Special Forces Rendezvous by Elle Kennedy Page B

the silent ocean. A part of her was still in denial about everything. She wasn’t really in jeopardy, right? Those soldiers who’d detained her hadn’t really planned on killing her, had they? But even though she wanted so desperately to believe that this was nothing more than a messed-up misunderstanding, the memory of the clinic being devoured by red-and-orange flames rendered that impossible.
    Her colleagues and patients had been murdered.
    She would have been murdered if Sebastian Stone hadn’t come to her rescue.
    “You’re too damn skinny.”
    Speak of the devil. At the sound of Sebastian’s rough voice, Julia turned around.
    She watched him approach, her gaze drawn to the rippled six-pack beneath his white T-shirt. His long cargo shorts revealed a pair of muscular legs dusted with golden hair, and as he got closer, she noticed that he still hadn’t shaved. Dark blond stubble coated his powerful jaw, and her fingers itched with the urge to stroke that prickly growth.
    Distracted by his sheer sexiness, she tried to remember what he’d just said, then frowned when it sunk in. “It’s hard to find time to eat when I’m working,” she said defensively.
    But he was right—the fact that she was nearly drowning in Eva’s dress told her that she’d lost more weight than she’d thought. Eva was definitely packing more curves than Julia in her chest and butt regions, but she was still a slender woman, which meant that Julia was indeed skinnier than she ought to be.
    “But if it makes you happy, I’ll eat more,” she said grudgingly.
    Sebastian came up beside her, chuckling softly. “Wow, that was easy.”
    She edged closer to the waves, her bare toes sinking into the warm, wet sand. Sebastian was also barefoot, and he followed her right into the water, not even complaining when his ankles got splashed.
    She bunched up the hem of Eva’s filmy blue dress and brought it up to her thighs so the fabric wouldn’t get wet. The lukewarm water lapped at her shins, the ebb-and-flow motion oddly comforting.
    “Eva’s really nice,” she murmured. “I’m surprised she ended up with someone as grumpy as Tate.”
    Sebastian laughed. “Me, too.”
    “He is sweet to that boy, though,” Julia had to concede. “He loses some of those sharp edges when he’s talking to Rafe.”
    “That was another surprise. Tate’s not much of a kid person, but he warmed up to Eva’s son fast.”
    “Who’s...” She hesitated.
    Sebastian read her mind. “Who’s Rafe’s father?”
    She nodded.
    “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
    She was instantly struck with curiosity. “Well, now you have to tell me.”
    “Hector Cruz.”
    Julia’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
    “As a heart attack.”
    “Eva had a child with the former leader of the United Liberty Fighters?”
    “Yes.”
    She shook her head a couple of times, trying to make sense of that. Hector Cruz had been at the ULF helm for more than a decade before he was killed in a military raid two months ago. Julia had watched the coverage on the news, and she didn’t remember hearing anything about Cruz leaving behind a son. There hadn’t been mention of a wife or girlfriend either.
    But that wasn’t even the perplexing part. After spending an entire evening with Eva Dolce, Julia couldn’t fathom how that intelligent, caring woman had gotten tangled up with a group of revolutionaries.
    “Eva was young and idealistic when she met Cruz,” Sebastian said, yet again decoding her thoughts. “It didn’t take long before she realized what a tyrant he was, but by then, she was knocked up and at his mercy.” He shrugged. “She’s been living on the run, too, ever since the kid was born.”
    “She must have been relieved when Cruz was killed during that ambush.”
    Sebastian’s laugh was long and husky. “She orchestrated the ambush, Doc.”
    “I’m confused again. The news reports said that an elite San Marquez military unit located Cruz’s