Gone Too Far Read Online Free PDF Page A

trusted officers, had been in one of the circling helicopters. He’d spotted a weapon on the man in question and shouted, “Gun!”
    Tom hadn’t thought twice about giving the order to take down that terrorist shooter, or the two others who had started firing into the crowd. Kelly had been there that day, along with countless other wives and girlfriends and children and mothers and . . .
    And his commander in chief, the United States President.
    Tom’s quick order had saved lives—there was no doubt about it. He’d do it all over again, without hesitation. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known that his career was over even as the command to fire was leaving his lips.
    Some things were worth more than a man’s career.
    He was relieved of his command within the week, and Lt. Jazz Jacquette, his executive officer and a man he’d trust with his life, was given temporary command of SEAL Team Sixteen.
    “My career in the Navy’s over and done.” It was the first time Tom said the words aloud, the first time he’d voiced what he’d known to be true for a while now.
    The first time he’d told Kelly.
    Her eyes filled with tears. “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah. I’ve known for months.” He looked at her sitting there, still naked among all that fruit. “I guess I kind of killed the mood. Sorry about that.”
    She shook her head. “I had no idea it was . . . Oh, Tom. Why didn’t you tell me before this? You’re supposed to talk to me about things like that. About . . . God .”
    “I just kept hoping I was wrong,” he said. “I’m sorry. I just . . .” He shrugged.
    She reached for him, and he went into her arms.
    “I’m sorry, Kel,” he said again. “I guess I thought maybe if I didn’t say it aloud . . .” He kissed her and tasted salt.
    Kelly pulled back slightly to look at him and to wipe her eyes. “They’re fools for letting you go.”
    “Yeah, well, thanks, but—”
    “You know, Max Bhagat would hire you in a heartbeat,” she said.
    Tom smiled at her ferocity. “You want me to join the FBI?”
    “Yeah,” Kelly said. “Yeah, Tom, I do. There are a lot of very bad people out there and you’re very good at catching them. If the Navy won’t let you do it as a SEAL, well, you’ll just have to do it some other way.”
    “I still want to have kids. Let me rephrase—I want to get married and have kids.”
    “Will you give me some time to think about that?”
    Like he hadn’t already given her a few years? “Yeah,” Tom said. “I’ll give you twenty minutes.”
    She laughed.
    “Come on, we could go to Vegas,” he said. “This afternoon. Or we could schedule something small here on base. Betcha I can find someone to marry us tonight. That license upstairs is still good to go.”
    On his birthday, Kelly had wanted to get him a new truck with some of the money she’d inherited from her father. Their financial situation continued to be a prickly spot for Tom, who had drawn the line at comingling their funds until after they were married. They were living together, sure, but this was his house and he was paying the bills. Which pissed Kelly off because not only had she received a huge amount of money on her father’s death, but she also pulled in a significantly higher salary as a pediatrician.
    But Tom had a stubborn streak, too, and until she became his wife, there would be no ours as far as finances went. And even then, he was going to make her sign a prenup to protect her inheritance.
    As part of his birthday negotiation, he’d told her he’d accept her gift of that truck if she went down to city hall with him and applied for a marriage license. They didn’t have to use it, they just had to have it.
    So now it was in a file on the desk in his den, ready for Kelly to give in and make this thing between them legal.
    “You know, you could give me more than twenty minutes to think about it, and we could spend the day doing something else.” She leaned back into the fruit, eating a piece