Page 93 of Rescuing Erin

“Ah. You’re kicking us out of your country?” Brooks dramatically covered his chest.

Tatiana shook her head, not the least bit amused by his behavior. “With big egos, comes bigger mouths. Have a nice afternoon, gentlemen. Mr. Miller, I’ll see you at the docks off 59th, slip fifteen.”

The woman didn’t wait for us to stand before she took her exit, excusing us.

“Damn, brother, I was having grade school flashbacks.” Kyle chuckled.

“All that was missing was you pulling her hair,” Max threw in.

“Mark this, assholes, if we had more time, I’d be doing more than tugging on Miss Sex Kitten’s curly mane. Holy hell, those legs in those sky-high heels. Hot damn. And that mouth, she can throw some sexy attitude my way anytime,” Brooks told the group.

“Keep your dick in your pants. Recon only.”

“Copy that, boss.”

“Brooks wishes he had time for a quick recon mission.” Thad laughed at his own joke.

Please, God, get me out of this country in one piece. My first mission as team leader and I already have a man chasing tail. Zane wouldn’t be happy. The faster we could figure out what was so special about the Gulf of Bahrain and why Militrix was in the country, the better. Brooks looked more than serious about getting to know Tatiana. And Tatiana Jones was absolutely not who she claimed to be.

I could feel the imminent shitshow revving up.

Epilogue

Erin

“Are you ready?”

I finished adjusting the pearl necklace my mom had given me and turned from the full-length, mahogany mirror and faced my dad. I was mesmerized by the cheerfulness in his smile. It had been a hard six weeks, but seeing my father so happy soothed my nerves. I wasn’t nervous about marrying Colin. I knew he was who I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. No, my anxiety came from the media circus that had surrounded the White House.

My dad had stood tall and proud in front of the American people and had blown the lid off the NSA’s Angel program. On national television he’d explained that the privacy of millions of Americans had been trampled. His top advisors had begged him not to. But my dad believed in truth and above the truth was the constitution. He’d exposed the vice president’s complicity, explaining that Mr. Perkins had known the program was running even after my dad had instructed that it be shut down. He’d denied it, of course, leaving his campaign scrambling to do damage control. Tex wasn’t able to prove the vice president’s involvement in my dad’s or my kidnappings, but Colin and the rest of the guys were positive he not only knew, but had a hand in the planning. It was a mess, but, in the end, truth won out. I was proud of my dad, not only as a parent, but as my president.

“I am,” I finally answered.

My dad stood in front of me and took both of my hands in his. “My beautiful, sweet daughter. I’ve heard that no father is properly prepared to give his daughter’s hand in marriage. But I want you to know, I am. Today when I walk you to the man who will become your husband, I will do so with confidence. And not because I know he’ll provide for you and love you and protect you with his life. It will be because I know you will do all of those for him as well. You’ll provide him with the comfort and love he’ll need to calm his restlessness. You’ll cherish and appreciate him because he will adore and spoil you. And I know if the day should ever come again where you need to stand beside him, you will. All the lessons your mother and I have taught you about courage, honor, and bravery did not fall on deaf ears. We are so very proud of the woman you’ve become. I am proud.” He squeezed my hands and smiled. “So, I’ll ask you again, Erin Lynn, are you ready to go out there and get married?”

“Thank you, Daddy. I am now.”

“I’ll never tire of hearing you call me daddy.”

“Everyone is ready for you,” Gerard said from the doorway.

Thankfully, Gerard had made a full recovery, my dad had offered to transfer him to a less dangerous detail or to a different agency if he wanted, but Gerard had refused to leave my dad’s side. I think he was relieved when Gerard wanted to stay. Now, more than ever, my dad needed people around him he could trust.

He let go of my hands but before he could lead us out of the Lincoln bedroom, down the center hall, and finally into the Yellow Oval Room where Colin and my family were waiting for me, I needed to tell my dad a few things.

“Thank you for being such a great dad. I know I wasn’t always easy, especially the last few years. But I want you to know, my behavior had nothing to do with you. It was me feeling . . .”

“Stifled?”

“Yeah, a little bit. Anyway, I’m sorry if my actions worried you, but I’m not sorry I pushed and rebelled. I think I needed to. There were a few things I did and said I regret, but only the things that hurt you and Mom. Other than that, I learned some stuff about myself, I grew as a person, and I found Colin.”

“You should regret nothing, Erin. Live. Be who you were meant to be and never let anyone stop you. You are a force to be reckoned with.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I straightened his bow tie. “You sure do look handsome today.”

“I know your mother is happy you agreed to postpone the wedding. She said my face would’ve ruined your pictures. I told her that you’re going to be the wife of a tier-one mercenary, you should get used to black eyes. Your mother disagreed, and, smartly, I saw the light.”

The thing was, in all the years my parents had been married, he’d always seen it her way. There were very few things Clarissa Anderson wanted for. If my dad could give it, he did.