Page 23 of Her Passionate Hero

Gray stared into his eyes. He must have seen something that reassured him. “Take your time then.”

***

A week at most. Mamie had a washing machine he could use. Hell, at this rate, he’d have space left over in his saddlebags. Too bad his rifle wouldn’t fit, But he had packed plenty of extras. Never hurt to be armed when going into enemy territory, and this was enemy fucking territory with a capital ‘F’.

Hating the idea of any extra space, he packed his body armor. Being a SEAL meant you were a boy scout on steroids. Satisfied, he headed toward the door. He took one last look at his plants. Plants. Who would have guessed it? Thank God for Dex’s cousin, she kept them alive. Of course, the little brat was the reason he had all of them, too. He locked up his apartment and went to his detached garage where his baby was, an Indian Springfield motorcycle, all black and chrome. She’d been needing a long drive. Hell, so had he.

He’d drive Pacific Coast Highway, wherever he could, on his way up to East L.A. It would help put his head on straight. He should have done this three months ago when he’d gotten back from the mission in Africa.

Elise. Her pretty voice, whispering horrific things to him in French, telling him what those fuckers had been doing to her and the other orphan girls. It still pissed him off he hadn’t killed more of the Boko Haram fucks. Hunter took some deep breaths of the fresh ocean air as he pulled out onto PCH. Bike was running so smooth, she purred. It was almost worth a smile. Almost.

Pictures fluttered through his mind. Black girls, abused by adult men, white girls abused by playground bullies, then by teenage bitches—no matter what, they were all hurting. All victims. Each girl evoked the same emotions in him. The need to protect. The need was ingrained at the cellular level, especially when it came to females.

Gray had been right, the mission had chewed him up, but not for the reason he thought. It had stirred long-buried memories. A time when he thought he’d been doing something worthwhile. Hell, his Alia had made him feel like a nine-foot-tall hero instead of a nine-year-old nothing. Then it had all gone wrong. He still didn’t know how it could have changed. She had meant everything to him. She had been the best thing in his life outside of Mamie since the third grade, then it just ended.

A little past Laguna Beach, he waved back to the three kids in the back of the SUV who were impressed by a guy on a bike. Concentrate on the road. But that was the problem, he’d always been able to concentrate on six things at once. It’s why he’d excelled during his time in the Las Nuevas Espadas gang and still managed to graduate school with a high enough grade point to be considered for the SEAL teams when he joined the Navy. Hell, the hardest thing had been making time to go to the community pool at the rec center. Why the hell did one of the toughest of the tough all of a sudden need to learn how to swim?

Hunter grinned. The look on Red Blade’s face when he said he was planning on surfing to impress the ladies had been a sight to behold. The gang leader and his lieutenants thought he was so funny, they just let it pass that he was going to the pool three days a week. Nobody, not Mamie, nobody in the gang, none of the teachers at school, not even his Alia had an inkling of his plan. Nobody except the man who had guided him toward it.

When he had to get on the Ten freeway to head toward downtown. Hunter decided to reward himself with a double-double burger and fries from In-and-Out Burger. The place he stopped wasn’t a bad neighborhood, but he still gave everyone a stare as he got off his bike to go in to place his order. His bike was in the same pristine shape he’d left it. He sat down at a cement table under a red and white umbrella and chewed his food. He still wasn’t in the right head space to face home. Hell, would he ever be?

He thought about how he last saw Aliana. It was three days after her father had committed suicide. She had been so distant, and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay.

He’d stayed at Mamie’s for three days and only had a chance to see her twice. The first time had been at her grandmother’s house after the service at the cemetery. Mamie was with him. Both of them went and paid their respects to Mrs. Novak and Mrs. Jancovik, and standing between them was Aliana. She wouldn’t look at him. Eventually, he found her in the backyard alone on the swing.

He touched her hand, and she jerked it away. She stumbled out of the swing as she stood up to stand over him. She told him to go away. She didn’t want to see him anymore. She said that she was relieving him of all responsibility. She was never going to be a burden to him again. It had made no fucking sense. Before he could even figure out how to respond, her grandmother rushed out, put her arm around Aliana, and told him to leave.

He hadn’t left it at that, he had snuck into her bedroom the following night. She was sitting up in bed with her Bible when he climbed through her unlocked window. She watched him do it without saying a word.

“Talk to me Alia, you have to talk to me. We’ve been writing letters for a year. I’ve told you things I’ve never told another living soul. How can you just tell me to go away?”

She stared through him.

She was wearing a pink flannel nightgown with lace at the throat. Her hair was down like it used to be in grade school, flowing around her face. Her skin was like porcelain. She looked at him with sky blue eyes, devoid of emotion.

“You should leave.”

“What is that shit about ‘relieving me of responsibility?’ You weren’t making any kind of sense yesterday, Chaquita.”

“Please leave,” she said politely. She was scaring him.

He sat down beside her on the bed and pulled her hand into his.

“You’re not a burden,” he said quietly. “I’ve never seen you as a burden.”

“Then you’re stupid.”

He winced. Aliana had never said that, not ever. She looked up at him and bit her lip.

“I’m sorry Hunter, I didn’t mean it.”

“Then say what you mean.”

“You should go on with your life, I’m nothing more than an anchor. You’re getting what you’ve always wanted. I’m your past.”

“You’re not my past, you’re right in front of me.”

“You’re a SEAL now. It’s what you wanted. I’m letting you go so you can be happy.” Her voice trembled on the last word.