Page 98 of Her Passionate Hero

“Nicolas’ family is all sorts of fucked up at the moment, and Ana Garcia is in a lot of pain. I was hoping you could work some of your magic.”

“What’s going on?”

“As much of a monster as he was, Mateo was still her son, and he died last night. There are complications with Darla’s pregnancy, so she has to stay in the hospital longer, and Nicolas is peppering her with questions about his real mom, and she seems to be at her breaking point.”

Aliana listened to what he said, but that didn’t explain why he looked as though he’d gone through the ringer.

“Mi Amor, I asked you if you were okay,” she repeated quietly.

“Dex warned me about getting a smart one, said if I did, I’d never get away with shit.”

He was scaring her. She grabbed his big hand in hers and held it against her chest.

“Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’ve been called away on a mission. We go wheels up tonight. I just found out. I’ve got to leave in the next twenty minutes.” He looked like he was in pain. There were lines of stress on his forehead and his dimples were nowhere to be found.

“When are you going to be back?”

“I don’t know, Alia. We’re going in blind. I should be able to call in a week. Maybe send an email.” His voice trailed off. What wasn’t he saying?

“Hunter, what does going in blind mean?”

“It means I won’t know where we’re headed until we get on the plane. Then we’ll find out the location and mission parameters. That means it’s hot. Sometimes those are fast and to the point, but sometimes they can be protracted.”

“Hunter, what’s the longest mission you’ve ever been on?”

“Five months.” He put his arm around her waist and bent closer so they could see each other’s eyes better in the dim light of the hospital room. “But Alia, that was only one time. They’re mostly two to three weeks, but if I’m laying my cards on the table, there was another one that lasted three months. And I know that Zed’s team had one that lasted almost a year.”

That was her Hunter, honest to a fault.

“Honey, it’s okay. This is your job. You serve our country. I respect that.”

“Yeah, but can you live with it?”

“We’re going to find out, now aren’t we?” She smiled the best she could. “Now that we’ve wasted five minutes, could I please get my goodbye kiss?”

Despite her teasing, he was still concerned. It was time to take matters into her own hands. She grabbed his ears and pulled his head down to hers. He broke out into a grin.

“I love it when you get all bossy, Ms. Novak.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

***

“Is he gone?” Lottie asked.

Aliana turned to her friend and saw her looking at her through swollen eyelids. She had been beaten while under the tender mercies of San Marcos. She had two broken ribs and a broken wrist.

“Yes, he’s gone.”

“You seem to have come out of your shell,” she teased. Aliana glanced sharply at Lottie, unable to believe that she was making jokes at a time like this. Not because Hunter was leaving but because of Ernie. She got close to her bedside and saw the tears running down her face.

“Ah, Girlfriend, you don’t have to be the life of the party for me,” Aliana whispered. She touched the splint on Lottie’s arm that showed up so white against her caramel colored skin. “Let me be here for you like you’ve always been there for me.”

“There’s no need,” Lottie’s voice was toneless.

“What do you mean?”