to talk some sense into Jordyn.  Once the papers were signed, there was little they could do about it.

Well, there was one thing.

Angelina decided to enlist with her, keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn’t on the fast track to insanity.  Jordyn’s recruiter was only too happy to sign Angelina up as well.  It must have made his entire month. 

Angelina had always been there for Jordyn, and in many cases, was the one to get her out of trouble.  In this case, however, there was nothing Angelina could do to get her sister out of this.  The Marines had Jordyn. 

Angelina opted to enlist on the buddy program which ensured that she and Jordyn would train in boot camp together.  Angelina loves her sister, but sometimes wonders about her inclinations toward danger.

Chapter 2

It was about eight months ago that Angelina got on that bus headed for Parris Island. At 25, she was definitely older than most of her fellow recruits, and even a couple of her drill instructors. Her life up to that point was on the law school track. She had graduated first in her class from Florida State University with a degree in International Studies, and worked as a paralegal for a criminal law firm.

She enjoyed her job but had always felt that there was something missing. The longer Angelina exposed herself to the politics of a corporate setting, the faster she realized that she didn't want to confine her dreams to staring at four walls for forty hours a week or more.  When the end of her life came, she wanted to know that she had done something meaningful with it. 

Enter the circumstances surrounding Jordyn.  Fresh out of high school and on a mission to conquer the world, she announced one day to her mom and Angelina that she enlisted in the Marine Corps.  Apparently it wasn’t good enough to simply move away from home and start college to find her freedom, as so many of her other friends had done.  She wanted to make a difference in the world, and no doubt shock her friends and family with such a declaration. 

Jordyn had always been a sucker for the idealism of saving the world and crusading on just causes, seeking out justice and the American way, so to speak.  On a whim, and with the help of an all too eager high school recruiter to help realize her delusions, she enlisted without speaking to anyone.  Not even Angelina, whom she had always confided in. Angelina assumed that Jordyn was sure she would not exactly get our approval. 

Angelina is the oldest between the two of them. Older by six years.  Their mother had been a sucker for romantic notions. No doubt where Jordyn got her romantic side from. She married their father after knowing each other for only four months. Well, that along with the fact that they discovered she was six weeks pregnant with Angelina.  The marriage had been a mistake of overwhelming proportions, as their dad was an alcoholic, and emotionally and verbally abusive to their mother. Angelina loved her father, but she didn’t exactly like him because of what he had put their mother through.

Mom was a kind, gentle soul, but had a strength unparalleled to anyone Angelina have ever seen.  It was only after Jordyn was born that her mom had had enough and divorced their dad.  She struggled as a single mother of two, but persevered moving on to get her nursing degree. 

Hey, Ange? called Jordyn from the front seat again.

Looking up, Angelina realized she had been lost once again in a daydream. Yeah?

Smiling in rearview mirror at her, Jordyn said, We’re here.

Startled at how the time had flown, Angelina looked out the window and realized Jordyn was right. They were pulling up in front of the hotel where all of the fun was supposed to take place for the next four days. Trying hard not to roll her eyes, Angelina gave her a forced smile and a double thumbs up. Angelina could tell that Jordyn knew she was forcing it, but what did she expect. Angelina hadn’t wanted to come in the first place.

Seeing the valet approach the car, Angelina opened her door and stepped out onto bricked driveway, ready to face whatever the next four days would bring.

Chapter 3

As she exited the vehicle, Angelina was impressed with how beautiful and welcoming the exterior of the hotel looked.  It was almost dusk, and the hotel’s exterior lit up showing off the architecture and foliage in a spectacular fashion. The sleek lines of the hotel, along with the carefully planted palm trees and flowering plants gave one the impression of having travelled to a hidden paradise.  Angelina had to admit that Jordyn did a good job of picking the place. It was a beautiful Mediterranean design right on the beach. 

Jordyn and I will take care of the bags, Ange, you go stand in line at the check-in desk, Kate ordered.  A second valet was already helping Kate out of the car and welcoming Angelina at the same time.  Shrugging her shoulders to loosen them up, Angelina turned and proceeded inside. 

A sweep of cold air blew into her face as she entered the front entrance.  The beautifully decorated lobby and soft music filtered through the air.  Mosaic designs covered the entrance floor and continued in the artwork, which were hung strategically throughout the lobby. Sophisticated flower arrangements adorned the marble-topped tables located throughout the lobby and sitting areas.

It was a bit crowded in the lobby. Angelina dutifully took her place in the long check-in line. She supposed that tourists were trying to take advantage of what little warm Florida weather was left before it turned cold for the winter.  Angelina surveyed the area looking for a possible second check-in desk.  Seeing none, she let a sigh escape her lips and resigned to accept that there was no way around waiting.

Her eyes wandered to the décor again as she moved forward in line. There was a small group of men standing off to the side talking and they immediately drew her attention. The three guys were all over six feet tall, with muscles screaming to be released from the confines of their clothing. Angelina couldn’t hear what they were saying, but when the tallest one laughed she felt the sound all the way in her belly. She couldn’t see his face yet, but the other two guys were gorgeous, the kind of gorgeous that fueled a lonely girl’s dreams at night.

When none of them seemed to be interested in the line, Angelina shrugged and turned back around. Deciding they must be waiting for someone else who was already in the line, she took her place behind the elderly couple in front of her. Angelina smiled as she watched the elderly man place his arm around his wife’s waist as she gave him a smile in return. It was evident to