Nobody's Hero (36 page)

“I hate you! I hate you!”

“That’s it,
bebé
. Let it out.”

Damn, but she packed a punch. After some
targeted self-defense classes, she’d be able to fight off anyone
who tried to hurt her ever again.

Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, her fists
paused, and she stared into his eyes. “Uncle Damo?” Her hands
opened and she pulled them back as if burned. “I’m sorry I hurt
you.” Tears streamed down her eyes as her body shook from the
adrenaline crash and he opened his arms for her to come into
them.

“You can’t hurt me,
princesa
.”
Not
with your fists, anyway.
“But we’ll see about getting you into
some classes where you can gain some skills and confidence in
protecting yourself.”

Her arms wrapped around him and she laid her
head against his shoulder and bawled until he felt her body grow
limp. He eased her back down on the pillow and brushed the loose
strands of hair away from her damp forehead.

“That’s it,
bebé
. Sleep now.”

He eased himself up off the bed, catching
himself on the bedpost when he realized his good leg had fallen
asleep. Gingerly, he hobbled across the room and picked up his
Magnum, cast one more glance at Teresa’s sleeping form, and walked
out of the room. As the feeling returned to his leg, he realized it
had been a long time since he’d had to hobble. God, those long
months of getting used to the damned prosthesis, followed by nearly
a year before he felt he could walk without crutches or a cane,
seemed like forever ago.

He walked toward the kitchen, wanting to
check to be sure the house was secure and no one had entered. Adam
and Karla had gone up to Pendleton to spend the night on base with
one of his old buddies. Damián needed to send them back to Colorado
soon. They couldn’t hang around here forever waiting for Julio to
show up. That fucking bastard would pay eventually for what he’d
done to Damián’s family, if it was the last thing he did. As far as
Damián knew, the bastard still hadn’t been captured. Had he slipped
across the border to find sanctuary with relatives in Mexico? Or
was some lowlife harboring him in the San Diego barrio where he
lived?

When Damián turned the corner, he saw light
spilling from the doorway and found Rosa sitting at the table with
a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Damn. She’d taken up smoking
again. She turned to him, but didn’t smile or say a word. The dark
circles under her eyes told him his sister had been to hell and
back. Again.

No, that bastard had better not show up here,
because Damián’s rein on the beast was stretched tight. It wouldn’t
take much for him to snap. When he did, nothing would be the
same.

“How is she?”

“Sleeping.”

“I’m sorry, Damo. I knew it would be better
if you went to her. I can’t protect her.” Her hand shook as she
reached for the cigarette and Damián placed his over hers and
squeezed. “Oh,
Dios
.”

Damián reached out and wrapped his arms
around her and held her while she cried. At least she was showing
some emotion again. He’d hated the haunted, hollow look in her
eyes. Julio’s attack hadn’t only been on Teresa, it had brought up
old scars Rosa probably hadn’t dealt with from when Julio had
beaten her more than a decade ago.

“I brought that monster into this family. I
encouraged Teresa to go with him that night.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Rosa. He chose to do
what he did.”

“I wanted her to know her father. He’d never
hurt the kids before. Only me.” She gave a ragged sob and held on
tighter.

“Shhh, sis. It’s going to be all right. I’m
going to make sure of it.”

He needed to talk to Savi about getting Rosa
into some kind of counseling. His sister had held the weight of so
much on her shoulders since she was young. Anyone would break under
all the shit she’d been through.

Maybe he should check in at the shop he’d
worked at as a teenager and see if there were any openings. He
might be out here awhile. He needed to make some money to help
support them until Rosa was able to do so again. He’d always
supplemented their income when he could, as far back as when he’d
been in the Corps. He needed to provide for his family.

* * *

Karla watched the muscle in Adam’s jaw
clench. All the way home from Camp Pendleton yesterday, he'd been
distracted and silent. Had his friends said something about him
being there with someone half his age? She hadn't gotten the
impression, but Adam and Major Richardson had hung spent some time
separate from the major's wife and Karla. She wondered what they'd
discussed, not that it was any of her business.

didn't feel as if they'd disapproved of her.
Still, something seemed to be bothering him. He reached up and
rubbed the scars at the back of his neck.

"I love Lady GaGa's new music video. Have you
scene it?"

Karla turned her attention to Teresa in the
backseat of her mother's Ford Focus.

After hearing that Teresa had suffered from a
nightmare last night, Karla thought it might be fun to take the
girl shopping. Trite as it may seem, new clothes could always make
a girl feel better. Certainly worked for Karla—so she’d made a few
purchases of her own tonight. Adam had appointed himself
chauffeur—and was also in bodyguard mode. Everyone was on edge
waiting to see Julio would do.

After several hours of shopping in San Diego,
Adam had looked ready to implode. Apparently, while he loved to
shop for Karla at the kinkster stores, there wasn't quite the
thrill shopping with a teenage girl. She suppressed a giggle.

All in all, though, the evening had been lots
of fun and Adam had laughed along with them occasionally,
especially when they people watched in the mall's food court.

Karla also had been able to get Teresa to
talk about their shared interest in Goth music. The young woman was
so smart, and also wanted to pursue a singing career. Karla
couldn't believe it when she'd given her the advice her parents had
given her—stay in school, go to college, and then, if you’re still
interested, you can major in music.

Gawd, when had she gotten so old?

Soon, they’d be back at the house and the
weight of all that had happened a couple weeks ago would be back on
Teresa’s shoulders. The house had such a depressing pall over it.
Poor little José had needed a reprieve, too, so Rosa had let him
spend the night at a friend’s house tonight. It was bad enough José
and Damián had to camp out in the living room of the tiny bungalow,
with Rosa insisting that Karla and Adam have his bedroom. Karla had
tried to make it fun for him by helping him create a tent with some
chairs and blankets, the same as she and Ian had done when they
were young. But José needed to get back to some normalcy, too, and
she and Adam had decided they’d head back to Denver by
Wednesday.

That would be a week since Karla had been out
here. Teresa seemed to be coping and had seen her counselor again
today. There still were times when the glaze of pain came over her
face and her eyes became vacant, lost in the horror of her attack.
How could a father do something so horrendous to his daughter? Rape
was vile in any circumstance, but to violate a sacred trust like
that went beyond anything Karla could ever understand. Her own
father had always been affectionate, supportive, and loving. She
felt so safe with him. It was hard to imagine there were such
monsters in the world.

She realized she felt safe with Adam, too. He
was protective, affectionate, caring, strong, and everything she’d
ever imagined a man should be. Something had changed when he came
out here. Had something happened in Minneapolis to make him see her
differently? All she knew was that he didn’t seem to be pushing her
away all the time.

Even though they couldn’t really indulge in
their Dom/sub lifestyle here, she always felt that aura of control
and power around him. She looked for ways to please him, because
that pleased her. Last night, everyone had been watching a popular
Marine/Navy investigation show on TV and, when Karla and Rosa had
finished cleaning up the kitchen, Rosa had gone to bed, but Karla
had ventured into the living room. The places to sit were filled
and, when Adam had started to get up for her, she motioned for him
to remain seated. Then she’d curled up on the floor between his
knees and leaned back against his thigh.

He stroked her hair, one of her most
erogenous zones. A sense of peace and contentment had come over her
unlike anything she’d ever known. She’d let her guard down
completely and the next thing she knew, he had her hand and was
guiding her up into his lap, where she curled up and promptly fell
asleep.

Bliss.

Cassie and her other friends would have died
if they’d seen her in such a domestic scene. Karla had never
submitted to a man or anyone else. And yet, even after the disaster
that was their Master/slave arrangement, something had changed for
her then. She couldn’t live that extreme twenty-four/seven way, but
what about on an as-needed basis? With the emotional roller-coaster
everyone had been on lately, she welcomed relinquishing control and
letting Master Adam call the shots. Very freeing.

But what happens next? Adam had never talked
of love or anything permanent. Could she just go on living a shadow
life? Would he ever be able to move on from Joni and take another
wife? Somehow she knew that being a friend with benefits or just
his BDSM partner wouldn’t be enough for her.

She wanted Adam’s love and commitment.

Might as well shoot for the moon, Kitty.

* * *

“Don’t move, motherfucker, or I’ll blow your
head off—then I’ll blow your fucking brains out.” Both hands on his
weapon, Damián leveled the Magnum directly at Julio’s balls and
waited. He’d show his former brother-in-law what pain feels like.
His expert pistol marksmanship training in the Marines ensured he
wouldn’t miss, especially at such close range. What kind of idiot
was Julio, breaking the window and crawling into the utility room?
Did he think Damián was fucking deaf? Or did he just think that
Damián wouldn’t be here to protect what was his this time?

Hands in the air, Julio pumped his palms
toward Damián, as if to calm him down. But Damián was as cool as
fried ice cream. He smiled. Plain and simple, he planned to kill
the bastard this time. It would be slow, bloody, and
painful—nothing like the way he’d been trained to kill by the
Marines.

“Damo, man, I just had too much to drink. I
fucked up.”

Judging from the way he swayed on his feet,
he’d fucked up again. Had he ever.

What had he broken in here for? To attack
Teresa again? Damián felt rage building in him, but tamped it down.
Remain calm.

“No,
bastardo
, you raped your
daughter—my niece—and for that, you’re going to pay.”

Damián reveled in the look of pure terror on
his former brother-in-law’s face. The man’s eyes bulged from his
eye sockets and he lowered his hands to cover his crotch, as if
they’d shield him from the first bullet Damián planned to discharge
from his weapon, ensuring Julio would never rape anyone again. For
the first time since he’d heard about Teresa’s attack, Damián felt
like he was in control.

Maybe for the first time in an even longer
time—since before Fallujah. Before Savannah.

Damián heard the key in the lock of the back
door and before he could wave them off, Karla and Teresa came into
the utility room laughing. When she saw her father, Teresa’s eyes
grew round and Karla pushed the girl toward the back door, trying
to keep her out of harm’s way. With her back turned toward Julio,
the bastard grabbed Karla in a chokehold and hauled her against
him. He retrieved a knife from his boot and held the blade to her
throat. A moment of sheer terror flashed in Karla’s eyes as she
pleaded silently with Damián to do something.

“Put the gun down, Damo, or I cut this
bitch.”

“Dad! Don’t hurt her! Go away Leave us
alone!” Teresa’s voice became shrill and tears streamed down her
face. She held her arms to her abdomen and began crying, then
screamed. Damián watched as Adam’s arm reached inside the door and
pulled her outside to safety.

“No! I can stop him!”

* * *

Adam yanked his cell phone out of his pocket.
“Teresa, go down to the corner and call 911. Now.” He pressed the
phone into her hand and shoved her toward the street. With Teresa
out of harm’s way, Adam glanced through the window to assess the
situation. That fucking dickwad Julio had his hands on Karla. Oh,
yeah, he’d pay for touching her, scaring her, and if he hurt her,
he’d pay with his life.

Damián pointed his .357 at Julio’s head, but
Karla was in the way. Adam motioned for Damián to stand down. She
was too close to chance taking Julio out, and even though he knew
his son could hit his target from a lot further away. He wouldn’t
risk Karla getting shot if someone moved. Adam couldn’t lunge at
them, either, and have Julio flinch or move, because the knife was
lying right against her skin.

Karla looked at Adam then Damián, scared and
maybe expecting them to rescue her. Same facial expression as when
she’d been pinned by the cougar against a boulder on Mount Evans.
He’d rescued her then, but this cat wasn’t as predictable. When she
locked onto Adam’s gaze again, he tried to communicate with her
nonverbally. He eased into the room, but Julio’s knife pressed
tighter against her jugular and he pulled her head back, making
Karla more vulnerable.

“Back off, man!”

Adam raised his hands.

As if a light bulb clicked on, Karla's
expression hardened and, just the way they’d trained on their day
at the martial-arts center last month, she raised her hands.