Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (33 page)

“You look pissed at
me.”

“Maybe
that too.”

“Spit it out.”

Tony’s mouth seamed
tight. His nostrils flared as he breathed ou
t. “I’m
in love with your girlfriend.” He bent forward and put his face in his hands.
“Fuck, I’m glad I finally said that out loud.”

Mace wasn’t sure what
the hell to do. “Jesus, T-man, why the hell didn’t you
tell
me?”

“Because I thought it
would go away,
buddy. It’s supposed to go away.”

Mace thumped him on
the back with his fist. “This is my fault. You went the distance for me.”

Mace had noticed Tony
hadn’t been going out to the bars with Tadpole and Ed lately. Normally he’d
gloat about the babe he’d rol
led the night before,
but he hadn’t been doing that. “What about Coady? She’s cute.”

“She’s a baby,” he
said glumly. “She’s not a woman. Not like Nina. No one’s like Nina.”

“This has never
happened to you before, has it?” Tony kept his hands over his head
and shook it. Mace stared at the cement hoping a message
would appear with the right thing to say. “I’m glad you got it off your chest.”

“Maybe it’s not love.
I don’t know, but it sure is dug in deep.” Tony finally sat up and stared at
him. “I’m sorry. I r
eally am.”

Tony’s face was
wracked with guilt.

“We can’t decide who
we love. It happens. You and I have been flying together for years. Maybe now
that I’ve found Nina and not hanging out as your wingman anymore it’s making
you take another look at being a
bachelor.”

“Maybe.
When I started to get these crazy
thoughts I tried to get them out of my head, but no one seems to do a thing for
me. Fuck, I can’t even get a boner with some of the women I’ve been with
before.” He shook his head in disgust. “I feel lik
e a
fucking loser over this, like I’m betraying you.”

Mace’s shoulders
lifted with a laugh. “Nah, I’m the last guy to condemn you for loving Nina.”

Tony’s lips curled at
the edges. “Thanks. I keep telling myself it’s not love, but it’s like I’m
tasting cho
colate for the first time.” He looked down
at his hands. “I touched her skin, held her against me. Fuck. I can’t forget
it, I’m sorry. Maybe I’m misdirecting that high with love.”

Mace shrugged. “I
gotta
feeling
you’re right, but I also think Mrs.
Bale is
still out there somewhere, and you’re going
to know it when ya come face to face with her.” Lieutenant Cobbs called out
their departure, and all the guys stood. Ghost was already missed, and this
would be Cobbs’ last ride.

“I hope you’re right,
man, but un
til then I can’t be responsible for my
dreams. So don’t kick the shit out of me if I’m sleeping and calling out Nina’s
name.” Tony laughed and grabbed him around the shoulders as they walked toward
the tarmac.

“Too busy doing that
myself, buddy.”

* * * *

Wade booked off work
and paced his living room like a caged animal in the zoo. Pedro’s goons had
intercepted him this morning and gave him his final warning.
Five hundred grand.
He had to find five hundred grand to
wipe the slate clean. How the hell had i
t gotten that
high? They’d just kept giving him money and extending the loan. Course, he’d
told them he had equity in a home and could cover it, but now that bitch Nina
had decided she wanted the SEAL instead of him. The next thing she’d be doing
was going
to court to sue for back child support.

“Fuck, man, it’s your
own fault,” he said out loud to the sparsely-furnished living room. He didn’t
think he had a problem. He enjoyed poker. What was the big deal? The big deal
was he’d lost his savings, the little
he’d put aside
over the last fifteen years thinking he could recoup his losses.

A guy had been at the
casino and offered him a loan, something manageable. No paperwork and an easy
payback plan. Paying it back wouldn’t be an issue because his luck had changed
at the tables. Least for a while, then it was gone. He accepted another loan.
Bigger than
the last.

His phone beeped with
a text. He knew what it would say, but he grabbed it anyway seeing it was from
Pedro himself.

Call me or the next visit you get will
be painful.

“Pedro,
it’s
Wade Cayson,” he said when he picked
up.

“We have a p
roblem don’t we, Wade? What is the solution going to be?”

“Pedro, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know!
Here’s what I know friend, you have two weeks to find the money. If you do not
produce it in two weeks, I will take the loss and you will be dead. That is the
solution.”

Pedro hung up. Wade
felt the fear begin in his legs and it climbed straight up to his throat. The
bank wouldn’t give it to him. He’d tried that already. Borrowing it from
another lender, even one as shady as Pedro, would only give him time. He
needed out from under this. Fuck that bitch, why the hell
hadn’t she opened her damn legs to him? Together they could have gotten the
money. Maybe her rich parents would have given it to them if she would have
asked.
Now
that fuckin’ SEAL had taken roost a
nd he wouldn’t be
able to get to her.

He stopped pacing.
Money wasn’t a big deal to those who had it. He needed it. He rubbed the back
of his neck. Pedro wasn’t the kind of guy you sweet-talked. He ran his
operation out of Las Vegas. Prostitution, drugs, h
e
dealt with every underground illegal activity there was, and he led people into
their dark places like Lucifer talked people out of their souls.

Two weeks to think of
something. The nervous, creeping need to go play a hand and relax gripped him.
What goo
d would it do? He had about fifty grand in
his account, but if he lost that trying to regain four-hundred and fifty he’d
be literally bankrupt. Yet, fifty grand could get him out of the country, and
maybe out of Pedro’s reach. The guy was a big shot in Veg
as, but could he find him hiding in Venezuela or some other
country?
Shit
. Running wasn’t the answer either. Wade
yanked his fridge door open and reached for a beer. So what if it was only nine
a.m.? He flopped down on the couch and took a long draw. He’d
given the Navy fifteen years of service. He was an officer,
which meant he was smart. Smart men could figure out a solution.

His phone rang.

“Nina,
hey.”
He softened his voice, removing the angst.

“Hi, Wade. I just
wanted to see how you’re doing.”

He rolle
d his eyes. Women!
“Pretty good, considering I’ve been dumped.”

“You’re not dumped,
Wade. Gabbs loves you.”

“And you?” A small
flicker in his heart told him although he was mad as hell at her, there was
still something. There had always been something for
Nina.
They’d had an unforgettable week together once, enough that when he saw her
again he wanted more, much more. Every time she turned him down, he ended up at
the poker table, frustrated and losing more money.

“Do you want to come
over for lunch?”

“Why?
Trying to ease the guilt by feeding me?”

Nina was silent for a
moment. “Maybe I want our relationship to get over this hurdle.”

“We don’t have a
relationship
,
according to you.”

“Fine,” she snapped.

“Wait! Sorry, I’ve
just got to accept what it is, and
I’m not good at
it. What are you making for lunch?”

“What do you want?”

He felt a pulse below
his belt. “Your legs wrapped around my hips, if you want to know the truth. If
I can’t have that, then whatever you’re making is fine.”

Nina tsked. “Chicken
Caesa
r salad it is. See ya later.”

He tossed the phone
beside him and scrubbed his face with his hands. It wasn’t only cards he was a
slave to. He had a serious addiction to Nina, and he didn’t know which was
worse.

* * * *

“Hey, hey,
where’s my girls
?” Mace
yelled
out. He felt like a sixteen-year-old kid who was about to be handed the keys to
a new car when he threw open the front door of Nina’s house. “Hello?” he
shouted.

He dropped his sea bag
at the door and ran into the kitchen. The old house said hello w
ith a
creak
, but no one else did. He’d texted Nina
the second the plane landed. She said she’d meet him at home; she was just
going to grab Gabbs from school first.

Guess he’d have to be
a little more patient. A shower would eat up a few minutes and he yan
ked his ‘T’ over his head with one arm and headed for the
bathroom.

The hot spray hit him,
and he rolled his head, his palms up against the wall. Man, it felt good to be
home. He smiled and the water coiled around his cheeks and dripped into his
mouth. He’
d take Gabbs and Nina out for dinner and
then Gabbs was going to bed early. He had one helluva fucking hard-on. His ears
pricked when he heard Nina’s voice through the running water. He lifted his
head. “In the shower, ba—” The curtain was ripped aside and
Nina radiated with what…fear? Why fear? He wiped the water
from his eyes. “Nina, what’s wrong?”

Her eyes were as big
as saucers. “She’s not at school, Mace.”

He shook his head.
“What, what do you mean she’s not at school?”

Nina grabbed his arms
and sunk h
er fingers in deep. “Someone picked her
up.”

“Wade?”

“No,” she said
,
her breath expelling shallow and fast.

He stepped out and
ripped the towel off the rack. “Come on.” He palmed her arm and led her into
the kitchen wrapping the towel around his waist. “Si
t.”
He pushed her down in the chair and knelt in front of her.

“I have to call the
police.”

He held her in place.
“Tell me what happened,” he said slowly. He sensed Nina’s fear and his own
wanted to join in, but he put a heavy foot on it.

“She wasn’t there
when I went to get her. One of the kids in her class said
a man came and got her.”

“So it was Wade.”

“No.” She shook her
head. “They know
Wade,
he’s been picking her up from school
for a while now.” Nina fisted her hand and smashed it on the table. A low,
painful cry emanated from her throat. “She knows not to go
with strangers.”

“Kids can get things
wrong.”

“I know that, Mace,”
she said angrily. “I’ve called Wade numerous times and left texts. He’s not
answering.” She thumped her forehead.
“God.”

He wrapp
ed her in his arms and held her to his chest. “Nina, I’m
going to call Tony and we’re going to go back to the school and ask around. You
stay here and keep trying to call Wade. Did you call his work?” She nodded.

“They said he didn’t
come in today.”

He
tex
ted T-man and dressed.
By the time he was out of the bedroom
Tony was in the living room with Nina in his arms. He hadn’t even had time to
change out of his fatigues. “Hey, come on Ninja girl, this is just probably
some crazy mix-up, okay? We’ll find squir
t. She’s
probably at a friend’s house. We’ll check Wade’s place too.”