CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
“I was studying. At least, I was trying to. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what you’d done.
” She’d been so hurt and disappointed. “Eddie, one day we’re talking about getting married and spending our life together.
Then the next, you’ve unilaterally made this huge decision that would affect both of us.
And what really bothered me about the whole thing was that you knew I didn’t want you to join the military, and you knew the reason why.
” Her father had been in the Army and died during a training exercise.
He’d left behind a small child and a grieving widow who was never the same without him.
“So yes, I was angry with you and got talked into going to that stupid party by my roommate.”
It had ended up being the biggest mistake of her life.
“Fine, you were angry.” The coach lights on the house behind them gleamed in his eyes. “But that doesn’t mean you can just go out and make out with some random dude.” He sat up straighter. “He was a random dude, right? You weren’t already—”
Okay, so that hurt.
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” She swung her legs over the side of the lounger and shoved up to her feet.
“I’d never met him before that night, and I never even knew his name.” There was no way she was going to let him accuse her of carrying on some kind of secret affair.
He looked up at her, and she nearly recoiled at the shock and even disgust on his face.
“I loved you so much, Lucia.” He pushed up off his own lounge chair and stood in front of her. “Seeing pictures of you kissing another guy and knowing it was plastered all over social media broke my fucking heart and made me look like a fool.”
“So instead of talking to me about what really happened at that party, you just moved up your report date and left.” She angrily swiped away a tear.
“No explanation. No goodbye. Nothing. And when I tried to call you, you’d already changed your phone number.
And Reina was so mad at me, she wouldn’t give me your new number. ”
Their voices began to rise, but he couldn’t help it. This was almost fifteen years of pent-up frustration, anger, and hurt bursting to the surface.
“What was there to say?” He threw his arms out to the side.
He’d been numb for days, and when he arrived at Camp Pendleton for boot camp, he’d worked his ass off, hoping it would help him forget about her. As it turned out, even crushing physical and mental exertion wasn’t enough to get her out of his head … or his heart.
“What was there to say?” She moved up to him and planted her hands on her hips. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe I would’ve told you that someone slipped a roofie into my beer and that my roommate got so scared, she took me to the ER.”
“A roof—”
“Or maybe I would’ve told you I had no memory of what happened and didn’t find out until those stupid pictures showed up on social media.” Her voice wavered, but she lifted her proud chin. “And it’s possible I would’ve told you that I tried to call you, but you’d already changed your number.”
“Jesus, Lucia.” He reached out to take hold of her hand, but she stepped back from him.
“No.” She shook her head. “I needed you, Eddie, and you weren’t there for me.” She pierced him with disappointed, tear-filled eyes.
Every word was a dagger to his soul, and he wanted to hold her more than he wanted his next breath. But he was sure she’d shove him in the pool if he tried. And he wouldn’t blame her, either.
“I am so so sorry, Lucia.” All these years he’d been wallowing in self-pity, and she’d been carrying this burden alone.
What a dick he was. His ego and his fucking pride had hurt one of the most important people in his life.
“Yeah, well.” She blinked, and a lone tear streamed down her face. She swiped it away like it burned her skin. “That’s ancient history now.”
“Lucia—”
“Ya know what?” She lifted her hands. “I can’t deal with this right now.” She stepped around him and walked across the pool deck. She went inside and quietly closed the large sliding glass door behind her.
Eddie strolled over to the edge of the patio and stared out over the valley.
The Rio Grande river carved through the valley below.
The water was high enough this time of year that the moonlight created what looked like diamonds sparkling on its surface.
In the distance, he heard the distinctive throaty cooo cooo of a barred owl from its perch in one of the many sycamore and oak trees lining the river.
Silent as a cloud, Calliope appeared next to him and stared out into the darkness.
“Hey.” She gently bumped her shoulder against his arm. She was too short to bump shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Hey.” He bumped her back.
“Wanna talk about it?” she asked, still gazing out across the vast landscape.
“Not much to talk about.” There was too much to talk about.
“Just so you know, we overheard you guys.” She held up her hand. “We weren’t eavesdropping, I promise. It’s just that our room is right there, so it was kinda hard not to hear.” She pointed toward another large sliding glass door located not far from the loungers.
“I was such a stubborn, selfish ass.” Eddie shook his head.
“You were just a kid, and you were hurting.” Calliope lifted a shoulder. “Joining the Marine Corps early may have been a bit dramatic, however,” she teased.
“Yeah, that was a self-preservation response, and I’ve regretted it almost every day since.
” Now that he knew the truth about what happened, it seemed even more selfish.
“Not joining the Corps—I’ll never regret that.
But I never should’ve left early without talking to her. That was a pretty shitty thing to do.”
“Maybe, but you can’t un-ring that bell, Eddie.” Calliope was always very straightforward when she spoke to people. “So … what are you going to do about it?”
“First order of business is to take care of Munoz, once and for all. Then I’m going to find out who the shitbag was that drugged Lucia.” Eddie’s anger grew. “He needs to be dealt with accordingly.”
“That sounds like a good plan.” Calliope nodded. “I’m sure Luna can help.”
“Yeah, if anyone can find that piece of shit, she can.” He would have to ask Reina for the name of the person who originally posted the picture. Luna could take it from there. “My sister, Reina, is the one who first saw the photos and showed them to me.”
“Really? Why?” Calliope asked. “Was she not a Lucia fan or something?”
“On the contrary, they were best friends. But she was mad and worried I’d find out from someone else. Family is very important to all of us.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting them.” His teammate was a world-class sniper who could sit silent in a tree for hours. But when she was around friends, cutting loose, she was a classic extrovert.
“They’re pretty awesome.” And extremely overprotective. “I’ve never been into the whole social media thing, especially with the work we do.”
As a member of the Dark Ops team, Eddie was required to have his cell phone with him almost all of the time. But there were times when he would happily throw the damn thing in the river.
“People are clueless as to just how evil and dangerous some of those apps, games, and Internet sites can be, especially to kids,” she said. “Unfortunately, in our business, we’ve had to deal with the fallout.”
Eddie was continually shocked that parents gave their kids smartphones with unfettered access to the Internet. So much danger right in the palm of their hands. Tons of games designed for kids actually turned them into unsuspecting targets of the worst kind of predators.
“Lucia was right. I wasn’t there for her when she needed me.” He’d been too busy feeling sorry for himself. “But I will never let that happen again.”
“Because you still love her.” Calliope said it like it was a done deal.
“Yeah, because I still love her.” Deep inside, he’d always loved her.
Over the years, he’d been with other women, but they’d always been sad comparisons to what he’d had with Lucia.
“Good.” Calliope gave him a friendly slug to his arm. “Night, dude.”
“G’night.” He gave a gentle tug on one of her pigtails. “And thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She walked over to the other sliding door, and Lucas slid it open for her.
He lifted his chin to Eddie in that silent way guys did to acknowledge each other, then took his fiancée’s hand, and they disappeared into their dark bedroom.
He still loved Lucia. Admitting it out loud to someone was somehow cathartic. Now it was up to him to prove it to her.
Eddie would earn back her trust and love by showing her that he would always be there for her and her daughter.
Nothing was going to stand between him and a life with them.