Her Wicked Hero

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  Rick didn’t cook, he didn’t clean, he didn’t pay for anything, and when he made love to her, it didn’t feel all that good, but he listened, and he cared. He did the things that really mattered in a relationship.

  Close to the end of her senior year, class had let out early on a Thursday. She’d gotten an A on her statistics class and wanted to cook Rick chicken Florentine to celebrate. He was in their bedroom on his cell phone.

  “Jim, I can’t play poker this weekend. I need to spend it with Marcia.”

  She felt so good hearing that.

  “I’m pussy whipped all the way to the bank. Let’s do it next Thursday instead. I’ll just tell her I need money for my car payment.” He laughed. “Fuck yeah it’s paid for. She doesn’t know though. Man, I’ve got it so good, I’m going to marry her. Hell, I’m going to suggest we go house hunting next month.”

  He paused while Marcia did everything she could not to drop the bag of groceries she was holding.

  “Jim, not only that, I’m passing all of my classes because she does my homework. It couldn’t get any better.”

  She went back out the front door and came back in, making a lot of noise.

  “Hey Babe, you’re home early. How did your statistics class go?”

  “I got an A.”

  “Marcia, you amaze me. What’s in the bag?”

  She finished out the school year. She put off looking at a house and became more and more distant with Rick. He finally got the message and went on to greener pastures. There never was any kind of confrontation. She graduated. She’d been in the process of applying for jobs when she’d gotten the call that Mrs. B. had collapsed from a brain embolism. Two days later, she was dead. She moved back in with the Brockman’s. They needed her.

  Once again, Marcia had been dealt a devastating loss, but this time, she couldn’t show it. She was dealing with three daughters who had lost their mother and one man who had lost the love of his life. There was no time for her to be upset. She rolled up her sleeves and dove in. Ultimately, she failed.

  Lesley got in a car wreck. She and a couple of friends had been drinking, but still, she’d sustained a back injury. They’d prescribed painkillers for a couple of months. Handling Christie and Debbie, Marcia had missed the signs that Lesley was using the drugs as an emotional crutch to deal with her mother’s death. So had Mr. B. because he was involved in all sorts of other projects as a coping mechanism.

  By the time Marcia realized Lesley was abusing heroin, it was too late. She struggled to maintain the household and shield the younger girls from Lesley’s addiction. Marcia wanted to ensure Christie and Debbie had all the love that Mrs. B. would have given them. It wasn’t a hardship because they returned it.

  Then things had blown up, Lesley had disappeared. It had been a horrifying time. Eventually, she’d come home, and there had been the first trip to rehab. Through it all, Marcia had done her best to maintain a home for Mr. B. and the girls. Then there had been the second bout of rehab. Mr. B. seemed to be finally coming out of his stupor, but for Lesley, it seemed to be too little, too late.

  After she came out of rehab for the second time, things were precarious, and she disappeared again. It was the third time she went in for help that Mr. B. went on the speaking tour and took Marcia and the girls with him, and they went on that fateful yacht trip.

  She wondered what would have happened if Borneo had never happened. Would she just have drifted and stayed with the Brockman’s? She loved those girls. She loved taking care of them, but they weren’t her daughters, and she realized she didn’t have a life of her own. She’d been wanting something more. That was why she took the job at JP Morgan.

  Then all choice had been taken out of her hands after the Mall Mishap. She’d sat stunned in Mr. B.’s study.

  “Marcia, I adore you. You literally saved my sanity when Margaret died. I don’t know what Christie, Debbie, and Lesley would have done without you. But I’ve been a selfish bastard, and I’m ashamed.”

  Were those tears in his eyes?

  “That’s not true. You and your wife took me in after Mom and Dad died. It was almost like I had a second set of parents.”

  Harold Brockman looked at her and gave her a sad smile. “That was true when you were fourteen and Margaret was alive. We treated you like one of our own and did everything we could to nurture you. Especially Margaret.”

  “And I loved you for it. I will do anything to pay you back for that,” she cried.

  He looked down at her kindly. “And that’s where I’ve failed you. Somehow I’ve made you feel you need to pay us back for something that was our privilege.”

  “I’m saying this wrong. I’m making you feel bad,” she protested.

  “No, Sweetheart, you’re not making me feel bad. I’m the one in the wrong. I was the adult, and I took advantage of your sweet nature. After college, you should have never moved back in with us, you should have moved on and lived your own life.”

  What was he saying? “Mr. B., I’d just broken up with Rick, and the girls’ mother had just died. We all needed one another. You didn’t swoop in and force me to take care of things, it worked out perfectly the way it was supposed to.” She couldn’t stand it a second longer. She threw her arms around her surrogate father. “I love you. If you’ve taken advantage, then so have I,” she sniffed.

  Long moments later he eased her out of his arms. “Thank you, Marcia. You are a wonder. Now I’m kicking you out.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You’re going with Zed to San Diego. It’s safe there. Raymond has his sights on you. He knows where you live. Zed is going to watch you twenty-four/seven.”

  She sat there stunned. It made no sense. “Mr. B., you and the girls need me. Lesley’s coming home, I have to be here for her.”

  “Vi is going to be here tonight. She’s going to be staying for a couple of months.”

  “Months? How long do you think I’m going to be gone?” she whispered.

  He held onto her shoulders. “You’re always welcome here.” He didn’t continue.

  Now she felt like she was going to cry. “You don’t want me?”

  “Marcia, you’re one of my daughters. Know that. Believe that. And as one of my daughters, I’m telling you that you have done more than your fair share, and I want you to be happy and live your own life. I love you.”

  He held her while she cried. Finally, she stepped back and narrowed her eyes. “I’ll get an apartment close to my office.”

  “No, you’re going to San Diego,” he said firmly.

  “Whose bright idea was this?”

  “Zed’s.”

  * * *

  She hadn’t believed him. It wasn’t until Zed had followed her up to her room to watch her pack, she’d realized it was really happening. And now here she was. Naked. In his apartment. In a cloud of purple fizz.

  She heard his footsteps outside the door.

  “Do I have to knock? Or do you hear me out here?”

  “I hear you. What do want?” Darn it, did she still have to sound petulant?

  She heard Zed’s soft laughter. “Still kicking and screaming I see.”

  “You better not be able to see me,” she growled.

  He laughed louder. “How do you want your steak cooked?”

  “I’m a vegan,” she lied.

  “You are so full of shit.”

  “Medium.”

  “Rosé? Merlot? Cabernet or Syrah?”

  She sat up so fast in the bath, the towel behind her head fell into the tub. “What did you just ask me?”

  “I asked you what your wine choice was. Or did you want something else?”

  Dang, no man had that kind of selection of wine hanging around just to impress some woman, he must like wine. Dante ‘Zed’ Zaragoza liked wine, her inner child sang. Wait a second, let’s test this.

  “Do you have a wine cooler?” He didn’t reply. “I can’t hear you Zed.”

  “Marcia, don’t yank my
chain.”

  She rubbed her hands together in glee.

  “Surprise me,” she called out. Then she grabbed the towel, so she could climb out of the tub. Marcia took her time getting ready. It wasn’t quite time for the red bra and panty set, or was it? Oh, what the hell, wasn’t the SEAL team motto to be prepared? She rifled through the blue suitcase and tried to decide between the sundress or the shorts and camisole.

  Make up your damn mind, Price.

  She went with the shorts and camisole. She knew the red of the bra strap would show.

  Bad Marcia.

  She ran back down the hall and into the bathroom, so she could look in the mirror.

  There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about her hair. She desperately needed a cut to layer all her curls, but when had she had time to do that? Hopefully, he liked the Wild Child Scraped Face look.

  She bent over the sink and touched the scabs.

  Ah heck, what was she thinking? Zed made her toes curl. She was a six on a good day, and this sure as heck wasn’t a good day. Rick had been a six.

  Zed was what, six-foot-five? That automatically made him a six didn’t it? Then with those eyes, and that smile? Yeah, he was a ten.

  Marcia sat down on the toilet seat. She couldn’t do this.

  Zed had heard Marcia running down the hallway. He’d figured she was on her way to dinner, but then…nothing. Time for reconnaissance. The bathroom door was ajar. He could still smell the eucalyptus, cinnamon, and jasmine in the air.

  He knocked on the doorjamb. “Marcia?”

  “Present,” she sounded sad. Her voice was usually lit with music.

  “Can I come in?”

  “It’s your bathroom.” Dejected. She sounded dejected.

  What was his problem? There she was, slouched over, obviously upset about something, and he immediately notices her red bra strap.

  Then she caught him, their eyes held. He pointed at the red lace.

  “Is that for me?”

  She blushed. “Maybe.”

  “It goes with the wine I chose.”

  “Guess there was a hundred percent chance of that, huh?”

  He crouched down in front of her and pushed her hair behind her ear. It coaxed her to look him in the eye.

  “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

  “Not really.”

  “Want me to guess?” He watched as she truly considered his question.

  “I don’t like playing those types of games. They’re a waste of time. Let’s just say I’m having a bit of a pity party and leave it at that, shall we?”

  He considered her words. Damn, she was a breath of fresh air. She just spoke her mind, and if she needed a timeout, she wasn’t afraid to say so. He loved it. And he was damn close to falling in love with her.

  “If I were to say that along with the wine and a medium steak, there was a baked potato with butter, sour cream, chives, cheese, and bacon would that help you out of your funk?” She sat up straighter.

  “Bacon bits out of a jar?”

  “I cooked the bacon in a frying pan.”

  “You’re in my way.” She pushed at his shoulders. “It’s dinner time.”

  He was pretty sure she was faking some of her enthusiasm, but hopefully, by the end of dinner, he will have chased away the clouds in her eyes.

  11

  Marcia was tucked safely away at the shooting range with Wyatt Leeds. Couldn’t get much safer than that. Zed looked around the table at the little Mexican taqueria at some of his Black Dawn team mates. Each man had a huge combo platter in front of him, except for Dalton Sullivan, he was always eating healthy. Dalton managed to find a vegetarian burrito. Aiden O’Malley eyed him with disgust, Dalton just raised an eyebrow.

  “What’s the plan?” Dex Evans asked.

  “Easy, kill Felix Raymond. Done deal,” Aiden said.

  Dex and Aiden bumped fists. Then both sighed and looked at Zed.

  “Are we done now?” Zed asked.

  “Yeah, it’s never that easy,” Aiden said.

  “What do you mean?” Zed asked.

  “Long story.”

  Hunter sat down with a huge plate. “What’d I miss?”

  “Aiden was being a smart-ass about killing Raymond.” Zed said in an annoyed tone.

  “Yeah, it’s never that easy,” Hunter said as he took a big bite of his enchilada.

  “Shit’s going to go wrong, then as soon as you think it’s done, it’s going to go really sideways,” Aiden said grimly. “I hate this. I really do. Dealing with our women’s lives is worse than a mission.”

  Zed eyed Aiden and realized he was really upset.

  “We’re here to make sure nothing more happens to Marcia. Jesus, a python? A fucking python?” Dex said, his eyes wide as he stabbed his food. “I’ve been working the computer with Kane ever since you left for Virginia. Your future father-in-law is into a lot of shit.”

  Zed put down his soda and stared at Dex. He didn’t correct him. He just pondered his statement, amazed Dex had assumed he would be marrying Marcia, like it was a done deal.

  “I’ve been doing more research on Raymond’s time here at BUD/S. One of the girls I used to date was a friend of the woman Raymond murdered. She gave me some great insight on how he thinks. It helps to explain why he’s targeted your woman,” Dalton said.

  Zed needed some intel of his own, and Aiden seemed the angriest. “I know you said it was a long story, but how did everything go wrong with Evie?”

  Aiden growled. The man literally growled. Hunter’s lips twitched upwards.

  “Now you’ve done it,” Hunter said.

  Aiden shoved his plate away and rested his forearms on the table. He leaned forward and shot Zed a deadly glare. “You feeling a little boxed in Zaragoza? You feeling like we’re making some assumptions on your love life?”

  Aiden was the only one in the group who was his age. Evie was more than ten years younger than he was. They had some things in common. Some. So Zed was willing to lay some of his cards on the table.

  “Yes, hearing Marcia’s surrogate father referred to as my father-in-law is a bit disconcerting.”

  “Love how you throw those four-dollar words around, Zed,” Hunter grinned at him. “You and Aiden will end up being BFFs for sure.”

  “Well, Zed, there’s a reason for that,” Aiden drawled. “We’re just trying to save you some steps. If your head isn’t totally in the game right from the start, you might fuck things up and make a wrong move. You do that, and Marcia could be in more danger than she should be. So, just know, you’re hooked. Know things are going to get worse before they’re going to get better. Know this is going to be a fucked-up op, but we’ll have your back.”

  Zed picked up his drink and took a sip of his limeade. “You were going to tell me about your time with Evie,” he prompted.

  “I fucked up, and she ran away to Turkey. Ended up being kidnapped and tortured. Then the bastards followed her home to Tennessee, held her sisters hostage, Evie had to kill one of them with a baseball bat. Just when we think it’s over, another two of her sisters and her two-year-old niece are almost killed with a bomb.” The words were delivered smoothly, but Zed could feel the rage beneath the surface. Aiden O’Malley would never forget or forgive his part in those events.

  Zed nodded. He got it. He looked around the table. “Okay, Dalton, let’s hear your info first, then Dex, I want to hear what you and Virginia’s boy wonder have come up with.”

  Aiden pulled his plate back in front of him.

  He watched as Wyatt walked Marcia over to his jeep. Even in sneakers, she had a soft seductive sway to her walk. Zed wasn’t the only man checking her out, and he wasn’t surprised. When she saw him, her hand lifted, and she walked faster across the gravel parking lot.

  Wyatt gave him a quick nod as soon as he knew Zed was within touching distance of Marcia.

  “Marcia, it was fun, we’ll have to do it again sometime,” Wyatt smiled at her.

  “Absolute
ly,” she smiled at him.

  Zed watched as the young SEAL walked away.

  Marcia turned to him. “Hello, handsome,” she said as he held open the passenger door. After he started the vehicle she turned to him. “You know, you don’t have to always do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Open the passenger door.”

  “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t want to.” Zed looked, pulled onto the highway, then glanced over at Marcia. She was biting her lower lip.

  “Did you have a good time with Wyatt?”

  “He’s really good, and he’s a great teacher.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Zed smiled.

  She started to fiddle with the air conditioning, but ultimately, she didn’t make any changes. She was nervous. Zed reached over and took her hand and placed it on his thigh, covering it with his. She relaxed back into her seat and started to brush her thumb against his denim covered leg. She was going to kill him, and she wasn’t even aware of it.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “I tried to get ahold of Nurul. I couldn’t. Do you think you could ask Dex or Kane to help? I’m trying to send some money to her.”

  “Sure Honey, of course, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  “I knew you were busy trying to take over the world. I didn’t want to bother you.”

  “It’s not a bother. Never think that.” She looked over and gave a soft smile.

  “Thanks. Okay, tell me what did you do today?”

  “I met with four of the men from Black Dawn.”

  “Do you like them?”

  He shot her a quick glance. “Of course I do, why do you ask?”

  “Well,” she said softly. “Maybe that’s the wrong question. Your normal team in Virginia is Night Storm, you’ve been with them for five years, right?”

  Zed nodded.

  “I just wondered if you like and trust these guys the same way you trust your usual team.”

  “I’ve been on two missions with this team now. They are first-rate.”