The silver gift box started ticking before I could untie the ribbon. My new husband caught my wrist in midair and said, “Don’t touch it.”
The music died around us.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
Commander Ethan Cole did not look at me. He stared across the candlelit ballroom at my sister, Vanessa, whose red lips held the same smug smile she wore whenever she reminded me that I was “the family disappointment.”
“You brought a threat into my home,” Ethan said, his voice like ice.
Eight men near the head table stood at once. They had arrived in tuxedos, laughing like ordinary wedding guests, but now the entire room shifted. Chairs scraped back. Hands moved beneath jackets. Ethan’s SEAL team formed a silent barrier between the box and the crowd.
