Unbroken (Fighter Erotic Romance #4) Read Free Page A

cup of coffee. Black,” I said to the waitress.
    She nodded her head and reached for one of the many cups which were hanging behind her from hooks below the bottom shelf. I looked down at the table as she placed the cup down and began pouring coffee into it. Before she filled the cup, I heard the bell attached to the front door jingle.
    “Friend or foe?” she asked quietly as she lifted the coffee pot from the cup.
    I looked up and grinned, “Right now, probably a little of both.”
    “He looks like he might be a handful,” she said as she tilted her head in his direction.
    “We’ll be just fine,” I smiled.
    The sound of his boot heels echoed through the empty diner as he walked toward the booth I was sitting in. Somewhat embarrassed, I looked down at my plate as if I had no idea he was approaching.
    “You might need a lesson or two in how to hide, Dekk,” he said as he lowered himself into the seat across from me.
    I shook my head slightly in disbelief as I looked up, “I won’t even ask.”
    “In the future, you need to use cash. That debit card of yours is like a flashing beacon of fucking light,” he chuckled.
    After a precursory glance over the interior of the diner, he turned to face me.
    “I’m going to tell you a story. Say my peace, so to speak. When I’m done I’m going to walk outside and smoke another cigarette then ride out of here. I hate shitty little dusty towns like this. They remind me of places I’m trying to forget about.” he said.
    “You know, if God was going to give the world an enema, he’d more than likely stick the tube in this shitty little town,” he hesitated as he stared out the window and slowly shook his head.
    He turned toward the table and looked down at the coffee.
    “When I leave you can either head out with me or stay here, I don’t care either way,” he smiled as he pointed at the coffee cup in front of him.
    I nodded my head.
    He picked up the cup, took a slow sip, and held it in front of his face as he began to speak, “During my first tour, we were looking for al-Zawahiri. Hell, we were searching for a lot of al-Qaeda officials, but at this point in time, he was our target. We received intel on where he was and why he was there. It seems he was having a summit meeting of sorts with every other high ranking Islamic militant within a three hundred mile radius. Without a doubt, on this particular night, we were going to bag this shit-bird and bring the war to a screeching halt. At least that’s what we were told.”
    “Go ahead and eat, this is going to take a minute,” he said as he tilted his head toward my plate of food.
    As I began to cut my now cold steak, he lowered his coffee cup to the table and took his pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. With a shaking hand, he lifted one of the cigarettes to his mouth and bit it between his teeth.  Flipping his cigarette lighter between his fingers, he began to speak through his clenched teeth.
    “So, based on this intel, they assembled a handful of us; three Marines, and seven or so SEALS. They indicated al-Zawahiri had gone into some shit-hole home earlier on this particular day, and he hadn’t come out. Hell, from what they said, no one came in or out after he arrived. It seemed his little meeting was underway, and all we had to do was get there before he left,” he pulled the unlit cigarette from his teeth and lowered his chin into his hand.
    I chewed the last bite of my steak and pushed my plate to the side.
    “Now this being my first tour, I didn’t have much experience – and none in extraction to speak of – only training. All the brass wanted him alive if possible, so they’d preached protocol and rules of engagement to us all fucking day. We all sat around and waited for the cover of darkness while we planned what we were going to do. You know, studying the chicken-shit map they’d given us showing the supposed layout of the home, cleaning our weapons, and talking about how we were going