Her Forbidden Hero (22 page)

It just wasn’t right.

“You two can stop this now. You’ve been best friends forever.
Nothing
is worth ruining that. So, enough,” she said as she strode between them. “I’m leaving. Just pretend none of this happened.” She nailed Marco with a gaze.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Brady barked.

Alyssa’s heartbreak morphed into anger. She pointed at him. “You are my only family and I love you. But you don’t get to drop in out of nowhere and tell me what to do. I’m a grown woman. I can make my own decisions.”

Alyssa stood there, unsure what else she could possibly say. She glanced at Marco for a long moment, and when he finally met her gaze, his eyes were hard and shuttered, reminding her of that day in the hall at Whiskey’s when he’d almost opened up.

But had walked away instead.

Now it was her turn.

Emptiness ballooning inside her chest, Alyssa turned and walked out the front door.

…

Marco watched Alyssa leave and felt all the air suck out of the room. His chest tightened, his gut clenched, and his head throbbed until he had to sit down. He dropped onto one end of the futon with his elbows braced on his knees. Brady sat on the other.

Neither said anything for a long while. They’d fought before, many times. Usually over stupid shit. They’d both be pissed off for a few hours, and then just like that it was over, and they’d go get a beer or head to the gym or do any of a thousand other normal things as if nothing had ever happened.

In all that time, Brady had never hit him. But, then again, Marco had never deserved it.

He
had
violated Brady’s trust. That much was true. But Alyssa was wrong on one point: there
was
something worth fighting Brady for. And the first step was clearing the air here.

Marco lifted his head and nailed Brady with a hard stare.

Brady glared right back.

“When I told you it wasn’t what you thought, I meant it wasn’t casual. I’m in love with her,” Marco said.

Brady let out a long sigh and reclined against the back of the couch. “You want to tell me how she got those bruises?”

“Some piece of shit jumped her in a parking lot. She fought him off pretty good, too. You would’ve been proud of her.”

Brady exhaled heavily. “What exactly did he…do?”

“Nothing. I got there before the situation went critical. She was rattled, but she’s strong, Brady. She handled it.”

“Jesus Christ,” Brady muttered. “I’m sorry for even suspecting…”

Hot bile climbed in Marco’s throat. “You should be.”

Brady sighed and his voice softened. “So how long has this been going on?” He pointed back and forth like Alyssa was still in the room.

Marco rubbed his chest, her absence weighing on him like a two-ton boulder. Why had he let her walk out that door? How could he have let her go thinking anything but that he loved her? As screwed in the head as he was, maybe he didn’t deserve her. But that didn’t keep him from wanting her with everything he was. “It just started. She doesn’t even know how I feel.”

“Fuckin’ A. Wasn’t expecting to come home to this.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

“That excited to see me, huh?”

Marco glared, not particularly in the mood to deal with Brady’s sarcasm. His best friend excelled at smart-ass. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m stateside for the next eighteen to twenty-four months. Army Staff, Pentagon.”

“No shit.”

“And one thing I’ve been looking forward to is being there again for Alyssa. Which means I have to ask you straight up, man, and I know you’re not going to like it.”

Marco braced for one of a dozen possible questions and motioned for him to continue.

“Are you too fucked up with everything that happened to do right by my baby sister?”

For a long moment, Marco gave the question the consideration it deserved. “I’m not a hundred percent, but I’m doing better. And she makes me want to
be
better. This past year and a half, my problem has been floundering around without a purpose. With Alyssa, I’ve found a purpose again. Making her happy would be enough. It would be everything. So, no, I’m not
too
fucked up.”

Brady drilled him with a serious stare for a long moment, then smirked. “Just a little.”

Marco chuffed out half a laugh. “Just a little.”

“You know it wasn’t your fault, right? You’ve wrapped your head around that much, at least?”

“That would be in the part that isn’t right yet.”

“Marco—”

“You telling me it’s so isn’t going to convince me. I appreciate it, don’t get me wrong. But I have to find a way there on my own.”

Brady heaved a breath. “Aw, shit.” He paused a long moment. “My sister? Really?”

Marco saw the teasing in Brady’s eyes and gave in to a small smile. He shrugged.

“You realize if you ever hurt her, I’ll have to kill you.”

Rising to his feet, Marco nodded. “I’d expect nothing less. But there isn’t another man on this planet who knows as well as I do how much your sister deserves happiness.”

Brady stood and held out his hand. “True.” They shook, and Brady playfully smacked Marco’s cheek. “Gonna have a shiner. Sorry ’bout that.”

Marco prodded his sore cheekbone. “Shit hurts, too, motherfucker.”

Brady chuckled and rubbed his stomach. “Is that breakfast I smell?”

Marco’s grin slid from his face. The breakfast he’d made for Alyssa. “Yeah. Go ahead and eat. I need to talk to your sister. Now.”

But she wasn’t outside, nor anywhere in the neighborhood. And after searching all day, Marco still couldn’t find her.

He’d forgotten she didn’t have her car at his house, so he had no idea where she might’ve gone or with whom. Her car was still parked at Whiskey’s, so he couldn’t drive around looking for it, and of course she wasn’t answering her phone.

Unlike their argument from last week, this time Marco hadn’t intended to hurt her. But the more he went over the words he’d exchanged with Brady, and then when he recalled the expressions on her face when he’d told Brady it wasn’t what he thought and when she’d turned to Marco to explain what was going on, the more he knew he had. And probably worse than last week.

For God’s sake, they’d made love. Twice. And he could see every bit of her emotions when he’d looked into her eyes.

She’d loved him.

He knew how he felt, now more than ever.

Question was, after everything—after repeatedly fucking up, and then failing to man up in front of Brady—could she forgive him? And did she love him still?

She went looking for Pete and finally found him in his office. Nerves fluttering in her chest, she rapped her knuckles against the door.

“Alyssa. Come on in, kid.” He rose from his seat and gestured to the facing chair. “Please sit down. How are you doing?”

Alyssa managed a smile and sat. “I’m okay. But I have something I need to talk to you about.”

“Of course.” He returned to his chair. “First just let me say how sorry I am about the other night.”

She waved her hand. “It wasn’t your fault. But thank you.”

He nodded. “What can I do for you?”

She placed on his desk the letter she’d written at the hotel’s business center. “I’ve received another job offer and unfortunately it starts next Monday. I’ll be moving to DC on Thursday. I’m very sorry to inconvenience you, and I’ll work up to the last moment…”

He frowned, concern edging lines into his forehead. “Is this because of what happened?”

“Oh, no.”

“Because I would understand if you don’t feel safe here.”

Alyssa bit her tongue to chase away the threatening tears. Why did she have to like everyone here so much? Funny, after being away at school for four years, she’d only been back to Frederick for three weeks and it already felt like home again.

Too bad she couldn’t stay.

“I had applied for this other job months ago and only recently learned I was in the running. I never would’ve taken the job at Whiskey’s if I thought another was just around the corner.”

“I take it this other position pays more?”

Alyssa nodded, unease sinking in her stomach—the pay truly wasn’t the reason behind her decision, odd as that was for her. She simply couldn’t stay here and face Marco day in and day out, knowing he didn’t want her. Not the way she wanted him. Distance would make things easier, would remove the temptation. At least that’s what she was counting on.

“I’ll offer you more money if that’ll get you to change your mind.”

Oh. She hadn’t expected that at all. Her heart squeezed at the thought Pete was willing to fight for her.

At least someone is
, her brain added unhelpfully. In her mind’s eye, she saw Marco’s blank expression when she’d hoped he’d tell Brady they were together.

Her breath caught as her eyes welled up again.

Pete came around the desk with a box of tissues. “Come, now. Tell me what’s really going on.”

Alyssa accepted the Kleenex and blotted her eyes.

He pulled out the chair next to her and sat.

She forced her emotions under control and blinked away the tears, refusing to let them fall. “I just like everyone here very much. I hate to leave all these new friendships.” Her breath shuddered. “And I hate disappointing you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve been around the block a time or two. I know how things work.” He stared at her for a long moment, as if he knew there was more to her story but had decided not to pry. “I’ll have your check ready first thing Thursday morning. You come by whenever you want.”

“Okay. Thank you, Pete. And I truly am sorry I can’t give you more notice.”

“Good luck, kid.” He shook her hand.

Alyssa drove back to her hotel knowing she had a million things to arrange before Thursday. She had a phone appointment with one of the other convention center staff members who was looking for roommates to share a townhouse, and Alyssa was hoping that would work out. If not, she’d need to contact a roommate-locator service. She probably ought to do some shopping for new work clothes before she left. And now that Brady was home, she should make time to see him, too.

Her mom had died. Her father had gone crazy. Brady and Marco had joined the army. Alyssa had never been the one to do the leaving before. Honestly, she didn’t think things were any easier on this side.

With several to-do items crossed off her list, including the high likelihood the townhouse in DC would work out, she came to work Monday afternoon expecting an endless round of conversations where she had to explain why she was leaving, but Pete hadn’t told anyone. Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief and decided to sit on the news for at least another day. Her emotions were too raw, too near the surface, and she didn’t relish the thought of having to fight back tears every time she talked to someone. Another stroke of luck came her way when she found Jameson tending bar. She’d forgotten Marco was off that night but appreciated the temporary reprieve from having to face him.

Hearing from him was another matter, though. He’d called her phone at least a dozen times since she’d walked out Sunday morning and left six messages she hadn’t yet listened to.

Sitting cross-legged in the middle of her hotel bed after work on Monday night, Alyssa finally braved playing the messages.

The first one was from right after she’d left. “Alyssa, where did you go? You didn’t have your car and I can’t find you. Please call me. I’m worried about you.”

Alyssa’s shoulders drooped. She skipped to the next one. “Hey, it’s me. Please call me back. I really want to talk to you.” Marco sighed, a long, troubled sound. “Alyssa, I’m sorry.”

Not stopping to analyze that message, she played the third, this one from late last night. “Aly, do you remember me saying I had things I wanted to say? I’d still really like the chance to say them. I know I fucked up today. Please call me.”

The fourth one went on for over ten minutes. “It’s me, Aly. It’s four o’clock and I can’t sleep because when I close my eyes, all I see is the sadness on your face. Please give me a chance to make things right.” Alyssa frowned at both the meaning of the words and the long silence that followed them. And then what she heard filled her eyes with hot tears. Marco strummed his guitar. For a while he was clearly warming up, and then he began to play. He missed notes and took breaks, but he made his way through an entire song, occasionally humming along. Despite his injury and the weakness of his hand, he was playing again just like he used to do to cheer her up.