Alana Albertson - Invincible

I swallowed around the knot in my throat. Fuck this was precisely why I wanted to sever all ties back at the embassy. "Look, I didn't mean to come off as a dick."

She shot me a wry look and I laughed.

"Okay, fine. Maybe I did. But you have to understand that I don't fit in your fucking life. Look where you live. Who your parents are? This isn't my life, Annie. Far from it. You're just getting started again and you shouldn't pin all of your hopes on me. Give yourself and your future a fair chance. Please. For me."

Annie took a shuddering breath. "You're just the only person that doesn't still see me as the girl I used to be. You don't look at me like I crawled out of a hole. You make me feel safe."

I took a step closer so that my knees bumped hers. I lifted her chin with the tips of my fingers. "Look, shit happens. Thankfully, you got out of there in one piece. It's not going to be easy, that's for damn sure, but you've only been back a few months. You have to give it some time."

"You're probably right." She smiled up at me.

I followed her down the stairs to the entryway. Her parents hovered behind her. Her mother's face was botox-tense and the smile she wore was more of a sneer. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead turned to pull Annie in a hug. They shared a look that I caught from over Annie's head. Fuck them. I didn't need their approval. If anything they should want their daughter to be happy considering what she'd been through.

I started walking out the door with every intention to put her and this entire fucking situation behind me. I would go home, down a six-pack and get back to my regular routine. I reached the door and turned to say goodbye, but couldn't force the words past my lips at the look of raw emotion on her face.

“Annie. Do you want to come to Vic’s party tomorrow? His mom is throwing it for all the Team guys. Kyle will be there too. I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m good. You don’t have to take care of me anymore, Pat. I’m fine. I appreciate you coming here but don’t feel like you have to hang out with me. I can take care of myself. I won’t bother you again.”

My gut clenched. I knew I’d been an asshole to her, but it wasn’t because I didn’t care about her. She was fucking hot, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And I didn’t pity her; I admired her strength. I just didn’t have a fucking clue where to go from here.

I looked into her eyes. “Hey. I want you to come tomorrow.”

She pursed her lips and stepped away from me. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

What did I expect? Maybe her father was right. I was just a painful reminder of her past. But if I was, I needed to hear it from her. “I need to see you tomorrow. Say yes.”

“Fine. I’ll come. Where should I meet you?”

I couldn’t tell if she was playing hard to get. “I’ll pick you up at five.”

“Sounds good. I’ll walk you out.”

We bypassed her parents and went down the hallway out into the yard and back down to the driveway. I got into my truck and drove away.

It wasn’t just that her family was loaded; I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right with her family. And I was going to find out what it was. For Annie’s sake.

I drove back up to her house to pick her up for Vic’s party. I hoped her dad wasn’t home but I honestly didn’t give a fuck. I doubted that he would tell me off in front of his daughter and risk looking like a fucking hypocrite.

I pulled up and she was waiting outside the gates. She pointed me to a parking space in front to the house. I looked up at the expansive glass windows, and could see her dad watching me. I wasn’t intimidated by him; he wanted to watch? I’d give him something to watch.

“Can we get some coffee first? There’s this great little shop up the street. I traded my addiction to heroin for caffeine.”

“Yup. Let’s go.”

I checked her out. She was wearing a pale peach dress that clung to her body. I couldn’t tell if she had a bra on or one of those camisoles. Either way, I could see the outline of her nipples. I remembered how they felt pulled into buds, how they tasted. The scent of her skin on the curve of her neck.

Her perfume wafted around me. I leaned into her and kissed her, not caring about who saw or my own objections. The words spilled out of my mouth, though the look on her face made me happy I said them. “I’m glad you came and greeted me off the ship. Honestly, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

She touched my face. “I missed you, too.”

We walked up the street.

We ordered two cold-drip iced coffees from Lofty Coffee, this coffee shop a block away from her house. A few people stared at us; I’m sure recognizing her from the magazines. I kept my sunglasses on.

“I’ll be right back, babe.” She nodded and I slipped out the door to The Den, a boutique next store.

The designer clothes and lingerie wasn’t what I was looking for. Then something caught my eye at the counter. “I’ll take this.”

The shop girl grabbed the item and packaged it up. “Is this for your girlfriend?”

I couldn’t tell if she was hitting on me, but I didn’t care. “Something like that.”

I paid, and then went back to the coffee shop.

Annie was turned toward the coffee bar adding milk and sugar to our drinks. Some dickhead handed her the plastic covers, and said something to her to make her blush. I wanted to punch him.

She handed me my coffee. Her cheeks were red.

I put my arm around her and headed back to my truck.

I texted Vic and told him we were on our way. I really wanted to see how she would act around the other team guys and their wives. I wasn’t trying to test her, but I couldn’t help but be curious if there was any possibility that she’d ever fit into my world. I mean, I was still going to ship out and never see her again, without a doubt. But it was like there was a part of me that wanted to know for sure, wanted to see just how stupid any vague lingering idea of us…. No. Annie had been raised with money; I could never give her the type of life that she had been accustomed to before she had been taken. Just no.

God, but she looked hot in that dress.

Forty minutes later, we arrived at Vic’s family’s house. The smell of cumin and lime wafted from the backyard.

I didn’t need to knock. We walked around the back and opened the gate.

About twenty other Team guys, their wives and kids, were milling around the yard. There was one of those bouncy houses for the kids. Vic spotted us. He poked Kyle to get his attention and they both came over.

“Annie! You look great.” Vic hugged her. “Thanks for coming.”

A hug wouldn’t satisfy Kyle. “Hey, sweetheart!” He lifted her in the air. She seemed more excited to see him than she had to see me. But I doubted that she wanted him. Kyle had just never been a jerk to her like I had. Not that I had anything to worry about—we never ever hit on another Team guy’s woman. “How you’ve been? Where are all the hottie friends you promised me?”

She smiled. “I’ll hook you up next time we go out.”

Vic’s mother walked over to us, clutching Vic’s daughter Carina’s hand.

“Mama, this is Annie.”

“Hola, mija. Bienvenida.” I loved Vic’s mom, she was like a second mother to me. She never hesitated to make food for an entire SEAL team or drive downtown in the middle of the night to pick one of us up if we were smashed.

“Encantada, Señora Gonzales. Soy Analía.”

Vic’s mom seemed impressed by Annie’s fluent Spanish. Three-year-old Carina looked up at Annie. Vic’s little princess was adorable: huge brown eyes, long wavy hair. I admired that he made her his top priority when he was in town, knowing that as long as he remained in the Teams they would spend more time apart than together.

“You wanna see my dolls?” Carina asked Annie.

“I’d love to, sweetie.”

Annie followed Carina into the house and Vic’s mom went to the kitchen.

Kyle gave me a devilish grin. “Couldn’t stay away from her for a day. We’ve been back, what, five hours? Have you already hit that?”

“Two days, asshole. She fucking greeted me at the dock. Welcome home sign and everything. Conned me into going to see her family. Dad’s a ring knocker. Tried to bribe me to stay away from her.”

Vic raised his eyebrow. “What’s the problem? You didn’t want to see her anyway.”

“Yeah, man. Take the money and run.” Kyle raised his eyebrow. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling us.”

I glanced inside the kitchen; Annie was on the floor playing with Carina. She gave me a big smile and waved at me.

“I don’t know man. There’s something going on with her parents.”

Kyle glared at me. “Keep talking.”

“I mean, they’re loaded. Like they have this mansion on the beach in Encinitas. And they redecorated her room. I don’t have anything yet, but something doesn’t add up. I mean, I found her and I wasn’t even looking. You think with all that money they couldn’t hire a contractor group to go find her?”

“I thought they hired some guy who took their money?” Vic said.

“That’s what the news stories say, but I mean her dad’s a former Naval Officer—he couldn’t check out this guy’s credentials before giving him three hundred thousand dollars?”

“You’re right. That makes no sense,” Kyle said.

I nodded. “I’m going to put some calls in with some friends who work in security contracting firms. See if they know anything.”

“Let me know if you need anything.” Kyle paused. “So that’s it? You’re just worried about her? Nothing else.”