Page 56 of Her Wicked Hero

“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.