Anyone But Him // Jake Seresin

Chapter Twenty-Two

Margot Mitchell
December

    Twenty four hours later on the carrier at sea, Margot felt like she had cleared her head some. She had told Isla, Rooster and Ryder what happened. Everything with the blackmail and then her dad. Isla wanted to personally go to Los Angeles and take out Victoria, but Margot pointed out, Jake cutting her off was practically murder. As a narcissist, losing her child was enough. And the plot twist she didn't see coming. She thought Jake would move on like he had with other girls, thinking like her, her son was incapable of falling in love.

    "Your dad loves you, you know that right?" Rooster asked, as they began to prepare for the mission. "Honestly, I think he sees Seresin as a version of him and doesn't want that for you. Look at his life, he wasted so much of it away from Penny with all their back and forth."

    "I know. I think in his own way he means well." Margot told him, sincerely. "And that's the thing, I don't want to be like him and be in my fifties finally settling down. Whether or not that's with Jake, I don't know. But I want those things. I may make mistakes getting there, but that's life."

    "I think he threw himself into his work after my dad died." Rooster commented, in a quiet tone. He laughed. "Trust me, I know. I remember you walking around plenty as a kid with a toilet paper veil and weddings with your stuffed animals. I know you want that stuff."

    Margot snorted and shrugged. She liked weddings, sue her. She stepped off the platform as they reached their aircrafts. "Thanks for not running on me too over Jake."

    "He's not my top choice for you, but he's alright. And I respect your decisions with your life." Rooster told her. "Mav does too, but he's stubborn as hell. Like someone else I know."

    Margot looked around, pretending to search for this stubborn person he must be mentioning. "Be careful. I'll see you when we get back." She said, heading to her plane. She gave a nod to Ryder, who was climbing into his. He was on standby. It helped her beforehand to talk about normal things to stay grounded. Margot saw Isla exchange a few words with Rooster.

    "Don't die out there. I just started a war with Pete Mitchell over you, so please make it back." Jake said to her, and Margot smiled a little. "Focus. Tune out all this shit with me and your dad. I know you can. You did a damn good job of it the last two weeks."

    Margot knew that was right, she could focus on her job. "Tell my boyfriend to make it back too, because I really would enjoy some hot makeup sex."

    Heat flashed in Jake's eyes and Margot grinned. "I love you. Good luck." He said, his eyes lingering on her mouth. Margot knew they couldn't kiss there.

    "I love you too." Margot turned to get into her fighter jet, Isla following behind. She looked around, seeing the other teams. Phoenix and Bob, Jake, Rooster, and Margot's team. They began takeoff from the carrier, entering their dagger formation. There was a threat on US carriers heading in. The strike team's job was to remove the threat. It was sudden and the time to complete the mission was short.

    Margot focused as they headed out toward the other carrier. She was second in the attack formation, behind Jake. He was the team leader. There had been some surprise, but Captain Parker trusted Jake was ready. Margot knew he was capable of it, he had grown a lot.

    All four fighter jets spread out as they approached the enemy territory. Margot could see the ship below. "Bandits incoming on radar." Isla announced. "Confirm, Bob."