Power: Special Tactical Units Division (In Wilde Country Book 3) (20 page)

As for loving him…

More idiocy.

Take one man. Add one woman. Put them in a dangerous situation, drop them into an isolated setting, and what did you have?

Alessandra picked up her brush and ran it through her new chin-length hairdo.

The Movie of the Week.

That was what you had, and if the man was brave and strong and tender and caring and…

“Alessandra?”

Alessandra whirled around and saw the general standing in the partly open doorway.

“I knocked several times, but—”

“Oh. Sorry. I, uh, I was just—just trying to get used to looking at myself with such short hair.”

John Hamilton Wilde smiled as he walked into the room.

“It’s lovely.”

“Well, at least letting it curl like this helps hide the bald spot.”

“The hair will grow back.” His smile widened. “Actually, this reminds me of the way you looked when you were little and you and your sister decided to give each other haircuts.”

“I don’t remember that.”

The general nodded. “You were six, I think, and Bianca was seven. Your mother wrote and told me about it. She sent me a photo—”

“It wasn’t Bianca and me,” Alessandra said. “You must be confusing us with your American daughters.”

“No. I don’t think I…” Her father sighed. “Perhaps I am.”

“There’s no ‘perhaps’ about it, Father.”

“Alessandra. I know I wronged you, but I’m trying to make up for it. The past is the past. Can’t you put it behind us?”

He was right. Of course, he was right. Hadn’t she just been telling herself the same thing? The problem was, telling yourself something wasn’t the same as actually making it happen.

For instance, she kept telling herself to stop thinking about Tanner.

Great plan. The question was, how?

He was in her thoughts when she woke in the morning, in her thoughts when she went to bed at night. She reached for him in her sleep and when she dreamed, she dreamed of him. His kisses. His laugh. His touch. His determination to protect her and keep her safe even when she bitched and argued and gave him a difficult time…

“Alessandra?”

Her father’s voice was soft. She blinked, looked at him and saw the concern in his eyes.

“What’s wrong, daughter?”

“Nothing.” She flashed a bright smile. “I’m just, you know, I’m just still a little tired…” Her smile faded. “Are you sure he never called?”

The general’s mouth thinned.

“Are we back to that? No. The lieutenant never called.”

“When I was out of things. Unconscious. It’s possible he phoned and spoke with one of the nurses…”

“He did not. There was no reason for him to call. He knew you were in safe hands.”

“Or maybe he phoned my apartment in New York.”

“Alessandra. We’ve been over this before. I checked your voice mail when I flew to New York, remember? I offered to stop by at your place, collect your mail, retrieve your messages…”

“And there was none from him.”

“Exactly.” The general’s tone gentled. “Lieutenant Akecheta had a job to do, and he did it.”

“I know. I just—I just would liked to thank him myself. In person.”

The general put his arm lightly around his daughter’s shoulders.

“He got your note,” he said gently. “I told you that, too, remember? I sent it to his commanding officer as soon as you gave it to me, and he delivered it to the lieutenant. He called and told me so. And the lieutenant said to send you his best.”

His best.

Alessandra turned her back to her father.

“Yes.”

“It’s just unfortunate Akecheta had to ship out on another mission almost as soon as you and he returned from San Escobal.”

She knew all of that.

Her father had explained it as soon as she’d regained consciousness. That the lieutenant had come through without harm. That her father had recommended him for promotion. That he’d shipped out almost immediately.

On another mission.

Which was what she’d been.

A mission.

It all added up. Made perfect sense. What didn’t make sense was that she should still ache for him.

For a little while there, she’d convinced herself she loved Tanner, but she was well beyond that now. She’d been grateful to him. Awed by him.

Hot for him.

None of those things were love.

Hadn’t Tanner tried to tell her that? His last words to her had put everything into perspective.

I have never not completed a mission, and that isn’t going to change just because you and I fucked.

She just hadn’t wanted to believe him any more than she’d wanted to believe he’d gone out of her life without a phone call, a note, even an email…

“So,” the general said briskly, “are you ready for the party? Lissa’s been cooking and baking all day.”

Alessandra forced a smile.

She wasn’t ready. Not really. It was one thing for your head to tell you something had not been real and quite another for your heart to accept it.

She missed him. Her lieutenant. Her Superman. Her lover…

“Alessandra? Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she said briskly, “of course. I’m looking forward to this. All of us together.”

“Even me,” the general said quietly. “I’m so grateful to have been included this weekend. I mean, I know my efforts got you safely home—”

His
efforts? “Lieutenant Akecheta got me safely home,” Alessandra said a little sharply.

“Well, of course, but… All I’m trying to say is that I haven’t done enough for you. For any of you, but for you and Bianca, especially.” He hesitated. “Maybe it sounds old-fashioned, but a man in the position to do so should give his daughters every possible advantage.

Great. Was this guilt-trip time? Did the general feel bad about not having been there for them when she and Bianca were growing up?

If he did, the guilt had come a little late.

“Bianca and I have done fine on our own.”

“You have, indeed. University degrees. Careers.” Her father smiled. “And someday you’ll have husbands. Men to be proud of. Leaders of this nation. Captains of industry.”

Alessandra stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

The general laughed. “Forgive me, dear child. I must be getting old.” He came closer to her, then offered her his arm. “Will you do me the honor of permitting me to escort you downstairs?”

Alessandra hesitated. She wanted to trust her father. To respect him. Someday, perhaps, to love him.

The problem was that old habits died hard.

She had to stop being foolish. As she’d told herself only a little while ago, the past was the past.

“That would be lovely,” she said, and she put her hand lightly on his arm and let him lead her from the room.

* * *

The party was wonderful.

Lissa, who was a professional chef, had outdone herself. Shrimp ceviche. Tiny Szechuan dumplings. Barbecued chicken and pork and beef, “because hey, this is Texas, y’all,” Jaimie said, laughing.

Not that Lissa had forgotten that Alessandra was a vegetarian.

There were platters of veggie lasagna. Veggie stir fries. Salads of every kind. Trays of caramelized root vegetables .

There was, said Emily, enough food to feed half the town, and that was good because the Wildes seemed to have invited half the town. Alessandra’s kidnapping had been kept secret. Her return had not. Even the general had gone public—well, public with his military superiors—and though none of them knew quite what he’d told them, the fact that he had two families was no longer to be kept hidden.

There was lots to drink and a band had been brought in from Dallas, so there was lots of dancing too. Alessandra spent what seemed like hours on the improvised dance floor in the arms of first one brother and then the next, going from Luca to Matteo to Jacob to Caleb and, finally, to Travis.

“It’s so good to have you back,” Travis said, dancing her around the floor while the band played “Sad Songs and Waltzes,” an old Willie Nelson tune.

“It’s good to be back,” she said.

“That STUD operative… the lieutenant who rescued you.” Travis took her into a slow turn. “Chay Olivieri said he was the best, and I guess he was.”

“You met him? Chay Olivieri?”

“Yes. He and I worked out the details for you to hole up in that house on the beach.” Travis drew back and smiled down at her. “Sounded like a pretty nice place.”

“It was wonderful. I really should write a note to your friend and thank him for lending it to us.”

“Not necessary, but I’m sure he’d be happy to hear from you.”

“I’ll do it first thing tomorrow. Is it okay if I give it to you to send?”

“Absolutely. My pleasure.”

“Thank you.” She gave Travis what she hoped was a smile. The music, the party, everything was beginning to be more than she could handle. People were so kind, so thoughtful, but the one man who should have been here wasn’t. “Not that I’ve been doing too well lately with writing notes and having them delivered.”

“Meaning?”

“Nothing.”

“Alessandra. What’s the matter? Come on. That’s what big brothers are for, remember? Little sisters are supposed to tell them their troubles.”

She laughed, just as she knew he hoped she would, but, dammit, her laugh didn’t fool him, not for a second.

“Hell,” he muttered. He waltzed her across the room, out the open patio doors and into the moonlit garden where he stopped dancing, clasped her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Her voice wobbled.

Travis pulled a pristine white handkerchief from the breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to her. “Go on. Cry. Blow your nose. Then tell me what’s going on.”

I told you, nothing’s…” She bit back a sob. “I thought I’d hear from him.”

“From who?” Travis sounded baffled. “My pal in Silicon Valley? Chay Olivieri?”

“Tanner Akecheta. The lieutenant. I know it was silly, but I thought—I thought—”

“Alessandra.” Travis hesitated. “Look, I don’t know what happened between the two of you…”

“Nothing happened,” Alessandra said, and began to weep.

Travis ran a hand through his dark hair.

“Man. See, I’m not very good at this…”

“No. Obviously, neither am I.” Alessandra wiped her eyes. “I mean, maybe I said more than I should have in that note. Or maybe I didn’t say enough. Either way, he could have answered. Just a couple of words. I know he shipped out right away, but… What?”

“What note? To whom? Who shipped out?”

“Tanner. I wrote to him as soon as I could. His commanding officer hand-delivered it, well, our father gave it to him and to hand-deliver, but Tanner was shipping out and he never replied and I thought—I really thought, if he’d just taken a minute—”

The expression on Travis’s face stopped her in midsentence. He had gone tight-lipped. It was a look she’d seen before. All the Wilde and Bellini men got that look when they were angry.

“Let me get this straight. You wrote a note to the lieutenant, gave it to the general, and he gave it to the lieutenant’s CO, who gave it to the lieutenant.”

“Yes.”

“And you know this, how?”

“Father told me. The commanding officer at Camp Condor gave Tanner my note. Tanner was being shipped out, but he—he sent me his best wishes…”

“Fuck!”

“Travis?”

“I’m sorry, Alessandra. Jesus H. Christ, I’m sorry, but that no-good SOB, that lying bastard…” Travis bent over, put his hands on his thighs, breathed in and then breathed out. “Okay. I’m good. I’m fine. And I apologize for all the cursing, but…” He stood up straight, reached for her hands and held them tightly in his. “He lied.”

“Who?”

“Our father. The general. We should have known that he was incapable of change.”

“What did he lie about?” Alessandra’s voice trembled.

“Everything, probably, but here’s the part that matters. The lieutenant never got a note from you.”

Alessandra swayed. Travis grabbed her, led her to a stone bench and drew her down onto it beside him.

“How do you know that?”

“He kept asking his pal, Chay, if you’d tried to call him while he was in the hospital.”

“Tanner was in the hospital?”

“Yeah. He was in bad shape for a while. Kind of touch and go. His leg… Christ. You don’t know any of this?”

Alessandra shook her head. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

“He was desperate to talk to you. Chay got him your phone numbers. Your cell was kaput, but he left a message on your voice mail in New York. Chay didn’t know much about the call, except Akecheta told Chay he ended up just begging you to contact him.”

Alessandra buried her face in her hands. “Oh God, “she whispered, “oh God…”

“Then he got that letter from you and the general.” Travis’s voice went low and icy. “I’m gonna bet anything in the world you didn’t know about that letter.”

She looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes.

“What did it say?”

“”Basically? Goodbye and good luck, and don’t let the door hit you in the tail on your way out.”

“You’re right. I never—I never—”

Travis took her in his arms and held her. She cried silently. Then he felt a shudder go through her. She drew back. Her eyes were wet, her makeup was streaked, but there was a look to her that told him she was Wilde to the bone.

“He didn’t ship out.”

“No.” Travis hesitated. “He’s not even in the service anymore. His leg…”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know, but I can sure as hell find out.”

Alessandra nodded. She rose to her feet. Travis rose, too.

“Find out, please.” Her eyes met her brother’s. “Because I have to go to him.”

Travis smiled. “Yes,” he said gently, “of course you do.”

“Right away. Tonight.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll need a taxi to take me to the airport.”

“You won’t need a taxi. I’ll take you.”

“Thank you. Once I know where Tanner is, I’ll check the airline schedules.”

“You won’t need the airline schedules either. Between the Texas Wildes and the Sicily Wildes, we can get a private plane on the tarmac ASAP.”

Alessandra nodded again. “Then, there’s just one last thing.”