A Sense of Duty: A Former Navy SEAL Falls in Love and Begins a New Journey with his Private Consulting Company: Dark Horse Guardians by Ava Armstrong Page A

ownership and financial information. The Dark Horse group did not own any property. Only one piece of real estate was on the books and it was held jointly with his wife; the home they shared in an exclusive gated community in Vancouver Canada. His wife and son, William, remained there. William attended a boarding school. Rusty had to go through several sources to find the other properties held by Ben. This was top secret. One was a cabin off the grid on a remote beach on Prince Edward Island and there was a mystery property in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Prince Edward Island cabin was utilized primarily by Ben for respite from his work and was purchased long before he married Sienna. His wife never traveled there. Sienna did not work outside of the home. She came from a privileged background and had her own wealth. The marriage was never happy. Ben married Sienna because she was pregnant, not because he wanted to. Ben was obsessed with his work and spent a great deal of time traveling. Sienna's family was very powerful in the province and she had access to their money and influence. Sienna contested the divorce at first, but seemed to be cooperating now. She coddled William excessively, according to reports at the school. Sienna had exhibited some unstable behavior when Ben told her he was leaving her. A former model, she suffered from anorexia and was hospitalized many times throughout the marriage. This was a union that was not made in heaven. "That's it," Rusty pronounced, "He's handsome, loaded with money, successful and brilliant, runs the secretive Dark Horse Guardians and has a crazy wife." There was a period of silence on the phone. Rusty knew Lara was in a state of momentary disbelief. "Got to go, have an appointment for a gun permit arriving." and he hung up the phone. She thanked Rusty for the report, but he was gone. Lara sat in stunned silence in her parlor on a beautiful Sunday morning absorbed in thought. Who was this guy?
    Her silent reverie was interrupted when she received a text from Ben asking her to meet him at his unfurnished university office that afternoon. His text was upbeat and there was a happy face embedded in it. Folding laundry and cleaning her condo, Lara jumped at the chance to make the brisk walk across the street to the campus to see the dark haired stranger who had captured her attention. Sundays on the campus were peaceful. Many students left for the weekend or were recovering from hangovers. The building was quiet and she found Ben in his stately, but somewhat empty, office with his eyes riveted to a computer screen, one of three on his desk. "Hello, beautiful," he smiled and jumped to his feet to greet her. Lara noticed he had minimized the screen quickly. "I need your decorator's touch to help me with this office, please." She looked into Ben's blue eyes and could not seem to break her gaze for a moment. There was so much about him she didn't know. In order to find out more, she would need to get closer to him. Lara decided to take the job to renovate Ben's office.
    Scrutinizing Ben instead of his office, some of the pieces were beginning to fit together. She should have picked up on the fact he had military training. Incredibly physically fit, he was solid muscle on a six-foot two-inch frame. His mind worked like a computer. He took in information at a rapid pace and analyzed everything instantly. His memory was sharp, and Lara sensed early on that his intellect was far beyond what he chose to reveal. Once in a while, he slipped, and she got a glimpse beyond the façade that he wanted her to buy into. She was noticing Ben's consulting work was much more involved than he had initially led her to believe. He was secretive and evasive regarding his work for the government. Meanwhile, she had been busy observing his daily schedule and memorizing his patterns. Ben was constantly buried in his computers, running three simultaneously, and was careful to lock the screen when he moved away from