…Isabella POV…They say that reality comes to bite you when you least expect it. Well, a ghost from my past has just surfaced its head. In a way, I knew that he would one day come. I knew that he should find me, and then it will just start all over again.But there is a question that begs, how did he know that Clayton will not be here. Does this mean that he has been watching me this whole time, just waiting for his gap to step from out the darkness?What I also know is that he will not leave until he came here to say what he has to say. Knowing him though he has not come to talk, he has so to say, come to claim his prize. Or what he always comes for.Am I glad that Clayton is not here to see this playoff? I can honestly say yes. But what I also know is that Clayton is going to be furious if he ever has to find out. I have hidden it very well up until now; I just hope he leaves before Denise and Richard comes.So for once again, I ask

 I have just established that Isabella has had yet another secret from me. As far as the secrets go between us, I can honestly say that this is a big one. Yes, me hiding that I was disabled can count as unforgivable. But having a seemingly innocent man sort of propose to you and then on top of that you are expecting a child, well that is kind of a bigger deal.I am all the way here in Fallujah; there is no way I can protect her, that being said, if she wishes to be protected at all. The biggest question here is, why has she not thrown this man out or, even worse, accepted my offer to get him removed. Does she still have feelings for Mark? He is her real husband, after all.Now, where does that leave me? A man that clearly looks like the cheating kind. Never once have I been unfaithful, and right now, I look like a man that is messing with a married woman. And let us not forget the fact that we are having a child together.With that, a whole new bunch of que

We have just come to realize that we have been ambushed. Clearing the first and the second floor has found us peace that they are not hidden behind any of the walls or, as some of the daring ones will do, in a nearby closet. These buildings, even this one, which is a bit more modern, they all have their own creek and cracking sounds. If some asshole on the very far side of the third floor opens a door, we are for sure certain to know about it.So we are making the way upstairs slow and steady. Make one wrong move, and it just might be the end of you. It is you or the man on the other side of the gun; no time for hesitation. If you want to make it alive out of this building today, you should be alert, and you should not falter.I can see the steady tremble in the hands of some of the guys; of course, it is fine to be scared. But you should not let that make you lose sight of the task at hand. So we crawl if I even dare say so, up the stairs. Much to my horror, as we get

What defines fear? The feeling that grips your stomach, suffocates your lungs, and tears your heart will slow agony from your chest.What is fear for a Marine? The joke that you tell at night around the fire. It brings you only but a sense of what you truly are. You fight, and you fight to the end.But what is fear when you see it on the faces of the men that you vow to protect? It is a pain that rips your flesh from your body to an agonizingly slow pace.This is something that you do not foresee. You do not expect a child to lead you into the belly of a beast. You are trained to always be on alert. But when you are a man with a child or even one on the way, which most of us are, you do not expect to be deceived by one.We have been forced to sit down on our knees in front of what seems to be some of the most intimidating men that most of us have seen. What do I see them as? They are fools; they have no idea the error they have just brought onto themselve

Incoming.A word that no man, whether you are in the Army, the Navy, or the Marines, you do not want to hear it.We are coming under the fire of a grenade launcher. The impact is going to be hard and most certainly cause damage.So each man needs to brace themselves while Johnson tries to take the asshole with the grenade launcher out. But to no avail, we are taking on fire, and it is rapid. The impact is far greater than anticipated.I can hear Johnson frantically pump the machine gun. He curses as he fails to take the man out. Out of instinct, I pull him down and take his place. It is a full out warzone as I peek my head through the roof.The only thing that I can see is the dust from the building as it comes apart from where Lopez is shooting. The man with the launcher is under cover of the thick smoke and dust. There is no way to even guess where the fire is coming from.I go in blindly; I grip to hold, and in a line of bullets flying, I