Read Her Temporary Hero (a Once a Marine Series book) (Entangled Indulgence) for Free Online Page A

how much he tried, Brian couldn’t break Indigo’s influence on Logan. After all, he’d spent his early years traveling with her across the United States as she sang in club after club. Then his father had ruined it all, got custody of Logan, and dragged him to this house where Logan was stifled and claustrophobic.
    But Logan had found his place on the land down by the pond. That piece of wild beauty and tranquil fishing became Logan’s solace. When he was a kid, thrown into a family where he never really belonged, that land had been his one comfort. The one thing he knew was his—his mother had made sure of it. And later, when the nightmares and flashbacks about forcing himself into that tiny mud house and finding a bloodbath of dead children threatened to consume him, Logan discovered the land and his house calmed and centered him. Building the Camp Warrior Recovery gave him a purpose to keep living.
    “I want that woman gone.”
    Logan stared at his father across the desk from him. “Do you? Sign over my land and she’ll be gone tonight.” His father wouldn’t do it, but if he did, Logan would put Becky in a safe place.
    Problem was, he liked her in his house. He caught his almost-frown. Now wasn’t the time to think about Becky.
    “You signed the contract. You will marry and live on the land, or it reverts back to me on your birthday.” Shoving back from the desk, he crossed his arm. “I did my best to toughen you up after she tried to turn you into a damned long-haired hippie.”
    Logan narrowed his eyes. “Must have worked. I was a Marine for a decade.”
    “You followed orders. Any grunt can do that. The Knight men give orders. So here’s how it’s going to be. First, you marry a decent woman and start producing heirs. You’ll quit that job and I’ll teach you how to run the ranch.” Brian strode to the sideboard and poured out a glass of scotch. “The real working horse ranch, not some hippie commune bullshit for dropouts who can’t handle life. Men do their duty without complaint, whether it’s to their country or their family business. They don’t run around looking for pity and handouts because life takes a piss on them. They handle it.”
    And Logan wasn’t handling it in his father’s opinion. Getting help for PTSD made him less than a man. “We’re done here.” He pivoted with military precision, back ramrod straight and breathing to keep his fury contained.
    “Running away like her?”
    The taunt spun him.
    Brian lifted his chin, sensing victory. “All you have to do is marry to get that land you love so much. Can’t even do that much?”
    Oh he could. And would, if he could get Becky to agree. “I’ll marry and get my land.”
    …
    Just after midnight, and struggling with despair and exhaustion, Becky left her sleeping baby in the bedroom and took the dreaded envelope with her out to the kitchen. Earlier tonight at work, she’d been served the subpoena ordering her to present Sophie for a DNA testing to establish whether or not Dylan was her biological father. He was really going to try to take Sophie away from her.
    Too many worries clashed in her head, but one thing was abundantly clear—she had to get the retainer for the lawyer. Holding up her right hand, she eyed her mom’s wedding rings. They were all she had left, but she had to sell them.
    Images flashed in her head. Her parents laughing in the kitchen. Her father reading to her. Tyler teaching her how to make a paper airplane. Her memories jumped to that last fatal day, her mom screaming, the police holding her back as the firemen fought the flames…
    Stop it . Reliving the past wouldn’t help her keep Sophie out of Dylan’s hands. She needed a plan; sell the rings, and see if that would at least get the lawyer started until the trailer sold.
    Right now, she needed to eat something. Opening the freezer, the blast of cool air felt good. She eyed the chocolate chip ice cream still sealed with the plastic ring.