The SEAL's Surprise Son (The Admiral's Seals, #1) - Leslie North Page 0,6

of Austin’s life and ignored it. So why did he look so stricken now? And why didn’t he leave her side? He must have something he needed to do. Everyone else seemed busy.

“You…both of you need to get checked out,” Zach said when paramedics came through the front door.

Her sister was right behind them. Charlotte was working at All That Sparkles part time while pursuing her MBA. She engulfed Carolyn and Austin in a hug. “I thought my heart would stop when I saw the message from the security company. I was sitting in class, and—”

“Let’s talk about it later,” Carolyn interrupted, tilting her head toward Austin. She needed everyone who surrounded him to be calm. She didn’t want this to be a traumatic experience for him.

“Right.” Charlotte tickled Austin’s tummy and gave him a smile. Her eyes flicked toward Zach, but she said nothing about his sudden reappearance.

The paramedics cleared Carolyn and Austin before checking her employees. Jenna had cuts on her fingers from picking jewels out of the shattered glass cases, but other than that everyone was fine. Once Carolyn knew everyone was okay, she looked around at the damage and the herd of law enforcement in her store.

“What a mess,” Charlotte said. “I’ll take care of calling the insurance company and finishing up here.” She waved at the police presence. “You and Austin go on home.”

“I think we will.” She was relieved her sister had suggested it. “Call me later.”

“I’ll drive you.” Zach pushed off the wall where he’d been leaning. For the first time, Carolyn noticed his uniform: black tactical pants and a black shirt with a security firm’s logo on the chest. That’s how he’d been there, she realized. When had he left the service?

“I…” She started to object, but her hands were shaking. It would be good to have someone take her and Austin home—someone who, despite their past, she could trust to keep them safe. “Thanks. I’d appreciate it.”

“We’ll take your car. I don’t have a child seat.” His eyes lingered on Austin’s face before he turned, walking ahead of her and seeming to clear the way.

3

“I’ve moved,” Carolyn said after he started her car.

She’d taken her time settling her son, the child Zach was sure was their son, in his car seat.

“Where to?” Zach managed to ask, but his mind was focused on one fact. He had a son named Austin. Which was his middle name. It was a hell of a thing to digest and not something he could ever have anticipated when the call came in to assist the local police with a hostage situation.

She gave him an address, one he recognized as being in the older section of town where houses had front porches, gingerbread trim, and big backyards. He remembered those houses because he’d been jealous of the kids who lived in them. Kids, he’d assumed, who had better lives than he and his brothers had after his mother left. Kids whose fathers didn’t alternate between being dead drunk and using their sons as punching bags. He should be happy that Austin was being raised somewhere nice, but somehow it felt like a slap in the face along with the one she’d given him by not telling him about his son.

He checked the mirrors to ease into traffic and caught a glimpse of Austin in the back seat. His head was tipped to the side, eyes closed. Asleep already. She’d heard Carolyn tell the paramedic that the boy was fourteen months old. He calculated back fourteen months, plus nine for her pregnancy. The math worked. They’d conceived a baby before Zach left on his last mission with the SEALs.

It also meant that Zach had missed over a year of his son’s life. Anger welled in him, and only the controlled calm he’d learned from years of watching and waiting as a sniper kept it inside.

He could wait and confront Carolyn when their son didn’t have a front-row seat to witness it. He’d seen too many such scenes himself as a kid: his parents sparring with each other until his father used his fists and the roar of his voice to end the argument. For years, Zach had blamed his mother for taking off on them, but as he’d gotten older, he realized she might have been driven by self-preservation. He still couldn’t figure how she’d left her kids, though. He’d been seven when she went to the grocery store and never came back. He and his younger brothers,