Chapter 1 - She Jumped Into a Street Fight to Save a Stranger and Accidentally Humiliated Three Soldiers—Then an Old Man in a Black Car Decided She Would Become His Terrifying General Son’s BrideThe first time General Maximilian Kane saw Catherine Reyes, she had a grown man facedown on the pavement with one knee between his shoulder blades.
That wasn't the unusual part.
The unusual part was that the man was one of Max's soldiers.
“Stop moving,” Catherine snapped, twisting the man's wrist just enough to make him curse. “Unless you'd like to explain to the emergency-room doctor why your elbow suddenly bends backward.”
“Lady, get off me!”
“Then stop trying to hit people!”
Twenty feet away, another soldier leaned against a parked truck holding his bleeding nose.
A third sat in a puddle, looking stunned.
Traffic had stopped on both sides of the narrow Virginia road.
People stood outside a diner filming with their phones.
And from the back seat of a black government sedan, retired Lieutenant General Edward Kane stared through the window.
Then he began laughing.
His driver glanced in the mirror.
“Sir?”
“Stop the car.”
“General—”
“Stop the damn car, Miller.”
The sedan pulled over.
Edward Kane stepped into the drizzle.
At sixty-eight, he walked with a cane because of an old combat injury, but age had done little to diminish the authority in his posture.
He watched Catherine release the soldier.
She stood.
Five-foot-five.
Dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail.
Faded jeans.
Sneakers.
Gray sweatshirt bearing the logo of the Riverside Community Medical Center.
She didn't look like someone who could put three trained men on the ground.
Yet there they were.
Edward approached.
“What happened?”
Catherine looked at him.
“Your friends?”
“Possibly.”
“Then tell them three against one isn't a fight. It's cowardice.”
The soldier on the ground protested.
“He stole from us!”
Catherine pointed toward a frightened teenage boy pressed against the diner wall.
“He stole your wallet?”
“Yes!”
The boy shook his head.
“I found it!”
“He was running!”
“Because three giant idiots were chasing him!”
Edward covered a smile.
The soldier recognized him.
His face changed.
“General Kane?”
Catherine looked between them.
“You're a general?”
“Retired.”
“Good. Then you have time to teach them manners.”
Edward laughed.
The soldiers became pale.
“What unit?” he asked.
No answer.
Edward's amusement disappeared.
“I asked a question.”
One finally responded.
“Fort Belvoir, sir.”
“Names.”
They gave them.
Catherine frowned.
“Are they in trouble?”
“They'll receive an opportunity to explain themselves.”
“I don't want anyone losing a career because I interfered.”
Edward studied her.
“You're worried about them?”
“They were stupid, not evil.”
That answer interested him.
“What do you do?”
“Nurse.”
“That explains some things.”
“What things?”
“You knew exactly how far to twist his arm.”
Catherine shrugged.
“My father taught self-defense.”
“Military?”
“Police.”
“Retired?”
“Dead.”
Edward's smile faded.
“I'm sorry.”
“Thank you.”
She turned toward the teenager.
“Give him the wallet.”
The boy did.
Nothing missing.
The soldiers looked embarrassed.
Catherine crossed her arms.
“Now apologize.”
One stared.
“To him?”
“Yes.”
The soldier looked at Edward.
The retired general raised an eyebrow.
The apology happened quickly.
When Catherine walked away, Edward watched her disappear through the medical-center entrance.
He pulled out his phone.
His son answered after six rings.
“What?”
Edward smiled.
“Good afternoon to you too.”
“I'm working.”
“You're always working.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“I found your wife.”
Silence.
Then:
“Goodbye, Dad.”
Edward laughed as Max hung up.
He looked toward the hospital.
“Oh, son.”
His smile widened.
“You have no idea.”
General Maximilian Kane was thirty-seven years old and had three things he believed he did not need.
Vacation.
Advice.
A wife.
His father disagreed with all three.
Especially the last.
Max stood six-foot-three, carried old scars across his ribs and left shoulder, and possessed the kind of controlled temper that frightened people more than shouting.
His unusually rapid rise through a specialized joint-command structure had made him one of the country's most recognizable senior officers, and newspapers had turned the phrase “five-star general” into a nickname for the man they considered untouchable.
Max hated the nickname.
He hated reporters.
He hated ceremonies.
And at that particular moment, he hated his father.
“No.”
Edward sat across from him at dinner.
“You haven't heard the proposal.”
“I heard the word marriage.”
“Dinner.”
“No.”
“One dinner.”
“No.”
“She put three soldiers on the pavement.”
Max paused.
Edward saw it.
“Interested?”
“Concerned.”
“She is a nurse.”
“Who assaults soldiers?”
“They started it.”
“Of course they did.”
“She also called them giant idiots.”
Max looked up from his steak.
“What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”
“I want grandchildren.”
“Get a dog.”
“I have a dog.”
“Get another.”
Edward sighed.
“You're thirty-seven.”
“I can count.”
“You live alone.”
“Peacefully.”
“You work eighteen hours a day.”
“Productively.”
“You haven't had a serious relationship in six years.”
Max's expression hardened.
“There's a reason.”
Edward regretted the direction immediately.
Laura.
Max's former fiancée.
The woman who sold private details about their relationship to a tabloid after Max ended their engagement.
She hadn't sold classified information.
But she'd sold enough intimate details to make Max suspicious of anyone who came too close.
Edward leaned back.
“One dinner.”
“No.”
“Coward.”
Max slowly placed his fork down.
Edward smiled.
“There he is.”
“I command armed men for a living.”
“And you're frightened of a nurse.”
“I'm not frightened.”
“Excellent. Dinner Friday.”
Max stared.
“I hate you.”
“Friday at seven.”
“I won't come.”
Edward stood.
“You will.”
“Why?”
“Because I invited her without telling her you're coming.”
Max closed his eyes.
“That's manipulative.”
“Yes.”
“Immoral.”
“Probably.”
“Insane.”
“Definitely.”
Max pointed toward the door.
“Leave.”
Edward laughed all the way out.
Friday evening, Catherine arrived at Edward Kane's home carrying a pie.
She had been told she was attending dinner with an elderly patient she had helped after he became dizzy during a follow-up visit.
Edward had technically not lied.
He simply omitted his son.
Catherine entered the dining room.
Stopped.
Max stood near the window.
Black dress shirt.
No tie.
Dark trousers.
Broad shoulders.
A thin scar near his temple.
He turned.
Their eyes met.
Catherine looked at Edward.
“No.”
Edward smiled.
“Dinner first.”
“You set me up.”
“Technically—”
“Do not say technically.”
Max almost smiled.
Catherine noticed.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She looked back at Edward.
“Then we're both victims.”
Max finally spoke.
“Agreed.”
Edward appeared delighted.
“Excellent beginning.”
“It is not a beginning,” Max and Catherine said simultaneously.
They looked at each other.
Edward sat.
“I adore this.”
Dinner should have been disastrous.
Instead, it became worse.
Because Catherine and Max enjoyed arguing.
“You put ketchup on steak?” Max asked.
“Yes.”
“That animal died for nothing.”
“It died to become dinner.”
“With dignity.”
“It's beef, General.”
“Exactly.”
“Do cows have military honors?”
Edward nearly choked on his wine.
Later Max asked about the street fight.
“You could have been injured.”
“So could the kid.”
“You didn't know him.”
“Didn't need to.”
“You always intervene in other people's problems?”
Catherine considered.
“Unfortunately.”
“That's reckless.”
“You command soldiers.”
“That's different.”
“Because you get medals?”
His eyes narrowed.
She smiled.
Max hadn't met anyone like her.
Most civilians became awkward when they learned his rank.
Some tried too hard to impress him.
Others flirted with the uniform rather than the man.
Catherine appeared actively unimpressed.
After dinner, Edward deliberately disappeared.
Catherine found Max on the porch.
“Your father is hiding.”
“Yes.”
“Should we tell him this failed?”
“Did it?”
She looked at him.
Max regretted the question immediately.
Catherine's expression softened.
“You're not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“More yelling.”
“I rarely yell.”
“Your face does it for you.”
He laughed.
Catherine smiled.
There it was.
The first crack.
Neither understood yet how expensive that laugh would become.
They began seeing each other accidentally.
At least that's what Catherine told herself.
Edward invited her to lunch.
Max happened to appear.
Catherine attended a veterans' fundraiser.
Max happened to be the keynote speaker.
Max needed stitches after cutting his hand during training.
He could have used a military physician.
Instead, he arrived at Catherine's clinic.
She stared.
“You have an entire military medical system.”
“I was nearby.”
“You drove forty minutes.”
“Traffic.”
“Liar.”
“Can you stitch this?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop interrogating me.”
She cleaned the cut.
Max watched her.
“You're gentle.”
Catherine looked up.
“Disappointed?”
“I expected revenge.”
“For what?”
“Dinner.”
“You suffered enough.”
He smiled.
She stitched his palm.
Their fingers brushed.
Something shifted.
Catherine felt it.
So did Max.
Neither mentioned it.
Three months later, he kissed her.
It happened outside her apartment after an argument.
Max had assigned a security officer to watch her after she received strange phone calls.
Catherine discovered it.
“You had someone following me?”
“Protecting.”
“Without asking.”
“There was a threat.”
“To you.”
“Which makes anyone near me vulnerable.”
“You could have told me.”
“I didn't want you frightened.”
She stared.
“That is the dumbest intelligent-man sentence I've ever heard.”
Max's jaw tightened.
“I was keeping you safe.”
“You were controlling information.”
“There's a difference.”
“Not to the person being controlled.”
Max became silent.
Catherine stepped closer.
“You don't get to decide what I can handle.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
The admission surprised her.
Max exhaled.
“I don't know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“This.”
He gestured between them.
Catherine's anger softened.
“Try honesty.”
“I'm afraid.”
She froze.
Max looked furious with himself.
“Of what?”
“That someone will use you to get to me.”
“That's possible.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“Truth isn't always comforting.”
He looked at her.
Then Catherine touched his face.
Max became perfectly still.
“Ask me.”
His voice dropped.
“Ask you what?”
“If you can kiss me.”
Max stared.
Then:
“Can I kiss you?”
“Yes.”
He did.
And neither of them recovered.
Their relationship became serious.
Too serious, according to Max.
Not serious enough, according to Edward.
Six months after meeting, Catherine had a toothbrush at Max's house.
Nine months after meeting, Max knew how she took her coffee.
Eleven months after meeting, Catherine could identify his nightmares by the way he breathed.
At one year, he proposed.
No restaurant.
No photographers.
No military spectacle.
They were in Catherine's kitchen.
She was making pasta.
Max walked in.
Put a ring beside the tomatoes.
Catherine stared.
“What is that?”
“An engagement ring.”
“I can see that.”
“Good.”
“Are you proposing?”
“Yes.”
“That's your proposal?”
Max frowned.
“I researched rings for three weeks.”
“You forgot words.”
He looked uncomfortable.
Catherine waited.
Finally:
“I sleep better when you're there.”
Her expression softened.
“My father likes you more than me.”
“True.”
“You argue with me when everyone else agrees because of the stars on my uniform.”
“Also true.”
“You make my house feel like somewhere I want to come back to.”
Catherine's eyes filled.
Max swallowed.
“I love you.”
There.
The words he hated exposing.
“Marry me.”
Catherine cried.
Then laughed.
Then said yes.
Edward celebrated like he'd personally won a war.
They married four months later.
For nearly two years, they were happy.
Not perfectly.
Realistically.
They fought about Max's work.
Catherine's refusal to ask for help.
His instinct to protect.
Her instinct to run toward trouble.
But they learned.
Then Colonel Adrian Voss entered their lives.
Voss had once been Max's mentor.
Now he wanted Max's command.
He also wanted a defense-intelligence appointment Max had blocked because Voss was under quiet investigation for unauthorized arms transfers.
Max told Catherine very little.
That mistake almost killed them.
One Thursday night, Max's convoy was scheduled to travel to Norfolk.
Catherine was supposed to remain home.
Instead, she received a call from Edward.
“Cath?”
His voice sounded wrong.
“Dad?”
After marriage, she'd begun calling him that.
“Don't panic.”
Instant panic.
“What happened?”
“Max's convoy was hit.”
The phone nearly slipped from her hand.
“What?”
“An explosion.”
“Where is he?”
“Walter Reed.”
Catherine didn't remember driving.
She remembered hospital lights.
Soldiers.
Blood.
Edward standing in a corridor.
And a surgeon saying:
“General Kane sustained significant injuries.”
Gunshot wound.
Blast trauma.
Collapsed lung.
Head injury.
Catherine stared through glass at her husband.
Machines breathed for him.
Bandages covered his chest.
For the first time since she'd met Max, he looked small.
She entered.
Touched his hand.
Cold.
“Hey.”
No response.
Catherine sat.
“I'm here.”
Nothing.
“You are not allowed to die.”
Her voice broke.
“You hear me?”
The monitor continued.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Then the doctor entered.
“Mrs. Kane?”
Catherine turned.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Your bloodwork.”
She frowned.
“What bloodwork?”
“You became dizzy when you arrived.”
“I haven't eaten.”
The doctor smiled gently.
“That may be part of it.”
Catherine stared.
Then understood.
“No.”
“We confirmed it twice.”
Her hand moved to her abdomen.
“You're pregnant.”
Catherine looked at Max.
Her husband lay unconscious.
Their marriage had been nearly destroyed in one explosion.
And inside her, a new life had just begun.
She took Max's hand.
Pressed it against her stomach.
“You hear that, General?”
Tears fell onto his fingers.
“You're going to be a father.”
The machine answered for him.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Catherine bent over his hand.
“So you better wake up.”
But Max didn't.
Not that night.
Not the next morning.
Not the next week.
And as investigators began uncovering evidence that the convoy attack had come from someone inside Max's own command, Catherine realized something worse.
Whoever tried to kill her husband might return to finish the job.
May you like
This time, Max couldn't protect her.
So Catherine Kane would have to protect him.
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