SEAL’s Pretend Family: Sentinel Security, #3

By Leslie North

Danger is the ultimate aphrodisiac…



School teacher Danielle Yesenko's calm and predictable life is turned upside down when her sister leaves Danielle's infant niece on her doorstep, along with a flash drive and a mysterious note. Then smoking hot former-Navy SEAL Shawn Joseph shows up, saying he was hired to help. 

 

Danielle is shocked when he reveals that her sister is a CIA agent, whose life is in danger. And she's even more surprised when the gorgeous Shawn announces he'll be staying with her for a while…

 

Shawn is in his element, protecting a beautiful woman and a baby from some pretty nasty characters. It isn't long before the two are on the run, with deadly enemies hot on their tail. As adrenaline and attraction rise, Shawn has to remind himself that Danielle is just an assignment. And if he wants to do his job, he'll have to ignore the growing attraction he feels…

 

But as the danger escalates, so do his feelings for Danielle. And Shawn quickly finds himself risking everything. Including his heart…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Relay Publishing
• Release date: Jun 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201136253

Book preview

1

I t’s okay, it’s okay. Danielle bounced the wailing baby in her arms as she chanted the words over and over again, like a mantra. Maybe if she said the phrase enough times, things would suddenly be okay—even if she couldn’t possibly imagine how. Not unless her sister magically appeared and explained why exactly she’d dropped her baby daughter off on Danielle’s doorstep the night before, and then left without a word.

The baby in her arms wriggled as if trying to fight her way free, momentarily quieting as she sucked in a deep breath and then wailed at an ear-shattering decibel. Danielle quickly adjusted her hold and bounced the little girl gently, just like she’d been doing almost nonstop for the entirety of the past day. Grace—her niece, apparently—was only two months old, but clearly had a fully developed set of lungs and a raging grudge against sleep. Or maybe just a grudge against Danielle.

I know, Grace, I know, Danielle murmured, trying in vain to soothe the squalling infant. You miss your mama. I’d really like to know where the hell she is, too. Shit. Oops. As an elementary school teacher, she was usually very good about watching her language, but when she went too long without sleep, she started to lose her filter. And when she was this on edge, well… It had only been twenty-six hours, but she could feel the edges of her resilience fraying. It wasn’t just the lack of sleep, or the fact that she had functionally zero experience with babies—other than cooing over a friend’s kid at a party before quickly handing them back when they started to leak. It wasn’t even that Grace hadn’t really stopped crying since she’d first woken up in Danielle’s house, though that certainly didn’t help matters at all. Danielle hadn’t been prepared for the way a baby’s cry reached down into your chest and shredded your heart.

Beyond that, it was Valentina. It was that Danielle hadn’t seen her sister in person in six years, that she’d barely heard from the jet-setting journalist aside from a text or email here and there to let her know that she’d gotten married, that she was pregnant, that she’d had a baby, and oh, here’s a picture. For six years—hell, since Danielle had gone to college—Val had made it pretty damn clear that she wasn’t interested in being a part of Danielle’s life, or vice versa. She’d made them effectively strangers to each other. And then Val went and pulled something like this.

Danielle had been drawing up plans for her school’s upcoming Career Day when the doorbell rang. She’d debated answering it for a moment or two, since it had been nearly midnight. That was when she’d first heard the cry—plaintive, confused, and frightened. And when Danielle had opened the door, Grace was there on the front stoop, squalling in her car seat, tears running down her tiny, wrinkled face.

There’d been a fully stocked diaper bag with Grace, and a note saying nothing more than This is Grace. Please keep her safe. Help is on the way. –Val. There’d been a flash drive tucked into the front pocket of the bag, too, just to add to the profound weirdness of the whole situation, but it must have been broken, because when Danielle had plugged it into her computer, nothing had popped up except a blank box. Just another in the still-growing series of questions with no answers.

Danielle felt Grace’s small body start to sag against her, her tiny frame going limp against Danielle’s shoulders. Danielle held her breath, not daring to risk even the slightest disturbance as Grace’s cries slowly eased into whimpers. Please, please, just go to sleep…

The doorbell rang.

Danielle closed her eyes—hoping, praying—but in vain. Her two-month-old niece shifted in her arms, her sleepy whimper rocketing right back up to a shrill, soaring cry. Frustration and hope tangled together as Danielle strode over to her front door and jerked it open. That had better be Val. Because anyone else, she was going to murder. She’d never murdered anyone before, but she was pretty sure she could find a way.

It wasn’t Val.

It was a man. A tall, muscular man, all diamond-edged cheekbones and icy blue eyes, his black T-shirt straining against his broad shoulders and beautifully cut arms. He had a neatly trimmed beard, and long, wavy golden hair tumbling in lustrous waves over his shoulders, as if he was shooting a commercial for whatever brand of hair product Aquaman used. For a moment, Danielle felt faintly dizzy. It was probably the sleep deprivation. Was she in some sort of half-conscious fugue state? Are you having that firefighter Viking dream again?

Danielle Yesenko? His voice was a low rumble that had a shiver running down her spine in spite of the muggy Florida heat. Those ice blue eyes took her in, in one long look that had her suddenly remembering that she was wearing tropical print pajama shorts and a faded gray T-shirt featuring a bespectacled dinosaur holding a book that proclaimed it THESAURUS REX. Then his gaze shifted to the still-crying baby she was holding. And Grace.

Danielle shifted Grace to her other arm, away from the doorway, putting herself between her niece and the mysterious ninja Viking who’d just appeared. Who are you?

My name is Shawn Joseph. Your sister sent me.

Really. She didn’t even try to keep the skepticism out of her voice.

He regarded her for a moment, and then said, Gertrude.

Danielle hesitated. What?

That’s the name you picked out for the dog you always wanted, back when the two of you were kids. Valentina said you guys decided to call her Gertrude, because you thought if you gave her a grown-up name, it would show your parents you were serious and convince them to get you one.

She hesitated. No one but her sister could have told him that story. And if Val wanted Danielle to trust him, to know that she really had sent him, that was exactly the kind of story she’d arm him with. Where is my sister? Danielle demanded, her fatigue overshadowed for the moment by equal parts anger and concern. What’s going on?

Let me in, and I’ll tell you what I know, he said levelly. When she hesitated, he added, It’s not safe out here.

An entirely different kind of shiver raced up her spine, and she hugged Grace a little tighter. What do you mean by that?

Exactly what I said. You’re in danger, both of you. Please, he said, and though he kept his voice calm, his expression was urgent.

Her gut twisting into knots, Danielle stepped back and let him in. Up until then, she’d tried to tell herself that Val was just off somewhere doing her own thing. She hadn’t wanted to consider the idea that the situation was truly dangerous. But now she couldn’t ignore that sense of foreboding anymore. What’s going on? Do you know where my sister is?

No. He shut the door behind him and locked it, then set down the large black duffel bag she hadn’t noticed him carrying earlier. Your sister reached out to me last week. She hired me to protect you and Grace, he continued as he stalked through her small bungalow, checking every window as he made his way around the inside perimeter, making sure they were all locked and the curtains were pulled shut. Satisfied, he headed back over to her and held out a business card. In case you want to look me up.

Still bouncing the baby, who had at least downgraded from wailing to fussing, Danielle took it cautiously. It read Shawn Joseph, Sentinel Security. Sentinel Security?

We’re a private security firm. My partners and I provide personal protection for those in need. He gestured to her and Grace. I used to be a Navy SEAL. That’s how Valentina knows me—I ran a few missions with an associate of hers from the CIA.

From the—what? The CIA? Val had associates at the CIA? Weren’t their operations supposed to be classified? Why would they have been working with a journalist like Val? And she hired you to protect us? Danielle echoed, still struggling to absorb all this. Protect us from what?

It’s a who, not a what, Shawn said, the intense expression on his face still in contrast to the steady, even cadence of his voice. From the people who are after her. She wanted to make sure they didn’t get their hands on her family, in case they tried to use the two of you as leverage against her. Shawn raised an eyebrow. She didn’t tell you any of this?

"No. She didn’t say anything. Danielle heard the note of hysteria rising in her voice and tried to tamp it down. Letting out a controlled breath, she continued, trying her best to match his calmer tone. I haven’t seen my sister in almost seven years. And then last night, there’s a knock on the door and this baby on the doorstep with a note from Val asking me to keep Grace safe and telling me that help was on the way. She felt tears prick her eyes. From exhaustion, that was all. It had been a long, long day, and now a strange and insanely hot man was telling her that her sister had been working with some kind of secret agent? That made even less sense than the rest of it. And now you’re saying someone’s after her? After us? I don’t understand. Why would someone be after her? Is this connected to a story she’s working on?"

Shawn gave her a blank look. A story? he asked. You think your sister is…a writer?

This was getting weirder and weirder. "She is a writer—a journalist."

Shawn regarded her for one weighted moment. She had a feeling that he was deciding something. Your sister is a spy.

It took a second for the words to register. For a moment, it seemed as if they were in a foreign language. What? How? No—no, I told you, Val is a journalist, on assignment overseas in the Middle East.

That’s just her cover. Shawn’s voice was low and steady and implacable. Valentina Yesenko is a spy, working for the CIA, though it is true that she was assigned to the Middle East. And right now, she’s on the run from someone very dangerous. We don’t know who, but she’s trying to find out. That’s why she reached out to me a few days ago. She had to drop off the radar while she searched for who’s after her and what they want. She couldn’t do that with a baby, and she wouldn’t trust her daughter with anyone but you—but she was also afraid that whoever is after her will come for you and Grace and try to use the two of you against her. I’m going to keep you safe—both of you—until she finds out who’s behind all this. I thought she was going to explain all of this to you.

Danielle hugged Grace tighter, causing the baby to fuss more. Shawn gave her a scrutinizing look and then held out his hands. May I?

What?

I have seven nieces and nephews, so I’ve done a lot of babysitting. She seems a little fussy. He raised an eyebrow. Mind if I give it a shot?

Danielle hesitated, but whatever she was doing clearly wasn’t working. Gently, she passed Grace over. He settled the baby against his shoulder with the ease of long practice and patted her back steadily. Slowly, Grace’s cries began to quiet.

Through the fog of exhaustion, Danielle heard herself say, My sister and I haven’t spoken in a while. We barely keep in touch at all. I…I didn’t know any of this. I didn’t know her. Even after all this time, with all of the distance between them, she’d still thought she’d had some basic sense of who her sister was. But she hadn’t had any idea at all.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. It felt like she’d stumbled into some kind of alternate reality. Danielle looked at him, feeling so lost she couldn’t keep the plea from her voice. You have to be wrong. This isn’t real.

It’s real, Shawn said gravely. And you and Grace are in very real danger.

2

Danielle stepped out of her bedroom and sighed, the weight of the last day settling heavily on her shoulders. It was hard to believe it had only been a day since she’d found Grace on the front stoop. It felt like it had been so much longer. A year, at least. Maybe even a decade.

Valentina was a spy. It seemed impossible, but somehow it had to be true. It would certainly explain why Val had dropped her baby off here without so much as a word of warning, why she’d been so remote and guarded over the past six years. Or partly explain it, at least. And…well, Danielle might’ve only just met Shawn, but her gut was telling her that he was being honest with her. A quick Google search as she’d been putting Grace down confirmed he was exactly who he said he was, and that Sentinel Security was a legitimate and well-reviewed business.

Danielle made her way towards the living room, the quiet in the house feeling odd and a little unsettling after all of Grace’s wailing. She’d finally gotten Grace fed and down in the Pack ’n Play she’d had express delivered. Now she just had to cling to the hope that her niece would actually stay asleep for more than an hour. Everything in Danielle was crying out for her to lie down and sleep as well, while Grace was down, but she needed answers more than she needed sleep.

Shawn was on his phone, texting rapidly, but he glanced up when she came in. Hey.

Hey. Danielle ran a hand through her hair. Sorry about that, but the app said it was Grace’s bedtime.

The app? He looked slightly amused.

Danielle nodded and pulled out her phone to show him. It’s this baby scheduling app that has all of Grace’s info in it. Val taped a note with the log in info onto the bottle of formula. It was supposed to make taking care of Grace easy.

He looked skeptical. Not that she could blame him. They hadn’t gotten very far in their conversation before Grace’s crying had gotten worse, and then the app on her phone had chimed to cheerfully and helpfully remind her that Grace should be asleep. Which Danielle had finally gotten her to do, with a dark, quiet room and walking around holding her until her arms ached. I’m sorry, it’s been a very long day. Can we please just start this conversation over?

That’s a good idea. Why don’t I make us some coffee? Shawn suggested after a moment, his voice surprisingly gentle. She must have looked even worse than she felt. And she felt seriously lousy. Would you like some?

Danielle waved a tired hand in the general direction of the kitchen. Thanks, and yes. She followed him in a fog as he headed into the kitchen, standing there numbly as he went through her cabinets until he found