Saving the Seal 2: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance (9 page)

“You think I’m like
him
.” The young man was very clearly disturbed. It looked like he would rather be anywhere at that particular moment than in her office. “Everyone thinks I’m like him, but I’m
not
.” Leaning against the closed door, Jonas slid down slowly until he was huddled in a fetal position, face hidden against his knees. “
I’m not
.”

For a moment, Genny just looked at him, unsure of what to do. Technically, this could all be some elaborate plot to get her closer to him. The man’s paperwork didn’t indicate a history of mental illness, but that was probably because he’d never been treated before. In her professional opinion, Jonas was quite clearly suffering from anxiety, paranoia, and depression. If he was faking it, he was certainly quite the actor.

For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Then, a soft, hitching sob came from the figure huddled on the floor and, despite herself, Genny felt her heart going out to him.

Jonas Kant, while in appearance nearly identical to his father, appeared to be absolutely nothing like him. Slowly, hesitantly, the young woman stood, rounding her desk to cross the room to Jonas’ side. Tentatively, she reached down to put a hand on his shoulder.

The man only flinched, and he didn’t stop his crying. If anything, his sobs only increased in volume.

Clearing her throat, Genny spoke to him in a low tone. “Jonas. Jonas, it’s alright. I don’t think you’re like your father.” When he didn’t respond, Genevieve took a chance and knelt next to him to speak directly next to his ear. “Jonas, it’s OK, really. You’re here to get help. All I want to do is help you.”

Completely unexpectedly the man turned to her, throwing his arms about her shoulders as he crushed her against him. She was immediately enveloped by the scent of tears, body odor and despair, and terrified, Genny froze. She expected Jonas’ grip to become tighter and tighter until she couldn’t breathe – expected him to suddenly drop the act and tell her how much he hated her.

To call her a lying, scheming
whore
.

But none of those things happened. Instead, Jonas just clung to her as if she were his only life line, sobbing as though his heart was broken. “
Help me.”
He pleaded, pitifully, “
Please help me.
”

Slowly, tentatively, Genny wrapped her arms around him, patting his back comfortingly. Two things were dreadfully apparent in that moment. One: that this man needed desperately to be treated and two: that there was less of Daniel Kant in his son than there was in she herself.

For the next few days, Genevieve receded deep into thought any time she had a spare moment. The entirety of her first hour-long session with Jonas had consisted of her trying to get him to calm down. Something had very clearly happened to him that rendered him scared beyond all rational belief.

And the more Genny thought about it, the more it made sense.

Kant had never even mentioned that he had a son. What if he’d intended to keep his secret? What if, heaven forbid, he’d forced the young man to do unmentionable things against his will?

It wasn’t so far-fetched. After all, this man had foisted medication on patients that had led to them entering comatose states of depression, if not worse.

Maybe they
were
being a bit paranoid. Of course, she’d been wrong about the flowers, and she’d been fully willing to admit that. However, how did they even know that Jonas being taken on by the hospital and the foreboding package she received even had anything to do with one another? In the darkest parts of her mind, it would be all too easy to believe Kant and the Admiral were conspiring from behind bars to cause her harm. But was that fear going to keep her from treating a man who might very well need her help?

Genevieve didn’t believe she could neglect her duty to that extent. She was a psychiatrist first and foremost, and this man had served in the army for two years and needed therapy.

When she voiced her concerns to Owen, however, he still seemed skeptical. She came upon the man sitting bare chested at the kitchen table, honing the edge of a wicked-looking butterfly knife into a fine, clean line. In that moment, she could see the SEAL everyone respected and feared. The man who killed when ordered, and would do anything for his country.

The man Owen was meant to be.

Owen put the knife away when she’d finished speaking, his scowl still firmly in place. “Genny…” His lover could fairly see the struggle going on behind his eyes. “I’m not alright with you taking Jonas on as a patient, and you know that. Getting so close to him was the kind of risk I don’t want you taking.”

“But Owen, what if Kant abused him? Scarred him? What if he’s not pretending?”

“And what if he is?” Owen fired back. “You’re still in a very vulnerable position, and it would be negligent of you to forget it.” His words were biting and sharp, making her wince at their intensity.

Her reaction, however, only made her lover sigh. As Eddie whined beside them, the statuesque man took her into his arms, pressing his mouth hotly against hers. Genny shuddered as he nipped and sucked at her lips expertly, effectively working all the tension from her body. “Genevieve, I just don’t want you to be caught off guard.” He murmured lowly against her lips. “I can’t have anyone else I care about die on my watch. I don’t…I don’t know what it would do to me.”

It must have killed him to admit it. Reassuringly, Genny wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her head against his chest. “I know, Owen. I swear, I’m being as careful as I possibly can.”

The former SEAL sighed, stroking up and down her back leisurely. “I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

The next two weeks passed rather uneventfully. Compared to the commotion caused by the unmarked packages, all was quiet. Genevieve was finally beginning to get used to her hectic new schedule, so much so that she was coming home before nine every night. Not that Owen saw that as an excuse not to call him before she came. His lover noticed that even as everyone around him relaxed, Owen still remained on high alert.

She herself remained a bit on edge in the two subsequent sessions she had with Jonas Kant. Despite her own nervousness, however, the man barely did anything more than sob and tremble. It was like the very sight of her was enough to make him draw into himself and revert to an almost childlike state.

Genny spent the majority of their sessions simply trying to get a history out of him and giving up when all she received was nonsensical blabber. She began to think that perhaps Riperton wasn’t the proper place for him. Maybe the man needed to be institutionalized. Of course, he wouldn’t be put with anyone dangerous. The object was just to get him the round the clock care that he needed to eventually be able to live a normal life. When she discussed the prospect with both Stella and Director White, they agreed. If Jonas went an entire month without making any progress, they would commit him on a short term basis – just to see how he did.

It was on the heels of her third unproductive session with Doctor Kant’s son that she found herself at Gina’s, sipping a glass of white wine her friend provided for her while the pregnant woman herself merely looked on wistfully.

“It pains me to admit it, Gina, but I don’t think I can help him.” The Latina woman took a bite from the pint of ice cream she held, her expression empathetic.

“Don’t blame yourself, Genny. You tried. For God’s sake, the man’s father was out to make millions off the backs of our hardworking veterans and you’re still trying to help his son. That seems pretty selfless in my book.”

“Well,” Genny sipped her Pinot Grigio, thoughtful, “Just because Daniel was a bad egg doesn’t mean his son has to be.”

“True.” Gina agreed. “But come on, Genevieve, no one comes out of having a father like that unscathed.”

She had a point. As the elder woman spoke, she stroked over her rounded stomach errantly, and Genny knew she was thinking of her own child. Gina was due in a little under a month now, and though she tried not to show it, she was nervous about giving birth without Sean around. Though the captain had promised her that he would be on the phone with her if he could, it just wasn’t the same.

Gina and Sean’s situation was a painful reminder of what Genny and Owen’s future would be like if he again took up the mantle of an active duty SEAL. They had no idea when they’d be apart, and who knew how that would affect their feelings for each other, let alone any prospect of starting a family.

As much as she loved Owen, and as much as Genny planned to stick with him for as long as he would have her, she couldn’t help but worry that the man’s sense of duty to the SEAL title might very rapidly eclipse any feelings he felt for her. After all, Owen talked about being back in the field every day.

He couldn’t even tell her he loved her without choking.

When she voiced her concerns to Gina, the ebony-haired woman just pursed her lips, shaking her head. “
Hija
, Owen has always been difficult. He’s stubborn and he’s a handful. Hell, the only way Sean got him to obey orders off the bat was to deck him. He’ll come around with time, trust me.” Reading the concern in Genny’s eyes, Gina’s own expression softened. “He
loves
you. Anyone with eyes can see that.”

Slowly, Genny nodded.

Owen was fast progressing with his therapy. Now he came to every session ready to show her his journal entries and hardly flinched when she asked him to record in front of her. Another eight months or so and who knew where they’d be?

As Genny started on her second glass of wine, her phone ringing distracted her from the reruns of Bridezilla she and Gina were currently absorbed in. She excused herself quietly, going to the foyer to answer so she wouldn’t disturb Gina. At the sight of the unknown number, she frowned. “Hello?”

For a moment, she heard nothing. Then, when Genny listened harder, she slowly became aware of the sound of soft breathing on the other line. “
Hello
?” She tried again, this time more insistently.

“Three twenty two Maple Wood Way.” Genny blinked at the statement. The words were distorted, as if someone was trying to disguise their voice. “That’s where she lives. Three twenty two Maple Wood Way.” When she realized what the voice was saying, the young woman’s eyes widened in shock.

“Hello?
Who
is this?”

“I’m going to pay her a visit.” The voice came again, more sinister this time, the inflection tainted with malevolent intent. “She’s going to pay your debts for you, since you’re too scared to pay yourself.” And then the line went dead.

For a moment, Genny just stared at her phone, horrified. Who the hell had called her? And more importantly, how had they gotten her number?

“Genny?” She was jerked from her breathlessness back to reality when Gina appeared in the entryway, extending her a full glass of wine. “Everything ok?”

Slowly, the young woman shook her head. “No. It’s not.” She stared at her phone again, beginning to tremble. “They have my mother’s address.”

**

Owen was in the midst of a series of pullups, letting the burn in his muscles blot out anything else that might be troubling him.

Though he knew Genny had told him not to put himself on a timeline, and he constantly impressed on his own mind that there could be no rushing back into duty, he’d already begun to prepare his body. Of course, he had never let himself get too out of shape. Sean had prevented that by inviting him to the gym for boxing matches and lifting sessions even when he’d been at his worst.

Now that he was on his way to recovery, Owen usually worked out three hours a day. There was little else to do when Genny wasn’t around. Eddie grew tired of him after he accidently threw his toy into the next yard when they were playing fetch. At the thought, Owen grinned, hoisting his chin over the bar for his twentieth pull-up. Twenty more to go.

Errantly, he glanced at the clock. It was close to ten thirty. The realization made him frown as he froze mid-motion. Genny had called him to tell him she was leaving around eight forty, her usual time. She mentioned that she was going to stop and check on Gina, and then she’d be straight home – probably no later than ten.

His mouth set into a hard line, Owen continued his pull ups. He was supposed to be trying to get better with this. Just because Genevieve was a half hour late didn’t mean that she was in trouble. The cops had noted no one strange following her in the last few weeks, and aside from the sudden appearance of Daniel Kant’s son at Riperton, all was quiet on the western front.

Which meant he should continue his work out and swallow his anxiety. Genny was fine. She’d be home any minute.

Owen finished his pull-ups and transitioned into push-ups. For the first one hundred or so, he did a pretty good job of not worrying about his girlfriend. By the time he’d reached one hundred and fifty though, the clock read eleven fifteen, and his stomach had begun to churn.

Straightening, Owen summoned Eddie to the kitchen where he fed the pup a late dinner before he trudged to the shower. He told himself that if Genny hadn’t called by the time he was done, he was going to call her.